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Geography and Phenology of Siberian Crane Encounters in Uzbekistan (Central Flyway)

By Yevgenia Lanovenko

Writing this report, we tried to mention all the encounters with the Siberian Crane, which were registered in Uzbekistan, and used all available sources. The information on sites of white crane stops was kindly supplied by A. Sorokin, Yu. Markin and A. Shilina. We tried to give as full a description of each encounter as possible.

(1) In spring of 1878, a single bird was noticed by V.F.Russov by Chinaz. (Pleske, 1888)

(2) The first half of October 1909 (new calendar). A bird was killed in the low flow of Angren (according to Ostapenko, the source is unknown, 1987). Probably this is the same record as in N. Zarudny notes (see article above).

(3) On 8 April 1972 on the Keles River not far from Tashkent (Kashkarov, Tretjakov, Lanovenko, 1977) Ye. Lanovenko spotted a Siberian Crane, which flew over a wheat field in a small flock of Eurasian Cranes late in the morning. The birds flew at the height of 20 m and were easy to recognize. Such flight supposed that the birds were not passing the territory but made a stop in this region during migration. At that time nearby fields were green with wintering crops. They alternated with small sites of uncultivated land covered by green ephemera of flood plain. The river had steep loose banks and some shallow spots. The settlements were 1-2 km away from that place.

(4) In March 1975 in the low flow of the Surkhandarya River there was a crane spotted, whose feathers were rather fair. However, it is not possible to tell for sure whether it was a Siberian Crane or another species. (Ostapenko, 1987).

(5) On 4 April 2002 a pair of Siberian Cranes was seen at the northwestern coast of Aidarkul lake, where the birds stayed for almost a week foraging at a small wheat field near the lake next to a flock of a hundred Demoiselle Cranes. (Observations were made by I.Primov, the head of Navoi district of the Aidar-Arnasay State Basin Inspection). Coordinates: N 41.05; E 65.53

(6) On 5-10 October 2003 at the border of Bukhara and Kashkadarya regions, about 10 km south of Deukhon Lake a white bird was spotted in a flock of 15 Eurasian Cranes. The encounter took place at 10 o’clock in the morning. The birds flew as if they had just taken off to the air. The flight of the flock did not look like a transit one. The flock flew at the height of 150 m, and the birds were very well seen. (Observations were made by A.Kasakov, the head of the Amudarya basin inspection).

(7) On 22-23 October 1998 data was received from a satellite transmitter attached to a chick of a wild pair of Siberian Cranes, breeding in the basin of the Kunovat River. The source of the transmittance was in the Kyzylkum Desert. 10 km south of the Beltau heights. This territory is characterized by leptosoles and takyrs with artesian wells.

(8) From 7 October to 5 December 2003, a satellite transmitter, which was attached to a Siberian Crane chick raised by a family of Eurasian Cranes in the basin of the Kunovat River sent its signal. The source of the signal was in the Kyzylkum Desert southeast of the former bed of the Amudarya River, where there are sandy dunes with rare artesian wells.

By Yevgenia Lanovenko

Institute of Zoology of Uzbekistan