Branta Issues > Issue №4 (2001)

Birds at the Dnieper delta

I.Herzon & M. Walsh

A few transect counts made from a boat along channels in the Dnieper delta at the end of June 2001 yielded some interesting bird observations: Pygmy Cormorant Phalacrocorax pygmeus - common everywhere, at least 100 bird were observed along a single randomly chosen car route 15 km long; Cormoran Phalacrocorax carbo - only a single bird (the same route); Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax - 40 birds; Purple Heron Ardea purpurea - 16 birds Great White Egret Egretta alba - 3; Little Bittern Ixobrychus minutus - 6 Cuckoo Cuculus canorus - very high breeding density, 60 birds on transect Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida – mixed flocks with Black Terns Ch. niger on most of shallow ponds visited, over 50 individuals were seen. Moustached Warbler Acrocephalus melanopogon - a family group (this species has not earlier been recorded as breeding in the Dnieper delta). According to the huntsman on the staff, Pygmy Cormorants are routinely shot as ducks in autumn; there is an urgent need to disseminate information about this bird to hunters in Ukraine. In general, there appears to be very little published information on this matter.