Portal to the Lesser White-fronted Goose

Literature type: Scientific

Journal: Bird Conservation International

Volume: 35 , Pages: e1. doi:10.1017/S0959270924000285

DOI: 10.1017/S0959270924000285

Full reference: Solovyeva, D., Lei, J., Tian, H., Fan, R., Vartanyan, S., Danilov, G., Barykina, D., Lu, C. & Lei, G. 2025. New information on the breeding and moulting ecology of the Eastern population of Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus from GPS/GSM tracking data. Bird Conservation International 35: e1. doi:10.1017/S0959270924000285 https://www.dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0959270924000285

Keywords: China, Russia, moulting site, breeding propensity, site fidelity, nest success, timing of nesting, Olenyok River, Anadyr River, East Siberia

Abstract:

The Eastern population of the Lesser White-fronted Goose (EPLWFG) Anser erythropus is shared between Russia and China. The summer range of the EPLWFG has been recognised as a continuous area extending from the Olenyok River in the west to the Anadyr River in the east and northwards from 64°N. The aim of this study was to provide information on breeding behaviour; nest-sites, nesting habitats, and time of nesting; nesting success; timing of summer movements including moult migration; moult timing, duration, and moulting habitats; site fidelity; and the effect of human presence. To accomplish this, we combined the results from field surveys with GPS/GSM tracking. A total of 30 summer tracks from 19 individual EPLWFG were analysed. We estimated breeding propensity in 93.8% of adult LWFG, and this factor did not seem to depend on breeding success in the previous season. Reproductive success was 13.3% in all nesting attempts. Non-breeders arrived three-week later and departed a week earlier. The EPLWFG are highly mobile during the summer. The core moulting site for the entire EPLWFG was discovered by this study and is located along the lower reaches of the San-Yuryakh and Kyuanekhtyakh rivers flowing towards the Omulyakhskaya Bay of the East Siberian Sea. The EPLWFG flightless period was 24.8 ± 2.8 days. A part of failured EPLWFG (43.7 %) migrated back to its early summer breeding/staging site after having completed moult. The strong site fidelity (100%) of adult birds to both nesting and moulting sites promotes the formation of local breeding populations, which could be considered conservation units if genetic studies support this differentiation. The EPLWFG selects the remotest and least human-accessible area for their remigial moult, and the main site was discovered with the help of tracking.

Literature type: Scientific

Journal: Wildfowl

Volume: 73 , Pages: 238–249

Language: English

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Full reference: Pokrovskaya, O., Sokolova, N., Erich, D., Gilg, O., Sokolov, V. & Sokolov, A. 2023. Globally threatened Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus nesting in association with Peregrine Falcons Falco peregrinus in southern Yamal, Russia. Wildfowl 73: 238–249

Keywords: breeding biology, nest association, nest protection, peregrine falcon, Siberia, arctic

Abstract:

Knowledge about the breeding biology and potential threats on the breeding grounds is important for conservation of threatened species. The main breeding range of the Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus (LWFG) forms a belt along the southern part of the Russian arctic and, although their main nesting habitat has been described based on observations of broods or pairs with breeding behaviour, only very few observations of confirmed nests have been reported. Since 2006, we have encountered 36 nests of this rare species in the Erkuta River basin (in the southern part of the Yamal Peninsula), described their nesting habitat and found that 71% of nests were associated with territorial Peregrine Falcons Falco peregrinus. Such a nest association, already described for other Siberian wildfowl, is assumed to increase the nest survival of LWFG in areas with high predation rates, but also raises indirect conservation concerns since the Peregrine Falcon is itself a rare species in many regions of Russia.

Literature type: Red list

Language: Russian In Russian.

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Full reference: Vinokurov, N.N. 2019. Красная книга Республики Саха (Якутия). Т. 2: Редкие и находящиеся под угрозой исчез- новения виды животных [Red book of the republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Vol.2 Rare and endangered animal species.] , Nauka, 270pp.

Keywords: red list, Yakutia, nesting, Bolshaya Ercha River, Tyung River, Uyandina River, Muna River, Abyi Lowland