Birds of eastern Kamchatka Peninsula

Yuzo Fujimaki, Hiroyoshi Higuchi, Norio Yanagisawa, Fumio Sato, Masaaki Komaru, Masatoshi Umeki, S. A. Alekseev, E.G. Lobkov, A. V. Ladygin and D. A. Banin

A bird survey was conducted in eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, USSR, July 2-12, 1991, by a team of Japanese and Soviet ornithologists. Five areas were surveyed ; Mt. Uzon caldera, Geizer Valley, the Semyachik shallow lake of Kuronotsky Natural Biosphere Reserve, Elizovo and the lower reaches of the Avacha River. A total of 97 bird species were recorded during the survey. In Betula ermanii forests of low altitudes in Elizovo and Semyachik, Phylloscopus borealis, Parus montanus, Emberiza rustica and Carpodacus erythrinus were abundant, and Erithacus sibilans, Erithacus calliope, Sitta europaea and Pyrrhula pyrrhula were common. In the bog along the lower reaches of the Avacha River, main species were Anas platyrhynchos, Tringa glareola, Gallinago gallinago, Larus ridibundus, and Motacilla flava. Of them L. ridibundiis bred in a targe colony of about 33,000 pairs. In the tundra of the Mt. Uzon caldera, waders such as Calidris minu-tilla, Tringa nebularia, T. glareola, G. gallinago and Phalaropus lobatus, Alaudaarven-sis, M. flava, Locustella ochotensis and Calcarius laponica were observed. In shrubs of the caldera, E. calliope, P. borealis, E. rustica and C. erythrinus were common. On shallow lakes of the caldera, Podiceps grisegena, Cygnuscygnus, Aythya marila, Melanitta nigra, Clangula hyemalis and L. ridibundus occurred. In shrubs of alder and tall grasslands of the Geizer Valley, M. flava, L. ochotensis, P. borealis, C. erythrinus and E. rustica were common. In bogs of Lake Semyachik, waders such as T. nebularia, T. glareola, Limosa limosa and G. gallinago, and L. ridibundus. Sterna hirundo, Sterna aleutica, M. flava, Anthus gustavi, L. ochotensis, Emberiza aureola and Emberiza schoeniclus were common. Four nests of Haliaeetus pelagicus were found: one on a sea coast rock, one on B. ermanii in caldera and two on B. ermanii in Semyachik. Three of the four nests were found on trees and faced toward open habitats such as grasslands and lakes.