The Feature of the Use by the Demoiselle Crane (Anthropoides Virgo, Linneaus 1758) the European Part of the Range in the Spring-Summer and the Pre-Migratory Periods

Abstract

It was revealed by a remote monitoring that the interfluve of Eruslan and Maly Uzen and the Manych basin, which were located 600–800 km from each other, served as the most important spring-summer habitats and key trophic areas of the Caspian, Volga-Ural, and Cis-Ural subpopulations of the Demoiselle Crane (Anthropoides virgo, Linneaus 1758). These subpopulations nest from the Central Ciscaucasia to the Cis-Ural. Demoiselle Cranes of the Caspian subpopulation stay only in the Manych Basin during both spring-summer and trophic stage of migration, without flying outside this territory. Families from the Trans-Volga Region of the Volga-Ural subpopulation use both key areas during the trophic stage, whereas families from the Western Kazakhstan spend most of the trophic stage in the interfluve of Eruslan and Maly Uzen and move to the Manych basin before the start of the transit stage of an autumn migration. The total area of the territory that is used by Demoiselle Cranes in the interfluve of Eruslan and Maly Uzen, as well as in the Manych basin, was 6948.6 and 29457.2 km² respectively. The Volga-Ural subpopulation uses a larger territory in the Manych basin compared to the Caspian subpopulation, which adheres to the coastal zone of the Manych. Cranes which breed in the Manych basin are the first to begin the transit stage of a migration and their departure time is the most extended. The Demoiselle Cranes of the Volga-Ural subpopulation fly away at a later and shorter time.