What It`s Like to Be an Ornithologist

15:49, January 16, 2018

On January 20-21, UrFU invites everyone to participate in the census of waterfowl

January is when real ducks appear on selfies. Ornithologist at the University, regional coordinator of the project for registration of the waterfowl called "Seraya Sheyka" Alexandra Khlopotova invites everyone to the reservoirs of the city and the region to try yourself in the census of wintering birds. The counting must be done on January 20-21 as it will be conducted by specialists and volunteers simultaneously in 40 regions of Russia. In addition, you may find the perfect background for a selfie with the ducks and participate in the competition organized by the Bird Protection Union of Russia.

‘The people of Ekaterinburg and the region have been helping specialists with the count of mid-winter waterfowl since 2015. In the past year, 18 volunteers joined five ornithologists. Together they counted 2,268 mallards in the region, most of which were registered in Ekaterinburg. In total, the participants walked 17 km in search of waterfowl’, says Alexandra Khlopotova.

Experts ask observers to come to the reservoirs with a map of the area printed in advance and mark the number of birds with a pencil (ink pen may freeze in winter). Of special interest to the ornithologists is the data on the number of females and males in the flock: in Ekaterinburg it is easy to tell one from the other. The place should be photographed and the weather situation described at the moment of registration. The participants can send the results of the census to the coordinator of "Seraya Sheyka" at falcoperegrine@mail.ru, and selfies with the ducks should be uploaded to the official pages of the event on VK and Facebook.

‘Monitoring of mass species and their habitats has practical importance. Data on the change in the number and location of birds can serve as indicator of the socio-economic situation, the state of reservoirs’, notes Alexandra Khlopotova, ‘The participation of volunteers will help ornithologists to cover all wintering areas, because oftentimes they don`t know about all the places of wintering of the ducks' flocks.’

 

• The project’s page on VK