Natalia Karlionova

National Academy of Sciences of Belarus | NAS B · Institute of Zoology

Migrating animals are thought to be important spillover sources for novel pathogens. Haemosporidians (malaria-related parasites) are one such group of pathogens that commonly spillover into novel host communities if competent vectors are present. In birds, shorebirds (sandpipers, plovers and allies) perform some of the longest avian migrations, yet...

The Great Snipe as a long-distant migrant wintering in Africa, faces the challenge of accumulating sufficient energy reserves before the departure from European breeding grounds. Despite possible trade-offs in resource allocation, this species additionally initiates moult of flight feathers before southward migration. Here we discuss the strategy o...

The Black-tailed Godwit is a long-distant migratory species wintering in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Australasia. It has a near threatened status in the IUCN Red List. We have been studying breeding population of Black-tailed Godwit in the south of Belarus about last 20 years. The number of breeding birds has increased there from 5-7 to 30-...

Survival of adult individuals is a key demographic parameter, that is critical for conservation programs of species and evolutionary research focused on life-history traits. Here, we present the estimates of the apparent annual survival of lekking male Great Snipes of the lowland population, breeding in wet meadow habitats in the valley of the Prip...

The field studies were conducted in three ephemeral river islets of the middle Pripyat River, southern Belarus in 2006–2007. Nestlings of the Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) were ringed soon after hatching, and reencountered during subsequent visits. Post-hatching survival was estimated by capture-mark-recapture models. Daily survival rates of...

The display of lekking Great Snipe males is an energetically demanding activity and therefore, access to the rich feeding sites in the proximity of their leks is essential. During the breeding season, Great Snipes mostly prey on earthworms, whose availability is affected by moisture and penetrability of the soil. In this study, we investigated the...

Водно-болотное угодье международного значения «Болото Дикое» – один из наиболее уникальных объектов заповедного фонда Беларуси. На протяжении нескольких столетий болото активно осваивалось человеком, что привело к формированию современного облика ландшафтов, растительного и животного мира. Книга содержит оригинальные материалы, полученные в ходе мн...

White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) investigations were conducted at 17 landfill sites for the first time in Belarus during 2016–2018. Birds were registered on all large and medium size (more than 7 ha) landfill sites in different regions of the country. Storks use that places for feeding or resting from early April to late August. At the end of breeding...

Populations from different parts of the species’ range may vary in their genetic structure, variation and dynamics. Geographically isolated populations or those located at the periphery of the range may differ from those populations located in the core of the range. Such peripheral populations may harbour genetic variation important for the adaptiv...

The Redshank is a wader species that shows no sexual dimorphism in plumage, but some dimorphism in size. To propose a method for sexing birds of this species by linear measurements, a discriminant function analysis was applied to a set of morphometric traits in birds captured during the spring migration in southern Belarus. In total, 113 males and...

Lowland grasslands of Eastern Europe support strong populations of several species of ground-nesting waders, including the Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus. This species has experienced strong population declines in most of the continent, owing to habitat loss and impaired productivity, the latter being likely a result of predation on chicks. The...

Analysis of the biometric parameters of dunlins is based on data of 496 adult birds and 214 birds in their second year of life captured during the spring migration in the years 2002–2014 in the floodplain of the Pripyat River in southern Belarus. The average size of the dunlins caught in this area shows that the majority of birds correspond to the...

Age and seasonal differences in biometrics of the dunlins caught in the Pripyat River floodplain during their spring migration were analyzed. The data were collected from late March to early June, 2002-2014. There were no significant differences in all the mean measurements (except for the wing length) between the adult and immature birds. The imma...

Three strikingly different alternative male mating morphs (aggressive 'independents', semicooperative 'satellites' and female-mimic 'faeders') coexist as a balanced polymorphism in the ruff, Philomachus pugnax, a lek-breeding wading bird. Major differences in body size, ornamentation, and aggressive and mating behaviors are inherited as an autosoma...

Biometric data on 161 adult males and 166 adult females of the Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula captured in the southern Belarus in spring between 2002 and 2014 were analysed. In males, a significant decrease in total head length and wing length occurred from April to May, while there was no such trend in females. As individuals of the C. h. tund...

Материалы по видимой весенней миграции гусей собраны в пойме реки Припять, в окрестностях г.Туров (Житковичский р-н, Гомельская обл.). Рассматриваются общие результаты наблюдений за период 2006-2014 гг.

On the floodplain meadows of the Pripyat River in southern Belarus, Ruffs Philomachus pugnax form concentrations of up to 30,000 individuals during spring migration. The Ruffs replenish their energy reserves before continuing their northwards migration. Over eight spring seasons, between late March and middle May 2001–2008, we measured the body mas...

We studied the development of breeding plumage in 641 Ruff Philomachus pugnax males during spring in 2004–2006 in southern Belarus with special emphasis on the growth rate of ruff and tuft feathers, which are the most colourful and spectacular parts of the male plumage. During northward migration, male Ruffs arriving in the end of March or early Ap...

Influence of climate factors on phenology of spring migration of waders in the south of Belarus. -P.V. Pinchuk, N.V. Karlionova. Institute of Zoology of National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk. Over the last decades for some bird species it was registered a noticeable change in timing of spring migration in Europe toward its earlier start. I...

Aims To test the prediction that the occurrence in space and time of fæders on ecological grounds should track that of females. Methods The fraction of fæders was estimated in five morphometric data sets that were collected over four decades in four different countries in three different seasons (comprising 9133 Ruffs). The regression of fæder–fema...

Capsule F ae ders (males that are female look-alikes) associate with males rather than females, at several different spatial scales. Aims To test the prediction that the occurrence in space and time of f ae ders on ecological grounds should track that of females. Methods The fraction of feeders was estimated in five morphometric data sets that were...

Aims To test the prediction that the occurrence in space and time of fæders on ecological grounds should track that of females. Methods The fraction of fæders was estimated in five morphometric data sets that were collected over four decades in four different countries in three different seasons (comprising 9133 Ruffs). The regression of fæder–fem...

We present data on the autumn migration of Red-throated Pipit in the Pripyat river valley, S.Belarus (Gomel region, Turov 52.04 N, 27.44 E). Studies were conducted on floodplain meadow - between the beginning of August and mid-October during 2001-2006. We present also biometric data Red-throated Pipits and Meadow Pipits. In total during 25 Septembe...

In spring, the Ruff Philomachus pugnax passes through European inland sites in large numbers. Birds from eastern and western parts of the breeding range may differ in biometrics, but data on this species in eastern Europe are scarce. The aim of this study was to describe the biometrics of Ruffs migrating through southern Belarus in spring. In 2004,...

Migratory waders travel across Eastern Europe much slower in the autumn than in spring and use a wide spectrum of wetlands for resting and refueling (Glutz von Blotzheim et al., 1975). Snipes migrate mainly through inland parts of Europe. The river floodplains are among the main suitable stop-over places for waders in inland Europe during autumn mi...

We present data on the breeding phenology and biometrics of Terek Sandpipers from the isolated westernmost population in the Pripyat’ river valley, S Belarus, close to the border with Ukraine. Studies were conducted on floodplain islands between the beginning of April and mid-July during 1996–1999 and 2002–2006. Over the years, the first arrivals a...

Wader ringing at the Turov ornithological station, Pripyat Valley (S Belarus) in 1996-2003

In most migrant birds, young perform their first migration independently of adults. The presumed dearth of learning opportunities has been linked to a lack of fast adaptive change in migration routes. Here we describe the first example of an adaptive route change within a generation of a migratory bird. Ruffs (Philomachus pugnax) migrating from Wes...