Stulgio perinčios populiacijos būklė Lietuvoje

• Main Author: Raudonikis, Liutauras
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Lithuanian; English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: great snipe
• Online Access: http://lmavb.lvb.lt/LMAVB:ELABAPDB5912927&prefLang=en_US

Great Snipe as a breeding species in Lithuania was first mentioned by T. Ivanauskas at the beginning of the 20th century. Later, in the post Second World War period the species was not recorded in the country until 1979, when first nests were found on the island of Lake Kretuonas and later in Čepkeliai Reserve. Since 1992 Great Snipes have been regularly recorded in the Nemunas River delta area. Other distribution areas were located in the eastern and southern parts of the country. The status of Great Snipe breeding population was first time estimated in 1998-2000 implementing the project ofGallinago sp. research financed by French conservation organization OMPO. The results of the project were summarized in publication Snipes in Lithuania (2001). The research showed that sporadic distribution is charasteristic of the species, and the population of Great Snipe was estimated at 200-300 pairs. The second inventory of the species was performed in 2010. All previously known lek places were checked, and potential breeding habitats were selected analyzing the satellite images. During the fieldworks 12 lek places (60 males) in 9 territories of 2 areas (The Nemunas River delta and meadows near the Svyla River) were found. One more lek place was recorded near the Katra River (southern Lithuania) on Belorussian side of the river valley, although birds were feeding on Lithuanian side. In 6 other territories 16 observed birds did not form constant lek sites, therefore these were evaluated as potential breeding sites of the species (tab. 1). After data analysis the estimated number of breeding males in the country should not exceed 150-200 individuals.