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Birds of Moscow and the Moscow Region
The ‘Birds of Moscow and the Moscow Region’ project started in 1999 and is organized by the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University.
The ‘Birds of Moscow and the Moscow Region’ project was launched in 1999 and is organized by Moscow State University's Zoological Museum. Its chief aim is to collect as much information as possible on the bird species present in our region, their status, distribution and numbers, behaviour and interaction with humans. The project is carried out by both professional ornithologists and amateur birdwatchers and seeks to involve as many nature enthusiasts as possible in field work. Our goal is to unite people who know, love and protect birds, and work together towards a new Handbook about birds of Moscow and the Moscow Region. The timeliness of this undertaking is underlined by the fact that the last detailed overview of the region’s birds dates back to 1968.
At the heart of our project is the hope that on the basis of widest possible participation, we will be able to present a much more detailed, interesting and varied picture of the bird life in Moscow and the Moscow Region, than could have been achieved by an individual observer. Over the past years a huge database has been set up, containing details of more than 150,000 observations of almost 300 bird species in Moscow and the Moscow Region.
Apart from the ongoing regular field work participants in the project are involved in various other activities, including:
- field work for an atlas of the birds of Moscow City, carried out during 2006-2010 in 2x2 km squares;
- preparation of the first photographic field guide to the birds of the central part of European Russia;
- winter counts of water birds in Moscow City and on the Moscow River;
- summer counts of water birds in Moscow City;
- monitoring of common bird species;
- phonological observations;
- observations at bird feeders.
Publications within the framework of the project include annual reports (summarizing data over each year), progress reports on field work for the Moscow City atlas, proceedings of the project and the biannual journal Moskovka. In 2006 the results of six years of field work were summarized in a major bilingual (Russian/English) publication (Kalyakin M.V. & Voltzit O.V. Atlas. Birds of Moscow and Moscow Region. Pensoft Publishers. Moscow & Sofia). The Zoological Museum hosts regular seminars on the birds of the region.
Everyone interested is invited to take part in the project. You can just send in your observations, join our mail group (birdnewsmoscow@yahoogroups.com) or take an active part in field work (including work on an atlas of the birds of Moscow City). All types of observation are of interest. In all our publications the participants will be acknowledged individually for the information they have provided. Several eminent photographers have already joined our project, which provides an ideal opportunity to publish interesting bird photos in our various publications or show them in exhibitions which are held in the Zoological Museum from time to time.
Photo - K. Kovalyev
Translation - N. Connolly,
G. Groot
Koerkamp