THE TENGMALM’S OWL (AEGOLIUS FUNEREUS) (STRIGIDAE, AVES) IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS

Abstract

Tengmalm’s Owl (Aegolius funereus caucasicus But.) inhabits dark coniferous, pine and deciduous forests in the mountains of the North Caucasus from the City of Tuapse in the west to the Inner Dagestan in the east, rising to pine forests to a height of 1,900 - 2,000 m above sea level. During its winter wanderings it occasionally occurs in the foothills, but almost does not go out to the piedmont plains. Winter records in the steppe regions of Ciscaucasia may refer to nomadic specimens of a nominate subspecies (A. f. funereus L.), common in the Voronezh region and in the north of the Rostov region. The bird finds the most optimal conditions in old dark coniferous and mixed forests of the Western Caucasus, and its maximum abundance is noted in the Teberda Nature Reserve (1 pair per 10 sq. km). In the Central and Eastern Caucasus, it lives in old deciduous forests (low-height mountains) and in pine forests (middle-height mountains). The population of Tengmalm’s Owl in the North Caucasus is considered relatively stable, and its total number is now estimated at 1-2 thousand pairs, including 200 - 400 pairs living in Karachaevo-Cherkessia and 20 - 30 pairs living in Adygea. Ecologically, Tengmalm’s Owl is closely connected with the Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus martius), whose old hollows it usually nests in. The birds display from January to May, but most actively in mid-April. In late April, they lay eggs, and fledg-lings appear in June - July.