Attempts of the white stork (Ciconia ciconia) (Ciconiidae, Aves) to inhabit Karelia, Northwestern Russia

The paper briefly relates the history of the white stork’s expansion into Karelia (Northwestern Russia, 61° N, 33° E), this species being red-listed with a 3NT status (rare, near threatened) in the regional Red Data Book. The western populations of the species declined dramatically in the second half of the 20^th century, but targeted conservation actions have helped the species numbers to be restored. However, its West European populations are still listed in column A (category 3b) in the Action Plan of the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA). In view of the remaining risks and the tangible changes having occurred in the population size, it appears important to monitor the species’ distribution range and possible pathways of its expansion to new regions. The white stork’s breeding range currently encompasses Europe, excluding its northern regions, and reaches into the westernmost parts of Russia up to the southern districts of the Leningrad Region in the north. Vagrant birds are occasionally seen in central and northern districts of the Leningrad Region and even beyond, in Karelia. In this study, we have processed and synthesized archival, including partially published, and new records of solo individuals and groups of birds of this species from areas north of the regular breeding range and described some attempts of white storks to breed in these northern regions. We demonstrate that since the late 1960s, these birds have been regularly showing up in southern parts of Karelia, sometimes even farther north, and making occasional breeding attempts, pushing their permanent breeding range to the north and north-east. Having analyzed the records, we conclude that the visits of white storks to northern regions have become regular in the previous decades, but their attempts to breed there are still episodic and largely unsuccessful, suggesting that this species has not yet colonized Karelia as a breeding region.

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