2020.12.17

A new species of bird has been discovered in Nakhchivan

Favorable natural and geographical conditions of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, diversity of habitats, location of migratory birds in the region on the Eurasian-African migration route have laid the foundation for the formation of a rich fauna of birds here. For this purpose, the employees of the Institute of Bioresources of the Nakhchivan Branch of ANAS for many years conducted special research work on the regional ornithofauna and obtained valuable scientific results.

Huseyn Rasulzadeh, a junior researcher at the institute, enriches his knowledge of our fauna with new scientific information through his research work. Thus, a few days ago, a young ornithologist discovered a new species of bird for the fauna of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic for the first time - the Three-Toed Gull, in the left coastal plain of the lower part of the Araz reservoir, in the vicinity of Araz Hydroelectric Power Station.

The Three-Toed Gull belongs to the Gull group of the Charadriiformes family. According to the literature, the life of a new inhabitant of our fauna is associated with open water basins and is a widespread bird in the zoological region of the Holarctic. In 2018, it was observed for the first time in Azerbaijan in the Beshbarmak State Nature Reserve. It is a medium-sized bird and differs from other gull species by the absence of black spots on the black claws and black tips of flight feathers. The absence of the back finger on the paws is the main defining feature, a small bulge appears in its place. There is a black ring in the shape of a ring on his neck. The color of the body changes depending on the individual development of the bird. The black stripe at the end of the tail narrows from the center to the edges and gives the impression of a concave appearance in the tail. The bird's food consists mainly of small fish, crustaceans and mollusks that are obtained by hitting the water.

It is going to study the biological and ecological features of the lifestyle of the newly discovered Three-Toed Gull in the conditions of the autonomous republic.

Note that as a result of his research, H. Rasulzadeh had discovered another new bird species in February this year - Black-Winged Kite.