Relic birds of Alakol. The relic gull is a recently discovered and rare bird species. Daily activity, behavior
The relic gull reaches a size of 44 to 45 cm. The male and female are similar. The head and almost the entire neck are black, except for a light brown area between the beak and eyes. Above and below the dark red-brown eyes, a white spot can be recognized. The top is light grey. The tail is white. The wings are light gray with black edges on the flight feathers. Underparts and tail are white. In winter plumage, the head is white. The ring around the eyes, beak and legs are dark red. Young birds have a white head with brown spots. The beak is dark brown at the beginning, with the base under the beak lighter and later becoming orange-red. Legs are dark grey. The ring around the eyes is black.
habitat
The relic gull is common in Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia and China. Breeding colonies are known on the Alakol and Balkhash lakes in Kazakhstan, on the Barun-Torey lake in the Chita region, on Falshivy Island in the Primorsky Territory, on the Taatzin-Tsagan-Nur lake in the Valley of Lakes in Mongolia, and also on the Ordos plateau in Inner Mongolia in China. Non-breeding birds migrate to Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam for the winter.
The nesting colonies of the relict gull are located at an altitude below 1,500 m in dry steppes, as well as in sand dunes, on salt lakes with unstable water levels. The relict gull requires humid and warm weather conditions, as well as vast territories, for successful nesting.
| Species name: | relic seagull |
| Latin name: | Larus relictus Lonnberg, 1931 |
| English title: | Relic Gull |
| French title: | Goeland relique |
| German name: | Lonnbergmowe |
| Latin synonyms: | Mongolian Gull |
| Squad: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | |
| Status: | Breeding migratory species. |
General characteristics and field signs
Seagull with a dark head, medium size, the size of a gray gull. The wing pattern resembles the black-headed gull, but differs from it in much smaller sizes. From all dark-headed gulls of our country in the field, it is well distinguished by wide white stripes above and below the eyes, which often close behind the eye, forming a semi-ring (“glasses”). In this respect, the relict gull is similar to the American L. pipixcan. Flight, swimming, like other gulls of similar size; does not dive. Outside the colony is usually silent. An alarm call - a three-syllable short "kav-kav-kav" - is similar to the same cry of other gulls. In addition to it, hoarse cries like “arrr”, “arrriu”, short shrill “rviu”, various rumbling and screeching sounds, reminiscent of the whining of a puppy or the squealing of a piglet, are usually heard in the colony.
Description
Adult birds in breeding plumage (ZM Moscow State University; Zoological Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR). The chin and forehead are light coffee or deep gray, which quickly darkens and turns into dark brown and black on the crown, throat, nape and neck. The border of the "hood" at the back runs along the back of the head, in front the black color also captures the top of the front of the neck. Above and below the eye are white stripes 4–7 mm wide, which in some cases close behind the eye. Neck, chest, flanks, belly, tail, rump, winglet, axillaries and underwing coverts are white; the back and upper wing coverts are light grey.
II (first visible) primaries white with a light gray base, black outer web almost to the top of the feather and a black preapical spot. The third primordial with a black preapical spot, a black outer web in the distal part of the feather and a second black spot at the very top; the gray color of the base gradually turns into white approximately in the middle part of the feather. On feather IV, the black preapical spot and the black area of the outer web are shifted to the apex, the light gray color of the base extends to about two-thirds of the feather. V and VI primary primaries with black preapical spots at the very apex; the gray is dressed almost to the very spot. The rest of the primaries are grey; VII may have a black preapical spot. The secondaries are light gray with a white distal part. The beak and legs are dark red. According to A.F. Kovshar (1974), the iris is dark brown, the edges of the eyelids are bright red.
Winter final attire is not described.
Down outfit (ZIN; live chicks from Torey lakes). The head, neck, chest, flanks and abdomen are silvery white. The forehead, chin, back and wings are light gray with separate dark gray fluffs; on the back, upper part of the neck and wings, dark fluffs are often combined into indistinct dark gray spots. The beak is black-gray, with an ivory-colored tip, the paws are grayish-brown.
Nest outfit (Kovshar, 1974). The forehead, cheeks and throat are white, the crown and nape with an indistinct dark pattern. Neck feathers are white with wide preapical brown stripes; the feathers of the back and upper wing coverts are gray-gray, with wide brown preapical fields and wide whitish endings. The rump, flanks and entire underparts are white. The tail is white with a wide preapical black-brown stripe. The first and second flight feathers are entirely black, the rest with white fields gradually increasing in the proximal direction on the inner webs; all flight feathers with white drop-shaped spots on tops. The beak is dark brown, lighter at the base of the mandible, the paws are dark gray. The iris is dark brown, the edges of the eyelids are black.
The first winter outfit (Copies of the ZIN collection No. 157 118 and 157 119 from China, Hebei Province, Dagu, April 8, 1935 and October 29, 1934). Wings and tail feathers, as in nesting plumage. The forehead, throat, bridle, lower part of the neck, belly, sides, rump and undertail are white, on the crown of the head there are small dark brown streaks, which gradually enlarge on the back of the head and back of the neck and turn into rare drop-shaped streaks. The chest is white, with small rare brown streaks or without them. The back is grey.
The first summer and second winter outfits are not described.
The second summer outfit (copy No. 157 117 of the ZIN collection dated April 9, 1935 from China, Hebei Province, Dagu). As definitive, but II (first visible) and III primaries are black with white preapical spots. On the inner webs of primaries II–V there is a wide light gray field, the length of which increases from feathers II to V; in the latter, it does not reach the wing margin, 2–3 cm. VI–VII primary flight feathers are gray with a brown preapical spot, the rest are gray.
The third winter and third summer plumages are apparently definitive, although certain features of intermediate plumages may be retained in some individuals.
Structure and dimensions
| sign | Floor | Birds from Kazakhstan (ZM Moscow State University; ZIN; Auezov, 1971; Kovshar, 1974) | Birds from Transbaikalia (ZM Moscow State University; ZIN; Larionov, Cheltsov-Bebutov, 1972; Vasilchenko, Golovushkin, Osipova, oral communication) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | lim | The average | n | lim | The average | ||
| Wing length | males | 7 | 338-356 | 348 | 18 | 337-362 | 347 |
| females | 8 | 322-347 | 328 | 4 | 334-354 | 343 | |
| Beak length | males | 7 | 35,0-38,0 | 36,9 | 18 | 32,3-42,5 | 36,9 |
| females | 8 | 32,5-36,1 | 34,4 | 4 | 32,2-36,6 | 34,1 | |
| Lantern length | males | 7 | 53,0-64,6 | 60,2 | 18 | 53,1-65,4 | 57,9 |
| females | 8 | 52,5-59,0 | 56,2 | 4 | 49,0-58,5 | 54,4 | |
| Body mass | males | 7 | 470-575 | 505,8 | — | — | — |
| females | 5 | 420-488 | 462,8 | — | — | — | |
| males and females | — | — | — | 7 | 499-665 | 573,7 | |
Moult
Almost unexplored. According to M.A. Osipova (1987a), the molting of adult birds into winter dress is of a protracted nature and proceeds in the second half of July-August, ending, apparently, already at wintering grounds. The contour plumage begins to change first, the last are the helmsmen and coverts of the helmsmen. The molting of the flight feathers and their coverts begins with the inner primaries. The timing of the molting of intermediate outfits has not been established. The ZIN collection of the USSR Academy of Sciences has 2 specimens in the first winter plumage taken on 29.X and 8.IV, and a specimen in the second summer plumage taken on 9.IV.
Subspecies taxonomy
monotypic appearance.
Notes on systematics
The relict gull was described by E. Lönnberg as a subspecies of the black-headed gull Larus melanocephalus relictus on the basis of one specimen caught on April 24, 1929 in Inner Mongolia in the lower reaches of the river. Edzin-Gol (Lonnberg, 1931). Later it was suggested that this is a specimen of the brown-headed gull deviating from the usual coloration (Dementiev, 1951) or a hybrid between the black-headed gull and the brown-headed gull (Vaurie, 1962). On May 14, 1963 and May 12, 1965, A.N. Leontiev caught two relic gulls, identified as brown-headed, on the Toreysky lakes in the Chita region (Larionov, Cheltsov-Bebutov, 1972). On June 4, 1967, he also found a colony of these gulls here, which, due to an incorrect definition, he continued to consider brown-headed (Leontiev, 1968). The first report on the species independence of the relict gull was made by E. M. Auezov (1970, 1971) after the discovery in 1968–1969. colonies on the lake Alakol and comparisons of obtained specimens with gulls of other species in the collections of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University and Zoological Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, conducted by A.F. Kovshar. Almost simultaneously with this, M. Stubbe and A. Bold (Stubbe and Bolod, 1971) suggested that the relict gull is species independent.
Spreading
Nesting area. Nesting was reliably noted only in three points (Fig. 18, 19): on the lake. Alakol (Taldy-Kurgan region of the Kazakh SSR), on the lake. Barun-Torey (Chita region of the RSFSR) and in 1984 on the lake. Balkhash (Auezov, 1986). Sharp fluctuations in the number of nesting gulls over the years and an extremely small number of sightings of ringed adult birds in the colony with almost complete ringing of chicks indicate the presence of some other unknown colonies (Auezov, 1980). During the breeding season, adult birds were caught in June 1957 on the lake. Ikhzs-Nur in the Gobi Altai (Piechocki et al., 1981) and on May 15, 1966 at Lake Bayan-Nur south of the lake. Buir-Nur in the eastern part of Mongolia (Stubbe and Bolod, 1971). A solitary bird was encountered on May 1-2, 1975 on the bank of the river. Bulgan-Gol in western Mongolia (Piechocki et al., 1981); 20 pairs were recorded on April 24-V, 5, 1977 on the lake. Orok-Nur and 3 couples near the lake. Taatzin-Tsagan-Nur in the Mongolian Valley of Lakes, 3 birds were caught on July 5, 1977 on the lake. Khukh Nur in northeastern Mongolia (Kitson, 1980).
Figure 18.
1 - nesting settlements, 2 - meetings of birds during the breeding season, 3 - the proposed border of the nesting range, 4 - the proposed wintering sites, 5 - the proposed directions of spring migrations
Figure 19.
1, 3 - known nesting settlements, 2, 4 - areas of easy migration, 5 - migration of brown-headed gulls
Two vagrant individuals were noted on the northern slope of the Munkh-Khairkhan mountain range in the western part of Mongolia (Kishchinsky et al., 1982). In other places of Mongolia, including in the basin of large lakes, it has not yet been found (Kitson, 1980). Of these places, nesting (apparently not annual) is most likely in the vicinity of lakes Bayan-Nur, Khukh-Nur and in the Valley of Lakes (Stubbe and Bolod, 1971; Kitson, 1980). It is possible that there are colonies of relic gulls in China in the vicinity of the Alakol and Barun-Torey lakes.
wintering
The wintering grounds of relic gulls are apparently located in Southeast Asia. On October 29, 1934, on April 8 and 9, 1935, relic gulls were caught in the Bohaiwan Bay of the Yellow Sea (ZIN), and on September 30, 1971, a young gull, ringed by a chick on June 3 of the same year, on the lake. Alakol, was mined on the lake. Byte Long in Quang Nin Province of Vietnam (Auezov, 1974, 1977).
Migrations
Ways and dates of migration of relict gulls are practically not studied. It can be assumed that the autumn and spring migration of Torey gulls passes through the Bohai Bay. It is possible that the spring migration route of the Alakol gulls also goes west from this bay, which probably then passes through the Gobi Desert, through the Valley of Lakes and further through the Dzhungar Gates, in the vicinity of which the first relict gull was recorded in 1973 on March 31 (Auezov, 1980). Birds fly singly, in pairs and in groups of up to 9 individuals (Auezov, 1980). According to the data of three returns of the rings (Auezov, 1977), some young birds, after rising to the wing, remain close to the nesting site until the end of September (up to 250–300 km northwest of Lake Alakol), while others fly over thousands of kilometers to wintering grounds. In late summer and autumn, relict gulls were observed on the lake. Khur-Nur in the Eastern Gobi (August 9 and 12, 1970) and along the southern foothills of the Khangai, where on September 15-17, 1982 the birds fed on Brandt's voles and disappeared on September 20 with the establishment of frost (E. N. Kurochkin, oral communication).
habitat
In the nesting season - salty steppe lakes with variable water levels. During the period of migration, relict gulls stay along river valleys and inland water bodies, during wintering, apparently, along sea coasts.
population
On the lake Alakol in 1968, 15-20 pairs nested, in 1969 - 25-30, in 1970 - 118, in 1971 - 35, in 1972 - more than 120, in 1973 - did not nest, in 1974 - 40 pairs, in 1975 - about 500 pairs, in 1976 - about 800, in 1977 - about 1,200, in 1978 - about 350, in 1979 - about 300, in 1980 - 414, in 1981 - 252, in 1982 - 350, in 1983 - 700 and in 1984 - 700 pairs (Auezov, 1975; Auezov et al., 1981; Auezov, Sema , oral communication). On the lake Barun-Torey in 1967, at least 100 breeding pairs were noted, in 1970 - 81, in 1975 - 322, in 1976 - 493, in 1977 - 86, in 1979 - 612, in 1980 - 312, in 1981 - 280, in 1982 - 653, in 1983 - did not nest, in 1984 - 320, in 1985 - 1025 pairs (Leontiev, 1968; Potapov, 1971; Golovushkin, 1977; Zubakin, 1978; Vasilchenko, 1986). On the lake Balkhash in 1984 met 1 pair of birds with a chick aged 15-17 days (Auezov, 1986). In general, in the USSR, apparently, up to 2.2 thousand pairs can nest; the global population is unlikely to exceed 10,000 adults.
reproduction
Daily activity, behavior
Activity is diurnal, but there are indications of some activity at night, in particular, the arrival of gulls in the colony before dawn (Auezov, 1977). A characteristic feature of the behavior of relic gulls in a colony is their low fearfulness. During the hatching period, gulls let a person approach the colony at a distance of 10–20 m, after which a smaller part of the birds take off, and the majority begin to move away from their nests (Potapov, 1971; Auzzov, 1977; Zubakin and Flint, 1980).
Nutrition
Feeding stations of relict gulls are shallow waters near the coast and a splash zone, where gulls eat insects blown into the water and washed ashore, dead fish, and crustaceans; in addition, virgin steppes and fields (Zhuravlev, 1975; Golovushkin, 1977; Auezov, 1980; Osipova, 19876). On the lake Alakol during the nesting period, the main food is insects, which are noted in 100% of the pellets of adult birds (where they make up 98.5% of the total number of food objects) and in 97.1–100% of burps of nestlings. Occasionally, fish, small mammals, passerine birds, small crustaceans, and spiders were noted among food items; in some years barley grains are often found. Among insects, the main food for adult birds and chicks is mosquitoes - bells (chironomids). In contrast to black-headed and herring gulls, relict gulls were not recorded at the dumps of settlements, at fur farms and fish receiving points (Auezov, 1980).
According to the analysis of the pellets collected on the Torey lakes on June 11-16, 1976 (n = 163) and in July 1982 (n = 120), grains of cultivated cereals were contained in 97.5% of the pellets in 1976 and in half of the pellets in 1982. Insects (mainly beetles) in 1976 were found in 55.8% of the pellets, aquatic crustaceans in 24.6%, fish in 18.4%, passerines in 0.6%, Brandt's voles - in 1.2%, jumping jerboa - in 0.6%. Gastroliths were noted in 63.2% of the pellets. In 1982 the remains of 2 Brandt's voles were found; among insects, more than 98% were beetles, as a rule, mass species (dark beetles, weevils, ground beetles). In 1976, the eating of the eggs of the greaves, as well as eggs and, possibly, chicks of their own species, was noted (Zubakin and Flint, 1980; Osipova, 1987b).
Enemies, adverse factors
Relic gull colonies are inaccessible to terrestrial predators. Of the raptors, herring gulls have the greatest impact on their settlements, in some cases completely destroying eggs and chicks (Zubakin, 1979). Weather factors are important. It has been established that the number of nesting relict gulls increases in dry and warm years, and decreases in cold and rainy years (Auezov, 1980). The death of colonies during storms was repeatedly noted.
Disturbance plays a special role in the death of offspring in relict gulls. Exceptional sensitivity to it is explained, firstly, by a combination of cannibalism in relation to clutches with a high nesting density and, secondly, by cohabitation with herring gulls. In the absence of disturbance, relict gulls, unlike, for example, smaller black-headed gulls, can resist predation by herring gulls. However, the general take-offs of the birds of the colony during its disturbance by humans not only make it extremely easy for herring gulls to catch eggs and chicks, but also enable cannibal individuals to peck at the clutches of gulls that descend into the colony later than others. Sufficiently frequent alarm rises therefore lead to the thinning of the colony, which becomes unable to withstand the onslaught of herring gulls and dies. As a disturbance factor that triggers such a mechanism for the destruction of a colony, not only visits to the colony by humans or four-legged predators, but also some weather conditions can act: rain with strong winds, storms. Apparently, it is the special sensitivity to the disturbance factor that is responsible for the extreme small number of this species, and the low shyness of relict gulls in the colony described above is an evolutionary attempt to somehow reduce its catastrophic impact (Zubakin, 1979; Zubakin and Flint, 1980).
Economic importance, protection
Due to its extreme rarity, the species has no economic value. The relic gull is listed in the IUCN Red Book and the USSR Red Book. The preservation of this gull from extinction depends on providing it with the opportunity to nest in conditions that exclude any human disturbance.
The relict gull - Larus relictus - nests in Russia only on Lake Barun-Torey in the Chita region. Prefers islands of salty lakes with unstable water level; during migration stays along river valleys, in winter along sea coasts. Starts nesting at the age of 2-3 years. Clutch 3 eggs, breeding once a season. Settles in dense colonies of up to several hundred nests. The locations of the colonies change every year. It feeds on insects, grains of cultivated cereals, less often on aquatic invertebrates, fish, and small rodents. Eating eggs of their own species and cruel treatment of chicks by parents, leading to the death of part of the offspring, have been noted. No more than two chicks from the clutch rise to the wing.
most likely, it is a relic of the Tertiary period, when there was a huge Tethys epicontinental sea. This sea has long disappeared, and the birds that once inhabited its coasts and islands "inherited" bizarre and torn habitats.
For the first time, a relic gull was caught in the spring of 1929 on the river. Edzin-Gol in the South Gobi. The only skin of this bird lay in the collection for 40 years, causing bewilderment of experts - either a hybrid or a morph. Only in 1968-1969, when Kazakh ornithologists on the lake. Alakol discovered a whole colony of 25-30 pairs of the same gulls, it became clear that this is a special kind of gull, and besides, it is rare, if not disappearing. Subsequently, stuffed relic gulls were found in collections collected in the area of the Torey lakes in the southeast of the Chita region. Thus, the second nesting site of this species was discovered, located almost 2.5 thousand km from Kazakhstan. Alakol is a large and deep-sea salt lake with permanent islands, and the Torey lakes are represented by a system of shallow, periodically drying up lakes in a saline basin. However, relic gulls living so far apart and in relatively different habitats are almost indistinguishable from each other.
The relic gull in breeding plumage is characterized by darkening from the beak to the neck (from light coffee to black) color of the head, wide white half-rings near the eyes and dark ends of the wings. These gulls nest in dense colonies, nesting about 40 cm apart. Often birds settle near or even in the center of a colony of greaves or gull-billed terns. In May, relic gulls lay 1-4 eggs, which both birds of the pair incubate for 24-26 days. Downy chicks are pure white in color and stay on land in herds for about three weeks. Parents feed the chicks with belching mainly from various insects. Colony on the lake Birds leave Alakol early, already in August. The places of their wintering have not yet been established, but one of the ringed gulls on September 30 was killed on a lake in Prov. Quang Ninh in northern Vietnam. During the migration period, relic gulls were encountered in Eastern Mongolia. In the west of Mongolia, a young bird was observed on August 14, 1974 on the floods of a spring in the foothills of the Gobi Altai, and on July 15, 1979, a pair of adult gulls was noted near a lake in the Munkh-Khairkhan mountains.
Long-term observations of E. M. Auezov on the lake. Alakol showed significant fluctuations in the number of nesting pairs - from 20-40 (1968-1969, 1971 and 1974) to 800-1200 (1976-1977); in 1973 there were no relic gulls here. There is no doubt that in some years nesting birds are redistributed, most likely to lakes in the northwestern part of China, or, as E. M. Auezov suggests, to the islands of Lake. Balkhash.
Nesting places of relict gulls on the lake. Since 1971, Alakol has been declared a state reserve, colonies are also protected on the Torey lakes. This species is included in Appendix 1 of CITES, and its extraction in the USSR is completely prohibited.
Larus relictus (Lonnberg, 1931)
Relic Gull | Moinak nemese alakoz
Description
In adult (over three years old) relict gulls in spring and summer, the back and wing coverts are bluish-gray. Neck, tail, rump and entire underparts are white. The head is black with a light coffee coating around the beak; on the forehead, cheeks and throat, this coating gradually darkens and gradually turns into a pure black color of the crown, occiput, ears and lower throat. Above and below the eye - one wide (6-7 mm) bright white stripe, which close behind the eye, forming an incomplete ring, contrasting against the dark background of the head. The primaries are white with a black pattern. In individuals with the least development of this pattern, the black color is retained only on the outer webs of the first three primaries and in the form of wide preapical stripes through both webs of the second - fifth primaries. In some (probably younger ones) black color also occupies a significant part of the inner web of the first two primaries. The beak is dark red. The tarsus, fingers and membranes are meat-red, the claws are black. The iris is dark brown, the edges of the eyelids are bright red. Juveniles in nest plumage have white neck feathers with wide preapical brown stripes; the feathers of the back and upper wing coverts are gray-gray, with wide brown preapical fields and wide whitish endings. The forehead, cheeks and throat are white; crown and occiput with indistinct dark pattern. The rump, flanks and entire underparts are white. The tail is white, with a wide preapical black-brown stripe. The first and second flight feathers are entirely black, the rest have white fields gradually increasing in the proximal direction on the inner webs; all flight feathers with white tear-shaped tops, which wear out much faster than the black parts of the feather. The beak is dark brown, lighter at the base of the mandible, the legs are dark gray. The iris is dark brown, the edges of the eyelids are black. After the first autumn molt, the head and neck are white, with occasional dark brown drop-shaped spots. Back and wing coverts as adults, only lesser coverts with broad brown tips. Tail with a dark preapical stripe. The legs are light gray, the beak is light at the base and dark at the top. Dimensions. Males (5): wing 338 - 352, tail 134 - 150, beak 35 - 35 mm. Females (6) wing 322 -345, tail 126 - 143, tarsus 52.5 - 59, beak 33 - 35 mm. Weight: 420 - 575 g.
Spreading
The relic gull breeds on the islands of Lake Alakol, in the eastern part of Balkhash and on the lakes of the Pavlodar Irtysh region. Observed on migration at Zhalanashkol Lake and in the corridor of Dzungarian Gates. From birds ringed on Lake Alakol, one return was received from North Vietnam, three from China and two unusual - one ring was sent from Bulgaria, where the gull was encountered on March 25, 1978, the second from Turkey on March 30, 1990, which suggests the wintering of this species in the Black and Mediterranean Seas.
Biology
The relict gull is a rare nesting migratory bird. Inhabits large salt lakes with islets, both permanent and temporary. Appears in late March - April in small groups in spring. Breeds in dense colonies, sometimes more than a thousand pairs, often together with black-headed gulls, gull-billed terns and terns. The nest is built on sandy islands with weak vegetation and is a shallow hole lined with dry grass, which is added during incubation. Nests are located at a small distance from each other. Clutch of 1-4 eggs occurs in May. The eggs are light olive-clay in color with dark brown or dark olive and rich light gray spots. Both parents incubate the clutch (the female at night and early morning, the male during the day) for 24-26 days and then feed the chicks, which hatch in June and begin to fly at the age of 40-45 days, in July. Autumn departure begins in early August, most birds leave nesting sites in September. And already at the end of September, one ringed bird was noted at the wintering grounds in Vietnam.
Information sources
"Birds of Kazakhstan" volume 5. "Science". Alma-Ata, 1974.
E.I. Gavrilov. "Fauna and distribution of birds in Kazakhstan". Almaty, 1999.
Gavrilov E. I., Gavrilov A. E. "The Birds of Kazakhstan". Almaty, 2005.
In the mid-60s of the last century, the world ornithological community was excited by the news that arrived from Lake Alakol. Ernar Auezov (son of the great writer) discovered a seagull on the lake, which was considered extinct for several decades. The furore in science was such that the authorities of the Kazakh SSR in 1971 declared the territory of the islands a state reserve.
On the basis of the reserve, a reserve with an intriguing name - "Relic Seagull" was later opened. However, this “news” did not carry anything new for Alakol himself - it only calmly waited in the wings on these deserted shores, calmly existing here since ancient times, when the inner Mediterranean “seas” of Central Asia covered much more extensive spaces.
It was the skin of a single copy, obtained by the tireless explorer of Inner Asia, the Swede Sven Gedin in 1929 in Mongolia, that doomedly gathered dust in the stocks of the Stockholm Museum, and the researchers considered it a zoological curiosity, an accidental hybrid that existed in a single copy.
And then, suddenly, on the islands of Alakol, a whole colony of relic gulls was found, arriving with the onset of heat from nowhere to breed. That is how, according to the tradition of Swedish ornithologists, they began to call the newly discovered bird, which was discovered almost simultaneously in the Chita region, and then in other places of Deep Asia (although in very limited quantities). The peculiarity of the settlement of the relict gull has strengthened scientists in the idea that they are dealing with the last representatives of a species that was once widespread in the now dried-up reservoirs that existed in prehistoric times here, in the depths of the most extensive continent of the Earth. It also turned out that a seagull flew to us from fraternal Vietnam to fly to us.
True, from the point of view of the layman, the relic gull was hardly capable of shocking the imagination as much as some Komodo monitor lizards or New Zealand echidnas. A non-specialist would not actually distinguish her from an ordinary lake relative. But science has its own criteria and gradations of values.
However, here's a paradox, the fruits of the popularity of this black-headed gull are now used by completely different birds that live on protected islands - it itself again disappeared without a trace from Alakol before the eyes of researchers. No reason given. I just took it once, and stopped returning from hot countries and breeding on our islands. But, it would seem, here she had all the conditions for that. In recent years, only single specimens have appeared on Alakol. Wayward relic.