L. Forró szerk.: Miscellanea Zoologica Hungarica 12. 1998 (Budapest, 1998)

Bankovics, A.: Distribution data of wildfowl (Aves: Anatidae) in the Khangai Mountain in Mongolia

MISCELLANEA ZOOLOGICA HUNGARICA Tomus 12. 1998 p. 93-97 Distribution data on wildfowl (Aves: Anatidae) in the Khangai Mountain in Mongolia by A. Bankovics (Received July 20,1998) Abstract: Records of 15 species are given from the Khangai Mountain region. There are fenological and ecological data on the breeding habits of the rare and the near- threatened Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus), data on the Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus), from a southernmost breeding area, as well as on the Spot-billed Duck (Anas poecilorhyncha zonorhyncha), which is a rather rare species in Mongolia reaching its northwesternmost boundary of the distribution in the Khangai Mountain. Key words: Anatidae, Mongolia, mountain wetlands Introduction The Mongolian avifauna due to the investigations carried out in the last decades became well-known (e. g. Vaurie 1964, Piechocki 1968, Piechocki & Bolod 1972, Mauersberger 1979). Although the data about the regional distribution of certain species is still scanty. The International Waterfowl Research Bureau established the co-operation with Mongolia over wildfowl research and conservation in 1968 (Nowak 1970). From that time some larger wetlands were studied, but many of the scattered small wetlands remained unknown. In the 1980s when the IWRB compiled the Asian Wetland Inventory it was noted that the data about waterfowl habitats are very incomplete in Mongolia. For this purpose the results of an earlier expedition could be useful. Therefore, I want to contribute my observations on wildfowl from the central part of the Khangai Mountain region, in the northern area of Baj an Hongor ajmak. I visited this region in 1978 with a small, four-member Hungarian zoological expedition sponsored by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. We spent 15 days in the Khangai Mountains studying three localities: Mandai, Bajan Obo and Bajan Hongor. Material and method During the expedition I was dealing with all the bird species living in the study areas. I paid a special attention to the members of the Anseriformes order. At the first locality (Mandai) I made a wildfowl census along a 10 km long stretch of the Cagan Turut Gol (a mountain stream). In the Bajan Obo basin there are two lakes near a yurta village, which were easy to check for birds. I was able to obtain approximate total numbers of the different wildfowl populations occurring in this area in the breeding season.(Table 1)