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        Discussion Area 討論區 >> General 一般問題 >>  Watch out for wing-tagged Mongolian Gulls! 內蒙古銀鷗
        
(Message started by: Project Officer on Sep 24^th, 2004, 9:50pm)

Title: Watch out for wing-tagged Mongolian Gulls! 內蒙古銀鷗
Post by Project Officer on Sep 24^th, 2004, 9:50pm

For members' information:

----- Original Message -----
From: "Taej Mundkur"
To: "Asia Pacific Migratory Waterbirds"
Cc: "Orientalbirding
Sent: Friday, September 24, 2004 7:50 PM
Subject: [APMW] FW: [OB] Watch out for wing-tagged Mongolian Gulls!

Dear all,

Apologies for any cross-postings.

Attached is a call for observations on wing-tagged Mongolian Gulls Larus [vegae] mongolicus that have been marked in Mongolia on the oriental birding
forum by Axel.

The classification of many gulls is rather confusing and the study will hopefully reveal more about this little known breeding population. In trying to learn about the taxonomic status of the gull in question, I referred to "Waterbird Populations Estimates III", in which, Larus argentatus, the Herring Gull, is divided into several populations, including vega and mongolicus. The following information extracted from the publication may be of interest to readers.

Larus argentatus vegae
Breeding range - Taymyr to Chukotka & Anadyr, NE China
Population estimate - unknown
Core non-breeding range - W Pacific S to Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and S China
Note: Possibly merits full specific status. Includes weakly defined birulai
from W Taymyr to New Siberian Islands.

Larus argentatus mongolicus
Breeding range - SE Altai & L Baykal to Mongolia
Core non-breeding range - China & India
Population estimate - 57,000-66,000
Note: Very close to Larus (argentatus) vegae; maybe best treated as
subspecies of vegae, if vegae split from argentatus. Yésou (2001) estimated
the population at 19,000-22,000.

References:
Yésou, P. 2001. Phenotypic variations and systematics of Mongolian Gull.
Dutch Birding 23: 65-82.
Wetlands International. 2002. Waterbird Population Estimates - Third
Edition. Wetlands International Global Series No. 12, Wageningen, The
Netherlands. Can be downloaded from  HYPERLINK "http://www.wetlands.org"
www.wetlands.org  

With best wishes,  Taej

Dr. Taej Mundkur
Wetlands International - South Asia

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