Saker populations were surveyed in European Russia in 1997-1999 as an integral part of the Saker Project in Eurasia (Fox, 1995, 1999, 2000; Fox and Eastham, 1996; Fox et al., 1996) with financial support by NARC (Abu Dhabi, UAE) and NARC Falcon Facility (Wales, UK).

Additional data was also collected in 2000. Our major objectives were:
(1) to survey the Saker breeding range and populations within European Russia;
(2) to assess recent nesting and feeding habitats for the Saker in the region.
(3) to reveal present and potential threats to the Saker in the region.

Surveys were made by mobile teams through particular studies of the promising, former and potential nesting sites of the species within the breeding range indicated in recent handbooks. Two large regions were selected: South-Central European Russia (mostly the Don River basin) and Eastern European Russia between the Lower Volga and Ural rivers. Records of Saker breeding sites found in literature and archives were studied, compiled and mapped. Reliable records by experienced local gamekeepers, hunters and bird watchers were also taken into account.

Three categories of records have been selected:
(1) Proven nesting area - occupied nest with eggs or young had been found;
(2) Presumed nesting area - Sakers repeatedly recorded during one breeding season at one site, hunting or defence behaviour was demonstrated, sightings of fledglings, proven nest record one or two years before.
(3) Questionable area - records of Sakers in summer, reliable information from local gamekeepers, hunters and bird watchers.

Populations

SOUTHERN-CENTRAL EUROPEAN RUSSIA. This large area of 450 thousand sq.km is mostly covered by the Don River basin which comprises over 20% of European Russia and encompasses 14 administrative regions (some of them partially). At the beginning of 20th century the entire river basin of the Don was an essential part of the Saker breeding range and covered about 70% of the range within European Russia. Six spring and summer surveys in 1997 covered 11 regions west of the Lower Volga river. In 1998 two areas within the Don River basin were surveyed. In 1999 four people made two survey routes: 44 days (23 June - 3 August), 650 km by car and 320 km by foot and 17 days (5 July - 21 July), approximately 150 km by foot. In 2000 two areas of our traditional study were surveyed in search of Sakers. A total of 35,000 - 50,000 km 2 or about 10 per cent of the Don River basin were believed to be potentially suitable for Saker. This is due to the favoured combination of both nesting (forest edges, wood groves, river cliffs or high pylons of electric power lines) and hunting (souslik colonies as most preferable food and also rook aggregations) habitats. In 1997, 10 Saker breeding areas, including the only proven one with a living nest, were recorded; in 1998 four nesting areas of the species were found. Results of 1999 and 2000 were disappointing: no single Saker falcon was recorded in 1999 across an area of over 30,000 km 2 of former Saker habitats. Over fifty potential nesting Saker sites including seven former breeding areas, probably occupied by those falcons in 1994-1998, were totally deserted. No local zoologists, gamekeepers, hunters or other experienced people mentioned any Saker sightings. Moreover many dozens of potentially important bird areas were thoroughly studied through the entire steppe and forest-steppe zones covering over ten administrative regions of European Russia (Regional field projects, 1999; Important Bird Areas 2000). In the course of the survey almost one hundred professional ornithologists and their local assistants noted 3-7 Saker pairs in 4 IBAs during the 1990s. During the 1999 season the only Saker pair was recorded above the Ergeny hills along an administrative line between the Kalmykia and Rostov region south-east of the Don delta (Belik, 1999). So, for several years the average Saker density was 0.55 (1997) -0.25 (1998) pairs per 1000 km 2 of potential Saker nesting habitat. Extrapolation allows us to suggest that 20-30 Saker pairs in 1997 and 10-15 pairs in 1998 still inhabited almost 0.5 mln km 2 over the entire Don basin. For 1999 and 2000 there was no data to calculate population density. Therefore, at present, if Sakers still live in southern-central European Russia the numbers are unlikely to exceed 5-10 pairs. The population trend is obvious: Sakers continue to decline and are on the brink of extinction. At the same time, Sousliks have begun to reappear in areas and there are signs of their recovery after a total crash across the entire of European Russia. In view of that promising phenomena there is good reason to continue selective Saker monitoring within such "recovering Souslik areas" in European Russia with hopes for a return of Sakers there in the near future.

EASTERN EUROPEAN RUSSIA occupies about 340,000 km 2 between the Volga and Ural rivers (Volga-Ural watershed) upon 5 administrative regions. Two surveys were performed there in 1997 and one in 1998 by mobile teams. In 1999 the surveyed area was three times less than before, mostly within the Saratov region. Additional information was provided by I.Karyakin and his colleagues for southern Bashkortostan and neighbouring areas. In 2000 only some previously known Saker nesting sites were checked. Potential Saker habitats in the region comprise 120,000 sq.km or about 30 per cent of the entire Volga-Ural watershed. In 1997, 22 Saker breeding sites (5 proven ones with occupied nests) and in 1998, 24 areas (10 proven) were recorded there. In 1999, 7 nesting sites (3 occupied nests) were noted. Two of them were within the same nesting areas as in 1997 and 1998. However, one clearly new Saker nest was found in southern Bashkortostan where a Peregrine had nested in previous years. This appears to be an example where the more powerful Saker pushed out a weaker Peregrine from an attractive nesting place. One nesting area at the Volga river bank occupied by Sakers for almost 20 years (Chernobai and Nikitina, 1990) up to 1998 (Lukyanov, 1999) was deserted in 1999. In 2000 existence of at least 5 Saker nesting sites were confirmed by a short survey. The average population density was 0.92 (1997), 0.96 (1998) and 0.8 (1999) pairs per 1000 km 2 of potential nesting habitats. Therefore a total Saker population east of the Volga River was likely to be relatively stable on a level of approximately 100 breeding pairs.

ENTIRE EUROPEAN RUSSIA. The Saker population status and trends differ in the western (the Don River basin) and eastern (the Volga-Ural inter-rivers) parts of the region. In short the population and breeding range in the west are decreasing, while in the east they are relatively stable but at a low level. Recent status of Saker populations in all European Russia are summarised as follows (table 1)

Breeding range

All raptor handbooks (Dementiev and Gladkov, 1951; Brown and Amadon, 1968; Baumgart, 1978; Cramp and Simmons, 1980; Cade, 1982) including recent editions (Baumgart, 1991; del Hoyo et al.,1994; Snow and Perrins, 1998) show a continuous breeding range of the Saker Falcon stretching over 1 mln km 2 of the southern half of European Russia and Ukraine. It includes the entire basin of the Don River. However, recent surveys made it apparent that the actual breeding range of the Saker falcon is quite fragmented and consists of separate areas, spots, and even individual nesting sites. Across European Russia the range is fragmented and is unlikely to exceed 50,000 km 2 , that is 20 times less than its former range of 30-50 years ago. In fact the Saker breeding range in Europe is most likely to consist of three isolated populations with solitary pairs dispersed between them. The most western population in Hungary, Slovakia and some neighbouring countries is comprised of approximately 200 pairs (Bagyura et al., 1994; Tucker and Heath, 1994). It is remarkably stable or even locally expanding thanks to new abundant prey such as pigeons and other birds which replaced sousliks as the major food (Baumgart, 1998, 2000) after the sousliks disappeared. Two other isolated areas of the Saker breeding range still exist in southern Ukraine (Piluga, 1999; Vetrov, 2000) and Eastern European Russia (Galushin & Moseikin 1998; 2000) Within the latter populations very few widely separated pairs are likely to still nest.

Threats and conservation

The main threats to Saker populations in Russia were the disappearance of sousliks as the major food source in the European part of the country and the illegal falcon trade. Other threats include habitat destruction, human disturbance and lack of ready-made nests. As for habitat destruction, Sakers demonstrate remarkable adaptability to nesting on the poles of electric lines (Piluga, 1991; Sarychev, 1993) and other artificial sites. Those recent adaptations promoted a significant increase of the Saker population across huge areas in Mongolia, very rich with food but scarce in falcon nesting sites (Ellis et al., 1997; Potapov et al., 1999; Shijirmaa et al., 2000).

In European Russia a major cause of the Saker population decline was the almost complete disappearance of its principle food, namely two species of souslik (Citellus citellus and C. pygmaeus). It could have resulted from natural phenomena such as climate change. Increasing warmth and humidity results in grass growing tall and dense making habitats unsuitable for sousliks. Also, a recent collapse in agriculture led to a sharp decrease in live-stock and grazing pressure on pastures and subsequent overgrowth of grasses. A Saker recovery will arise only if sousliks restore their previous numbers through forest-steppe areas of European Russia. Ideas of how to help sousliks to recover are proposed by V.Moseikin and A.Belyanin; if they are implemented as a special project it could be a reliable means for management of souslik populations. Captive-breeding and release of Sakers into the wild has been implemented in the Galichya Gora Nature Reserve (Lipetsk region) by Mr Peter Dudin and his colleagues for many years. There is a hope that some of the released Sakers will begin to nest within their former breeding range in Southern-Central European Russia. However, the first priority conservation measure for Russia is to stop illegal trapping and trade of Sakers and all large falcons. There are some signs that customs officials in Russia are becoming more aware of illegal falcon trade. One of the compulsory obligations of all project participants is the dissemination of information on Saker falcons and other raptors both during field studies among local people and via TV and other mass media as well as at various kinds of conferences, workshops and similar meetings. Newspapers in Russia published a number of articles highlighting the problems of poaching and smuggling of Sakers. At the same time they often exaggerated the cost of Sakers and Gyrfalcons provoking local people to rob falcon nests. Local TV invited some Project participants like Vitaly Ryabtsev in Irkutsk and Valery Moseikin in Saratov to tell of Sakers and other raptors and to unmask poachers and their local helpers. Federal TV in Moscow showed the "In the world of animals" programme with V.Galushin talking particularly about recent Saker problems and ways to solve them, including activities of the Saker Project in Russia supported by NARC and the Falcon Facility. The film produced by Dr Nick Fox and Dr E. Potapov on Sakers was also quite useful for dissemination of knowledge and efforts to save them. The above activities are gradually awakening public awareness of the Sakers in Russia.

Acknowlegements

Authors are sincerely thankful to NARC and The Falcon Facility, to the Project supervisors and managers namely Mr Mohamed Al Bowardi, Dr Nick Fox, Dr Eugene Potapov and all the people who helped, encouraged and favoured the Project implementation. We also thank Dr Nigel Barton and A.D. Stevens for proof reading.

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Proceedings of the II International Conference on the Saker Falcon and Houbara Bustard, Mongolia, 1-4 July 2000. - P. 34-43.