Importance of Utliukskiy Liman for the Protection of Waterbirds in the Azov-Black Sea Region During Autumn Migration

Utliukskiy Liman is one of three typical and at the same time unique limans in the northwestern part of the Azov Sea Region of Ukraine. Despite the considerable anthropogenic transformation of the liman it continues to be a valuable wetland for migratory waterbirds. The current publication based on data collected from 1994 to 2015, in the period of autumn migrations 19 counts were conducted at Utliukskiy Liman. In total 1,134,832 ind. of 90 waterbird species (8 orders) were recorded. Averagely at liman were presented 59,728 waterbirds, with maximum 115,095 individuals. Throughout the season, many characteristics of waterbirds at Utliukskiy Liman are varying significantly due to the timing of migration of different waterbird species and their abundance. Detail information on this is presented in the paper. Among the counted birds, 60 species have certain conservations status. Maximum number of 20 counted species exceeded 1% of their geographical populations. According to obtained results, Utlyukskiy Liman occupies a stable place among the five most valuable wetlands of the Azov-Black Sea coast of Ukraine — in different years from 5th to 1st place on the total number of waterbirds