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영어

The Relict gull (Larus relictus) is a globally vulnerable and regionally endangered species, with a restricted distribution and scattered breeding sites across Central Asia. The migration of this species is relatively unexplored in terms of the migratory routes, wintering grounds, and stopover sites. This study is one of the initial attempts at understanding the biology and ecology of the species in Mongolia. In July 2021, we visited two lakes in western Mongolia that are key sites for breeding and molting, and conducted satellite tracking studies and counts of the species. We counted 1, 060 gulls, most of which were adults and second-calendar-year birds. Five adults were captured and deployed with satellite devices at Ikhes lake on July 15–17, 2021. The signals from two devices stopped during the study, but three individuals were successfully tracked from western Mongolia to their wintering grounds in China. The tracked individuals traveled remarkably long distances: 2,612–3,093 km during migration and 195–302 km at the summer site.All tracked individuals began to move south between July 30 and August 18 and arrived at the wintering ground in China between August 8 and September 30. This was the first migration study of relict gulls in Mongolia, identifying their summering and wintering grounds, stopover sites, and travel distance to identify critical data and information for protection of breeding and molting habitats and stopover sites in China and Mongolia.