BRIEF REVIEW OF RUSSIAN-LANGUAGE LITERATURE
ON THE GYRFALCON (FALCO RUSTICOLUS)
JEVGENI SHERGALIN
International Wildlife Consultants Ltd., P.O. Box 19, Carmarthen SA33 5YL, Wales, UK.
E-mail: jevgeni@falcons.co.uk

ABSTRACT.—About 50% of the world range of the Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) is in Russia, withthe highest density in the southern Yamal, and the largest numbers located in Kamchatka. The
main source of information on Russian Gyrfalcons is the monograph “Gyrfalcons” by Dementiev,
published in 1951 and later translated into German and English. Analysis of Russian literature on
the Gyrfalcon for the second half of the 20th Century was undertaken by E. Potapov and R. Salein their joint monograph “The Gyrfalcon,” published by Poyser in 2005. In the mid-1990s, I prepared for the company of Dr. Nick Fox an annotated bibliography in English on the Gyrfalcon in
the territory of the ex-USSR, available free upon request. The list includes 490 entries on 64 pages,
predominantly in Russian, covering the period 1656–1995. The majority of entries include
episodic observations during avifauna investigations of vast areas, and only 25 articles and species
accounts are dedicated exclusively to the Gyrfalcon. Following the collapse of the USSR, visits
to arctic regions declined, poaching developed, and long-term studies on the Gyrfalcon becamealmost impossible due to a shortage of funds. However, a number of important publications haveappeared and are available, along with other information, on the Internet in both Russian and English. Most of the literature deals with breeding biology, descriptions of breeding sites, and otherobservations, whereas other aspects of biology and ecology are insufficiently studied. Absence ofwork on post-breeding movements, winter ecology and taxonomy is apparent. Received 28 February 2011, accepted 28 June 2011.
SHERGALIN, J. 2011. Brief review of Russian-language literature on the Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus). Pages 239–242 in R. T. Watson, T. J. Cade, M. Fuller, G. Hunt, and E. Potapov (Eds.).
Gyrfalcons and Ptarmigan in a Changing World, Volume II. The Peregrine Fund, Boise, Idaho,USA. http://dx.doi.org/10.4080/gpcw.2011.0301Keywords: Gyrfalcon, Russia, Arctic, smuggling, literature, journals.

tiev 1951, Dementiev 1960). Analysis ofRussian literature on the Gyrfalcon for thesecond half of the 20th Century was undertaken by Dr. Eugene Potapov and Richard
Sale in their joint monograph “The Gyrfalcon” published by Poyser in 2005.

RUSSIA ENCOMPASSES about 50% of theworld’s Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) range.
The main source of information on the Gyrfalcon in Russia was the monograph “Gyrfalcons” by Professor Georgiy P. Dementiev(1898–1969) published in 1951 and latertranslated into German and English (Demen-239

– SHERGALIN –In the mid-1990’s, I prepared for the companyof Dr. Nick Fox an annotated bibliography in
English on the Gyrfalcon from the territory ofthe ex-USSR, available free upon request. The
list included 490 entries on 64 pages predominantly in Russian, covering the period 1656–
1995. The majority of entries include episodic
observations during avifauna investigations ofvast areas, and only 25 articles and species
accounts were dedicated exclusively to theGyrfalcon. Following the collapse of theUSSR, visits to Gyrfalcon breeding areas
declined, poaching came about, and long term
studies on the Gyrfalcon were almost impossible to manage due to a shortage of funds.
However a small number of important articles
have appeared and are listed as follows: The
Gyrfalcon Falco rusticolus in the Lake Baikal
Region by Ryabtsev (1997); Ecological bases
and resettlement ways of the Gyrfalcon Falco
rusticolus in the tundra of the European part ofRussia by Morozov (2000); Gyrfalcon in
Yakutia: distribution, breeding ranges, feeding
peculiarities by Labutin and Ellis (2006); Status and monitoring of the Peregrine and Gyrfalcon in the Kola Peninsula, Russia byGanusevich (2006); Observations of the Gyrfalcon in Bulgaria by Nankinov (2007); Five
fledglings of the Gyrfalcon on the Yamal
Peninsula by Mechnikova and Kudryavtsev(2007); Materials on the Gyrfalcon population
status in Kamchatka by Lobkov et al. (2007);and Gyrfalcon and Goshawk food in Laplandby Gilyazov et al. (2008). I translated the main
articles on the Gyrfalcon from Russian into
English for Dr. Tom Cade during 2000–2005,
and they are available on request.

sion” about his work with raptors at the Ponoi
depression at the Centre of the Kola Peninsula(http://ruslapland.livejournal.com/17981.html).

Additional data on the Gyrfalcon may befound in the Red Data Books of different
administrative units of Russia, for example, theMurmansk Region (2003), Kamchatka (2006),
Nenets District (2006), Magadan Region(Kolyma) (2008), Chukotka (2008), and others. A general review in the entire Red Data
Book of the Russian Federation was produced
by Dr. Sergei A. Ganusevich (2001), the heroof the recent documentary film “Ponoi Depres-Good articles on breeding biology are known
from the Kola Peninsula, the Bolshezemelskaya tundra, the southern part of the Yamal
Peninsula, Taimyr, Kolyma, and Kamchatka.
Information on breeding biology and reports ofepisodic observations with descriptions ofbreeding sites dominate the literature, whileother aspects of biology and ecology are insufficiently studied, but there is largely anabsence of work on post-breeding movements,

The quality of data in species accounts of theGyrfalcon is quite variable. Several short communications are published in the express issuesof the Russian Journal of Ornithology (onlyelectronic versions of them are available at theRussian electronic library at www.elibrary.ru).
This journal often reprints old articles, such as
work by the late Professor Alexei V. Mikheev(1907–1999) (Mikheev 2002), originally published in 1941. Meteorological conditions andthe general situation for Arctic breeding birds
are regularly reflected on the pages of the electronic newsletter “Arctic Birds” (http://www.arcticbirds.net/). Some articles and shortcommunications, especially on smuggling andpoaching of the Gyrfalcon in Russia, aredescribed in the Newsletter of the MiddleEastern Falcon Research Group “Falco,” completely in English (http://www.mefrg.org/falco.asp), and in “Raptor Conservation,”
which appears in Russian and English(http://www.sibecocenter.ru/RC.htm). Overseveral years, four new zoological journals
were launched: the Altai Zoological Journal,
the Baikalian Zoological Journal, the Amurian
Zoological Journal, and the Far-Eastern
Ornithological Journal (http://birdland.ru/).
The Gyrfalcon stock held in captivity isreflected in the review tables published byEARAZA and the Moscow Zoo annually inthe series “Birds of Prey and Owls in Zoos andBreeding Centers,” in Russian and English(http://www.moscowzoo.ru/get.asp?id=C78).

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– RUSSIAN - LANGUAGE GYRFALCON LITERATURE –Owls, 10–17 May 1992. World Working
Group on Birds of Prey, Berlin, Germany.
GANUSEVICH, S. A. 2001. Krechet [The Gyrfalcon]. Pages 454–455 in V. I. DanilovDanilyan (Ed.). Krasnaya kniga Rossijskoi
Federatsii. Zhivotnye [The Red Data Bookof the Russian Federation. Animals]. ASTAstrel, Moscow, Russia (in Russian).
GANUSEVICH, S. A. 2006. Status and monitoring of the Peregrine and Gyrfalcon in theKola Peninsula, Russia. Pages 30–36 in P.
Koskimies and N. V. Lapshin (Eds.). Statusof Raptor Populations in Eastern
Fennoscandia. Proceedings of the Workshop, Kostomuksha, Karelia, Russia, 8–10
November 2005.
GAVRILOV, A. A. 2007. O gibeli khishchnykh
ptic v kapkanakh na Taimyre [On the birdsof prey loss in traps in Taimyr]. The Russian Journal of Ornithology 16:(381):
1357–1358. Reprint of article, originallypublished in 1991 (in Russian).
GILYAZOV, A. S., R. TORNBERG, AND T. HIETAJARVI. 2008. Pitanie krecheta i yastrebateterevyatnika v Laplandii v raione
sovmestnogo obitaniya [The Gyrfalcon andGoshawk food in Lapland in the region ofjoint occurrence]. Pages 82–85 in Izuchenie
i okhrana khishchnyh ptic Severnoi Evrazii[Research and Conservation of Raptors inNorthern Eurasia]. Materials of the 5th
Conference on Raptors of Northern Eurasia, Ivanovo, 4–7 February 2008. Ivanovo
University Press, Ivanovo, Russia (in Russian).
GLENN, T. 1993. Neskol’ko sovetov, kak predotvratit gibel sov v Rossiskoi Arktike[Advice on how to avoid Snowy Owl loss
in the Russian Arctic]. Informacionni vestnik po khishchnym pticam i sovam Rossii.
Raptor Link 1(2):4 (in English and Russian).
KALYAKIN, V. N. 1992. On the ecology of theGyrfalcon Falco rusticolus in South Yamal
Peninsula (Russia). Page 57 in Raptor Conservation Today. Proceedings of the IV
World Conference on Birds of Prey andwinter ecology, and taxonomy. Poaching pressure was investigated only in Kamchatka(Lobkov et al. 2007). Analysis of fragmentarydata on poaching (mainly seizures of smuggledbirds at airports) on the basis of media sources
is described in a series of publications byNikolenko (2007, 2009), Nikolenko andKaryakin (2007), and Lyapustin (2008). Several works are devoted to the problem of Gyrfalcon mortality in traps set for Arctic Foxes(Vulpes lagopus) (Ellis 1993, Glenn 1993,Gavrilov 2007). In 1987, the Lithuanian teamof P. Abukiavichius, G. Grazhuliavichius, andA. Baronas made a 19-minute documentary
film “In Search of the White Gyrfalcon,” madeat the Kolyma River mouth in the Russian Far
East (http://www.getmovies.ru/details.aspx?item=94632).
LITERATURE CITED

DEMENTIEV, G. P. 1951. Sokola krecheti.
Izdatel’stvo Moskovskovo Obschectva
Ispitatelyei, Prirodi, Moskva, Russia (inRussian).
DEMENTIEV, G. P. 1960. Der Gerfalke (Falco
gyrfalco L. = Falco rusticolus L.). Die
Neue Brehm-Bücherei, no. 264. A. Ziemsen Verlag, Wittenberg, Germany (in German).
DEMENTIEV, G. P. 1960. Der Gerfalke (Falco
gyrfalco L. = Falco rusticolus L.). A. Ziemsen Verlag, Wittenberg, Germany. (Canadian Wildlife
Service Translation
TR-GR-28).
ELLIS, D. 1993. Predvaritelnoe soobshchenie ovysokoi smertnosti krecheta i beloi sovy v
Severnoi Sibiri [Preliminary report ofextensive Gyrfalcon and Snowy Owl mortality in Northern Siberia] Informacionnyi
vestnik po khishchnym pticam i sovam
Rossii. Raptor-Link 1(2):3–4 (in Englishand Russian).
GANUSEVICH, S. A. 1992. Results of long-term
studies of raptor populations in the Kola
Peninsula (NW Russia). Pages 7–8 in Raptor Conservation Today. Proceedings of theIV World Conference on Birds of Prey and241

– SHERGALIN –Moskovskogo Obschestva Ispitatelyei
Prirody Otdel Biologischeskii [Bulletin ofMoscow Naturalists’ Society, Departmentof Biology]. 96(1):57–65 (in Russian withEnglish summary).
MOROZOV, V. V. 2000. Ekologicheskie osnovy
i puti rasseleniya krecheta Falco rusticolus
v tundrah Evropeiskoi chasti Rossii [Ecological basis and resettlement ways of theGyrfalcon Falco rusticolus in the tundra of
the European part of Russia]. Russian Journal of Ornithology. Express-issue 95:3–11(in Russian).
NANKINOV, D. N. 2007. Nablyudenie krecheta
Falco rusticolus v Bolgarii [Observations ofthe Gyrfalcon Falco rusticolus in Bulgaria].
Russian Journal of Ornithology vol. 16.
Express issue 393:1725–1727 (in Russian).
NIKOLENKO, E. G. 2007. Rezul’taty proekta po
izucheniyu nelegalnogo sokolinogo biznesa
v Altae-Sayanskom regione v 2000–2006[Results of the project on illegal falcon
trade in Altai-Sayany region in 2000–2006].
Raptors Conservation 8:22–41 (in Russianwith English summary).
NIKOLENKO, E. G. 2009. Rynok khishchnykhptic v Rossii—razvitie prodoljaetsya [Tradein raptors in Russia—growth continues].
Raptors Conservation 15:15–21 (in Russianwith English summary).
NIKOLENKO, E. G., AND I. V. KARYAKIN. 2007.
Sokolinyi biznes na rubeje vekov: mify ifakty [Trade of falcons at the edge of centuries: Myths and facts]. Raptors Conservation 8:12–21 (in Russian with Englishsummary).
POTAPOV, E. R., AND R. SALE. 2005. The Gyrfalcon. A. & C. Black, London, UK.
RYABTSEV, V. V. 1997. Krechet Falco rusticolus v Pribaikalie [The Gyrfalcon Falco rusticolus in the Lake Baikal Region]. Russian
Journal of Ornithology, Express issue 27:
3–5 (in Russian).
SOROKIN, A. G. 2009. Kondo-alymskaya ornitologicheskayaanomaliya,Rossiya[Kondo-Alym ornithological anomaly,Russia]. Raptors Conservation 15:90–97(in Russian with English summary).

Owls, 10–17 May 1992. World Working
Group on Birds of Prey, Berlin, Germany.
LABUTIN, YU. V., AND D. H. ELLIS. 2006.
Krechet (Falco rusticolus) v Yakutii:
rasprostranenie, gnezdovye oblasti, osobennosti pitaniya [Gyrfalcon in Yakutia: Distribution, breeding ranges, feedingpeculiarities]. Zoologicheskiy Zhurnal. vol.
85, 11:1354–1362 (in Russian with Englishsummary).
LOBKOV, E. G., N. YU GERASIMOV, AND A. V.
GOROVENKO. 2007. Materialy po sostoyaniyu populyatsii krecheta na Kamchatke[Materials on the Gyrfalcon population status in Kamchatka]. Ornitologiya (Moscow)
34(1):5–35 (in Russian with English summary).
LYAPUSTIN, S. N. 2008. Kontrabanda redkikh
khishchnykh ptic na Dal’nem Vostoke—ugroza ikh sushchestvovaniyu [Smugglingof rare birds of prey in the Russian Far
East—threat to their existence]. Raptors
Conservation 14:32–38 (in Russian withEnglish summary).
MECHNIKOVA, S. A., AND N. V. KUDRYAVTSEV.
2007. Pyat’ sletkov v vyvodke krecheta naYamale, Rossiya [Five fledglings of theGyrfalcon on the Yamal Peninsula, Russia].
Raptors Conservation 10:61 (in Russian).
MECHNIKOVA, S. A., M. S. ROMANOV, V. N.
KALYAKIN, AND N. V. KUDRYAVTSEV. 2010.
Krechet na Yamale: Dinamika velichinyvyvodka i razmerov gnezd v period
1973–2008 [The Gyrfalcon in Yamal:
Dynamics of brood size and nest size during the period 1973–2008]. Ekologiya
41(3):219–226 (in Russian with Englishsummary).
MIKHEEV, A. V. 2002. Nekotorye sevedeniya okrechete Falco gyrfalco v Timanskoi tundre [Some data on the Gyrfalcon Falco
gyrfalco in Timan tundra]. Russian JournalofOrnithology,Expressissue.
199:905–907 (in Russian). Reprint of 1941.
MOROZOV, V. V. 1991. Sapsan i krechet nakrainem Severo-Vostoke Evropy [ThePeregrine Falcon and Gyrfalcon in theextreme North-East of Europe]. Byulletin

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