Sandgrouse is published by OSME and contains papers and short notes on the ornithology of the OSME region, provides bird and conservation news from the region, and a comprehensive round-up of bird sightings in the Middle East, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
Sandgrouse volume 44 (1) Spring 2022
Special feature: Proceedings of the International Conference ‘Advancing the Conservation of the Great Bustard in Asia’ (Editors: Mimi Kessler & Nigel J Collar)
Cover photo: Western Great Bustard Otis tarda tarda in display in Parndorfer Platte, Austria. © Franz Josef Kovacs. This issue contains a special section presenting the Proceedings of the International Conference “Advancing the Conservation of the Great Bustard in Asia”
| 3 | Proceedings of the International Conference “Advancing the Conservation of the Great Bustard in Asia”: Editors’ preface. MIMI KESSLER & NIGEL J. COLLAR |
| 6 | Status of the Western Great Bustard Otis tarda tarda in Asia and its significance to an updated estimate of the global population of Great Bustards. MIMI KESSLER |
| 14 | The Great Bustard Otis tarda tarda is faced with extinction in Iran. RAHIM ABDULKARIMI |
| 19 | The Great Bustard Otis tarda tarda is Critically Endangered in Turkmenistan. ELDAR ANVEROVICH RUSTAMOV |
| 26 | The historical and current status of the Great Bustard Otis tarda tarda in Uzbekistan, a key winter refuge. ROMAN DANIILOVICH KASHKAROV, YULIA OLEGOVNA MITROPOLSKAYA & ANNA GENNADYEVNA TEN |
| 35 | The historically abundant Great Bustard Otis tarda tarda is almost extirpated from western Kazakhstan. MIMI KESSLER & FEDOR GRIGORIEVICH BIDASHKO |
| 40 | The diminished status of Great Bustard Otis tarda tarda in central Kazakhstan. MAXIM KOSHKIN, ALEKSEI TIMOSHENKO & ALBERT SALEMGAREEV |
| 44 | Southern Kazakhstan is crucial to the survival of Central Asia’s remaining Great Bustard Otis tarda tarda populations. GEORGIY SHAKULA, FEDOR SHAKULA, VLADIMIR SHAKULA, SVETLANA BASKAKOVA & MIMI KESSLER |
| 59 | A comprehensive review of records shows eastern Kazakhstan has multiple opportunities to conserve the Great Bustard Otis tarda tarda year-round. GEORGIY SHAKULA, FEDOR SHAKULA, SVETLANA BASKAKOVA & MIMI KESSLER |
| 79 | Breeding and migratory Great Bustards Otis tarda tarda persist in the Zaisan lake basin, eastern Kazakhstan. KONSTANTIN PAVLOVICH PROKOPOV |
| 80 | The near-extirpation of the Great Bustard Otis tarda tarda as a wintering and breeding species in Tajikistan. RUSTAM SHARIFOVICH MURATOV & KHURSAND MIRZOSHOEVICH TALBONOV |
| 83 | Status of the Great Bustard Otis tarda in Kyrgyzstan. SERGEI V KULAGIN |
| 86 | The urgent need for a transboundary steppe zapovednik to secure the last Great Bustard Otis tarda tarda populations in western Siberia and northern Kazakhstan. ALEKSANDR ALEKSEEVICH NEFEDOV |
| 97 | The diminishing status of Great Bustard Otis tarda tarda in Xinjiang province, north-west China. MUYANG WANG & WEIKANG YANG |
| 101 | The loss of wintering Great Bustards Otis tarda tarda from the steppes of Azerbaijan. ZULFU FARAJLI |
| 107 | The steady decline of the Great Bustard Otis tarda tarda in the Russian Caucasus. VIKTOR FEDOSOV & GADZHIBEK DZHAMIRZOYEV |
| 113 | Unconventional habitat choices by some Great Bustard Otis tarda tarda populations in Turkey. İBRAHİM KAAN ÖZGENCİL, MELİSA SOYLUER, MEHMET MAHİR KARATAŞ & FERDİ AKARSU |
Other articles
| 122 | Tracking of an Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus as it transitions from being a floater to a territory-holder. MICHAEL MCGRADY, MATTHIAS SCHMIDT, ZAHRA ELAHI RAD & BERND-ULRICH MEYBURG |
| 134 | Breeding of Icterine Warbler Hippolais icterina in the North Caucasus. PAVEL V KVARTALNOV & YURY E KOMAROV |
| 143 | Migration dynamics of soaring birds between autumn 2015 and spring 2019 at the Belen pass and associated threats. MELTEM ÜNAL ALTUNDAĞ |
| 157 | Recent status of Caspian Penduline Tit Remiz pendulinus caspius and Black-headed Penduline Tit Remiz (pendulinus) macronyx in Azerbaijan. MICHAEL HEISS & CHRISTOPH HIMMEL |
| 161 | Updates on the avifauna of the State of Palestine. SIMON AWAD, MICHAEL FARHOUD & BASHAR JARAYSEH |
| 169 | |
| 169 | First breeding records of Steppe Eagles Aquila nipalensis in Turkey in the twenty-first century. MÁRTON HORVÁTH, IGOR KARYAKIN, TIBOR JUHÁSZ, LUDMILA ZINEVICH, BÉLA KALOCSA & LÁSZLÓ HARASZTHY |
| 175 | Significant breeding bird records from the United Arab Emirates from 2020 and 2021, including the first confirmed breeding record of Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica. OSCAR CAMPBELL, AHMED AL-ALI & MOHAMED ALMAZROUIE |
| 186 | First evidence of breeding White’s Thrush Zoothera aurea in Kyrgyzstan, with notes on additional records. PAUL VAN ELS & CARMEN HIDDES |
| 189 | Birds of Kazakhstan – an update. AREND WASSINK |
| 201 | First documented record of Namaqua Dove Oena capensis in Armenia. LUIS MARIO ARCE & ALEXANDER RUKHAIA |
| 206 | Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse in southern Oman: Pterocles lichtensteinii ingramsi is not endemic to Yemen. JUAN ANTONIO RABANAL & STEPHEN MENZIE |
| 209 | From the Rarities Committees. IAN HARRISON (COMPILER) |
| 220 | Letter from the Chairman. ROB SHELDON |
| 226 | Obituary: Alexey Valentinovich Koshkin (1958–2022) SN EROHOV & VV KHROKOV |
| 227 | Obituary: Michael John Everett (1941–2021) RICHARD PORTER |
| 227 | Obituary: Andrew Grieve (1947–2022) ANDREW LASSEY |
| 229 | Obituary: DIM Wallace (1933–2021) ANDREW LASSEY |
| 232 | Around the Region. IAN HARRISON (COMPILER) |
| Editor | Dr Paul Donald Sandgrouse editor. |
| Editorial Board | AbdulRahman Al-Sirhan (Kuwait), Dr Raffael Ayé (Switzerland), Jem Babbington (Saudi Arabia, photo consultant) Arnoud van den Berg (Netherlands), Michael Blair (UK), Chris Bradshaw (UK), Dr Gary Brown (Germany), Oscar Campbell (UAE), Peter Castell (UK), Pia Fetting (Germany), Peter Flint (UK), Dr Robert Flood (UK), Paul Goriup (UK), Jens Hering (Germany), Mike Jennings (UK), Dr Abolghasem Khaleghizadeh (Iran), Dr Fares Khoury (Jordan), Dr Alan Knox (UK), Andrew Lassey (UK), Dr Mike McGrady (Austria), Dr Stephen Newton (Ireland), Yoav Perlman (Israel), Aasheesh Pittie (India), Richard Porter (UK), Hana Ahmed Raza (Iraq), Colin Richardson (Cyprus), Anna Sandor (Hungary), Dr Manuel Schweizer (Switzerland), Dr Derek Scott (UK), Dr Robert Sheldon (UK), Dr Ruth Tingay (UK), Arend Wassink (Netherlands), Geoff Welch (France) |