RAPTOR-LINK
RUSSIAN BIRDS OF PREY AND OWLS NEWSLETTER.
 
"Raptor-link" is the first newsletter of its kind on Russian Birds of
Prey  and Owls. Not only is it the first newsletter ever to appear in
Russia, but it is also bilingual (English-Russian) and is delivered to
both Russian and Western readers simultaneously. This newsletter
has been launched to encourage Raptor research in the former
USSR and bring together Russian and Western ornithologists. The following is an
article from the current issue of Raptor-link. Questions about the
publication should be addressed to Dr. Eugene Potapov at
[log in to unmask],ac.uk, or Dr. E. Potapov, Edward Grey Institute of Field
Ornitholgy, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK, Fax +(865)310447.
 
POPULATION ECOLOGY OF SNOWY OWL ON WRANGEL ISLAND.
        Studies of the ecology and behaviour of Snowy Owl have been
carried out on Wrangel Island since 1990. In summers the major work takes
place in two study areas of 44 and 40 km2. Breeding rate, chick growth rate
and breeding density are measured. The number of breeding Snowy Owls in
the study area of 44 km2 fluctuated from 7 to 14 pairs. Clutch size in Snowy
owl depends not only on the spring density of lemmings, but also on the
conditions of wintering. Interspecies relations between Snowy Owls and
Arctic Foxes take the form of complicated territorial competition. The
established territorial relations in mixed settlements of the owls and foxes to
a great extent determine the spatial distribution of Snow goose, Brent
Goose, and Common Eider.
 
Irina E. Menushina, Wrangel State Reserve, Ushakovskoe Settlement,
Shmidt Region, Chukotka AO 686870, Address for correspondence:
Menzhinskogo St. 25-28, Moscow 129327, Russia.