Mute Swans Cygnus olor breeding in the Volga Delta, USSR

Abstract

From 1960 to the present day, research on the ecology of the Mute Swan, Cygnus olor, has been carried out in the Volga delta (Krivonosov 1962, 1963, 1972, 1987; Krivenko & Krivonosov 1972; Krivonosov et al. 1976). This research allows us to describe the course and causes of long-term changes in numbers, to determine the main parameters of the local population of the species and to forecast its future.