ECOLOGY AND ANNUAL CYCLES OF BUNTINGS (EMBERIZIDAE, AVES) IN NORTHWESTERN SIBERIA AS A REFLECTION OF ADAPTATIONS TO THE SUBARCTIC AND ARCTIC

Abstract

Annual cycles in buntings have a lot in common. The differences in the programs of the annual cycle are mainly manifested in the post-nesting period. These differences lie in timing the onset of the post-juvenile molt, the type of molt control (photoperiodic or endogenous), the duration of molts, the degree of the combination of the post-marital molt with nesting, the combination of the migration state and molt. The arrival, the occupation of nesting sites, and the maturation of the gonads are shortened in the pre-nesting period. The development in the Subarctic does not lead to reduced periods of incubation and feeding, and it takes less than a month from laying the first egg to the departure of the last chick, like in temperate latitudes.