BIRD MIGRATION RESEARCH IN MONGOLIA
 Gomboo and Tseveenmyadag in the Japanese Bird Banding Center |
In autumn of 2001, Kiyoaki Ozaki san, who is a director of the Bird Migration Center of the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology, Japan, mailed to Gomboo and N.Tseveenmyadag (Tseveen), an ornithologist of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences and discussed about "Establishment of the New Bird Ringing Scheme in Mongolia". After discussion, he visited to Mongolia to improve bird ringing knowledge for Mongolian ornithologists and exchange information and experience between ornithologists both countries. They visited to Onon river basin together with Tseveenmyadag and Gomboo and ringed passerines.
They discussed to study White-naped crane migration using satellite telemetry during field work. By Ozaki san's invitation, Gomboo and Tseveen traveled to Japan and participated in training course of bird ringers from different parts of Japan in 2001. Course trainers taught bird ringing activities and procedures of passerines, catching methods of raptor, water birds, and identifying sex and ages of different species of birds in Japan for trainers. We thanked to Ozaki san and other colleagues of Japan for great assistance helps in the country. After returned to Mongolia, Gomboo and his colleagues of the Society sent a draft of a new bird ringing center establishment to the Ministry of Nature and Environment.
In 2002, remembering discussion of study of White naped crane migration, members from Yamashina Institute for Ornithology, Japan and Mongolian colleagues searched fund for this survey. They got fund from Japan and fitted three satellite telemetries on three cranes in breeding grounds of the Onon and Ulz river basins. Field members consisted of 4 researchers: K.Ozaki san (second from left on the photo) and Momosu san (first from left on the photo) from Japan and Gomboo and Tseveen (second from right on the photo) and Battseren (first from right on the photo) who is a driver of the team. We tried to catch adult cranes but all attempts were failed. An young crane migrated to the Poyang lake, China where is the main wintering ground of the species and spent whole winter there. In spring they returned to the same breeding site where we caught it. Unfortunately, the transmitter signals stopped by unknown reasons. Signals of two birds with transmitters were very weak and disappeared near the place we caught due to telemetry quality. The ornithological cooperation between Ornithological Laboratory of the NUM, Mongolian Ornithological Society and Yamashina Institute for Ornithology will be developed near future.