Materials to study professor F.Y. Strautman’s ornithological collection

in Zoological Museum from Ivan Franko National University of Lviv

 

Western regions of Ukraine are extremely varied natural conditions and natural areas. It caused considerable species diversity of the region and the attention paid to these areas by zoologists. One of these zoologists was a distinguished Ukrainian ornithologist, the author of numerous articles and monographs on avifauna of western Ukraine - Fedir Strautman, who was the director of the Zoological Museum during the 1946-1949 years.

Fedir Yohanovych was engaged in researches throughout life in different parts of the former Soviet Union. 2 volume monograph “The birds of western regions of Ukraine” was a result of his work which has a documentary proof - the collection of carcasses of birds that are kept in the Zoological Museum of LNU named after Ivan Franko.

These targeted researches have been conducted for 18 years, starting in 1945. Professor was collecting particularly active during 1946-1955 and 1961-1962 years, and made a lot of field trips for it in the Prykarpattya, Carpathians and Transcarpathian as well as in Polissya and Volyno-Podillya. Several people helped him to gather the material: M. Rudyshyn (Carpathians, Polissya, Volyn’, 1950-1953), N. Srebrodolska (Transcarpathia, Polissya, 1949, 1953-1962), M. Lysova (Transcarpathia, 1947-1948), J. Valenta (Carpathians, 1952), T. Neyizhkasha (Carpathians, 1948), S. Kotsyubynsky (Carpathians, 1949), L. Matviiv (northern Podillya, 1951), Z. Pavliv (central Podillya, 1954), C. Lola (Volyn1953), V. Wojciehowski (Volyno-Podillya, 1951-1953), T. Chervatyuk (Polissya, 1959), B. Dobrynsky (Podillya, 1961), E. Svitlyk (Volyno-Podillya, 1961-1962), N. Antonevych, S. Voitovych, V. Klymyshyn.

During the research F.Y. Strautman managed to gather a collection that consists of 1129 carcasses relating to 149 species of birds, including the part of material which was identified to a subspecies. A small number of samples were collected in Zaporizhia and Odessa, the Black Sea national reserve, Crimea, Caucasus, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan and single samples from Lake Baikal, Mongolia, Voroshilovgrad (now Lugansk region).

Most of the F.Y. Strautman’s collections qualitatively represent avifauna of Carpathians and areas that surround them. All materials can be divided into three parts as it was gathered by author and other members of the expedition or has indeterminate authorship. In particular, a third of collection of 367 copies is own achievement of Fedir Yohanovych (certified by the signature), 230 samples belongs to other authors (including unchecked in any publications: Zhovnir, M. Bychko, L. Melnyk, N. Morej, Telyng, Wrublewsky, Schuraiv, Sytok, M. Chugunov, A. Fedyk, Klymenko, P. Sokolov, B. Byelosmodov, Durnev, Horynin, Paraskyv, Biryukov, Nekrashevych, V.G. Taropov, Derevyahyn, A. Rustamov, Shamuk) and author was not specified in 532 labels. Collection of Fedir Yohanovych was gathered in 173 localities.  Samples were collected by the author mainly in western Ukraine, especially in its six regions according to the administrative and territorial division: the Transcarpathian, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Ternopil’, Lviv, Volyn’ and Drohobych (now part of the Lviv) - 820 carcasses, 136 carcasses were collected in elsewhere (including in the Odessa region (1951) - 41 piece, Caucasus (1959) - 34 piece, in the Zaporizhya region (1951) - 18, Kazakhstan (1935-1940) - 17 and 12 piece - in Turkmenistan (1951, 1956, 1960)) and venue is unknown in 174 cases due to lack of information or damage of the label.

Thus, the F.Y. Strautman’s collection of bird carcasses could characterize avifauna of western Ukraine well and keeps some representatives of the fauna of other regions.

 

N.I. Srebrodolska’s ornithological collection in Zoological Museum funds from Ivan Franko National University of Lviv

Volyn’ Polissya with many of his beautiful lakes always attracted attention of scientists. Natalia Illivna Srebrodolska was one of them. She was a zoologist who has dedicated his life to studying avifauna of this wonderful country and gathered a considerable collection of birds, which are still kept in the funds Zoological Museum of Lviv National University named after Ivan Franko.

N.I. Srebrodolska has held targeted and comprehensive studies of Volynfor15 years (1949, 1953-1965, 1968, 1973). The result of these studies was her doctoral dissertation “Waterfowl and marsh birds of the Western part of the Ukrainian Polissya” (1964), a large number of scientific publications related to breeding biology, abundance and distribution of waterfowl and wetland birds, characteristics of the faunistic diversity of this land, parasitological researches and collection of carcasses of 494 samples. Most of them were collected directly by the author (465 samples) and only 29 were gathered by colleagues and assistants of N.I. Srebrodolska including: Slobodian, V. Klymyshyn, V.D. Yakhontov, S. Voinovych, T. Chervatyuk, A. Myshyn, P. Eyuka, V. Holmohorov, Vlasenkov and J. Ptahovsky.

Collection includes 84 bird species obtained mainly in Volyn in the vicinity of the village and Lake Tour (now Ratnivsky, earlier Zabolottivsky district), near village and Lake Velykhovo (the same area) and near the lakes Svyate, Dovhe, Domashnie, Pisochne, marshes and woods around them.A small amount of material and sometimes only a few samples were collected in Lviv (1 piece) and Transcarpathian (87 piece) areas near the Yalutorovsk station of the Tyumen region (1 piece) and the village Politne of Khabarovsk region (15 piece) of Russian Federation.

 The most numerous samples in the collection are: Lapwing Vanellus vanellus (47 piece), Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa (38 piece), Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola (36 piece), Garganey Anas querquedula (30 piece), Mallard Anas platyrhynchos (22 piece), Little Tern Chlidonias niger (21 piece), Common Coot Fulica atra (19 piece), Ruff Philomachus pugnax (18 piece) and European Nuthatch Sitta europeae (18 piece). The remaining species which are kept in the collection are in less. However, there are interesting and now rare and numerically small species in Ukraine and the Volyn’ Polissya: Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga (2 piece), Gadwall Anas strepera (7 piece), Carpercaillie Tetrao urogallus (1 piece), Corn Crake Crex crex (12 piece), Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata (1 piece), Great Snipe Gallinago media (9 piece) Nutcracker Nucifraga caryocatactes (1 piece), Ring Quzel Turdus torquatus (6 piece) and interesting Far east species: Asian Snipe Gallinago stenura (1 piece), Swift Hirundo puscaudatus (1 copy), Magpie Cyanopica cyanus (1 piece), Blackheads Oriole (Chinese) Oriolus chinensis (1 piece), Starling small Sturnia sturnina (1 copy), Gray starling Sturnus (Spodiopsar) cineraceus (1 piece), Black-faced Bunting Emberiza spodocephala (1 piece).

The value of N.I. Srebrodolska’s scientific ornithological collection is that unlike many other collections, it applies to insufficiently explored areas of the West Polissya. There are important environmental objects now: Shatsk and “Pripyat– Stokhid” National Park.

 

  • Official acronym (abbreviation): Absent
  • Person(s) at present responsible for the bird collection: Ihor Shydlovskyy
  • Other members of the scientific staff: Western-Ukrainian ornithological station (WUOS) is working in Zoological Museum
  • The official staff of the bird dept. Consist of: Ihor Shydlovskyy – Chief of Zoological Museum and taxidermist
  • The museum is owned by: Zoological Museum is a department of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv

I. A SHORT HISTORY OF THE BIRD COLLECTION

  • Main collection was created in 5.02.1885. Part of exhibits are much older. They remained from 1823 – time of the Cabinet of Natural History.
  • Contribution of Prof. Benedykt I.Dybovsky, Dr. Fedir I.Strautman, Dr. Natalia I.Srebrodolska, A.Ulianovsky, Zenoviy I.Pavliv, Dr. Ivan I.Hladunko are very valuable.
  • Catalogues: “Catalogue of rare and endangered species in collections of Zoological Museum of the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv” was accepted for printing. It also includes birds.

II. THE PRESENT CONTENT OF THE COLLECTION

  • The scientific collection contains approximately:
    »2000 skins
    »1604 mounted birds
    »1000 species
    Totally near 3 500 exhibits.

    Skeletons: 3 specimens, 3 species.
    Specimens in alcohol: 2 specimens, 2 species.
    Eggs: 476 oological boxes, nearly 180 species.
    Nests: 55 nests, 40 species.
    Other collections: Skulls: 44 specimens, 25 species.

     
  • At present, additions to the collection come from: own expeditions/birds skinned by own taxidermist.
  • The average rate of annual increase in skins in recent years (roughly): 20 – 25 skins a year.
  • Exhibition is composed is systematical order (ordains, families, genera, according to Kartashov, 1974).
    1) Regions: South and Central America, Asia, South-East Asia, Australia, Europe, New Gwinea, Africa.
    2) Ordains and Families: Podagridae
    Caprimulgidae

 

 

Spheniscus

 

 

Struthionidae

 

 

Rheidae

 

 

Casuaridae
Dromaiidae

 

 

Apterygidae

 

 

Family:

Ordo: Podicipediformes

 

 

Family:

Ordo: Procellariformes

 

 

Family:

Ordo: Pelecaniformes

 

 

Family:

Ordo: Ciconiiformes

 

 

Family:

Ordo: Anseriformes

 

 

Family:

Ordo: Falconiformes

 

 

Family:

Ordo: Galliformes

 

 

Family:

Ordo: Gruiformes

 

 

Family:

Ordo: Charadriiformes

 

 

Family:

Ordo: Columbiformes

 

 

Family:

Ordo: Psittaciformes

 

 

Family:

Ordo: Cuculiformes

 

 

Family:

Ordo: Strigiformes

 

 

Family:

Ordo: Caprimulgiformes

 

 

Family:

Ordo: Apodiformes

 

 

Family:

Ordo: Trogoniformes

 

 

Family:

Ordo: Coraciiformes

 

 

Family:

Ordo: Piciformes

 

 

Family:

Ordo: Passeriformes

 

 

Family:

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Furnariidae
Formicariidae
Cotingidae
Pipridae
Tyraniidae
Menuridae
Alaudidae
Hirundinidae
Ducruridae
Oriolidae
Corvidae
Ptilonothynchidae
Paradiseidae
Paridae
Sittidae
Certhiidae
Paradoxornithidae
Campephagidae
Pycnonotidae
Chloropseidae
Cinclidae
Troglodytidae
Turdidae
Regulidae
Muscicapidae
Prunellidae
Motacillidae
Bombicillidae
Artemidae
Laniidae
Gallaeidae
Sturnidae
Meliphagidae
Nectariniidae
Dicaeidae
Zosteropidae
Vireonidae
Coerebidae
Parulidae
Ploceidae
Icteridae
Thraupidae
Fringillidae

 
  • Are basic data of aech bird skin (coll. nr., species name, sex, collecting date, locality, collectors name) available on a card system or on computer (grouped per species in systematic order, not in order of reception of skin)?: - most of exhibits have labels, part of which are remain in card index.
  • Computer data-base will be created in 2000.
  • Is a listing of all bird skins per species available: catalogue of all skins absent.
  • Additional information (if any): “Catalogue of oological collection of Zoological Museum of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv” – is preparing now.
  •