A new species for Kazakhstan. The nearest vagrants of this species were recorded at the beginning of the 20th century in the spring on the Amu Darya near the city of Termez (Stepanyan 2003), on May 26-28, 1999 in the area of the Orsk customs (Orenburg region) on the border with Kazakhstan (Ivushkin 2000, 2006).

The wintering Bluethroat was photographed in Aktau on 28 January and 10 February 2025. This is the first observation during the winter period confirmed by a photo. Before this, the Bluethroat was only recorded once on 1 December in Aktau (see the website gallery). A wintering bird was observed in the village of Zhabagly on 2 February 1948 (Gavrilov 2005). The nearest winter encounters are in the south-eastern region of the Caspian Sea.

The first photo recording of the Water Pipit (A. s. coutellii) in Mangistau and a new Caucasian subspecies for Kazakhstan A. s. coutellii on the website. The Water Pipit was first recorded on March 31 and May 3, 2009 by French ornithologists in Kenderly (Neve et al., 2010), who also classified it as a subspecies coutellii, but without providing a photo in the report.

The first photo recording of the species in winter.

The first winter record of the species in Kazakhstan, and probably in Central Asia.

The second winter record in the south-east of Kazakhstan. Before this, 4 and 5 white-headed ducks were observed on Sorbulak on December 12 and 19, 2004 (Belyalov, Karpov, 2004). Winter finds are also known on Lake Karakol (Mangistau region): probably a delayed individual on December 8, 2011 (Kovshar, Karpov 2019) and several birds on December 12, 2019 (Nurlykhanov, see site gallery).

First winter photo recording from the northern part of Kazakhstan.

Second winter record, first for the southeast of Kazakhstan. Previously, it was only observed in Aktau in January 2016 (Yas'ko, 2017).

The first winter photo recording on the site.

A very rare vagrant species for the northern part of Kazakhstan. In the Kostanay region, records are known of 23.09.2005 in the basin of Lake Karazhar and 19.10.2011 in the village of Karamendy (Bragin, Bragina 2017), also in Karamendy one individual was noted on November 15, 2015 (Batryakov, Timoshenko 2024).

A rare passage species found in the western part of Kazakhstan.

Rare entry into East Kazakhstan region from main flyways. The first registration of the species in the territory of Katon-Karagay National Park. A group of 6 birds fed in the shallowed Bukhtarma channel on the outskirts of the village on the morning of October 4 and evening of October 5, 2024.

The third record of the species in Kazakhstan. This is the northernmost find, more than 400 km away from the previous ones.

First record of the eastern species in western Kazakhstan.

A rare vagrant for the region and perhaps the northernmost record in the Kostanay region.

The first fact of nesting of the Levant Sparrowhawk in Mangistau. The main nesting finds for Kazakhstan are known within the floodplain forests of the Urals and Emba, as well as in pine forests of the Bolshye Barsuki sands and Mugodzhary on the valley of the Aulya River (Karyakin, Kovalenko, Novikova 2006).

The very rare vagrant away from basic migration routs.

Second registration of the species for the region. Previously, one bird was photographed in the Korgalzhyn Nature Reserve on May 27, 2020.

The second record of the species on the territory of Kazakhstan. Previously, one bird was photographed in the southeast in the lower reaches of the Turgen River on November 5, 2016 (I. Bevza, kz.birds.watch).

A very rare wintering species for Mangystau, known only from the remains of the skin obtained from the vicinity of Fort Aleksandrovsky in 1892/93. (Zarudny, 1896).

The first registration of the species in the mountainous part of Altai.

The first record of the White-winged Snowfinch in Western Altai. Photo recording was made in the southern spurs of the Ulbinsky ridge in the valley of the Urankhaika River at an altitude of less than 800 m above sea level. The White-winged Snowfinch was previously not known for the Kazakh part of Altai, but was first recorded in Southern Altai on January 26, 2017 in the upper reaches of the Tautekeli River at an altitude of 2400 m, where it was subsequently recorded on March 10, 2021, and there were also several sightings in January and February 2023 in the Sarykora tract (Vorobiev, 2023).

The first photographic record of a rare species for the region. In the past, it nested in places around Ilek and the Urals, and by the 60s of the 20th century only vagrants were encountered in the summer (Korelov, 1962). There is information about record of two single birds on September 18 and September 19, 2007 in the area of the Karachaganak gas condensate field (V.A. Kovshar, 2008).

The first documented case of wintering Pin-Tailed Sandgrouse.

The first case of mass wintering of Little Bustard in the south of Kazakhstan (flocks with a total number of 141 birds). Prior to this, single individuals were recorded on the Mangystau Peninsula in December 2010 and 2014. (Kovshar, Karpov 2019).

First confirmed winter record.

The first photographic record of a rare wintering species in winter. The bird was observed by Ruslan Urazaliev and Zhaskairat Nurmukhambetov.

First recorded in winter in western Kazakhstan. Before this, winter finds on Sorbulak were known: December 22, 2007 and January 2, 2008 (Belyalov, Karpov, 2012), December 27, 2014 (see site gallery).

First registration of the species on the Mangystau Peninsula.

A rare record of a Red Book species that is endangered.

A rare passage migrant for Naurzum. It occurs every 10 years or more. The last time a photo was taken from the region was in 2013.

Rare species for the region. The first photo on the site is from Talas Alatau.

A new species in the fauna of Kazakhstan. The nearest known nesting point is the west of the Orenburg region; flights to the Middle Urals are also known.

Rare vagrant species. Only a few sightings are known in the western part of Kazakhstan: on Mangyshlak on March 24, 1962 and November 15, 1964, as well as on October 31 and November 7, 1881, on April 16 and October 10, 1882 near Orenburg, on September 14, 1884 near Uralsk. Gavrilov E.I. Thrush family - Turdidae // Birds of Kazakhstan. Alma-Ata, vol. 3, 1970: 491. Mitropolsky O.V. Meetings of the white-throated blackbird on Mangyshlak // Selevinia, 1994, vol. 2 No. 4: 66

The first documentary proof of Griffon Vulture nesting in Mangistau.

A well-flying fledgling with undergrown tail feathers was found near the village of Mikhailovka (Kostanay region), 5 km from the border with Russia. As known, the Mistle Thrush in the territory of Kazakhstan nests in the forests of the Kokchetav Uplands, in the eastern part of the Kazakh Uplands and in the mountains from Altai to the Western Tien Shan (Gavrilov, 1999). A new find of a juvenile bird allows the possibility of nesting of the Mistle Thrush in the Kostanay region. Gavrilov E.I. 1999. Fauna and distribution of birds in Kazakhstan. Almaty: 1-198.

The first nesting find in the Mangistau region. The nearest known nesting sites are located to the north, in the valley of the middle and lower reaches of the Urals.

A new nesting site for the Whiskered Tern in the south-east of Kazakhstan. On one of the lakes in the lower reaches of the Turgen River, 20 pairs of nesting birds were found. The nearest known nesting site is lakes Alakol and Sasykkol, where nests were first found in 2000 (Berezovikov, 2004, Berezovikov, Levinsky, 2008).

An adult male and a young bird were found in one of the green areas of the city of Uralsk. Prior to this, on May 10, 2023, a male and a female were photographed 5 km west of this location. These data indicate a high degree of nesting opportunities for the Syrian Woodpecker in Kazakhstan.

The first reliable record of the Long-tailed Skua in the territory of Kazakhstan!