Altai Republic

The Altai Republic is located in south central Russia in the southwest of Siberia being one of Russia’s most attractive birding places. It covers 92,600 km2 making it just a small part of the gigantic Siberian landmass which covers no less than 13,100,000 km2!

As well as Siberia, it also borders Mongolia to the southeast, China to the south and Kazakhstan to the southwest. The Republic is likely populated with only around 210,000 people. So, there is a great deal of open countryside. The Republic is likely populated with only around 210,000 people.

The highest peak in the Altai Mountains is Mount Belukha with 4506m. The republic is covered with Siberian Taiga, steppe zones and semi-deserts and 25% of the land is forested. More than 20,000 tributaries sprawl throughout the mountains, making for a total of more than 60,000 kilometres of waterways. The largest rivers are the Katun and the Baia, both of which originate in the mountains and flow northwards. The two rivers eventually form the Ob River, one of Siberia’s longest, which flows northward into the Arctic Ocean.

The source of the Black Biya River is Lake Teletskoye, the region’s largest lake, located in an isolated area far south of the mountains. The Katun has its source in the Gebler Glacier, situated on Mount Belukha. There are more than 7,000 lakes in the area, making for a total area of over 700 square kilometres. Many of the lakes are very deep, some over 1,000 feet.

Shavlo Lake in Northern Chuysky Range – ©Николай Соколов CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Having a temperate continental climate with relatively short (June-August) and hot summers and long (November-March) and cold winters.

Birding Altai

The best time to plan your birding visit is end of May or during the entire month of June. Starting in Barnaul or Novosibirsk. As the Altai republic has no major airport you are need to start in one of the larger cities north of Altai, such as Barnaul or Novosibirsk. This is absolutely no bad thing as you can stray into the rich south Siberian farmlands holding yet another set of interesting species to the WP birder. In the surroundings of Barnaul, which is the closest of the two cities to Altai, you may find several interesting habitats near the Ob River. Wetlands, marshes and birch forests are located in the vicinity of this mighty river. Good species are Spotted Eagle, Sykes’s Wagtail, White-backed Woodpecker, Lanceolated Warbler, Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler, Red-footed Falcon and White-tailed Eagles.

Katunn River – ©Ondřej Žváček CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Birding the Taiga Two large rivers, the Katun and Biya, flow through this beautiful land. Originating in the mountains the junction of the two rivers eventually forms the Ob River, one of Siberia’s largest rivers. Holding both western and eastern Palearctic species a trip into this region can be very fruitful in the right period of time. Several Siberian gems, such as Siberian Rubythroat, Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler and Yellow-breasted Bunting occur widely and are not difficult to find. Birding the taiga forests is a must do for every serious birder one time in their life. A true heaven with Thrushes, Flycatchers and many Warbler species. Black-throated Thrush is not rare and their loud call gives them away rather fast. White’s Thrush is a difficult to see species, a true skulker, but present by its call, a mechanical second-long whistle with pauses of 5-10 seconds. A long list of Flycatchers and Warblers are found in Siberian taiga forests: Spotted-, Taiga- and Dark-sided Flycatcher, White-browed-, Hume’s, Greenish-, Dusky- and Radde’s Warbler. The last two warblers being definitely the hardest to locate as they are situated on their most western range occurring more commonly to the east (Baikal and further). The forests hold more species such as, Crested Honey Buzzard, Ural Owl, Oriental Cuckoo, Pintail Snipe, Olive-backed Pipit, Brown Shrike, Red-flanked Bluetail, Eversmann’s Redstart, Siberian Tit, Black-throated Accentor and Pine Bunting! Almost all species mentioned earlier can be found around the Seminsk pass where there is a convenient hotel. Roads are good and hostels or guesthouses are available. Don’t expect too much from the accommodations as most places offer double-bedded rooms with shared facilities.

Taiga in Zalesovskiy area – ©Игоревич CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Altai Mountains The high mountain zones are difficult to access and a good car with four-wheel drive capacities is definitely needed. These extra efforts could be rewarded with Altai Snowcock, Pallas’s Rosefinch and Altai Accentor. The illustrious ‘Altai Falcon’, closely related to both Saker and Gyr Falcon (Fox and Patapov 2001; Eastham and Nicholls 2002; ERWD 2006), occurs but like with all large Falcons their numbers are low. As well as good birding, the views are simple stunning – the slopes have not been affected by the large forestry industry giving the Altai a very green appearance when looking from the top of a mountain peak.

Mountains in Altai – ©Alex Kotomanov CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Steppe and Semi-deserts The steppe and semi-desert zones in the south bordering Mongolia hold yet another range of mouth-watering species. Upland Buzzard, Steppe Eagle, Eastern Imperial Eagle, Lesser Kestrel, Heuglin’s Gull, Demoiselle Crane, Pied Wheatear, Bar-headed Goose, Fork-tailed Swift, Azure Tit and the hard-to-find Père David’s Snowfinch are all present. You need a special border permit to be birding south of Kosh Agash. Not many people have birded the region, which is quite surprising considering the good connections with Moscow and the number of highly desirable species that can be seen in a short period of time.

Altain Semi-desert – ©Alexandr frolov CC BY-SA 4.0 <]via Wikimedia Commons

When visiting the area, it is advised to hook up with a local birdtour operator as they know the best spots and otherwise you have a good chance spending many hours in registration offices, fighting with Russian speaking officials, to receive the right papers and stamps. As you need to register yourself in every large place during your visit and that takes some organisational skills.