Population: In 2015-2023, the number of nesting birds on Lake Alakol in Kazakhstan varied: from 1,500 pairs in 2015 to 5005 pairs in 2016, and in 2023 amounted to 3506 pairs. About 5.8 thousand pairs were recorded in the north of the Caspian Sea in 2023. The total number in the country probably reaches 10,000 couples. The global population is estimated at 0.125-1.1 million. individuals.
Status. Category II – catastrophically declining
Habitat. It is distributed from the Northern Black Sea coast in the west to the lakes of Chany and Julukul in the east. The largest colonies are on the islands of the Caspian Sea. In Kazakhstan, it breeds in salty and brackish reservoirs: on lakes Balkash, Alakol, sorah of Karaganda and West Kazakhstan regions, on islands of the northeastern part of the Caspian Sea, as well as on lakes of the Tengiz-Korgalzhyn system, in the Pavlodar region, etc..
