Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Birds
Mongolia is home to 469 recorded species of bird. In the desert you may see desert
warblers, saxaul sparrows
(boljmor)
, McQueen's bustards
(toodog)
, sandgrouse, finches
(byalzuuhai)
and the cinereous vultures
(tas)
.
On the steppes, you will certainly see the most charismatic bird in Mongolia - the
demoiselle crane
(övögt togoruu)
- as well as the hoopoe
(övöölj) and
the odd falcon
(shonkhor),
vulture
(yol),
and golden and steppe eagle
(bürged)
. Other steppe species in-
clude upland buzzards
(sar)
, black kites
(sokhor elee)
and some varieties of owl
(shar
shuvuu)
and hawk
(khartsaga)
. Some black kites will even swoop down and catch pieces
of bread in mid-air if you throw the pieces high enough. These magnificent raptors,
perched majestically on a rock by the side of the road, will rarely be disturbed by your
jeep or the screams of your guide ('Look. Eagle!! Bird!! We stop?') but following the al-
most inaudible click of your lens cap, these birds will move and almost be in China be-
fore you have even thought about apertures.
The
takhi
horse also goes by the name Przewalski's horse. It was named after Colonel
Nikolai Przewalski, an officer in the Russian Imperial Army who made the horse's exist-
ence known to Europe after an exploratory expedition to Central Asia in 1878.
In the mountains, you may be lucky to spot species of ptarmigan
(tsagaan yatuu)
,
bunting
(khömrög byalzuuhai)
, woodpecker
(tonshuul)
, owl and endemic Altai snowcock
(khoilog)
. The lakes of the west and north are visited by Dalmatian pelicans
(khoton)
,
hooded cranes
(khar togoruu)
, relict gulls
(tsakhlai)
and bar-headed geese. Eastern Mon-
golia has several species of crane, including the hooded and Siberian varieties and critic-
ally endangered white-naped cranes
(tsen togoruu)
, of which only 5000 remain in the
wild.
Mongolians consider wolf parts and organs to have curative properties. The meat and
lungs are good for respiratory ailments, the intestines aid in digestion, powdered wolf
rectum can soothe the pain of haemorrhoids and hanging a wolf tongue around ones
neck will cure gland and thyroid ailments.
