New tiny 44 million year old bird fossil links Africa and Asia to Utah

MARCH 3, 2020

by Midwestern University

A new species of quail-sized fossil bird from 44 million year old sediments in Utah fills in a gap in the fossil record of the early extinct relatives of chickens and turkeys, and it shows strong links with other extinct species from Namibia in Southern Africa and Uzbekistan in Central Asia.

In their paper in the online scientific journal Diversity, the authors Dr. Thomas Stidham (Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences), Dr. Beth Townsend (Midwestern University, Arizona), and Dr. Patricia Holroyd (University of California Museum of Paleontology, Berkeley) describe the fossil of a distinct tiny bone from the shoulder girdle of an extinct quail-like bird from 44 million year old rocks in eastern Utah. While it is a unique fossil, the authors have not given it a formal scientific name, waiting until they find more bones of the skeleton. This new Utah bird appears to be the oldest fossil of the extinct group called Paraortygidae, a relative of the living Galliformes (the group that includes the living chicken, turkey, guineafowl, and quail). This fossil fits in a nearly 15 million-year gap in the fossil record of the galliform lineage in North America.

This extinct species is similar in size to the smallest living Galliformes like quail and hill partridges. It likely lived before the evolution of the large crop and gizzard that we see in living chickens and turkeys, and therefore the Utah species likely had a diet different from its living relatives. The earliest fossils of this paraortygid group are from arid habitats, the seashore, and inland forests demonstrating that they had flexibility in their ecology and diet.

Another interesting aspect of this new fossil is that it closely resembles the small size and unique shape of other early paraortygid fossils from sediments with a similar geological age from Namibia in southern Africa and Uzbekistan in Central Asia which were all separated from each other by oceans.

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Bird evolution in Asia shaped in part by giant plateau, study finds

Colorado Arts and Science Magazine Highlight 

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2019 

A new large-scale study from CU Boulder and colleagues provides first evidence that a gargantuan, inhospitable plateau in Asia maintains the species barriers of some birds​ 

Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine

In the middle of Asia, there is a vast, high-altitude desert that not only helped shape the evolution of barn swallows—and likely other birds, too—but continues to keep them distinct by altering migration paths, according to new research from the University of Colorado Boulder. 

These new findings, published this week in the journal Ecology Letters, provide the most-convincing evidence yet for a long-held hypothesis that the Tibetan plateau is an important catalyst and maintainer of the vast diversity of birds found in Asia. It does this by being a barrier that keeps them separate, sending some migrating birds to Africa and others to south and southeast Asia. 

“What we’re getting is a really consistent snapshot that different subspecies (of barn swallows), when they come together, are responding in the same way to a major geographic barrier,” said Rebecca Safran, an associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado Boulder and a senior author on the paper. 

“It suggests that there’s something universal about that place on planet Earth that at least different subspecies of barn swallows are responding to by migrating in different directions above it.” 

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Bird commonly found in Asia spotted by enthusiasts in Alaska

Published 9:41 am, Tuesday, December 5, 2017

SITKA, Alaska (AP) — Bird watchers have spotted a rare thrush in Alaska.

The dusky thrush, which is commonly found in Asia, has only been spotted a few times in Alaska, the Daily Sitka Sentinel reported . Bird enthusiast Matt Goff reported seeing one Friday in Sitka.

"I don't think it's an uncommon bird in Asia," Goff said. "But in North America — it's very unusual."

The dusky thrush's appearance differs slightly from that of its North American counterparts. It lacks the bright red or orange breast of a varied thrush, or robin, and has "pale," ''distinctive" lines around its eyes, Goff said.

Word of Goff's sighting spread quickly and enthusiasts from all over flocked to the Crescent Harbor in hopes of catching a glimpse.

One out-of-state enthusiast even flew in to see the bird, Goff said. That was Yve Morell, who is on a quest to achieve an American Birding Association Big Year, an informal competition in the birding community to identify the largest number of birds within a year.

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Asia’s Harry Potter obsession poses threat to owls

From Indonesia to India, wild birds are being sold as pets to families who want their own Hedwig. Ecologists call for protection to help species survive

Robin McKie

Saturday 12 August 2017 21.44 BSTLast modified on Sunday 13 August 2017 06.43 BST

The Harry Potter phenomenon has broken publishing and cinema box-office records and spawned a series of lucrative theme parks. But wildlife experts are sounding the alarm over a sad downside to JK Rowling’s tales of the troubled young wizard. The illegal trade in owls has jumped in the far east over the past decade and researchers fear it could endanger the survival of these distinctive predators in Asia.

Conservationists say the snowy owl Hedwig – who remains the young wizard’s loyal companion for most of the Harry Potter series – is fuelling global demand for wild-caught birds for use as pets. In 2001, the year in which the first film was released, only a few hundred were sold at Indonesia’s many bird markets. By 2016, the figure had soared to more than 13,000, according to researchers Vincent Nijman and Anna Nekaris of Oxford Brookes University in a paper in Global Ecology and Conservation. At around $10 to $30, the price tag is affordable to most middle-class families.

The issue is of critical concern because the owls being offered for sale are nearly all taken from the wild. “The overall popularity of owls as pets in Indonesia has risen to such an extent that it may imperil the conservation of some of the less abundant species,” Nijman and Nekaris say.

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Researchers untangle mystery of tiny bird's trans-Pacific flight

Date: June 1, 2017

Source: University of Faculty of Science British Columbia

Zoologists have documented the first record of a House Swift in the Americas -- and begun to unravel the mystery of how the tiny bird got from its south-east Asia breeding grounds to Ladner, BC.

The bird's well preserved but near-emaciated carcass was discovered in May 2012 near the Deltaport container terminal, just 40 metres from the Pacific Ocean.

"Like some marathon runners, I think this fellow finally saw land and just crashed, exhausted, at the finish line," says Ildiko Szabo, a curator at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum and forensic ornithologist at the University of British Columbia (UBC) who led the identification of the specimen.

"These birds are amazing fliers and can stay airborne for months at a time, but there wouldn't have been enough insect prey to sustain him properly over the mid-Pacific. The mystery is what sent him so far off course."

In a paper published in The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, Szabo and co-authors, including UBC researcher Darren Irwin, propose that either a storm set the bird off course, or even more likely, his internal navigation 'compass' malfunctioned.

"Our initial reaction was skepticism that this would be such an unusual species," says Irwin, who studies how new bird species arise. "But by combining a review of the bird's characteristics with DNA testing, we were able to confirm that this was indeed a House Swift from Asia, making this an exceptional case of vagrancy."

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100 MacQueen's Bustards smuggled in Iranian ship

Earlier this month, coast guards in Kuwait intercepted a ship attempting to smuggle 100 Asian MacQueen's Bustards Chlamydotis macqueenii, recognized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. The species is threatened by hunting and trapping throughout its range, particularly in its wintering habitat of Pakistan and Iran. The bird is in high demand in the region for use as live prey in falconry training.

In a press statement issued by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior, the Public Relations and Security Media Department explained that the Coast Guard Department was inspecting foreign ships that were heading to Doha Port, when they discovered the Iranian ship with its load of birds. Also discovered on board were 16 falcons of various species, mostly Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus. 

Kuwait Environment Protection Society (KEPS– BirdLife International’s Kuwaiti partner) investigated the case and confirmed that all the birds on board had been poached from the wild and were being transported without any legal documents. The offenders are currently in custody and will be dealt with according to Kuwaiti law. Commenting on the issue, Wejdan Al-Oqab, KEPS Secretary General, says “There are hundreds of birds, including MacQueen's Bustard and eagles, illegally killed every year”. 

“We are working hard to protect threatened animal populations and work closely with law enforcement agencies to protect biodiversity and enforce national and international wildlife laws to ensure that the trade of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival”. 

Numbers of MacQueen's Bustard have fallen dramatically in recent decades. The species is threatened by a number of factors, including the degradation of their vegetation habitat by livestock grazing, but hunting remains the biggest threat to its future. 

The species is protected under international wildlife treaties. The Asian MacQueen's Bustard is roughly the same size as a turkey and typically has a large, speckled sandy brown upper body, a creamy white underside and long legs, a slender neck and a wingspan that can reach 1.5 meters. Its colouring acts as camouflage in the desert and sandy plains, providing a challenge for hunters and their falcons. 

The MacQueen's Bustard is the game bird of choice for Arab falconers, because it is a good match for the falcons. There is such strong demand for the bird in the region that some hunters are willing to use illicit means to acquire them. 

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