Visit From a Black Stork: Rare Birds Return to Moscow After Century of Absence

19:22 13.06.2017

Moscow Region biologists discovered a black stork's nest; the bird features on the Red List of Threatened Species in Russia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Ukraine and some other countries.

In contrast to white storks, black storks are very cautious and prefer to live in remote and hard to reach places, away from humans. The last time this rare species was spotted living and nested in Moscow Region was in the 1920s.

Ornithologists didn't reveal the exact location of the nest to keep it away from bumbling bird-watchers which they feared could cause discomfort to the black stork family. Now the birds are being observed in real time.

If a couple of black storks deliver offspring, this forest area may be declared a natural monument of regional significance, according to the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Source

Bird in Cebu lands in new IUCN Red List

Sunday, August 3, 2014

THE 2014 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species includes a species of bird that is endemic to Cebu.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has listed the Cebu brown-dove (scientific name Phapitreron frontalis) among the critically endangered species of the world.

According to the IUCN website, the Cebu brown-dove has not been recorded with certainty since 1892.

“Any remaining population must be tiny and is inferred to be declining owing to the effects of ongoing habitat loss and degradation. It has therefore been listed as ‘critically endangered,’ but following a possible sighting in 2004, it cannot yet be categorized as ‘extinct’ or tagged as ‘possibly extinct’ until further searches have been carried out,” read the updated IUCN list.

The sighting referred to by IUCN was those of two individuals in the Alcoy, Cebu forest, which was recorded by Lisa Paguntalan and Godfrey Jakosalem.

Full species

Jakosalem posted on his Facebook page that the species was previously considered a subspecies. “It is now a full species new to science,” he said in the post.

He said the latest development should be a challenge for Cebuanos to implement conservation measures for the species and for its habitat.

Continued

Nordmann's Greenshank bird on IUCN's endangered list

NEW DELHI: Nordmann's Greenshank, a beautiful Russian shorebird which migrates annually to many south Asian countries, including India, is listed as 'endangered' on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 

The key threat to the bird is the rapid rate of reclamation and development of coastal wetlands throughout Asia for industry, infrastructure and aquaculture, said the International Union for Conservation of Nature, world's oldest and largest global environmental organisation.

Pollution in coastal wetlands, hunting and human disturbance also threaten this species, and the degradation of its breeding habitat is caused by grazing reindeer, the IUCN said. 

A few protected and non-hunting areas have been established in Russia and along the migration route of the bird, also known as Spotted Greenshank.

According to Birdlife International, breeding adults of Nordmann's Greenshank are boldly marked with whitish spots and spangling on blackish upper side, heavily streaked head and upper neck, broad blackish crescentic spots on lower neck and breast and darker lores.

"In flight, it shows all-white upper tail-coverts and rather uniform greyish tail. Toes do not extend beyond tail tip," it said.

"Conservation priorities include establishing further protected areas in its breeding grounds, as well as at important sites in the winter range, drafting management plans for coastal wetlands to promote their conservation, banning the hunting of all shorebirds in its breeding grounds and providing full legal protection throughout the range," the IUCN said.

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