Supreme Court steps in to save two endangered bird species

February 19, 2020 8:52 am

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday stepped in to save two endangered bird species — Great Indian Bustard and Lesser Florican — by directing the Rajasthan government to chalk out a time frame to remove overhead high-voltage power lines and lay them underground.

A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde and comprising Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant observed that the two species were vulnerable to fatal collision with overhead power lines.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) echoed the concern and insisted that power lines would have to be laid underground to save the birds.

The Court then asked the Rajasthan government’s counsel to obtain instructions from the authorities concerned on shifting overhead lines below the ground within two weeks.

The top Court observed that the State could go for underground cables in agreements with private companies.

The Court observed that overhead power lines obstruct the flight of the Great Indian Bustard, a larger bird, and as a consequence its movement was restricted.

The Chief Justice said: “One of the solutions suggested to avoid collision of birds with overhead wires is these be laid underground.”

For the other bird species, the top Court reckoned it faced difficulties due to power generation plants and queried the State if it is facing any issues so that the court could issue specific directions.

Additional Solicitor General ANS Nadkarni, representing the MoEF, contended that a team of ministry officials and other wildlife experts had visited Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. Nadkarni said after considering all aspects, the only solution available is to take the cables underground.

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Endangered gull fledglings stoned to death at Canterbury's Waimakariri River

Emma Dangerfield10:55, Feb 18 2020

The slaughter of five threatened fledgling gulls in North Canterbury has been described as "gut-wrenching, illegal and morally abhorrent".

The five black-billed gulls were found with their heads bashed in at a popular dog-walking spot on the banks of the Waimakariri River on Monday.

Their bodies were still soft, indicating they had been killed mid-morning. They were just days away from being able to fly.

Department of Conservation senior ranger Anita Spencer said it was particularly devastating as the birds, which are the most threatened gull species in the world, had been through a rough season.

"A lot of work goes into protecting these gulls so it is extra gut-wrenching that they got to this stage for them to be killed," she said.

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Rare eastern bristlebirds rescued from fire zones in East Gippsland

John Masanauskas Herald Sun

February 5, 2020 12:11PM

Endangered eastern bristlebirds from a colony of up to 180 are set to be moved from fire grounds in Mallacoota to Melbourne Zoo to give them a chance at a future.

Mallacoota’s Howe Flat is home to a colony of up to 180 endangered eastern bristlebirds, some of which will be moved to Melbourne Zoo to act as an insurance population in case Howe Flat is burnt by the East Gippsland fires.

Nine birds were trapped on Wednesday — four pairs and a single bird.

The birds, which are not very mobile, are being trapped in fine mist netting, which doesn’t harm them.

They were taken from Brokewells Hut to Mallacoota by boat, then to the aerodrome by car for a flight to Essendon and then on to Melbourne Zoo.

The Australian Defence Force transported the staff.

MORE BUSHFIRE SUPPORT

Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said: “Our hardworking teams are ensuring this precious little bird has a chance at a bright future despite the impact of these devastating fires, which are still posing a threat to our native wildlife.

“This is fantastic news and a testament to the dedication of multiple agencies working together to save an endangered species.”

The mission started on Monday and is due to take a week weather permitting.

Source

Endangered birds spotted in E China

Source: Xinhua| 2019-11-21 16:40:28|Editor: ZX

HEFEI, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- A bevy of Chinese mergansers, an endangered bird species under state class-one protection, have been captured on camera by shutterbugs in a wetland in eastern China's Anhui Province.

This is the fifth year in a row that Chinese mergansers have been observed in Huoshan County. "We've seen about 10 such birds this year," said Du Shihong, an amateur photographer.

"I'm so happy to see them every year. It is rare to see such lovely and cute birds. Their appearance shows our environment is getting better and better, which is even more exciting," said Du.

Chinese mergansers have a history of more than 10 million years. There are about 1,000 of them worldwide, and the far east of Russia and China serve as their main breeding ground.

In China, the birds mostly live in the northeastern provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin, northern Hebei Province and the south side of the Yangtze River.

Source

The little duck that could: Study finds endangered Hawaiian duck endures

Date: November 18, 2019

Source: Colorado State University

The endangered Hawaiian duck, or koloa, the only endemic duck remaining on the main Hawaiian Islands, is threatened with genetic extinction due to interbreeding with feral mallards. This has led to the creation of hybrid forms of the koloa. But new research has found that the genetic diversity of the koloa is high, and conservation efforts on the island of Kauai have been successful.

Caitlin Wells, a research scientist at Colorado State University, conducted the research as a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Davis. This study is the culmination of two decades of research spearheaded by scientists from University of California, Davis; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; University of Texas, El Paso; Wright State University; Oregon State University; and the state of Hawaii's Division of Forestry and Wildlife.

The results from the study offer hope for existing conservation efforts with the koloa and other endangered birds around the world.

"Persistence of an endangered native duck, feral mallards, and multiple hybrid swarms across the main Hawaiian Islands," will be published Nov. 18 in Molecular Ecology, and Wells is the lead author.

A charismatic duck, located primarily on Kauai

Wells described the koloa as a "petite, buffy brown and charismatic duck," similar to a female mallard.

"The fact that the koloa on Kauai are pure and have a lot of genetic variation are two really positive things that came out of this study," said Wells.

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Experts concerned over non-sighting of Lesser Floricans in MP

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PTI Indore

 Updated: 15-09-2019 18:45 IST Created: 15-09-2019 18:45 IST

The delay in the arrival of the world's most endangered migratory bird, Lesser Florican or Kharmore, in the Sailana sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh for the annual breeding season so far has left ornithologists worried. Experts, who are seeking to find out the causes behind the winged creatures missing their annual date, have raised concerns over the presence of windmills and nilgais (blue bulls) in the vicinity of the sanctuary, spread over 1300 hectares in Ratlam district.

"This is probably the first in the 36 year history of the sanctuary that no Kharmore has visited the area during the breeding season. Last year, four Kharmores were seen in this sanctuary," ornithologist Ajay Gadikar, who is working for the conservation of the rare birds with the state Forest department, told PTI on Sunday. Gadikar said the absence of the birds is a cause of concern because the sanctuary has lush green grass and is the ideal habitat for them.

"We suspect that the windmills that have come up near Sailana area in the last decade are disturbing the Kharmores who generally fly at the height of the windmills," he said, adding that the presence of Nilgais or large Indian antelopes might be the another cause. According to Gadikar, Kharmore is a very shy bird who prefers either flying away or hiding after sensing any unusual movement.

Chief Conservator of Forests (Ujjain Range), Ajay Kumar Yadav, has confirmed that no winged visitor has been spotted in the sanctuary so far. "Forest department will study the reasons with the help of experts to find out whether windmills and nilgais are acting as deterrents," he said.

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A Rare Greenshank Is Spotted in Russia

08/31/2019

New York Times

One of the few things known about the Nordmann’s greenshank is that it is one of the most endangered shorebirds on earth. No one had studied the bird in depth since 1976, and its nesting habitat remained a mystery.

But this summer, an American graduate student and Russian ornithologists spotted a pair of Nordmann’s greenshanks in a larch forest near a coastal bog in far eastern Russia. They shot video of one in a nest, measured and photographed four eggs and tagged seven adult birds, a few which have been spotted again as they migrated south across Asia.

“The moment of discovery — it was pure joy,” said Philipp Maleko, a graduate student at the University of Florida, who tracked the birds for nearly two months this summer, wading through the bog and forest to spot the nest. In addition to fighting off hordes of mosquitoes, the research team traveled with an armed guard to ward off bears and wolves.

Their research marked the first in-depth investigation in decades of the Nordmann’s greenshank (Tringa guttifer), a pigeon-size bird named for a 19th-century Finnish biologist and parasitologist.

The population of Nordmann’s greenshanks has been crashing in recent decades, as a result of hunting and wetland reclamation in coastal Asia. No more than 2,000 of the birds, also called the spotted greenshank, are believed to be left in the wild, said Jonathan Slaght, the Russia and Northeast Asia coordinator for the Wildlife Conservation Society, which helped lead the research effort.

The most endangered migratory shorebird is the spoon-billed sandpiper, Slaght said. In Southeast Asia, where both species spend their winters, hunters often kill the birds to sell for food. Local conservation groups have been paying a few hundred dollars each to the hunters so they can afford fishing nets and stop killing shorebirds. “They don’t want to be hunting birds, it’s just all they can do,” Slaght said.

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A Rare Greenshank Is Spotted in Russia

It is the first time in more than four decades that researchers have had an opportunity to study the endangered shorebirds.

By Karen Weintraub

Aug. 31, 2019

One of the few things known about the Nordmann’s greenshank is that it is one of the most endangered shorebirds on earth. No one had studied the bird in depth since 1976, and its nesting habitat remained a mystery.

But this summer, an American graduate student and Russian ornithologists spotted a pair of Nordmann’s greenshanks in a larch forest near a coastal bog in far eastern Russia. They shot video of one in a nest, measured and photographed four eggs and tagged seven adult birds, a few which have been spotted again as they migrated south across Asia.

“The moment of discovery — it was pure joy,” said Philipp Maleko, a graduate student at the University of Florida, who tracked the birds for nearly two months this summer, wading through the bog and forest to spot the nest. In addition to fighting off hordes of mosquitoes, the research team traveled with an armed guard to ward off bears and wolves.

Their research marked the first in-depth investigation in decades of the Nordmann’s greenshank (Tringa guttifer), a pigeon-size bird named for a 19th-century Finnish biologist and parasitologist.

The population of Nordmann’s greenshanks has been crashing in recent decades, as a result of hunting and wetland reclamation in coastal Asia. No more than 2,000 of the birds, also called the spotted greenshank, are believed to be left in the wild, said Jonathan Slaght, the Russia and Northeast Asia coordinator for the Wildlife Conservation Society, which helped lead the research effort.

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More protection for endangered kakī

Friday, 9 August 2019, 10:39 am Press Release: Department of Conservation

9 August 2019

A significant increase in predator trapping is giving 130 young kakī/black stilt released in the Mackenzie Basin this week their best-ever chance of survival.

Thousands of new predator traps have been recently installed in the Godley Cass and Macaulay river systems as part of conservation project, Te Manahuna Aoraki. There is now renewed hope that kakī, the world’s rarest wading bird, will one day be able to thrive without human intervention.

Yesterday, 45 juvenile kakī were released at Mt Gerald Station, in the Godley and Cass river systems. Another 19 birds will join them this afternoon, while a further 66 were released into the Tasman Valley earlier in the week.

Department of Conservation (DOC) Senior Biodiversity Ranger Dean Nelson says until recently the young waders have been released in the Godley and lower Cass Valleys with only very limited trapping to protect them from predators like stoats, ferrets and feral cats.

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Despite habitat protection, endangered owls decline in Mount Rainier National Park

AUGUST 8, 2019

by American Ornithological Society

When the Northern Spotted Owl was protected under the Endangered Species Act in 1990, the primary threat to the species was the loss of the old-growth forest it depends on. However, new research published in The Condor: Ornithological Applications shows that the Northern Spotted Owl population in Washington's Mount Rainier National Park has declined sharply in the past two decades despite the long-term preservation of habitat within the park. The culprit? The spread of Barred Owls, a closely related, competing species that has moved into Spotted Owls' range from the east.

Biologists have seen Barred Owls in Spotted Owl territories within the national park more and more frequently since Spotted Owl surveys began in 1997. For their new study, Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit's Anna Mangan, the National Park Service's Tara Chestnut, and their colleagues analyzed two decades' worth of data from these surveys. "We found that Spotted Owls now occupy 50% fewer territories in the park than they did 20 years ago when the study began, despite the lack of habitat disturbance," says Chestnut. "Spotted Owls were less likely to be present in territories where Barred Owls were detected, and if Spotted Owls were there, sharing space with Barred Owls made them less likely to breed. Only 18 adult Spotted Owls were detected in the study area in 2016, down from a high of 30 owls in 1998."

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Eastern student, East Haddam resident studying endangered birds in Buzzards Bay

By Press Staff

 Published 4:47 pm EDT, Friday, July 12, 2019

Rachael Finch ‘21, a biology major at Eastern Connecticut State University from East Haddam, has spent the past five weeks working with the endangered birds in Massachusetts’ Buzzards Bay.

WILLIMANTIC — Rachael Finch, ‘21, a biology major at Eastern Connecticut State University from East Haddam, has spent the past five weeks working with the endangered birds in Massachusetts’ Buzzards Bay.

As the recipient of an Eastern Summer Research Fellowship, she is working to help restore the population of roseate terns — an endangered, migratory seabird that nests in the Northeast, according to a press release.

Under the supervision of Biology Professor Patty Szczys, and in collaboration with Mass Wildlife, Finch’s field work occurred on Ram and Bird Islands in Buzzards Bay. Each morning, she’d take a boat ride to either of the islands and spend the day monitoring the birds, the release said.

“Being on the island every day is exhausting,” she said of the early mornings and long hours in a prepared statement. “However, the work we’re doing for the birds is crucial to help their survival.”

Among her objectives, Finch is assessing whether leg banding — the traditional method of tracking and monitoring terns — is in fact harming the already endangered birds.

“The bands may cause an increase in mortality on their wintering grounds, thus potentially contributing to their slow population growth,” said Finch, who is comparing survival rates in banded versus unbanded terns.

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Campaigners blame port as rare colony of endangered terns vanishes

Published: 20:55Monday 15 July 2019

Furious environmentalists have lashed out at owners of Leith Docks after a colony of endangered seabirds disappeared.

The 2,000-strong common tern colony on a man-made island in Imperial Dock was abandoned this month.

Naturalists claim that increased shipping activity has scared the birds away, after dead terns and abandoned eggs were found at the site last month.

TV wildlife presenter Chris Packham has branded it a “tragedy in contemporary conservation”.

Common terns are at risk in the UK, rated “amber” by the Birds of Conservation Concern review. The Leith tern colony was the third largest in Britain and Ireland.

Forth Ports has denied claims that increased shipping activity has caused the destruction of the site and claims local tug crews “thought they saw a stoat or similar”.

The finding was rejected by the Lothian Ringing Group – local naturalists who have followed activity of the tern colony closely for 30 years.

John Davies, a member of the group said, “One mink attack doesn’t cause colony abandonment. Mink don’t leave dead birds lying about, they cache them in a hidden store and the same with eggs.”

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Discovery of new kiwi population 'most significant in recent times'

Charlie Mitchell18:00, Jul 06 2019

A new population of our rarest kiwi was discovered after a conservation ranger heard a kiwi call in a recording from the area.

A new population of our most endangered kiwi has been found on a remote plateau in South Westland, a welcome surprise to authorities who say it is a vital boost for their conservation efforts.

A group of Haast tokoeka – the most endangered kiwi subspecies, with an estimated wild population of fewer than 500 – has been found in an isolated part of South Westland.

The exact number of birds in the group is unknown, but it is thought to contain at least 16 individuals. They were found by Department of Conservation (DOC) rangers in early April, after one ranger had heard what sounded like a kiwi on a years-old recording taken from the area.

The new birds increase the existing Haast tokoeka population by up to five per cent, and add much-needed genetic diversity to the existing population.

The find was unexpected, as wild Haast tokoeka are only known to inhabit a steep, mountainous area along the Haast ranges some 20 or 30 kilometres east.

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Endangered bird returns to South Korea 40 years after extinction

Rare wader is designated a national monument that features in popular children’s song

Jon Sharman

Wednesday 22 May 2019 18:48 

The endangered crested ibis has reportedly been reintroduced to South Korea 40 years after it went extinct in the Asian country. 

Forty of the rare wading birds were bred in captivity before being released into the wild at Upo Wetland in South Gyeongsang province, southeast of Seoul, the Yonhap news agency reported.  

The last time a crested ibis was spotted on the Korean peninsula is believed to have been in 1979 when it was spotted in the demilitarised zone separating the south from North Korea.

The bird used to be a common sight until pesticide use reportedly damaged its food sources. 

A designated national monument in South Korea, it is also seen in China and Japan.

The captive population in South Korea has now reached 363, according to the Agence France-Presse news agency.

The breeding programme began with a birds donated by Beijing.

In South Korea the crested ibis is linked to an eponymous popular children’s song, composed when Japan ruled the country.

Source

Forest fire pushes imperilled parrot closer to the brink

A devastating forest fire in Nicaragua has destroyed a vitally important nesting and roosting site of the Yellow-naped Amazon, one of the most endangered parrots in Central America.

Peña Inculta, a haven of biodiversity on the twin-peaked volcanic island of Ometepe in the middle of Nicaragua's largest freshwater lake, was officially designated as a wildlife refuge in 2010 in view of its ecological and cultural importance.

It is home to almost 50 species of resident and migratory birds, including the Yellow-naped Amazon. This charismatic but seriously threatened bird is one of the more conspicuous and exotic inhabitants of Peña Inculta. And this forest is - or was - one of the most important roosting, feeding and nesting sites for Ometepe's iconic parrot, harbouring a population of more than 400 individuals.

The ecological impact of the fire is wide-reaching, and the destruction of parrot habitat will undoubtedly have a detrimental effect on a broad spectrum of other wildlife, including capuchins and howler monkeys, agoutis, sloths, armadillos and bats, as well as a variety of reptiles. But it's the Yellow-naped Amazon that is likely to be hardest hit in view of the species' rarity and limited range.

As if it wasn't enough to run the gauntlet of nest-robbers who poach their eggs and young to supply the local, regional and international pet trade, these beleaguered parrots have now been deprived of a sizeable chunk of their forest home. Although it doesn't sound massive, the 120 hectares lost to the fire represents 40% of the most densely forested area within the wildlife refuge. The widespread loss of mature trees - on which the parrots depend for nest holes - is a particularly serious blow to their breeding prospects in the coming seasons.

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Research on Nesting Fantails Informs Conservation of Rare Birds

11 JUN 2019

STEPHANIE DITTRICH

In New Zealand, conservationists are studying the nesting behavior of Fantails in hopes it will glean insights into the behavior of rare, Endangered birds.

Many bird species are on the brink of extinction due to the presence of invasive rats. So, it should come as no surprise that within conservation, rare birds are a high priority. Unfortunately, their rarity also makes them much more difficult to study and protect. These at-risk species have low population numbers and are often found in remote, hard to access locations such as islands and understanding how invasive rats impact their breeding success is crucial to protecting them. That is why researchers in New Zealand decided to explore the impacts of invasive rats using a common bird species that isn’t endangered.  

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Delight at chick success for endangered Pied Flycatchers at Lydford Gorge

They are further thrilled to have discovered that one pair of the birds, who were born in different parts of Devon, have paired up and are now busy raising their

Lewis Clarke

13:17, 20 JUN 2019

Two pairs of rare Pied Flycatchers, which are on the ‘Birds of Conservation Concern’ red list, are successfully breeding at Lydford Gorge in Devon, thanks to work done by rangers at National Trust.

They are further thrilled to have discovered that one pair of the birds, who were born in different parts of Devon, have paired up and are now busy raising their young at Lydford Gorge on Dartmoor.

The Devon pair of birds were ringed in 2014, and the National Trust has been able to discover that the male was born near Widecombe-on-the-Moor and the female hails from South Molton.  As Pied Flycatchers migrate thousands of miles during the winter before returning to the UK to mate in the spring, it’s not known how or when they paired up, however, the Trust is delighted to see these endangered birds doing well after careful work to attract them to the area has worked.

The baby birds will start to be seen taking their first forays outside the nest in June; however keen bird spotters can come and look out for the birds at Lydford Gorge, who are expected to stay there until late August when they fly south again to the African continent.

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From Mythical Creature to Endangered Species: The Egyptian Vulture

EGYPTIAN STREETS

MAY 21, 2019

The Egyptian vulture, a bird species bearing much cultural significance in both ancient Egyptian and Greek mythology, is drastically declining in population due to various human-caused threats.

Every year, billions of different bird types migrate along a south-north axis, with the Middle East located at the crucial juncture of Africa, Asia and Europe and therefore constituting an important corridor for this seasonal movement of birds. While Egyptian vultures that breed in milder regions migrate southwards in winter, their tropical counterparts remain relatively sedentary.

A worrying trend that has recently gained the attention of bird conservationists, is that this species has been in massive decline throughout the past century. In fact, their population is considered to have halved since 1980, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Six species of vultures are currently recorded in Egypt – some being rarer than others – and while no recent study has determined the exact size of their population, they are generally in decline, Mindy Baha al-Din, bird specialist with the NGO Nature Conservation Egypt has noted.

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Endangered condor may have hatched in Zion National Park

JUNE 1, 2019

There's likely a new baby condor at Zion National Park in southwest Utah.

Park rangers said Thursday that they suspect a pair of endangered California condors has hatched their first egg because of behavior changes between the birds.

They estimate the chick to be about 3 weeks old.

If the chick survives, it would be Utah's first successful hatchling. Zion spokeswoman Aly Baltrus says three chicks have been born at the park but have died before they were old enough to fly.

National Park Service records show the condors were the only breeding pair in Zion as of last year. Park rangers estimate they've been together for two years.

California condors are making a comeback in the wild three decades after nearing the brink of extinction.

Source

He'll be the stork of the town! Brave father bird protects nest of eggs on top of pylon as wildfire rips through field in Russia

Endangered Oriental stork refuses to budge despite the rising heat and smoke 

Bird and at least four of its future chicks survived blaze near  Tambovka village, close to River Gilchin

Huge field entirely burned in 1.5hrs; the fire was 'started by local criminals' 

By WILL STEWART FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 12:46, 15 May 2019 | UPDATED: 12:47, 15 May 2019

A heroic stork father is shown in a remarkable video protecting a nest full of eggs from a raging Russian wildfire.

The endangered bird - a rare Oriental stork - refuses to budge despite the rising heat and swirling noxious smoke.

The wildfire is seen in a CCTV camera trap belonging to WWF Russia and the AmurSoEs environmental organisation which released the footage.

The bird and at least four of its future chicks survived only because the stork nest is on an electricity pylon.

Continued