AA praised for saving rare Spanish eggs

The AA has received praise after rescuing a driver who broke down while transporting a dozen rare birds’ eggs as part of a conservation project.

David Walters, director of Wiltshire-based charity the Great Bustard Group, was returning from Spain with the eggs when his 4x4 broke down outside the channel tunnel terminal in Folkstone, Kent.

The Great Bustard has been wiped out in the UK and the rare eggs had been collected from Castilla y León in North-western Spain. An alternator fault in the car meant the incubator wasn’t able to run, putting the eggs at risk but they were rescued as soon as the AA arrived.

Ten of the eggs hatched just a few days after the breakdown, which is considered a healthy hatch rate.

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Extinct birds arrive at Surrey animal park

The Great Bustard (the heaviest flying animal alive today) was once very much part of the British wildlife but sadly this spectacular bird was hunted to extinction in this country by the 1840's.

When close to hatching, the eggs were checked three times a day, and as soon one started to hatch it was moved to a special unit with high humidity.

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Student Tracks Asian Bird's Migration Patterns; Recommends Conservation Strategies

Apr. 17, 2013 — An Arizona State University biologist and her team have found that the Asian subspecies of great bustard, one of the heaviest birds capable of flight, covers migratory routes of more than 2,000 miles, traveling to and from its breeding grounds in northern Mongolia and wintering grounds in Shaanxi province in China.

The research study, which is available online and will be published in the next volume of the Journal of Avian Biology, is the first of its kind to monitor the movement of this rarely studied subspecies through satellite telemetry and to connect a breeding population of Asian great bustards to their wintering grounds. The research also offers insight into conservation challenges.

Mimi Kessler, a doctoral candidate in biology at the School of Life Sciences, has spent more than two years on Eurasian grasslands, studying habitat use, population genetics, causes of mortality and migration routes of the Asian great bustards.

"We attached GPS transmitters to these birds that collect location data," Kessler says. "These transmitters relay the datasets to a satellite system, so we are able to remotely monitor the movement of these birds very closely, something that has never been done before."

Great bustards are large birds found in grasslands from Spain to Mongolia. Males of the Asian subspecies can weigh up to 35 pounds, but females only weigh up to 11 pounds. The significant size difference between males and females makes bustards the most sexually dimorphic avian species on Earth.

Despite their large size, studying and monitoring these birds is no easy feat. Known for their elusive nature and wariness toward humans, Asian bustards are rarely seen with the naked eye. Kessler and her colleagues use spotting-scopes on hillsides to scan valleys in Mongolia, but it may take the team months to capture and tag a single bird.

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130418100156.htm