NZ scientists bound for Auckland Islands for annual bird and sea lion count

Tuesday Jan 17, 2017 

 

Scientists are this week heading to the subantarctic Auckland Islands for an annual survey of white-capped albatross and New Zealand sea lion numbers in the remote and windswept region.

White-capped albatross are endemic to New Zealand and breed on the Auckland Islands in the Southern Ocean, 465km south of Bluff.

The survey, carried out by helicopter, will track albatross population size and trends.

Hundreds of thousands of the white-capped albatross breed on the Auckland Islands each year, estimated to be over 95 per cent of the worldwide population.

In its ninth year, this year's white-capped albatross census is a collaboration between the Department of Conservation, Seafood New Zealand, Deepwater Group and the Ministry for Primary Industries.

Funding in previous years had come from either DoC or MPI, but because of limited resources due to Conservation Services Programme efforts on the Chatham Islands, others were needed to step up.

"The survey allows us to create valuable datasets that give consistent information on breeding patterns and adult populations," said Richard Wells of Deepwater Group, a co-operative of deepwater fisheries quota owners.

A survey of New Zealand sea lion pups will take place simultaneously.

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Rare birds vanish from Delhi’s new jungle

Darpan Singh, Hindustan Times New Delhi, February 22, 2014

First Published: 23:59 IST(22/2/2014) | Last Updated: 00:03 IST(23/2/2014)

Many bird watchers flocking to Delhi’s forests this winter are returning home disappointed after failing to spot their favourite species.

An annual bird census at one of Delhi’s newest forests — Garhi Mandu — found only 79 species this year as compared to the 90 species recorded in the 2013 census.

The drastic fall has put a spotlight on the degrading habitat of Garhi Mandu and other forests in Delhi due to climate change, human interference and pollution.

Spread over 894.73 acres along the left bank of the Yamuna river in northeast Delhi, Garhi Mandu has been a good habitat for birds because of adjacent wetlands.

“But there’re several factors such as burning and dumping of garbage, using water for cleaning vehicles, fishing and playgrounds that are scaring the birds away,” said TK Roy, one of the team members who took part in the Asian Waterbird Census-2014.

In fact, the pollution and human interference has been so bad that many of Delhi’s resident birds such as Gray Hornbill, Crimson-breasted Barbet, Purple Sunbird and Pied Kingfisher were not spotted at all.

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Bird watchers spot variety of rare species

Sight of Night Heron shocks counting volunteers

CARA MCKENNA / DAILY NEWS 

JANUARY 9, 2014 12:00 AM

Two bird species not usually seen were spotted over the holidays during the city's annual Christmas bird count.

A Black-crowned Night Heron shocked volunteers when it was spotted during counting week because it is considered very unusual to spot one in Nanaimo.

A single Townsend's Warbler was also a surprise, because the species isn't often in the area during winter.

In total, 16,233 birds and 116 species, which are considered average numbers, were seen on count day by 75 volunteers.

The Christmas bird count has been a yearly tradition in Nanaimo for close to 50 years.

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Volunteer birders tally 80 species for the Pittsburgh Christmas Bird Count Read more: http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourallekiskivalley/yourallekiskivalleymore/3220356-74/bird-count-oriole?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tribunereviewnews+%28News%29#ixzz2HDMvDJSN Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

When an O‘Hara man spotted one of the birds of summer — a bright orange-and-black Baltimore oriole — at his bird feeder during last weekend‘s snowstorm, Audubon Society officials didn‘t believe him.

The sighting of the male oriole, which lives here only in the spring and summer, will set a first-time record for the Pittsburgh Christmas Bird Count, Brian Shema said. Sherma serves as compiler for the effort as well as operations director for the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania.

Also topping Dec. 29‘s local bird count was the state-endangered short-eared owl discovered in the Oakmont area.

Now in its 113th year nationally, the annual so-called Christmas bird count is the longest running volunteer nature survey in the world, according to the Audubon Society.

About 100 volunteers showed up for the Pittsburgh area count, which began in 1961 and covers a 15-mile radius centered in Pittsburgh‘s North Hills. Other counts in the region and across the country have been scheduled from Dec. 14 through Jan. 5.

The volunteer birders tallied roughly 30,000 individuals for the Pittsburgh count, according to unofficial estimates from Shema

Read more: http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourallekiskivalley/yourallekiskivalleymore/3220356-74/bird-count-oriole?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tribunereviewnews+%28News%29#ixzz2HDMs5Yk3

Annual bird count gives scientists climate change clues

Rich Kostecke, a bird expert and associate director of conservation, research and planning at the Nature Conservancy in Texas, looks through his spotting scope Monday during an annual 24-hour Christmastime ritual to count birds along the Texas Gulf Coast in Mad Island, Texas.

MAD ISLAND, Texas — Armed with flashlights, recordings of bird calls, a small notebook and a stash of candy bars, scientist Rich Kostecke embarked on an annual 24-hour Christmastime count of birds along the Texas Gulf Coast. Yellow rail. Barn owl. Bittern. Crested Cara-Cara. Kostecke rattled off the names and scribbled them in his notebook.

His data, along with that from more than 50 other volunteers spread out into six groups across the 7,000-acre Mad Island preserve, will be analyzed regionally and then added to a database with the results of more than 2,200 other bird counts going on from mid-December to Jan. 5 across the Western Hemisphere.

The count began in 1900 as a National Audubon Society protest of holiday hunts that left piles of bird and animal carcasses littered across the country. It now helps scientists understand how birds react to short-term weather events and may provide clues as to how they will adapt as temperatures rise and climate changes.

“Learning the changes of habit in drought could help us know what will happen as it gets warmer and drier,” said Kostecke, a bird expert and associate director of conservation, research and planning at the Nature Conservancy in Texas.

Continued:  http://www.trivalleycentral.com/casa_grande_dispatch/national_news/annual-bird-count-gives-scientists-climate-change-clues/article_bc4024de-4de7-11e2-a61c-0019bb2963f4.html