A look back at some of the biggest bird conservation stories of 2019

24 Mar 2020

A lot can happen in a year. Browse some of the most important advances in bird conservation science that happened over 2019: part of the yearly update to our flagship publication, State of the World’s Birds.

By Jessica Law

Yearly updates can be infuriating. At the end of every December, social media is flooded with humblebrags about exotic holidays, job promotions or similar successes. But we promise that some yearly updates really are important.

Every four years, we release a full update of State of the World’s Birds: BirdLife’s landmark publication, which provides a global overview of the status of bird populations, the pressures they face and the actions underway to save them. Since birds are important indicators of the planet’s overall health, this report helps decision-makers to shape the global conservation agenda.

However, a lot can happen in four years. That’s why we also produce yearly updates on key scientific and conservation developments over the past 12 months. Here are some significant advances in knowledge we’ve gained since the last State of the World’s Birds publication was released in 2018.

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After tigers and elephants, India now plans to protect its endangered birds

February 10, 2020

By Mayank Aggarwal

On Feb. 4, images of a rare oriental darter struggling to free its beak from a piece of plastic went viral. The incident was reported from Palwal in Haryana which, according to the news report, has lost more than half of its wetlands in 30 years (1970s-2000) due to land-use change like agricultural expansion. In June 2018, in a similar incident, in a wetland just outside Delhi, a black-necked stork had its beak sealed with a plastic ring around it. Its photo had gone viral. The bird was later rescued after extensive efforts by forest authorities.

Such incidents where birds are impacted by trash and plastic waste could be reduced as part of a new plan to conserve birds and control dumping of waste into areas like wetlands that are bird habitats.

With the focus on tigers and elephants, conservation and protection of birds take a backseat in India. Now, a 10-year plan proposed by the Indian government hopes to help in the conservation of birds and their habitats in India.

The draft—visionary perspective plan (2020-2030) for the conservation of avian diversity, their ecosystems, habitats and landscapes in the country—was put in the public domain by the ministry of environment, forest and climate change on Feb. 3, seeking comments from all stakeholders.

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Software to help in bird conservation and monitoring in NZ

The software analyses spectrogram recordings, or the visual representations of sound waves, of bush sounds.

by Teresa Umali

  25 June, 2019

A variety of native birds can be likely heard by anyone who wanders into the New Zealand bush. However, identifying which bird is which, especially if they imitate each other, will not be easy.

A Professor from Victoria University of Wellington’s School of Mathematics and Statistics, together with his research team, had created software that can analyse sound recordings from the New Zealand bush and deduce the abundance of various types of birds.

According to a recent press release, AviaNZ allows them to monitor the health of bird populations without affecting their behaviours.

What can the software do?

Additionally, the technology could also monitor pests and predators by changing the types of recorders being used.

It could also be an excellent way to gauge the predator stress on a particular area.

The software can be trained to recognise any sound. As long as the predators are talking to each other and the microphone is close enough, it will be able to detect them.

The team have successfully trained the software to detect two types of native bats, which are inaudible to humans.

The software analyses spectrogram recordings, or the visual representations of sound waves, of bush sounds.

It then learns the sound waves patterns that represent each bird call and can count how many of those bird calls occur.

It is not as good as an expert human, who is concentrating hard at discerning the different calls. However, it is quite difficult for a human to maintain concentration to any 8-hour recording, while most of it is nothing, with no calls at all.

The software, on the other hand, does not care. Plus, it is very fast. A 15-minute recording takes it about a minute to process.

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Research has implications for New Zealand bird conservation

MARCH 28, 2019

by Victoria University of Wellington

Research by recent Victoria University of Wellington Ph.D. graduate Dr. Nyree Fea shows significant differences in the way bird species respond to conservation efforts.

Her work, done as part of her Ph.D. in Ecology, has implications for conservation management in New Zealand.

According to Dr. Fea's research, large endemic birds like kaka or kereru respond positively to control of the mammalian predators that threaten birds in New Zealand forests: possums, stoats, and rats. However, species that arrived in New Zealand more recently, like the blackbird, silvereye and fantail, either show no change at all after the removal of mammalian predators, or in some cases even show a decline.

"Large, deeply endemic birds, like the kaka and tieke (saddleback), are believed to have been isolated from mammalian predators for longer and may have lost any natural defences against such predators," Dr. Fea says. "For example, birds like kaka and tieke nest in holes and can be trapped by an approaching mammalian predator. Intensive predator control, like eradication of mammals from off-shore islands or sanctuaries like Zealandia, particularly benefits these species."

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Scientists use eBird data to propose optimal bird conservation plan

The goal is to conserve habitat and protect migratory birds

Date: April 15, 2019

Source: Cornell University

A new paper published today in the journal Nature Communications shows a blueprint for conserving enough habitat to protect the populations of almost one-third of the warblers, orioles, tanagers, and other birds that migrate among the Americas throughout the year.

For the research, an international team of scientists used the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's global citizen science database, eBird, to calculate how to sufficiently conserve habitat across the Western Hemisphere for all the habitats these birds use throughout their annual cycle of breeding, migration, and overwintering. The study provides planners with guidance on the locations and amounts of land that must be conserved for 30 percent of the global populations for each of 117 Neotropical migratory bird species.

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Lotterywest funds for bird conservation in Western Australia

Lotterywest funding granted for Birdlife Australia Ltd

Environment Minister Stephen Dawson has announced a $576,529 Lotterywest grant to BirdLife Australia Ltd to conserve and enhance bird life in the Perth metropolitan region.

Over a three-year period, the grant will support BirdLife WA’s Connecting Urban Communities with Nature project.

The proposal will work with and engage the community, government agencies and the not-for-profit sector to inform the planning of urban landscapes, provide practical guidance and education for the public, and form an evidence base for ongoing monitoring and impact measurement.

The grant will go towards time limited salaries, professional fees and administration costs, travel, resources and information technology to conserve declining and threatened bird species in Perth.

Since 1992, the State Government through Lotterywest has approved 34 grants to BirdLife Australia Ltd totalling $1,452,011.

Source

Improving 'silvopastures' for bird conservation

September 19, 2018, American Ornithological Society

The adoption of "silvopastures"—incorporating trees into pastureland—can provide habitat for forest bird species and improve connectivity in landscapes fragmented by agriculture. But how do silvopastures measure up to natural forest habitat? New research from The Condor: Ornithological Applications shows that birds in silvopasture forage less efficiently than those in forest fragments but offers suggestions for how silvopasture habitat could be improved.

The University of Florida's Bryan Tarbox and his colleagues observed the foraging and flocking behavior of insect-eating birds in silvopastures on farms in the Colombian Andes between 2013 and 2015. They found that silvopastures were less structurally complex than forest fragments, with fewer and smaller trees, a sparser understory, and less diversity of tree species. Birds in silvopastures attacked insects less often, were less selective about where they foraged, and were less likely to join mixed-species flocks. Flock members attacked prey more frequently than solitary birds in forest fragments, but not in silvopastures, suggesting that something about silvopasture habitat negated the benefits of joining a flock.

Read more at: 

US national parks increasingly important for bird conservation in face of climate change

Projected average national park may have 29 percent more species in winter, 6 percent more in summer

Date:  March 21, 2018

Source:  PLOS

Summary:

U.S. National Parks could become even more important for the conservation of bird species in the face of climate change, according to a study published March 21, 2018 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Joanna Wu from the National Audubon Society, US, and colleagues.

The U.S. National Parks offer strong protection for birds from many invasive and ecological threats, but little is known about the impact of climate change on bird populations living in the national parks.

Wu and colleagues related species distribution models from the North American Breeding Bird Survey (summer) and Audubon Christmas Bird Count (winter) observations to climate data from the early 2000s and projected to 2041-2070. The researchers analyzed climate suitability projections over time for 513 species across 274 national parks, under a high and low greenhouse gas emission scenario. They then classified climate suitability for birds as improving, worsening, stable, potential colonization, and potential extirpation.

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Bird conservation group fears hen harriers 'could become extinct'

16th January

Neil Athey  @AtheyLTReporter

A BIRD group believes East Lancashire’s iconic bird of prey may become extinct after heading into a fourth year without confirmed breeding pairs.

The East Lancashire Ornithologists Club has highlighted there have not been successful breeding pairs of hen harriers since 2014, following failed attempts in 2012 and 2013.

The bird of prey has struggled in recent years with only one active nest in the Forest of Bowland in 2015. Last year’s hen harrier survey showed the number of breeding pairs of the bird in England fell from 12 in 2010 to just four in 2016.

In 2017 in England only three pairs of hen harriers successfully bred out of a total of seven attempts.

David Chew, secretary of the ornithologists club, said: “The Forest of Bowland has traditionally been recognised as the English stronghold for breeding hen harriers.

“Overall, the present situation with regard to the hen harrier and other birds of prey is unsustainable if they are to continue as breeding birds in their traditional environment in the UK.

“If the present situation continues they will eventually become extinct as a breeding bird in these locations.”

Hen harriers eat mainly small birds and mammals, the males are pale grey in colour and females are brown with a white rump.

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Showing only “doom and gloom” would cripple conservation action

2 Jun 2017

Studies show that people can be overwhelmed by information depicting the magnitude of damage on wildlife and their habitats, causing the perception of an irreversible and helpless situation.

Prolonged and worsening habitat loss and the species extinction crisis are some of the main environmental headlines dominating conservation news today.

Vulture declines in Africa are a serious and growing issue that some experts believe, requires a positive mobilising approach to fully recover the populations on the continent. Despite the seemingly grim outlook for the vultures, BirdLife International and partners across Africa are taking the approach to show that the fight to protect vultures is not a lost battle and that there is hope to turn the situation around, if we work together.

“People are motivated to participate where they feel the outcomes are positive,” said Dr Niki Harré, Psychologist from the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

Dr Harré was speaking at the first-ever global Conservation Optimism Summit, which was held at the Dulwich College in London with support from the University of Oxford, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science (ICCS), the Zoological Society of London and the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.

The summit brought together individuals from diverse professional backgrounds from across the world.  Scientists, psychologists, artists, journalists and students all linked with marine or terrestrial conservation in some way attended the event to celebrate success stories in conservation and inspire positivity.

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Protect habitat for billions of birds, urges report

By Lynn Desjardins 

Monday 8 August, 2016

New technologies reveal that many birds fly father, faster, and through more varied routes than previously thought, indicates a new report. The information reinforces the notion that billions of birds migrate from the massive boreal forest that spans northern Canada. It also shows that birds depend on much larger masses of healthy habitat that was previously thought.

The boreal forest is “the breeding ground and the starting point in migration for around three to five billion birds we estimate,” says Kevin Smith, national manager of boreal programs for Ducks Unlimited Canada. “So maintaining the diversity and types of habitat across that area is critically important.”

Time for a new treaty, concludes report

It was 100 years ago that the Migratory Bird Convention was passed. It was a treaty that helped many bird species rebound from near extinction. Conservation groups call it a breakthrough, but say it’s time for another one.

They are calling on the leaders of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico to “develop a vision for the next 100 years of bird conservation.” They would like leaders to protect at least half of the boreal forest and to apply modern standards to developing remaining areas. They also ask that indigenous people play a leading role in conservation efforts and that there be more support for research.

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Exeter University crowdfunding initiative to help bird conservation research on Dartmoor

By WMNOVergnault | Posted: January 22, 2016

Charles R Tyler

The project, run by the Dartmoor Upland Bird Nest Group and led by a University of Exeter PhD student, has been studying the breeding of ground-nesting birds for eight years

A new crowdfunding initiative has been launched to help expand bird conservation research on Dartmoor.

The project, run by the Dartmoor Upland Bird Nest Group and led by a University of Exeter PhD student, has been studying the breeding of ground-nesting birds for eight years.

The group have been studying the nests of several declining bird species including robin-sized stonechats, small perching birds whinchats, meadow pipits and cuckoos, in order to better understand their breeding, which is essential to inform conservation.

Each year the group, which consists of local bird enthusiasts, ornithologists and scientists from the University of Exeter, monitor up to 350 bird nests on the upland moors of Dartmoor National Park.

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Global Big Day logs more than half the world's bird species in one day

Posted on: 15 May 2015

The Global Big Day event organised by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology recorded 5,950 species worldwide.

Thanks to the worldwide birding community, 9 May was an historic day – the first Global Big Day for bird conservation. More than 13,000 birders in 127 countries joined the Cornell Big Day team by entering their sightings into eBird, and achieved a worldwide total of more than 5,950 species on a single day – more than half of the world’s bird species!

More than 800,000 bird observations were uploaded to eBird on the day. The numbers are still rising, and you can explore the live results here http://ebird.org/ebird/globalbigday/. If you went birding on 9 May and haven’t entered sightings yet, it’s not too late – head on over to eBird.org, and perhaps the total can eventually reach 6,000 species?

Across Britain, 60 birders have submitted 146 checklists so far, logging 182 species of birds. In England, Lincolnshire reported more species than any other county with 108. Norfolk was the runner-up with 100, and sightings were entered from 25 additional counties. Scotland topped Wales by a significant margin, with 103 species versus Wales’s 44.

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THE IMPORTANCE OF BIRDS TO THE ECOSYSTEM

Published On May 23, 2014

By Davies M.M Chanda

•BIRDS and their eggs have been at least incidental sources of food for humans since their origin and still are in most societies.

By Evans Nsende -

NON-birders may question why bird conservation is important and what difference it makes to the world at large.

Avid birders and bird watchers know, however, that bird and wildlife conservation is critical to the richness and diversity of the planet we share with more than 10,000 species of birds.

Birds are a diverse group, and their bright colours, distinct songs and calls, and showy displays add enjoyment to our lives.

Birds are very visible, quite common, and offer easy opportunities to observe their diverse plumage and behaviours.

Because of this, birds are popular to many who pursue wildlife watching and monitoring activities.

Birds are fun to watch zipping around the neighborhood or splashing in the bird bath, and their presence bolsters their ecosystems alongside our enjoyment.

They can play any number of roles in a given ecosystem, most of which fall into four main categories: provisioning, regulating, cultural enhancement and supporting services. Supporting services, for example, include tasks such as predation, pollination and seed dispersal.

Birds have been significant to human society in myriad ways.

Birds and their eggs have been at least incidental sources of food for humans since their origin and still are in most societies.

The eggs of some colonial seabirds, such as gulls, terns, and murres, or guillemots, and the young of some mutton-birds are even now harvested in large quantities.

Among other activities, the following are some of the major roles played by birds in the ecosystem and to man.

Agents of Dispersal

Seed dispersal is one of the most important aspects of birds’ roles in their ecosystems, especially since most birds can fly. Seed dispersal simply means the spreading of seeds beyond their immediate area. It is necessary for a number of reasons: The seeds may need to be transported great distances to increase the amount of gene flow in a species; they may need to be “airlifted” to reach potential new colonisation sites; or perhaps they need to be delivered to locations that are ideal for survival and early growth, such as the branch of a tree.

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Galloway home to ‘conservation important’ birds

A pioneering study of bird communities in Galloway has recorded 29 species “of conservation importance” which are thriving on local land.

The report published by SNH this week looked at five areas situated between the edges of commercial conifer plantations and open moorland in the Galloway Forest Park.

The survey areas, owned by Forestry Commission Scotland, host shrubs with young trees and open ground, forming a moorland fringe which is home to many of the species.

Rob Soutar, Forest District manager, Galloway Forest District said: “The woodland fringe habitat we are creating is inspired and informed by natural treeline woodland and invigorated by this excellent research. This SNH report helps us improve our planting specifications and encourages us to expand this habitat throughout the Galloway Forest Park as a means to increase the range and number of bird species of conservation concern.”

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Beer for Bitterns

Posted on: 03 May 2014

A Barnsley brewery has teamed up with the RSPB to launch a new beer inspired by Bittern, to raise funds for bird conservation.

Acorn Brewery's 'Butter Bump' beer will help Bittern conservation in the North of England, with Acorn donating 5p to the RSPB for every pint sold. The first pint of Butter Bump was pulled at the award-winning Old No. 7 pub in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, by David Woodhead of nearby Sheffield, who won a competition to name the new beer.

David explained: “I did a bit of research and found that Butter Bump is an old English name for the Bittern, which was commonly used in Yorkshire. It’s also a great name for a beer and after sampling I’m delighted to say that it tastes terrific.”

Read more

Bird conservation values of off-reserve forests in lowland Nepal

Bhagawan R. Dahal^, , 

Clive A. McAlpine, 

Martine Maron

Highlights

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We compared bird assemblages among forest tenures in lowland Nepal.

•

Differently management off-reserve forests support complementary bird assemblages.

•

Bark-foraging birds were more abundant in protected areas and community forests.

•

Community forests can be valuable complements to protected areas.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037811271400187X

Landscape Conservation Cooperatives Work Beside Migratory Bird Joint Ventures to Advance Bird Conservation Science

By Ashley Spratt

External Affairs

North American bird conservation has progressed by leaps and bounds through the work of migratory bird Joint Ventures (JVs), charged with achieving the goals of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan as well as both national and international conservation plans for shorebirds, waterbirds and landbirds.  Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) can maximize the success of these efforts through strengthening the science foundation of bird conservation at the landscape scale.

Regional JVs, such as the Upper Mississippi River and Great Lakes Region JV, the Prairie Pothole JV, the Lower Mississippi Valley JV and the Central Hardwoods JV, are long-standing partnerships dedicated to bird conservation through cooperative planning, evaluation, monitoring and habitat delivery.  Their success can be measured by the establishment of regional bird population objectives, landscape decision tools, targeted research and monitoring efforts, and substantial gains in habitats that support high priority species.

Joint Ventures have worked to build science capacity by conducting and supporting planning and evaluation projects that help partners target conservation efforts for birds.  Research and monitoring efforts help answer questions regarding what, where, and how much habitat is needed to achieve bird population goals generated at continental and regional scales.  The partnership approach used by JVs has been repeatedly referenced as a model for achieving conservation success.

Pintails in flight. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photo)

Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, including the Eastern Tallgrass Prairie and Big Rivers LCC, the Plains and Prairie Potholes LCC, and the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes LCC, are working alongside JV communities to fuel new science at broader scales.  These LCCs are vested in natural resources issues across the Midwestern U.S., Canada, and the Great Lakes region, including portions of the Mississippi and Central migratory bird flyways.  This broad geographic region also hosts the largest breeding ground for waterfowl in North America.

Landscape-scale research supported by the LCCs will help answer some of the critical questions about the impacts of natural and human-induced environmental changes on birds over time.  For example, climate modeling efforts currently made possible through LCC resources will help predict changes in temperature and precipitation across the nation’s migratory bird flyways.  LCCs will provide support to JVs working to focus bird habitat protection and restoration in areas that also serve to abate flooding, improve water quality, and enhance carbon sequestration.  This cooperative effort will enhance the values of habitat projects for birds, ecological communities and society.

Continued:  http://www.fws.gov/midwest/InsideR3/Apr13Story13.htm