Cold weather takes toll on smaller species in UK birdwatch

Big Garden Birdwatch finds fall in long-tailed tits and wrens after ‘beast from the east’

Patrick Barkham

Fri 5 Apr 2019 06.00 BST

Almost 1.2 million house sparrows were spotted in British gardens during this winter’s Big Garden Birdwatch but smaller garden birds appear to have suffered from the previous winter’s cold weather.

Long-tailed tits decreased by more than 27% and wrens by 17% in 2019 after bumper years in 2018, according to the RSPB survey. Populations of both species are thought to have been affected by last year’s “beast from the east”: small birds are more susceptible to extreme chilly spells.

The most sighted species among 7.5 million birds counted by nearly 500,000 people over the last weekend in January was the house sparrow, followed by the starling, blue tit, blackbird and woodpigeon. Numbers of the latter have increased by more than 1,000% since the survey began in 1979.

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Siberian birds start to arrive in Nepal to avoid cold

Kathmandu

Jan 5, 2018-Birds of various species have started to arrive in Nepal to escape the biting cold.

President of Ornithologists Association Hem Sagar Baral said that a large number of birds have entered Nepal to escape the cold in Siberia and Tibet.

Mostly birds from Tibet travel to the warmer regions of Nepal after the plunge of temperature in Tibet.

According to Baral, some birds have come to Nepal even flying over the Mt Everest. Flocks of birds have come from Siberia.

He said birds of 150 species come to Nepal to avoid cold. Among this many species, duck species alone constitute more than 22. Over 50 species are water fowls.

It is said mostly birds started to arrive in Nepal since October and most of the migratory birds have already arrived till now to escape the harsh winter.

The largest number of such migratory birds comes to the Jagadishpur Lake in Kapilvastu district. A census conducted last year counted 20 thousand birds inhabiting the Jagdishpur Lake and around.

Baral said this year also they plan to count the number of water birds. The bird census is being carried out to know the birds' status so as to augment to the bird conservation strategy.

According to him, bird conservation is becoming challenging in the recent years because of loss of habitat and other problems in the food species of these birds. 

Published: 05-01-2018 15:10

Source  

Big-billed birds spend more time snuggling in against the cold, study shows

 Date: January 4, 2017

Source: British Ecological Society (BES)

Bigger isn't always better -- at least not in the bird kingdom, with new Deakin University research finding that the larger a bird's bill the longer they spend trying to snuggle it in against the cold.

Ecologist Matthew Symonds, Deputy Director at the Centre for Integrative Ecology in Deakin's School of Life and Environmental Sciences, and team leader on the research, said the study examined the "backrest" behaviour of birds -- where they turn their heads to the back and tuck their beaks underneath their feathers when they are resting.

"While people have long assumed that birds exhibited this behaviour to protect themselves against the cold, no one had actually rigorously studied it. We found that they were indeed using backrest to try to keep warm, because they do it more when it gets colder," Dr Symonds said.

"But the surprising thing we discovered was that the birds with bigger bills used this behaviour more, and over noticeably longer periods. In fact, they continued to use the behaviour more even as the weather warmed."

The study looked at nine species of shorebirds ranging from the largest comparative beak size, 9.2cm, found on the red-necked avocet, to the smallest, 3.4cm, found on the masked lapwing.

The field research was carried out by a Deakin honours student, Julia Ryeland, who observed the birds roosting over a six month period along the coastal flats around Port Phillip and Westernport Bays near Melbourne in southern Victoria.



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City birds 'cope better in cold' than those in woodland

Urban breeding birds fared better than their woodland counterparts during 2012's cold, wet weather for the first time in 10 years, a study has found.

Blue and great tits in a woodland area were compared with those in Cambridge.

Researchers found urban birds relied less on a single source of food, such as caterpillars, whose numbers are affected by cold weather.

Woodland birds also bred less during the cold spell in 2012, said the Anglia Ruskin University study.

It was carried out in conjunction with the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH).

The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) referred to 2012 as "one of the worst breeding seasons on record" following poor results in its annual surveys of nests and fledglings.

'Urban advantage'

The latest study concluded birds living in native British woodland were "more susceptible to the effects of extreme weather conditions than those in urban environments".

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Terrible year for white storks in Czech Republic as cold weather kills a generation

Very few storks fledged in 2013 - If any

July 2013. White storks suffered their worst breeding year on record in the Czech Republic, as the cold weather put paid to nearly a whole generation. Almost all of the chicks that did hatch didn't survive the severe weather which prevailed in Bohemia just as the birds were nesting.

Czech conservationists monitor the population of white storks at 285 sites across 25 districts of the Czech Republic annually. In 15 of the monitored districts there were 80 percent fewer chicks than last year and in 10 districts no chicks survived at all! To make matters even worse, it is very unlikely that the few chicks that have survived this far are unlikely to fledge successfully. The final assessment of this calamitous situation with nesting will be carried out in the autumn.

These findings are part of the annual study, undertaken by the Czech Union for Nature Conservation on mapping and protection of white storks. The study covers a wide range of aspects, including ringing, mapping, diet, and their response to climate and human influences.

Interesting discoveries. 

The study found that adult storks will protect their chicks by spreading their wings to protect them from strong sun or heavy rain; interestingly, although storks are considered strict carnivores, some vegetation was found in the stomachs of some of the dead chicks, according to Stanislav Chvapil, senior program supervisor.

Equally important is the fact that the storks preferred nesting spots, such as chimneys, roofs, towers and tall trees, are all gradually declining. In some places, where the natural nests were destroyed, artificial nesting platforms have been erected.

Monitoring nesting and care of the nests of white storks are some of the more than two hundred projects supported under the National Programme ČSOP biodiversity conservation.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/czech-storks013.html

No Kakapo breeding this year due to cold weather

There will be no new kakapo this year due to the failure of the rimu crop

Hopes dashed for Anchor Island kākāpō breeding

April 2013. Hopes for a successful breeding season for kakapo on Anchor Island were dashed prior to Christmas, following the discovery that, due to a particularly cold southern spring (Sounds familiar), the rimu fruit crop had been hit hard.

Codfish Island
With a similar scene playing out on Codfish Island - home to the main breeding population - there will be no additions to the current population of 125 kākāpō. Females need to know there will be enough rimu fruit available to feed their chicks before they will mate - this year they showed very little interest at all.

New Zealand Department of Conservation staff and volunteers spent the summer season monitoring birds and identifying their territories, maintaining the trapping network on the island and surrounding islands, and working on infrastructure in preparation for future seasons when rimu does ripen and breeding occurs.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/kakapo-2013.html

Russian Bird Migration Delayed by Cold

MOSCOW, March 25 (RIA Novosti) – Cold weather in Russia has delayed the annual northward migration of birds, the Russian Bird Conservation Union said on Monday.

“The [bird] migration in the European part of Russia has stalled, except for the rooks. Those bird colonies are almost all already in place,” a spokeswoman for the group said.

Strong northern winds and -30 degree Celsius temperatures have also stopped the migration of birds to Russia’s Far East, in particular the Amur region, she said.

Another bird expert said there was nothing unusual about the halt in the migration, however.

During flight, birds quickly lose their fat reserves, and if they see that it is cold and that there is nothing to eat they normally stop and do not fly any further, said Sergei Ogurtsov, an associate professor at the Moscow State University School of Biology.

“If it gets colder they can roam around and even move back a little further south,” Ogurtsov said.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130325/180246154/Russian-Bird-Migration-Delayed-by-Cold.html

RSPB asks wildlife lovers to step-up their bird feeding now cold weather is here

9:50am Tuesday 15th January 2013 in News

 Garden birds will need all the help they can get to survive, says charity With sub zero temperatures suddenly upon us, the RSPB is advising people to make sure their bird feeders and tables are full of high energy foods.

Richard James, one of the RSPB’s wildlife advisors, said: “The sudden drop in temperatures across the UK will have been a big shock to birds’ systems after spending the past couple of months with few worries in terms of food availability. Thanks to the recent mild weather, many natural food sources have been readily available and water has been easy to come by. Now the snow and ice are here birds will need all the help they can get to survive the winter.”

The RSPB suggests calorie-rich foods like mixed seed, nyjer seed, fatballs, suet sprinkles, sunflower seed and good quality peanuts, as well as kitchen scraps, like mild grated cheese, rice and porridge oats.

A supply of water is also essential for bathing and preening. In freezing conditions birds become more dependent on water provided in gardens, since many natural sources are frozen over. The most effective way to keep the water in your garden from freezing is to pop in a light ball that will be moved by even a gentle breeze and keep a small amount of water ice free – a ping-pong ball is ideal. Alternatively, pour on hot water to melt the ice to make sure the birds can get to it.

Continued:  http://www.smallholder.co.uk/news/10161702.RSPB_asks_wildlife_lovers_to_step_up_their_bird_feeding_now_cold_weather_is_here/