TURNDITCH: Dead buzzard had its beak bound

Published on 01/05/2013 11:24

Police in Derbyshire are investigating after a dead buzzard was found on land near Turnditch with its beak apparently bound.

Wildlife crime officers are working with the RSPB to investigate the circumstances surrounding the bird’s death.

It was found by a member of the public on Thursday, April 11 and appeared to have had a hole forced through its beak which had then been bound closed with twine.

Wildlife Crime Officer PC Emerson Buckingham said: “This bird was most probably alive when it was attacked and may have starved to death as it would have been unable to drink or eat with its beak bound.

“We continue to work with the RSPB to investigate the cause of the buzzard’s death.

“Any member of the public who finds dead birds of prey should contact police and are advised not to touch them.”

A number of poisoned buzzards were found nearby in Kirk Ireton in 2010.

Buzzards are a protected species and anyone caught harming or killing them could face a £5,000 fine or up to six months in prison.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call PC Buckingham on 101 or the RSPB on 0845 466 3636.

http://www.belpernews.co.uk/news/local/turnditch-dead-buzzard-had-its-beak-bound-1-5634376

Bird fossil sheds light on how swift and hummingbird flight came to be

posted by news on may 1, 2013 - 5:30am

Durham, NC — A tiny bird fossil discovered in Wyoming offers clues to the precursors of swift and hummingbird wings. The fossil is unusual in having exceptionally well-preserved feathers, which allowed the researchers to reconstruct the size and shape of the bird's wings in ways not possible with bones alone.

Researchers spotted the specimen — the nearly complete skeleton of a bird that would have fit in the palm of your hand and weighed less than an ounce — while working at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.

The newly discovered bird was named Eocypselus rowei, in honor of John W. Rowe, Chairman of the Field Museum's Board of Trustees.

First collected in southwestern Wyoming in a fossil site known as the Green River Formation, E. rowei lived roughly 50 million years ago, after the dinosaurs disappeared but before the earliest humans came to be.

E. rowei was a tiny bird – only twelve centimeters from head to tail. Feathers account for more than half of the bird's total wing length.

To find out where the fossil fit in the bird family tree, the researchers compared the specimen to extinct and modern day species. Their analyses suggest that the bird was an evolutionary precursor to the group that includes today's swifts and hummingbirds.

Given the differences in wing shape between these two closely related groups of birds, scientists have puzzled over how swift and hummingbird flight came to be. Finding fossil relatives like this specimen is key to figuring that out, the researchers say.

Continued: http://www.sciencecodex.com/bird_fossil_sheds_light_on_how_swift_and_hummingbird_flight_came_to_be-111401

Corncrakes tracked to Congo in new study

By JULIA HORTON 

Published on 28/04/2013 00:00 

ONE of Scotland’s most elusive birds has been tracked from Coll to the Congo in a breakthrough study which experts say will transform conservation of the species. 

Until now, it was believed that corncrakes migrated from the tiny Hebridean island off the south-west of Scotland to the far south-eastern corner of Africa for the winter. 

But scientists working with RSPB Scotland have discovered that the birds actually fly to the central African country of Congo to winter in forest clearings made by elephants. 

The study is the first of its kind to capture accurate data on the birds’ route using geolocators attached to their legs which recorded their flight. 

Ornithologists are using the data to spot possible links between changes in weather and farming practices in the Congo, which might explain rises and falls in numbers in breeding colonies in Scotland. Loss of habitat fuelled by increasingly intensive agriculture across Britain caused populations in Scotland to crash in the late 20th century. 

A major campaign changing crofting practice helped the birds recover and numbers are now stable at around 1,200 singing males. Scientists now hope the African data will lead to further changes that will allow the bird to thrive again. 

Rhys Green, the RSPB’s principle research biologist and professor of conservation science at the University of Cambridge, said: “Everything we knew about corncrakes before was based on reports from wintering grounds which were few and far between and in unusual circumstances – 
such as from hunters who accidentally caught them while looking for grasscutter rats to eat. 

“The main areas where they were reported were in the south-east of Africa, from around Zambia down to the north of South Africa, which is where corncrakes from Russia migrate to and, therefore, people thought that the wintering grounds for Scottish corncrakes were mainly there as well. 

“This study shows that we were wrong. They are actually doing this double migration, flying to western Africa first and then on to the western part of the Congo basin. 

“There are lots of forests there and they don’t like forests so they will be in open areas, like those cleared by forest elephants, raising the intriguing possibility that Scottish corncrakes are lurking around in the long grasses between elephants legs.” He added: “Now that we know where they are, we can analyse the data on weather, like changing rainfall or overgrazing in the Congo, to see whether there is any correlation with changes in breeding populations back on Coll.” 

The geolocator project began when 50 adult male corncrakes were captured in and around the RSPB’s nature reserve on Coll in June 2011. Fitting the devices was carried out by playing a recording of the bird’s distinctive, rasping call at night and attracting males, fooled into thinking a rival was in their territory, to “blunder” into a net. 

Continued: http://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/corncrakes-tracked-to-congo-in-new-study-1-2912354

Unique natural beauty: Leucistic red-winged blackbird near Green Bay

By Paul A. Smith of the Journal Sentinel

April 29, 2013

The spring bird migration in North America offers many of the most colorful wildlife viewing opportunities of the year.

In addition to the chance to see rare or unusual species as they pass through, spring features birds in breeding plumage, avian finery designed to help attract a mate.

This spring, courtesy of Nancy Nabak of Green Bay, we're privileged to witness a once-in-a-lifetime bird in Wisconsin.

Nabak has shared photos of a beautifully-colored bird that's especially noteworthy because it's not in the animal's standard dress.

Take a look at the spectacular photo below and try to guess the species.

It's a "leucistic" male red-winged blackbird. Leucism is a genetic mutation that results in a lack of pigment. 

Nabak, an avid birder and chair of the Bird City Wisconsin program in Green Bay, said she received a call earlier this month from a friend who had seen an unusual bird.

Nabak attempted to locate the bird near Green Bay. On the third try she was able to see and photograph it. 

Birds with unusual plumage are among the most difficult to identify. They don't appear in field guides and the abnormality may hide or change some key color features. But in this case Nabak knew shortly after seeing the bird it was a leucistic redwing.

"What a beauty," Nabak said. "I watched him interact with other redwings."

Several of Nabak's photographs show the leucistic redwing displaying its red shoulder patches, a typical behavior for male redwings.

Red-winged blackbirds are native to Wisconsin and among the most abundant bird species in North America. The species typically migrates south of Wisconsin for the winter. Male redwings normally feature an all-black body and head with red-and-yellow shoulder patches or "epaulettes."

Most people have heard of albinism, or the absence of pigment. Leucism comes in two main varieties: paleness, an equal reduction of melanin in all feathers; and pied, an absence of melanin in some feathers creating white patches.

Continued: http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/205262591.html

Ecology Buys Time for Evolution: Climate Change Disrupts Songbird's Timing Without Impacting Population Size (Yet)

Apr. 25, 2013 — Songbird populations can handle far more disrupting climate change than expected. Density-dependent processes are buying them time for their battle. But without (slow) evolutionary rescue it will not save them in the end, says an international team of scientists led by the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) in Science this week. 

Yes, spring started late this year in North-western Europe. But the general trend of the four last decades is still a rapidly advancing spring. The seasonal timing of trees and insects advance too, but songbirds like Parus major, or the great tit, lag behind. Yet without an accompanying decline in population numbers, it seems, as the international research team shows for the great tit population in the Dutch National Park the Hoge Veluwe. 

"It's a real paradox," explain Dr Tom Reed and Prof Marcel Visser of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology. "Due to the changing climate of the past decades the egg laying dates of Parus major have become increasingly mismatched with the timing of the main food source for its chicks: caterpillars. The seasonal timing of the food peak has advanced over twice as fast as that of the birds and the reproductive output is reduced. Still, the population numbers do not go down." On the short term, that is, as Reed, Visser and colleagues from Norway, the USA, and France have now calculated using almost 40 years of data from this songbird. 

The solution to the paradox is that although fewer offspring now fledge due to food shortage, each of these chicks has a higher chance of survival until the next breeding season. "We call this relaxed competition, as there are fewer fledglings to compete with," first author Reed points out. Out of 10 eggs laid, 9 chicks are born, 7 fledge and on average only one chick survives winter. That last number increases with less competitors around. 

Continued: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130425142348.htm

India no more a hot spot for migratory birds

Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times New Delhi, April 24, 2013 

India is fast losing its tag of being one of the finest places for bird watchers with data indicating a decline in migratory birds visiting around 94 major wetlands in the country. 

The famous wetlands - Bharatpur national park in Rajasthan or Chilka Laka in Orissa or Kolleru wetland in Andhra Pradesh or Rann of Kachh in Gujarat - are losing their sheen and no more attracting foreign birds as they used do decades ago. 

Its official confirmation came this week when environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan told Lok Sabha that there was a decline in migratory birds coming to India "Except Nordmann's Greenshan, all other species have been observed to be decline in Asia including India," the minister said. 

India has 94 notified wetlands, which are also declared as sanctuaries, but many of them are in shambles in absence of conservation measures. 

The government's own records show that many of these wetlands suffer from ecological degradation on account of over-exploitation and water contamination due to excessive use of pesticides in agriculture. 

A recent study by Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore, using satellite imagery shows that major wetlands - for attracting migratory birds - such as Dal Lake, the Sunderban, Chilka, Kolleru, Esctuaries of Karnataka Coast, Cochin Backwaters are among the seriously threatened wetlands in the country. 

And, its impact is showing on arrival of majestic migratory birds through Central Asian Flyway (CAF) in India. The latest Asian Bird Census, which the ministry quoted in Parliament, shows a dip of migratory birds. "The number of birds being spotted are falling at a fast pace," said an ecologist associated with the census. 

Other bird watchers believe that Asian Bird Census is not credible as it relies on sighting of birds on one given day in a year. "One cannot spot all the birds visiting in just a few hours in one day of the year," said Fayaz Khudsar, a wildlife biologist with Delhi University. 

Others like Ramki Sreenivasan of online portal Conservation India wondered how such a tall claim can be made without India having any official bird census.The same portal on November 1, 2012had reported massacre of thousands of migratory Amur Falcons in north-eastern Indian state of Nagaland for purpose of sale in local markets. 

Continued: http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Migratory-birds-shunning-India/Article1-1049791.aspx

New research database to track six penguin species

Little is known about penguin foraging zones

April 2013. Penguins need all the public support they can get. Of the 18 species, 15 are considered globally threatened or Near Threatened. Work to conserve them is hampered by the patchy nature of the data on where penguins go when away from their breeding grounds. To fill in these important gaps, BirdLife International and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research have joined the British Antarctic Survey to compile a "tracking database" on six penguin species. The project is funded by the UK Government's Darwin Initiative.

chinstrap penguin

There have been numerous penguin tracking studies, but the results have never been brought together in one place. The database will collate existing data on Chinstrap and King, Adélie and Gentoo (both Near Threatened), Macaroni and Southern Rockhopper (both globally Vulnerable) penguins in the Weddell and Scotia Seas of Antarctica, as well as the waters around South Georgia.

Albatross and petrel database

BirdLife already manages the world's largest seabird tracking database. The Global Procellariiform Tracking Database, which brought together the work of all the world's experts on albatrosses and petrels, has been crucial in informing marine management decisions, particularly in relation to longline fisheries.

Penguins are excellent indicators of key marine habitats. The places where they forage are, generally speaking, also important for other marine predators like seals and whales. Once identified, areas on the high seas that prove to be important for penguins can be added to BirdLife's directory of marine Important Bird Areas (IBAs). In turn, they may be added to the list of ecologically or biologically significant areas for conservation (EBSAs), as candidates for marine Protected Areas.

Southern rockhopper penguin

80% decline

"Some penguin species have undergone declines of up to 80% in recent years", said Ben Lascelles, BirdLife's Global Marine IBA Officer. "Better protection of their marine habitats is vital to build resilience into hard-hit populations. By bringing the existing penguin tracking data together and identifying candidate areas for protection, this project should be able to deliver major bangs-for-the-buck in marine conservation terms".

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/penguin-tracking.html