Rare Ascension frigatebird recorded on Islay

An Ascension frigatebird has been recorded in the UK for only the second time.

RSPB Scotland confirmed the large seabird was seen at Bowmore on Islay, but added that it since appeared to have moved on.

It is the first record of an Ascension frigatebird since 1953 when one was spotted on Tiree.

The birds' usual territory is the sea off the west coast of Africa. They feed on fish, squid and jellyfish.

It is the latest rare bird sighting to be made in weeks on Scotland's islands.

Last month, about 30 birdwatchers travelled to Harris to catch sight of a white-throated needletail.

It breeds in Asia and winters in Australasia, and was spotted on Harris.

The unusual visitor has only been recorded five times in the UK since 1950.

However, it died after colliding with a small wind turbine.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-23202393

Hummingbirds' wings 'shape-shift'

By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC News, Valencia, Spain

Footage shot with high-speed cameras has revealed how hummingbird wings bend and flex, to keep the birds in the air.

Masateru Maeda, a PhD student at Chiba University in Japan, captured the footage.

The ultimate aim of his measurements of the movements of the wings is to copy their function in the design of flying robots.

The scientist presented his findings at the Society for Experimental Biology's annual meeting in Valencia, Spain.

The researchers captured their footage at Tama Zoological park in Tokyo.

As birds and insects move through the air, their wings are held at a slight angle, which deflects the air downward.

This deflection means the air flows faster over the wing than underneath, causing air pressure to build up beneath the wings, while the pressure above the wings is reduced. It is this difference in pressure that produces lift.

Flapping creates an additional forward and upward force known as thrust, which counteracts the insect's weight and the "drag" of air resistance.

The downstroke or the flap is also called the "power stroke", as it provides the majority of the thrust. During this, the wing is angled downwards even more steeply.

You can imagine this stroke as a very brief downward dive through the air - it momentarily uses the weight of the animal's own weight in order to move forwards. But because the wings continue to generate lift, the creature remains airborne.

In each upstroke, the wing is slightly folded inwards to reduce resistance.

The team chose hummingbirds as their "wing model" because they can be studied so easily; they hover quite still as they feed on nectar.

"And they're very small," added Mr Maeda. "Larger birds that cannot hover have to be studied in wind tunnels."

But to get his footage, Mr Maeda had to work in the glasshouse of the zoo, which is kept at 35C for the birds and butterflies that live there.

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British Trust for Ornithology hits 80th birthday

80 years of bird research and conservation

July 2013. Eighty years ago, on 1 July 1933, a group of birdwatchers wrote to the editor of The Times, announcing the formation of The British Trust for Ornithology and asking for public support for "a scheme of research over an initial period of five years." 

Eighty years on and the BTO has gone from strength to strength. With its band of dedicated volunteers across the UK it has, amongst other things, published national atlases, provided evidence of climate change (through the advancement of breeding seasons), advised on major planning proposals and helped to formulate farm payment plans, to support birds such as Skylark. Through ringing, it has followed British birds such as Arctic Tern, Manx Shearwater, Swallow, Tufted Duck and Knot to Australia, Brazil, South Africa, Siberia and Canada, and it can now use satellites to plot the day-to-day movements of Cuckoos.

Andy Clements, Director of the BTO commented, "A huge amount has happened in the eighty-year lifetime of the BTO. Whilst the life expectancy of a man has increased from 53 to 78 and that for a woman from 60 to 81, much of our bird life has fared rather less well. Throughout this period our members, whether amateurs or professionals, have helped to shed light on the issues facing Britain's birds and the habitats we share with them."

He added, "From tiny acorns mighty oaks grow and, since that letter in 1933, the BTO has been a national and international success; we are grateful to The Times for the far-sighted endorsement of the appeal of eighty years ago. We hope that birdwatchers will continue to support us for many years to come."

Click here to see the original Times letter

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/bto-80.html

Tracking Albatross Movement With GPS, Weather, Terrain Data

April Flowers for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online

Combining GPS tracking data with satellite weather and terrain information, scientists are creating a fresh look at animal movement with a big data approach.

The new Environmental-Data Automated Track Annotation (Env-DATA), detailed in the journal Movement Ecology, can track millions of data points and serve over 100 scientists simultaneously.

“This is a powerful tool for understanding how weather and land forms affect migration patterns,” co-founder Dr. Roland Kays, a zoologist with North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, said. “Ultimately it will help us answer global questions about how changes to our planet affect animal populations and movement.”

Continued

World’s birds slipping toward extinction

VANCOUVER – The world’s birds are literally the canaries in the coal mine and their ongoing decline should serve as a warning signal of a global environment in peril, says an international report on the state of the world’s birds.

Globally, one in eight species — 1,313 — are considered at threat of extinction, said the report by U.K.-based BirdLife International. Of these, 200 are considered on the brink.

Nature is a crucial part of Earth’s life support system, said Leon Bennun, the group’s director of science, policy and information, and the numbers don’t bode well.

“Birds are a great window into nature. They’re a wonderful indicator of the wider environment,” Bennun said.

“Our assessment, unfortunately, shows us that birds are in decline, an indicator that nature itself is not in good shape.”

In Canada, progress has been made in reversing the decline of several species, but the report released Thursday said even in this country, more bird species are in decline than are increasing.

“By and large Canada is faring probably better than many other countries,” said Jon McCracken, of the conservation group Bird Studies Canada, a contributor to the report.

Although Canada’s bird population has dropped about 12 per cent since 1970, waterfowl and birds of prey have seen dramatic recovery, thanks to conservation efforts that included wetland protection and the banning of the pesticide DDT. And there are positive signs in the recovery of the endangered whooping crane, due largely to conservation efforts.

Read on

Night parrot, the Holy Grail of Australian birding, has been found

Night Parrot emerges from the shadows

July 2013. Legendary Australian naturalist John Young has apparently found the holy grail of Australian bird watching, the elusive and long-sought after Night parrot. Young has, he claims, several photos and even a short video of the bird. He has not yet revealed the location of the sightings as it would no doubt create a great rush to see the bird.

A deceased Night Parrot— only the second specimen to be found
in nearly 100 years. Australian naturalist John Young has
apparently captured the first ever images and video of live birds.

Night parrot

In September 2006, Robert ‘Shorty' Cupitt, the ranger-on-duty of Diamantina National Park in south-west Queensland, was grading an interior road of the reserve when the blade of his vehicle exposed the yellow underbelly of a bird he didn't recognise. It was a deceased Night Parrot - only the second specimen to be found in nearly 100 years, coming after the celebrated discovery of a road killed bird south of nearby Boulia in 1990.

There has always been some controversy over the bird's existence, and it has been thought on at least one occasion that the Night parrot might have become extinct (If it had ever existed). It is thought to live in some extremely remote locations in Queensland, and for the population to number no more than 250 birds.

BirdLife Australia congratulates John Young for obtaining the first ever photographs of the elusive Night Parrot. Long regarded as the ghost bird of the outback, there has been no definitive evidence of live Night Parrots since the 1880s.

Continued

Ancient origin of hepatitis B viruses revealed by DNA fossils in bird genomes

As the old adage goes; "One man's trash is another man's treasure": what has often been described as "junk DNA" has revealed a hidden gem. Not only can we find the ancient ancestor of the human hepatitis B virus nestled in songbird genomes, but according to research published recently by a team of scientists at theUniversity of Münster, this virus is 63 million years older than originally thought, a finding that may help improve human health outcomes.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the most common human viral infections in the world. This virus specifically infects the liver cells of many primates (including humans), causing severe flu-like symptoms. Although most people fully recover, roughly 5 percent remain infected throughout their lives; acting as carriers who can infect others whilst also suffering a variety of serious liver diseases, including cancer. In fact, HBV is second only to tobacco amongst known human carcinogens, causing up to eighty percent of all hepatocellular carcinomas worldwide.

Where did HBV come from? Were other animals once infected by this virus before evolving defences against it? If so, how did these animals protect themselves from HBV?

Read on