Will Britain's garden birds stay for winter?

Robins are among the birds largely absent from Britain's gardens last winter

Last winter Britain’s gardens were unusually quiet, with their usual visiting birds largely absent. Blackbirds, robins, song thrushes and chaffinches were among the birds that chose to spent their time foraging in the countryside instead of in gardens due to the abundance of food available there.

But a quiet winter was followed by a busier spring and summer, as the warmer weather enjoyed by the UK in 2014 meant that bird numbers were able to pick up quickly, according to findings from the British Trust for Ornithology’s (BTO) Garden BirdWatch.

Now the BTO are keen to find out whether the birds will stay for the colder months, or whether they will once again prefer to spend autumn and winter in the countryside rather than in gardens.

The Trust rely on recordings taken down by their Garden BirdWatch volunteers, who over the past year have provided valuable data that revealed average robin numbers have been higher this year than in the previous two years. BTO say that this could be due to a mild winter and a good breeding season.

Numbers of great tit were also seen to have rapidly increased in May, reaching their highest average numbers in September than in the past seven years. Other birds that were seen to do well in gardens over the summer months included dunnocks, blue tits, and great spotted woodpeckers.

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Gamekeeper found guilty of poisoning eleven birds of prey

A Norfolk gamekeeper was found guilty on 1st October 2014 for the poisoning of at least eleven birds, including 10 buzzards and one sparrowhawk. 

A sparrowhawk was among the birds

 found to have been poisoned

Allen Lambert, 65, previously a gamekeeper on Stody Estate near Holt, was also found guilty of the possession of pesticides and other items capable of being used to prepare poison baits. Earlier in the trial at Norwich Magistrates Court he had pleaded guilty to five other charges, including three offences of illegal storage and use of pesticides, and the unlawful possession of nine dead buzzards. 

Suspicion of the poisoning was raised when, on 4th April 2013, the remains of five buzzards, a sparrowhawk, and a tawny owl were found apparently dumped in a wood on Stody Estate. Analysis of the birds confirmed that cause of death in at least one buzzard and the sparrowhawk had been due to poisoning from the pesticide mevinphos, which is a former agricultural pesticide banned from use in 1993. 

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Newly discovered Brazilian bird species is endangered

A new birds species found in a narrow strip in the Atlantic Forest on the northeastern state of Bahia, Brazil, has already been reported as endangered. 

The bird is locally called ‘macuquinho-preto-baiano’, and has been catalogued under the scientific name Scytalopus gonzagai, and has also been given the common name of the mouse-coloured tapaculo. 

The bird was identified as a new species by an international team of ornithologists led by Dr Marcos Bornschein, and was initially thought by the researchers to be a common species found in south and southeast Brazil, but two expeditions in 2004 and 2006 made it possible for them to investigate further in the region of Bahia and ascertain that the species was indeed new. 

The small mouse-coloured tapaculo – which measures just 12cm in length and weighs in at an average of 15g – was quickly listed as an endangered species, as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) stipulates that if a species totals up between 2,500 to 10,000 individuals, it is endangered. Calculations undertaken by the team found that there were around 2,888 of the newly discovered tapaculo. 

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Colours of the Crimson Rosella parrot reveal a deadly secret

The vibrant colours of Australia’s crimson Rosella parrot might not in fact be quite as they seem. The colours covering its feathers could be the result of a virus that is known to kill other species. 

A research team from Deakin’s Centre for Integrative Ecology (CIE) and School of Medicine carried out an eight-year study of the Crimson Rosella and subspecies across New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. 

The Beak and Feather Disease Virus that the Crimson Rosella carry around so proudly in the colour of their feathers is surprisingly deadly in other parrot species. As such, the Australian Government have listed the Beak and Feather Disease Virus as a key threat to biodiversity under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Justin Eastwood, Deakin CIE PhD student who worked on the project, explains: “The virus is only found in parrots; it’s no danger to humans, but the danger it presents to parrots seems to vary from species to species and it can be pretty nasty.”

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High metabolic rates and low temperatures were associated with high risk-taking behavior in birds

Date:

September 30, 2014

Source:

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Summary:

A long-term study on different populations of great tits has shown that risk-taking behavior correlates with both metabolic rate and ambient temperature. High metabolic rates and low temperatures were associated with high risk-taking behavior, as in these scenarios birds were more likely to approach potential predators.

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How to beat monk parakeets at their own game: Scientists prevent nests on utility poles

Date:

September 30, 2014

Source:

University of Connecticut

Summary:

Researchers have announced they have found a way to prevent Monk Parakeets from building huge nests on utility poles by blocking access to the electric lines that are the gateway to their nesting sites.

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How dinosaur arms turned into bird wings

Date:

September 30, 2014

Source:

PLOS

Summary:

Although we now appreciate that birds evolved from a branch of the dinosaur family tree, a crucial adaptation for flight has continued to puzzle evolutionary biologists. During the millions of years that elapsed, wrists went from straight to bent and hyperflexible, allowing birds to fold their wings neatly against their bodies when not flying. A resolution to this impasse is now provided by an exciting new study.

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