Sumber: www.birdlife.org

The fire, in August 2010, had dire consequences: 25 young and 3 adults were found burnt to death, and of the 13 young birds found alive, only one survived to fledge that year – the others were predated in their now obvious nests on the barren mountain ledges.

Suddenly, the species’ population – which had been increasing steadily in recent years, thanks to efforts by the Natural Park of Madeira (PNM) – was jeopardized.

The situation was grave indeed – the fire not only led to a near-complete breeding failure in 2010, but also exacerbated soil erosion, causing several nesting burrows to collapse.

As soon as the smouldering cinders permitted it, PNM developed an action plan to mitigate the consequences of this natural disaster. A team of conservation wardens was deployed to place anti-erosion coconut mesh on the breeding ledges to protect the soil in some of the most critical places.

Then, with financial and logistical support from SPEA/BirdLife in Portugal, the RSPB/BirdLife in the UK and BirdLife International, about 100 natural nests were restored, while 60 new artificial nests were built. A protective cordon was also built around the known breeding areas, with cat traps and bait boxes.

When the surviving adult birds returned from wintering at sea in April 2011, to prospect for breeding, conservationists were expectant. As the summer progressed, the news from Madeira got better – proof once again that adequate investment in conservation pays off. Monitoring of the breeding colony indicated that 45 nests were occupied – with eggs laid in 43 of them.

Although breeding success was lower than before the fire, with only 19 nestlings hatching, the species’ prospects looked more positive again. Moreover, fledgling success was good, with 16 out of the 19 young birds eventually flying out to sea in October.

PNM and SPEA are now more hopeful for the future – and will keep fighting the battle to save Europe’s rarest seabird species.

This work was funded by the BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme, Mark Constantine and many generous donations to BirdLife’s online and World Bird Club appeal. Zino’s Petrel has also benefitted from Save Our Species (SOS), a joint initiative of the Global Environment Facility, IUCN and the World Bank, which aims to ensure the long-term survival and well-being of threatened species and critical habitats for biodiversity conservation. These achievements would not have been possible without the funds provided by members and supporters of SPEA, the RSPB and BirdLife International.

Sumber: www.birdlife.org

Researchers found that older male white-crowned sparrows don’t put much of a fight when they hear a young male singing in their territory — probably because the older bird doesn’t consider the young rival much of a threat.

But a male sparrow will act much more aggressively if it hears a bird of the same age singing in a territory it claims as its own.

“These male sparrows assess an opponent’s fighting ability based on age. And for a mature sparrow, a young male is just not going to scare them,” said Angelika Poesel, lead author of the study and curator of Ohio State University’s Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics and the tetrapod division.

Poesel conducted the study with Douglas Nelson, associate professor of evolution, ecology and organismal biology at Ohio State and director of the Borror Lab. Their results appear online in the journal Biology Letters.

This study is one of the first to suggest that some birds use each other’s songs — and not just plumage — to help determine a potential rival’s age and thus threat level.

The researchers did the study in a migratory population of white-crowned sparrows that nested in a state park in Bandon, Oregon from 2008 to 2011. The researchers have been studying this population since 2005.

A male white-crowned sparrow, like many bird species, uses its songs to claim a nesting territory, win an appropriate mate, and sometimes to find additional females to mate with. Males will often attack and attempt to chase away other birds of the same species that sing in their territories.

In some species of birds, second-year males differ in their plumage and/or their songs from older, more mature birds. In white-crowned sparrows, second-year males have some plumage differences from older males. But this study focused on another difference: second-year males will often sing two or more versions of their species’ song before they settle on the one that they will use the rest of their lives.

That means older white-crowned sparrows can tell a youngster by the fact that it will sing more than one version of the species song.

In this study, the researchers mapped out territories of 16 male white-crowned sparrows — eight of which had held territories at the park in previous years (identified by bands placed on their legs in previous years) and eight second-year males that had never held a territory there before.

The researchers placed a loudspeaker within the birds’ territories and played recordings that suggested either a second-year bird or an older, mature bird had invaded their territory.

Several measures determined how threatened the birds were by what they perceived as an incursion into their territories.

If the male perceives the bird they hear as a greater threat, it will approach the loudspeaker more closely (to confront the rival), take more flights toward the speaker, and sing more songs.

Results showed that older birds didn’t react as strongly when they heard a recording of a second-year bird than they did to one of an older male. In other words, when they heard the second-year male, they didn’t approach the loudspeaker as closely, they didn’t fly to the speaker as many times, and they didn’t sing as often in response.

“Other research suggests that younger male birds are less successful at attracting females than older males. That means older males see these young birds as little threat to them and not worth a lot of attention,” Poesel said.

But the study did show that second-year males that had established a territory did respond aggressively when they heard the recordings of other second-year males within their area.

“Another young male that is likely in search of a territory is seen as a strong threat and an equal competitor,” she said. “They will elicit a strong, aggressive response from another young bird.”

These findings suggest that some male songbirds use each other’s song as a way to conduct a “mutual assessment” of each other as a potential rival.

“There’s more likely to be a conflict when both of the birds see themselves as equal competitors,” Poesel said.

“White-crowned sparrows aren’t interested in picking a fight with another bird that is much stronger or weaker than themselves.”

The research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

http://www.sciencedaily.com

Researchers found that older male white-crowned sparrows don’t put much of a fight when they hear a young male singing in their territory — probably because the older bird doesn’t consider the young rival much of a threat.

But a male sparrow will act much more aggressively if it hears a bird of the same age singing in a territory it claims as its own.

“These male sparrows assess an opponent’s fighting ability based on age. And for a mature sparrow, a young male is just not going to scare them,” said Angelika Poesel, lead author of the study and curator of Ohio State University’s Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics and the tetrapod division.

Poesel conducted the study with Douglas Nelson, associate professor of evolution, ecology and organismal biology at Ohio State and director of the Borror Lab. Their results appear online in the journal Biology Letters.

This study is one of the first to suggest that some birds use each other’s songs — and not just plumage — to help determine a potential rival’s age and thus threat level.

The researchers did the study in a migratory population of white-crowned sparrows that nested in a state park in Bandon, Oregon from 2008 to 2011. The researchers have been studying this population since 2005.

A male white-crowned sparrow, like many bird species, uses its songs to claim a nesting territory, win an appropriate mate, and sometimes to find additional females to mate with. Males will often attack and attempt to chase away other birds of the same species that sing in their territories.

In some species of birds, second-year males differ in their plumage and/or their songs from older, more mature birds. In white-crowned sparrows, second-year males have some plumage differences from older males. But this study focused on another difference: second-year males will often sing two or more versions of their species’ song before they settle on the one that they will use the rest of their lives.

That means older white-crowned sparrows can tell a youngster by the fact that it will sing more than one version of the species song.

In this study, the researchers mapped out territories of 16 male white-crowned sparrows — eight of which had held territories at the park in previous years (identified by bands placed on their legs in previous years) and eight second-year males that had never held a territory there before.

The researchers placed a loudspeaker within the birds’ territories and played recordings that suggested either a second-year bird or an older, mature bird had invaded their territory.

Several measures determined how threatened the birds were by what they perceived as an incursion into their territories.

If the male perceives the bird they hear as a greater threat, it will approach the loudspeaker more closely (to confront the rival), take more flights toward the speaker, and sing more songs.

Results showed that older birds didn’t react as strongly when they heard a recording of a second-year bird than they did to one of an older male. In other words, when they heard the second-year male, they didn’t approach the loudspeaker as closely, they didn’t fly to the speaker as many times, and they didn’t sing as often in response.

“Other research suggests that younger male birds are less successful at attracting females than older males. That means older males see these young birds as little threat to them and not worth a lot of attention,” Poesel said.

But the study did show that second-year males that had established a territory did respond aggressively when they heard the recordings of other second-year males within their area.

“Another young male that is likely in search of a territory is seen as a strong threat and an equal competitor,” she said. “They will elicit a strong, aggressive response from another young bird.”

These findings suggest that some male songbirds use each other’s song as a way to conduct a “mutual assessment” of each other as a potential rival.

“There’s more likely to be a conflict when both of the birds see themselves as equal competitors,” Poesel said.

“White-crowned sparrows aren’t interested in picking a fight with another bird that is much stronger or weaker than themselves.”

The research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

http://www.sciencedaily.com

The first area visited is known as Morne Mare Rouge, a site that had never previously been explored for Black-capped Petrels, 24 km south-east of the nearest known nesting petrel colony at Tête Opaque on the northern escarpment in La Visite National Park. During the evening of 20 November, the SAH field team approached a dense forest patch on steep limestone cliffs, and to their surprise, around 24 petrels were discovered calling near the locality of Bois Dimé.

The discovery of any Black-capped Petrel colony is exciting enough, but on the next day the team travelled by helicopter to Morne d’Enfer, c.35 km due west along the Massif de la Selle ridge. Once there they detected another group of petrels vocalizing – this time between 10 and 15 individuals close to the escarpment of Bois l’Etat. The team strongly believes that these birds represent another nesting colony which would be the westernmost site in the Massif de la Selle reported for Black-capped Petrels.

In December, the team heard 3-5 petrels passing overhead on two evenings at sites within the La Visite National Park, close to the well documented breeding colony on Morne La Visite.

These expeditions are generating essential baseline data to support the protection of Haiti’s forest remnants that harbor so many unique species. The forest in the Massif de la Selle is being severely impacted by unsustainable land-use practices including cutting trees for timber, charcoal production and agricultural gardens. What is not yet clear is the impact that this forest destruction and degradation is having on the nesting colonies of Black-capped Petrel. This requires more research, but in the meantime, alternative livelihoods are being explored and it is clear that the long-term survival of these petrel colonies will require the full support of the local communities living around them.

If you would like to help the petrel, you can support the conservation efforts of theInternational Black-capped Petrel Conservation Group.

Biodiversity conservation efforts by the Société Audubon Haïti are carried out in partnership with BirdLife International through funding from U.S. Forest Service, Darwin Initiative and MacArthur Foundation, and Pennsylvania State University through funding from the National Science Foundation.

Sumber: www.birdlife.org

With funding from The Birdlife International Community Conservation Fund – and support of the Hauraki Gulf Forum, DOC, the Auckland Council and Forest & Bird (BirdLife in New Zealand) – a team of researchers have now collected the best evidence yet that the Critically Endangered bird breeds somewhere in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park.

Before dawn on Wednesday 1 Feb, Chris Gaskin, Dr Matt Rayner (University of Auckland), Shane McInnes (DOC) and boat skipper Brett Rathe headed out into the Hauraki Gulf to try and capture New Zealand Storm-petrels and  identify signs of breeding on the birds.

The team was able to capture five birds using specially designed net guns.  Most importantly, four of the birds showed signs of breeding with bare ‘brood patches’ on their belly that are  used to incubate eggs. This evidence strongly suggests the birds are breeding locally, with islands within the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park most likely sites.

“It’s wonderful to think that these birds are breeding right now on islands within the Hauraki Gulf, quite possibly in sight of where we captured them”, said Chris Gaskin.

The team will continue their capture programme through February and March to find out as much as they can about the birds’ breeding cycle. Armed with that information they will determine when would be the best time to try and track birds to their island breeding location using radio tracking devices.

New Zealand Storm-petrel are listed as Critically Endangered by BirdLife on behalf of the IUCN Red List, and finding where the species breed is of paramount importance for the species conservation.

Facing growing threats from invasive species, habitat loss and climate change –  the BirdLife International Community Conservation Fund was established in 2007 to support locally-led, practical actions for birds. It’s a timely and vital lifeline. In its first five years the fund has helped communities to establish 23 successful projects in New Zealand and across the Pacific including: Fiji, the Cook Islands, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Palau and the Solomon Islands.

The fund is built on the generous support of individuals and organisations. It urgently requires support to continue its vital work and protect threatened species. Donations to the BirdLife International Community Conservation Fund go straight to local action to reverse the growing tide of bird extinctions in New Zealand and the Pacific.

To find out more about how can support the work of the Fund or to become involved with the BirdLife International Community Conservation Fund, please contact: Rebecca Scelly (R.Scelly@forestandbird.org.nz).

Sumber: www.birdlife.org

Their importance is reflected in the designation of nearly 2,000 Wetlands of International Importance (or Ramsar sites: seewww.ramsar.org) covering more than 191 million hectares. February 2nd marks World Wetlands Day, the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea (the so-called Ramsar Convention). This year the focus is on sustainable tourism.

Responsible, sustainable tourism can support wetland conservation. Wetlands, their wildlife, and the human communities in and around them can benefit directly from tourism through entry fees, sale of local products, and so on. At the same time, the ‘use’ of wetlands as tourism locations comes with certain risks. The challenge is to ensure that sustainable tourism practices are being implemented and bring benefits for wetlands, their wildlife and people.

BirdLife International is one of the Ramsar International Organisation Partners and, with 67% of globally Important Bird Areas (some 6,700 sites) containing natural or artificial wetlands and at least 12% of all Globally Threatened Birds (146 species) depending on them, a strong supporter of the Convention’s work.

For example, a Darwin Initiative project implemented by Bird Conservation Nepal (BirdLife Partner) at Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve (KTWR)—a Ramsar site and Important Bird Area in Nepal—is demonstrating the importance of a range of ecosystem services provided by the site, such as providing food, fibre, groundwater recharge and spiritual experience. As part of the study, nature-based tourism was valued at $121,000 for 2010–11. This benefit is received mainly by the local lodges and their employees, though significant revenue is received directly by the reserve from entrance fees.

KTWR is one of the best sites in Nepal to see birds, with a total of 493 species having been recorded to date, including globally threatened Swamp Francolin and Greater Adjutant, several threatened vulture species, large congregations of migratory waders and the Critically Endangered Bengal Florican. The reserve is under constant pressure from the local population who rely directly on the resources it (and the surrounding buffer zone) provides. This has resulted in a degradation of habitats, especially grasslands which are important to several key bird species. Bird Conservation Nepal is looking at how to alleviate this pressure through a combination of alternative livelihood activities and the expansion of sustainable tourism.

As Hum Gurung, the CEO of Bird Conservation Nepal, points out “Tourism in and around wetlands can provide economic, social and health benefits to people, but it has to be well-managed. This will be a challenge that we face as tourism continues to grow rapidly, but one which can potentially reap huge benefits for the conservation of wetlands and other important sites for biodiversity”.

Sumber: www.birdlife.org

As a consequence, breeding success has improved and birds have gained 1 kilogram. These are the results of the study of an international research team published in the latest issue of the Science journal. However, these positive consequences of climate change may last short if future wind fields follow predictions of climate change scenarios, researchers warn.

For this study, biologists had combined data on the duration of foraging trips and breeding success over the last 40 years, as well as foraging and body mass over the last 20 years of wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) breeding in Crozet Islands.

This archipelago lies approximately in the heart of the southern Indian Ocean (halfway between Madagascar and Antarctica). It belongs to the French Southern Territories and it is located in the windiest part of the Southern Ocean. The new findings are the result of an international research team from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS-CEBC) and the German Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ).

Thanks to miniaturised tracking devices, researchers were able to track the foraging movement of albatrosses at a distance of 3500 kilometers from the colony. They found that albatross have altered their search patterns following changes in wind conditions over the past two decades. Females used increasingly more poleward and windy areas for foraging. As a consequence their travel speed increased while the total distance covered during foraging flights did not change. “This means that they spend less time at sea while incubating the egg and thus the breeding success increases” explains Dr. Henri Weimerskirch of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS-CEBC).

Researchers were surprised that both females and males have increased their body mass in one kilogram, which corresponds approximately to one tenth of their total body weight. This could be not only a result of shorter incubation periods on the nest, but also an adaptation to windier conditions. “The wandering albatross Crozet population has decreased as a result of adult mortality on longline fishing in subtropical waters, especially females since they favour warmer subtropical waters in the north compared to the more southerly distribution of males” says Dr. Maite

Louzao Arsuaga, who has been modelling albatross movement from 2009 to 2011 at the UFZ. “Due to the changing wind conditions, females are now foraging in more southward areas where such fishing is not that widespread.” However, the positive effects of changing environmental conditions of the last decades will not last in the future.

Climate scenarios predict that westerly winds will move even further south by 2080 and wandering albatrosses might have to fly further to find optimal conditions for flying. The total population of the wandering albatross is currently estimated at around 8,000 breeding pairs.

All populations have shown a decrease at some stage over the last 25 years. This endangered species is threatened primarily by incidental catch in fisheries, especially longline fishing at sea, whereas the introduction of alien species (such as rats or cats) are a key conservation threat for the species on breeding colonies. Additionally, the accumulation of anthropogenic debris such as plastic and fishing hooks on albatrosses have negative effects on their populations.

Thus, it is important to continue with monitoring programs of population trends and distribution at sea, as well as to undertake effective conservation measures. The foraging habitat of wandering albatrosses is managed by more than one Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, which makes it difficult to implement conservation measures for the species.

The wandering albatross has fascinated people for centuries. With a wingspan of over three meters and a half, it is the largest seabird in the world, surpassing just the Andean condor (Vultur fulvus). This elegant sailor, which spends most of its life flying, breeds on remote subantarctic islands over the Southern Ocean. They travel thousand of kilometers searching for fish and cephalopods like squids, often following ships and feeding on offal. The plumage of wandering albatrosses is variable, whitening with age. The maximum known age is 55 years old. Since the rearing of chicks takes a whole year, they breed only every second year.

Apart from the study published in the latest Science issue, the research team has identified the key marine areas for the conservation of wandering albatrosses in the southern Indian Ocean published in 2011 in the Journal of Applied Ecology. This study provided the first map to support the future development of a network of priority protected areas in the southern part of the Indian Ocean, which are based on habitat predictions. “Because the species has no natural enemies and is at the top of the food web, it is particularly well suited as an indicator of the health of marine ecosystems,” says Dr. Thorsten Wiegand from the UFZ, who supervised the work of Dr. Maite Louzao. “This could help not only a single species, but the underlying biodiversity associated with pelagic key habitats to protect Southern Ocean. Moreover, we have developed methods of habitat modelling broadly applicable and can be used to assess changes in species distribution within the current global change scenario.”

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