Populations of turtle dove, nightingale, cuckoo, wood warbler and other long-distance migratory birds are declining so rapidly in the UK and Europe that the RSPB, BirdLife International and BirdLife partners from other European and African countries will be lobbying this week for their plight to be addressed at a conservation gathering focused on conserving the […]
Category: nieuws
Alaotra Grebe extinction – Do you care?
Today we announced that Alaotra Grebe, a waterbird from Madagascar, is officially extinct on the Red List. The Dodo is the undoubted ‘celebrity’ among extinct species with its depiction in books, cartoons and the well-used expression ‘Dead as a Dodo’. Less well known about the Dodo is that it heads up a group of single […]
Climate Change Threatens Tropical Birds: Global Warming, Extreme Weather Aggravate Habitat Loss, Review Finds
Climate change spells trouble for many tropical birds — especially those living in mountains, coastal forests and relatively small areas — and the damage will be compounded by other threats like habitat loss, disease and competition among species. That is among the conclusions of a review of nearly 200 scientific studies relevant to the topic. […]
Chickadee, Nutchatch Presence In Conifers Increases Tree Growth, Says Study
Chickadees, nuthatches and warblers foraging their way through forests have been shown to spur the growth of pine trees in the West by as much as one-third, according to a new University of Colorado at Boulder study. The study showed birds removed various species of beetles, caterpillars, ants and aphids from tree branches, increasing the […]
For the Birds: Winged Predators Seek Certain Trees When Foraging for Caterpillars
Unfortunately for caterpillars, munching on tree leaves that are healthy and tasty can dramatically boost their own risk of becoming food. Study results, published online this week in The American Naturalist, show that dining on the trees that are most nutritious for caterpillars — such as the black cherry — can increase by 90 percent […]
Saving One of the World’s Most Endangered Birds
The Tuamotu Kingfisher is a multicolored, tropical bird with bright blue feathers, a dusty orange head, and a bright green back. The entire population of these birds — less than 125 — lives on one tiny island in the south Pacific, and without serious intervention, they will no longer exist. One University of Missouri researcher […]
Mariana Crow Will Go Extinct in 75 Years, Study Suggests
Researchers from the University of Washington say the Mariana crow, a forest crow living on Rota Island in the western Pacific Ocean, will go extinct in 75 years. The extinction could happen almost twice as soon as previously believed. The crow’s extinction can be prevented with a bird management program that focuses on helping fledgling […]
Disease Risks When Moving Wildlife To New Areas: Endangered Laysan Duck Cautionary Tale
Laysan ducks, one of the world’s most endangered waterfowl, are native to only the Hawaiian archipelago. For 150 years, Laysan ducks were restricted to an estimated 4 square kilometers of land on Laysan Island in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands. In 2004 and 2005, in an effort to rebuild the population, biologists released 42 Laysan ducks […]
Indian lesser flamingos compared to their African cousins in new genetic study
A University of Leicester conservation biologist – David Harper, from the Department of Biology – is leading a study which will establish whether lesser flamingos of India and Africa are genetically identical or not. The Asian population of flamingos, which is the second largest in the world, is concentrated in Gujarat. However, the African flamingos […]
Whooping cranes to finish migration by road
Nine juvenile whooping cranes on their first ultralight-led migration south will now be taken to Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge in northern Alabama in the next few days. The nine whooping cranes will be loaded up in travel enclosures onto vehicles as soon as possible, driven about 70 miles from Winston County to Wheeler National Wildlife […]