Until recently, Becks Petrel Pseudobulweria becki was only known from two specimens: a female taken at sea east of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea in 1928, and a male taken in the Solomon Islands in 1929. After a long gap of nearly 80 years it was only definitively re-recorded when, in July and August 2007, […]
Category: news
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 […]
A voyage for Caribbean Seabirds
Documenting new seabird-colony Important Bird Areas, finding previously undocumented colonies and colonies thought to be extirpated: these are just some of the exciting discoveries reported within Environmental Protection in the Caribbeans (EPICs) ground-breaking Seabird Breeding Atlas of the Lesser Antilles. read more at birdlife>
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Emergency conservation work pays off: Zinos Petrel bounces back!
Zinos Petrel was Europes rarest seabird even before a ravaging wild fire hit the heart of Madeiras central massif, where this globally endangered bird breeds. 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 […]
First assessment of Endangered Northern Rockhopper Penguins since 2011 oil spill
Almost a year since thousands of endangered penguins? lives were threatened by an oil spill on Nightingale Island ? part of Tristan da Cunha, a UK Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic a survey to assess the birds population has taken place. The bulk carrier, MS Oliva, ran aground on 16 March last year, a […]
BirdLife welcomes passing of law to secure transboundary ecosystems in East Africa
The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) has passed a crucial law that could transform how transboundary ecosystems and resources in East Africa are managed. EALA is the legislative arm of the East African Community, a regional block bringing together five countries, namely, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Hon. Dr. George Nangale, the former Chairman […]