Tag Archives: Europe

Anti-bird killing conference in Tunisia

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This video is called Bird crime on Malta: Spring hunting season 2013, Montagu’s harrier shot down, CABS Bird Guards.

From BirdLife:

European experts on illegal killing of birds draft action plan in Tunis

At the end of May bird conservation experts met in Tunis at the Week on Conservation of Birds to identify ways forward to tackle illegal killing of birds. During the event, BirdLife Europe Partners shared best practices on key issues, such as bird poisoning, law enforcement measures and awareness strategies. The focus of the conference, organised by CMS and the Council of Europe, was to identify specific actions and priorities to work on, with the goal of ensuring the recovery of especially migratory birds protected by the CMS and Bern Convention.

Attendants reinforced their position on minimizing migratory bird poisoning, considered as “the one cause that probably has the highest conservation impact”, as Willem Van den Bossche, Nature Conservation Officer at BirdLife Europe stated at the meeting.

On the same subject, SEO (BirdLife in Spain) presented the outcomes of the LIFE+ project VENENO, which is bringing governmental authorities, environmental police and NGOs together. The project aims to fight against poisoned baits, identified as one of the main reasons behind migratory bird deaths, together with rodenticides, lead, veterinary drugs and insecticides.

The participants at the Week on Conservation of Birds prepared a draft action plan to reduce the illegal killing of birds. “When approved and linked to the EU roadmap towards eliminating illegal killing, trapping and trade of wild birds this will be a good tool to measure progress and results of the actions and to strengthen cooperation between stakeholders within the whole flyway of migratory birds”, says Willem Van den Bossche. In that sense, the Bern Convention, a treaty which recognises that European wildlife and habitats need to be preserved and handed on to future generations, is seen as “an opportunity for North African countries which are parties to the Convention to cooperate and protect important bird areas for migrating birds by including them in the Emerald Network, a network similar to Natura 2000 but outside the EU for protecting nature sites”, stresses Claudia Feltrup-Azafzaf, Executive Director at Association “Les Amis des Oiseaux” (AAO) – BirdLife in Tunisia.

At the conference BirdLife Cyprus explained its experience on taking cases into courts to prove that mistnets and limesticks are threatening many migrant birds travelling through the island, and insisted on promoting institutional collaboration and pushing law enforcement to address the issue. Another example was provided by BirdLife Malta. In Malta the law enforcement of illegal trapping and killing of protected birds still needs to be enhanced.

Effects of windfarms and powerlines on migratory birds were also analysed during the meeting. The research info and guidelines that will be produced in the follow-up of this conference will be extremely useful to ensure the zero tolerance approach to illegal killing all parties agree on.

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Waterbird migration and climate change

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This video from Canada says about itself:

Common Goldeneye – Bucephala clangula

These Common Goldeneye ducks are wintering in Lake Ontario. Around late March to early April they will begin returning to their northern breeding grounds across Canada and Alaska. Common Goldeneyes can also be found in northern Europe and Asia.

From Wildlife Extra:

Climate changes shift wintering ranges of waterbirds

Waterbirds moving north – More in Finland and Sweden

May 2013. Migratory waterbirds have shifted their wintering areas north-eastwards due to climate change in Europe, according to a group of scientists including Richard Hearn of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT). Their new study found a strong link between changes in the numbers of goldeneyes, tufted ducks and goosanders wintering across northern Europe and changes in temperature in early winter.

Large rise in Finland and Sweden

In Finland and Sweden, the mid-winter numbers of these three species are more than 130,000 individuals higher than three decades ago. Correspondingly, on the southern edge of the distribution in France, Ireland and Switzerland, numbers have dropped by nearly 120,000 individuals. In several southern countries wintering numbers have halved.

Richard Hearn, WWT’s Head of Species Monitoring and a contributor to the study, said: “Our world is changing rapidly and conservation tools need to be flexible so they can respond to that challenge. This means more monitoring, to keep track of bird populations that are, in some cases, changing exponentially. It also means maintaining a coherent network of protected areas throughout Europe, and altering their management in response to the changing mix of wildlife that uses them.”

“Studies like this are critical to making governments aware of their shifting responsibilities and helping them plan for the future.”

Tufted ducks and goldeneyes in Finland

Aleksi Lehikoinen, Curator at the Finnish Museum of Natural History and lead author of the study, said: “In Finland, the change has been strongest in tufted ducks and goldeneyes, whose numbers have increased ten-fold. Waterbird numbers are connected with the early winter temperature, which in south Finland increased by about 3.8 degrees between 1980 and 2010.”

Hunting

This may have implications for their conservation, because birds are making less use of the protected areas that were designated to protect them. The shifts in the birds’ ranges may also affect the impact of hunting, as possibilities increase in the north and decrease them in the south, altering potential bag sizes.

The research is based on counts from the International Waterbird Census and the results have been published in Global Change Biology.

June 2013. Most species at greatest risk from climate change are not currently conservation priorities, finds an IUCN study that introduces a pioneering method to assess the vulnerability of species to climate change: here.

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Bowhead wales survived Ice Age

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This video says about itself:

Join Wild Chronicles on a journey to the Arctic where wildlife filmmaker meets bowhead whale — one of nature’s most long-lived mammals. Not much is known about this mysterious giant, but with a little help from National Geographic’s Crittercam® the filmmaker gets a breathtaking glimpse into the whale’s secret world. The revealing footage has helped researchers discover how these whales can survive centuries in their freezing habitat.

From the BBC:

9 April 2013 Last updated at 16:00

Ice Age bowhead whales‘ survival surprises scientists

By Michelle Warwicker, BBC Nature

Ancient DNA shows that bowhead whales bucked the trend to survive the last Ice Age, say scientists.

The demise of cold-adapted land mammals such as mammoths has been linked to rising temperatures around 11,000 years ago.

But researchers were surprised to find a contrasting population boom for whales living off the coast of Britain.

Their study is also the first to discover that the ocean giants lived in the southern North Sea.

Dr Andy Foote from the Natural History Museum of Denmark, based at the University of Copenhagen co-authored the paper published in the journal Nature Communications.

“Based on all previous studies using ancient DNA to estimate the population size… it seems the trend was for cold-adapted species either [to] go extinct or decline in numbers at the end of the Ice Age as the temperature increased,” said Dr Foote.

But while the fate of now-extinct land-based Ice Age animals is well documented, little has been known about how marine animals were affected by the rapid temperature warming.

Bowhead whales today are found in Arctic seas and rely on sea ice where they feed on tiny crustaceans.

The research team wanted to find out how the whales fared during the rapid climate change of the Pleistocene-Holocene epoch transition when the essential sea ice retreated from their North Sea habitat.

Scientists analysed ancient DNA of partly-fossilised whale remains found in waters between Britain and Holland and around Denmark and Sweden.

They were able to use the data to create a habitat prediction model and build a picture of the whales’ past movements and probability of survival.

On the move

The study showed that bowhead whales shifted their range, moving northwards to more suitable Arctic waters.

“The retreat of the ice in that particular case actually opened up very large areas where you all of a sudden had these ideal habitat conditions for these Arctic species,” said Dr Kristin Kaschner, research affiliate at the University of Freiburg, Germany.

Explaining why these marine animals may have thrived at the end of the last Ice Age while many land mammals populations declined, she added: “Most marine mammals are used to migrating very long distances anyway… I think that’s one of the things that worked in [the whales'] favour, that they were able to track their habitat.”

“And then that combined with the fact that the retreat of ice actually opened up habitat was really favourable for them.”

According to the model, the area of suitable habitat for bowhead whales tripled during the transitional period and the species saw a significant population increase at the same time.

The results show that Ice Age bowhead whales can be genetically identified as belonging to the same population found in the Arctic today, with lineages surviving from the late Pleistocene through to the current Holocene period.

Bowhead whales are thought to be the longest-living mammal in the world, with some individuals possibly even reaching up to 200 years of age.

But the north-eastern Atlantic bowhead whale population is now under threat from intense whaling, according to the researchers.

Their study also suggests that climate change today could present an “additional threat” to the whales. The team estimates that the Arctic animals’ “core suitable habitat” could almost be halved by the end of the century, potentially influencing future populations.

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European, African, Asian birds spring migration

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This video is called Spring Alive – Bee-eater feeding youngsters [in the Czech republic].

From BirdLife:

Spring comes alive with migrating birds

Tue, Feb 12, 2013

Europe, News

Spring comes alive with migrating birds

Spring Alive

The eighth edition of Spring Alive, a BirdLife International educational campaign that focuses on the observation and tracking of migratory birds, will be launched in February and continue until 21 June.

Spring Alive attracts participation from Europe, Central Asia and Africa and tracks the arrival of five well known and common spring migrating bird species: White Stork, Barn Swallow, Common Swift, Common Cuckoo and Eurasian Bee-eater.

The participants follow spring as it arrives across the continent and record their observations online at www.springalive.net. BirdLife Partners across Europe and Central Asia from February on, and Africa from September on, will organise a series of events to welcome the arrival of spring and the bird migrations it brings with it. Birdwatchers, experts, children and families, teachers, everyone is welcome to enjoy the events and games, all mixing fun and education with activities such as field trips, species information and photo contests.

Last year the BirdLife Partner in Germany, Nabu, launched the innovative “bird reality-show”. For the first time anyone could follow the fortunes and everyday habits of two Swift families via live webcams. Every Spring Alive participant is also invited to write his own “Spring diary” online.

Caroline Jacobsson, Head of Communications and Marketing at BirdLife Europe says: “For most of the children participating in Spring Alive it is the first contact with nature and an opportunity to have fun by observing birds while learning more about them.” She continued ”The observation of birds migrating between Europe and Africa provides a unique occasion to create an understanding that birds cross many borders during their journey “.

The Spring Alive 2012 edition was the most successful in the project’s eight year history with more than 173,140 registered bird observations. BirdLife Europe hopes that the 2013 edition will be even more successful, bringing in new countries and reaching a wider audience.

Delivering an effective and collaborative new migratory bird conservation initiative in the Mediterranean Basin: here.

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Medieval King Arthur literature on the Internet

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This video is called Arthurian Fiction in Medieval Europe: Narratives and Manuscripts.

There is a database on the Internet about medieval European fiction literature about King Arthur and his knights.

It is here.

It says about itself:

This research tool provides information on medieval Arthurian narratives and the manuscripts in which they are transmitted throughout Europe. The database consists of linked records on over two hundred texts, more than thousand manuscripts and two hundred persons. Texts which belong to the pseudo-historical tradition of Geoffrey of Monmouth and printed books are not included.

The database is work in progress: a considerable number of records have yet to be completed, while fresh discoveries of narratives and manuscripts invite new entries. The compilers of the database hope that this tool will contribute to further research into Arthurian fiction as a pan-European phenomenon.

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European eels, new research

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This video is about wild eels in streams (and a few wild brown trout).

From Wildlife Extra:

95% population decline in European eels spurs tracking research

Eels tagged to help scientists understand migration

January 2013. Nobody knows the underlying biological mechanisms of the European eel’s migration. Thanks to an EU-funded research project called eeliad, now about to reach completion, biologists have revealed some of its secrets, including a better understanding of its biology and migration route.

All European eels living from Northern Africa to Iceland are believed to migrate thousands of kilometres to the Sargasso Sea (The Sargasso Sea lies in the middle of the North Atlantic) to spawn. Findings of newly-hatched eel larvae in the Sargasso Sea strongly support this theory. But no eggs or adult eels have ever been caught in the area.

600 eels tagged

By attaching satellite and data storage tags to about 600 eels from different places in Europe the project scientists were hoping to map the route of the spawning eels. “We could track the satellite tags as far away as the Azores. This suggests that the eels take a different route to the Sargasso Sea than previously thought. It seems as if they’re saving energy by hitching a ride on the Azores Current,” Kim Aarestrup tells youris.com. He is a senior scientist at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), in Silkeborg and one of the leading researchers behind the satellite tagging.

“Very little is known of the oceanic part of the eel’s life history,” says Martin Castonguay, an eel expert and research scientist at The Maurice Lamontagne Institute in Mont-Joli, Canada, adding: “The most important thing the eeliad project provided is that it gave us the first observations of adult eel migrations in the open Atlantic Ocean for distances up to 1,300 km from the release point.” Although he has not been a part of the project, Castonguay believes it has been “very successful”.

Among other things the project scientists also tested the spawning ecology of the eels by using genetic research, combined with a fisheries biology technique for tracking fish movement called otolith microchemistryand modelling methods. The analyses were undertaken both on eel larvae collected in the Sargasso Sea and on glass eels collected from the coastline of Europe and North Africa. “Our genetic research showed that the eels living all across Europe mate randomly. This is very unusual for animals that are so widely distributed. It strongly indicates that the European eels are spawning in the Sargasso Sea and nowhere else,” says Thomas Dammals, a research scientist at DTU who was involved with the genetic research in the project.

95% decline in eel populations

Even though the European eels is still surrounded by mystery, “the eeliad project has successfully addressed some issues,” notes Reinhold Hanel, director of the Thünen Institute of Fisheries Ecology in Hamburg, Germany, “these include questions about the diving behaviour of eels in the open ocean and a provisional clarification of the migration routes of eels leaving the Baltic Sea. And I certainly expect some more [results] after complete data analyses.” Today, the population of the European eels is now less than 5% of what it was 40 years ago. According to Reinhold Hanel, there is an “urgent need” to do more research on this elusive species.

European eels use the Earth’s magnetic field to navigate the 6000 mile journey to the Sargasso Sea: here.

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Great tits’ individual personalities

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This video is called Great Tit (Parus major.

From Living Bird magazine in the USA:

The Bold and the Bashful

by Abby McBride

Spend enough time watching chickadees at your feeder, and you might start to recognize individuals by their behavior. Maybe one chickadee acts like a little tyrant, monopolizing all the food. Another chickadee might have a penchant for skulking timidly on the outskirts.

If you think feeder birds have personalities, you’re not imagining things. In recent years biologists have tested animal personality in everything from mammals to mollusks, showing that individuals really do have consistent differences in behavior. But we’re still learning why those differences matter in the wild. What’s the point of having a shy personality, for instance, if it makes you miss out on a meal?

A European bird called the Great Tit—which looks like a chickadee dressed up in a yellow vest—recently shed some light on that question. When Oxford biologist John Quinn and colleagues experimented with a wild population of 156 individually tagged Great Tits, they found that being shy isn’t always a bad thing, according to their paper in The Proceedings of the Royal Society. First, Quinn identified each bird’s personality type by testing how many hops and flights it used to explore an artificial space. He knew from previous studies that this behavior would be a good measure of overall personality: the slapdash explorers tend to be bold and reckless, whereas the slow-but-thorough explorers are usually timid.

Once he had gauged the birds’ personalities, Quinn wanted to see how they behaved in the great outdoors. So he set up two bird feeders 30 feet apart in the woods, putting one in a “dangerous” spot out in the open. The second feeder went in a “safe” spot near dense shrubbery, where the Great Tits could hide from Eurasian Sparrowhawks.

Quinn stocked the safe feeder with whole peanuts and put less-appetizing nut granules in the dangerous feeder. He kept track of how much time individual birds spent at each feeder in the morning, when they were hungriest, and in the afternoon, when they were less hungry. Unsurprisingly, most birds visited the safer and more enticing food source, regardless of the time of day—until Quinn pulled a switch.

He swapped the desirable food into the dangerous feeder, forcing the Great Tits to make a choice between eating well and being safe. Quinn found that the two personality types approached this predation-starvation tradeoff in opposite ways. Adventurous birds risked their necks to fill their stomachs. But cautious birds stuck with the sheltered feeder even in the morning, risking starvation to stay safe. “It’s the first evidence, really, that they handle these risks differently in the wild,” Quinn says.

Both strategies have advantages, in theory. A shy bird is more likely than its bolder compatriots to die of starvation when food is scarce. But the same bird in an exposed site is less likely to wind up as a sparrowhawk’s lunch. André Dhondt, director of Bird Population Studies at the Cornell Lab, says that the world is an uncertain place for a Great Tit, full of shifting dangers. That’s why both adventurous and cautious birds survive in a population.

Quinn has not yet tested whether these survival behaviors are actually translating into life or death for the Great Tits. But he does know from previous research that Great Tit personalities are partly hereditary, which suggests that each bird’s behavior choice—whether to venture forth or stay hidden—has been molded by natural selection.

So the next time you see a shy chickadee getting edged out at a feeder, don’t worry too much: it just might be shy for a reason.

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