News

From elation to devastation. Over the last few days, the two viable eggs at Slimbridge successfully hatched producing two perfect looking Spoon-billed Sandpiper chicks. The chicks seemed to do well initially but their health deteriorated and within 60 hours of hatching both chicks died.   Read the full story and other spoonbill news here.  

Brett Sandercock and Susan Skagen have been made honorary members of the Cooper Ornithological Society!

Guy Morrison has been honoured by being made a Member of the Order of Canada!

Three black-bellied plovers have been tracked from their wintering grounds back to their breeding grounds, completing the annual cycle of this species.  These birds were originally tagged on Bathurst Island during the breeding season of 2015 by The Center for Conservation Biology and Canadian Wildlife Service staff.  These birds were tracked to a broad range of wintering locations, and recently migrated back to their breeding grounds.  This annual migration cycle of black-bellies was previously unknown and the study has begun to shed light on the behaviors and habitats of the plovers.   To read the full story by Fletcher Smith, go to the Center for Conservation Biology Website.

One of the greatest challenges in managing migratory birds is that they exist within a legal quandary. As a recognized principle of international law, states have sovereign rights over all wild animals that fall within their jurisdictional boundaries but no jurisdiction over animals outside of these boundaries. The practical result of this principle is that animals that migrate from one jurisdiction to another are subject, in succession, to the sovereign rights and policies of all states along their migration route. According to conventional international law, there is nothing to prevent a jurisdiction from overexploiting a migratory species to the point of extinction while other jurisdictions expend considerable resources to protect it. Because a migratory population represents a single biological unit, cooperation among range states is critical to successful management. To read the full story by Bryan Watts, go to the Center for Conservation Biology Website.

The outer coast of the mid-Atlantic region has become an important site for the conservation of both breeding peregrine falcons and migratory shorebirds. The region is a terminal, spring staging area where several shorebird species stop for an extended stay to build fat reserves for their final flight to arctic breeding grounds. The region has served this role for thousands of years and includes designated Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserves with both “hemispheric” and “international” status as well as many conservation lands dedicated to shorebird protection. The region is also the site where, during the 1970s, a decision was made to establish a breeding population of peregrine falcons to advance the cause of peregrine restoration in eastern North America. To read the full story by Bryan Watts, go to the Center for Conservation Biology Website.

On 25 August 2016 a symposium will be held in Wilhelmshaven, analysing the status of migratory birds on the East-Atlantic Flyway. Trends in migratory bird numbers are showing an alarming decline for many bird populations in the Wadden Sea. It is not clear whether the causes of the observed declines are to be found in the Wadden Sea, somewhere else along the East Atlantic Flyway, or both. Further information can be found on the webpage of the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat.

A new ABC/BBC series explores in 4 parts the monumental journey millions of shorebirds make between their breeding grounds in arctic tundra and their wintering grounds in Australasia.   Episode I https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/offtrack/flying-for-your-life-1/7461802   Episode II https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/offtrack/flying-for-your-life-2/7479994

  For more information see: https://birdlife.org.au/campaigns/the-marvel-of-migration

The newest blog of Graham Appleton: "If you’re thinking of using geolocators to study bird migration then here’s a paper that you should read." Devices attached to waders (shorebirds) are adding hugely to our understanding of their movements, and informing plans for the conservation of threatened species, but how safe are these devices for the individual birds that carry them? Emily Weiser and 49 coauthors have reviewed the available evidence in a recent paper Effects of geolocators on hatching success, return rates, breeding movements, and change in body mass in 16 species of Arctic-breeding shorebirds, published in Movement Ecology. Here is the full text https://wadertales.wordpress.com/2016/05/27/are-there-costs-to-wearing-a-geolocator/