Wings and Words
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
BIRD CONSERVATION the Magazine of American Bird Conservancy Fall 2012 BIRD’S EYE VIEW
BIRD CONSERVATION The Magazine of American Bird Conservancy Fall 2012 BIRD’S EYE VIEW Is Species Conservation Enough? How should we as conservationists decide which birds deserve protection? Where should we draw the line that tells us which groups of birds are “unique” enough to merit saving? t one extreme, a conserva- becomes extinct? Do we care about tion skeptic might insist that the continuation of these evolution- Apreserving one type of bird ary processes, or do we take a pass from each genus is sufficient. At the on preserving them because these other, passionate lovers of wildlife birds are not sufficiently “unique”? may not accept the loss of even one When in doubt about whether to individual. A more typical birder take conservation action, I fall back might nominate the species as the on the precautionary principle, key conservation level because the which says, in essence, that when concept of species is familiar to us. l American Dipper: USFWS uncertain about the potential harm- Science gets us closer to the answers, ful effect of an action, the prudent but it cannot draw the line: the purpose of science is course is the conservative one. or, as aldo Leopold to gather knowledge, not to make decisions for us. wrote, “Save all of the pieces.” Furthermore, like life itself, the science of taxonomy is I say, save the Black Hills Dipper regardless of which in a constant state of change. Baltimore and Bullock’s taxonomic opinion prevails; and while we are at it, we Orioles have been “lumped” into Northern Oriole and ought to save Wayne’s Warbler, the rhododendron- then “split” again, all based on the most current scien- dwelling Swainson’s Warbler, and the tree-nesting tific opinion. -
Bird Species and Climate Change
Bird Species and Climate Change The Global Status Report: A synthesis of current scientific understanding of anthropogenic climate change impacts on global bird species now, and projected future effects. Report Climate Risk Climate A Climate Risk Pty Ltd are specialist advisors to business and government on risk, opportunity and adaptation to climate change. Climate Risk www.climaterisk.net Climate Risk Pty Limited (Australia) Level 1, 36 Lauderdale Avenue Fairlight, NSW 2094 Tel: + 61 2 8003 4514 Brisbane: + 61 7 3102 4513 www.climaterisk.net Climate Risk Europe Limited London: + 44 20 8144 4510 Manchester: + 44 16 1273 2474 This report was prepared by: Janice Wormworth BSc MA [email protected] Dr Karl Mallon BSc PhD Tel: + 61 412 257 521 [email protected] Bird Species and Climate Change: The Global Status Report version 1.0 A report to: World Wide Fund for Nature The authors of this report would like to thank our peer reviewers, including Dr. Lara Hansen and Prof. Rik Leemans. We would also like to thank Corin Millais, Paul Toni and Gareth Johnston for their input. ISBN: 0-646-46827-8 Designed by Digital Eskimo www.digitaleskimo.net Disclaimer While every effort has been made to ensure that this document and the sources of information used here are free of error, the authors: Are not responsible, or liable for, the accuracy, currency and reliability of any information provided in this publication; Make no express or implied representation of warranty that any estimate of forecast will be achieved or that any statement -
Name of Species
NAME OF SPECIES: Myiopsitta monachus Synonyms: Psittacus monachus Common Name: Monk parrot, monk parakeet, Quaker parakeet, grey-breasted parakeet, grey- headed parakeet. A. CURRENT STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION I. In Wisconsin? 1. YES NO X 2. Abundance: 3. Geographic Range: Found just south of Wisconsin in greater Chicago, Illinois (2). 4. Habitat Invaded: Disturbed Areas Undisturbed Areas 5. Historical Status and Rate of Spread in Wisconsin: 6. Proportion of potential range occupied: 7. Survival and Reproduction: This species can survive and flourish in cold climates (2). II. Invasive in Similar Climate 1. YES X NO Zones Where (include trends): This species is found in some States scattered throughout the U.S.-the closet State to Wisconsin is Illinois (2). This species is increasing expontentially (2). III. Invasive in Similar Habitat 1. Upland Wetland Dune Prairie Aquatic Types Forest Grassland Bog Fen Swamp Marsh Lake Stream Other: This species is mainly found in urban and suburban areas (2, 5). IV. Habitat Affected 1. Where does this invasive resided: Edge species X Interior species 2. Conservation significance of threatened habitats: None V. Native Habitat 1. List countries and native habitat types: South America. They are found in open areas, oak savannas, scrub forests, and palm groves (4, 12). VI. Legal Classification 1. Listed by government entities? This species is listed as a non- game, unprotected species. 2. Illegal to sell? YES NO X Notes: In about 12 states monk parrots are illegal to own or sell because they are seen as agriculture pests (1). Where this species can be sold, they are sold for $50-160/bird (1). -
Climate Change, Elevational Range Shifts, and Bird Extinctions
Contributed Paper Climate Change, Elevational Range Shifts, and Bird Extinctions CAGAN H. SEKERCIOGLU,∗‡ STEPHEN H. SCHNEIDER,∗ JOHN P. FAY,† AND SCOTT R. LOARIE† ∗Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, 371 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305, U.S.A. †Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC 27707-0328, U.S.A. Abstract: Limitations imposed on species ranges by the climatic, ecological, and physiological effects of elevation are important determinants of extinction risk. We modeled the effects of elevational limits on the extinction risk of landbirds, 87% of all bird species. Elevational limitation of range size explained 97% of the variation in the probability of being in a World Conservation Union category of extinction risk. Our model that combined elevational ranges, four Millennium Assessment habitat-loss scenarios, and an intermediate estimate of surface warming of 2.8◦ C, projected a best guess of 400–550 landbird extinctions, and that approximately 2150 additional species would be at risk of extinction by 2100. For Western Hemisphere landbirds, intermediate extinction estimates based on climate-induced changes in actual distributions ranged from 1.3% (1.1◦ C warming) to 30.0% (6.4◦ C warming) of these species. Worldwide, every degree of warming projected a nonlinear increase in bird extinctions of about 100–500 species. Only 21% of the species predicted to become extinct in our scenarios are currently considered threatened with extinction. Different habitat-loss and surface-warming scenarios predicted substantially different futures for landbird species. To improve the precision of climate-induced extinction estimates, there is an urgent need for high-resolution measurements of shifts in the elevational ranges of species. -
According to Dictionary
Extinction: The Parrots We’ve Lost By Desi Milpacher The definition of extinction is “the act or process of becoming extinct; a coming to an end or dying out: the extinction of a species.” Once extinction has been determined, there is usually no chance of a species recurring in a given ecosystem. In mankind’s active history of exploration, exploitation and settlement of new worlds, there has been much loss of natural resources. Parrots have suffered tremendously in this, with over twenty species having been permanently lost. And there are many more that are teetering on the edge, towards the interminable abyss. In this article we find out what happened to these lost treasures, learn which ones are currently being lost, and why this is important to our world. The Old and New Worlds and Their Lost Parrots Little is known of the natural history of most of the world’s extinct parrots, mainly because they disappeared before in-depth studies were conducted on them. It is generally believed, save the Central American macaws which were least known, that most fed on diets similar to today’s parrots (leaves, blossoms, seeds, nuts and fruits), frequented heavy forested areas and nested mainly in tree cavities. A number could not fly well, or were exceptionally tame, leading to their easy capture. Nearly all of these natural treasures vanished between the 18th and early 20th centuries, and the main reason for their loss was overhunting. Some lesser causes included egg collecting (popular with naturalists in the 19th century), diseases (introduced or endemic), drought, natural disasters, predation by introduced species, and habitat alternation. -
Human Impacts on the Rates of Recent, Present, and Future Bird Extinctions
Human impacts on the rates of recent, present, and future bird extinctions Stuart Pimm*†, Peter Raven†‡, Alan Peterson§, Çag˘anH.S¸ ekerciog˘lu¶, and Paul R. Ehrlich¶ *Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University, Box 90328, Durham, NC 27708; ‡Missouri Botanical Garden, P.O. Box 299, St. Louis, MO 63166; §P.O. Box 1999, Walla Walla, WA 99362; and ¶Center for Conservation Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, 371 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305-5020 Contributed by Peter Raven, June 4, 2006 Unqualified, the statement that Ϸ1.3% of the Ϸ10,000 presently ‘‘missing in action,’’ not recently recorded in its native habitat known bird species have become extinct since A.D. 1500 yields an that human actions have largely destroyed. This assumption estimate of Ϸ26 extinctions per million species per year (or 26 prevents terminating conservation efforts prematurely, even as E͞MSY). This is higher than the benchmark rate of Ϸ1E͞MSY it again underestimates the total number of extinctions. Finally, before human impacts, but is a serious underestimate. First, rapidly declining species will lose most of their populations and Polynesian expansion across the Pacific also exterminated many thus their functional roles within ecosystems long before their species well before European explorations. Second, three factors actual demise (3, 4). increase the rate: (i) The number of known extinctions before 1800 We explore the often-unstated assumptions about extinction is increasing as taxonomists describe new species from skeletal numbers to understand the various estimates. Starting before remains. (ii) One should calculate extinction rates over the years 1500 and the period of first human contact with bird species, we since taxonomists described the species. -
The Carolina Parakeet Mystery
in them in a state ofsemi - hibernation the spring of 1934, a George the when the weather turned cold. Malamphy, who had worked at The Carolina. Parakeet was also Cornell University, made a journey to Carolina bred in captivity. The first captive South Carolina for the purpose of breeding occurred in France in 1877. ornithological research involving the Parakeet In the U.S. it was bred for the first time wild turkey. During this period, he . by the Philadelphia Zoo in 1885, fol reported that he sighted the Carolina Mystery lowed by the Cincinnati Zoo, where Parakeet on eight or nine occasions dozens were reared,· especially after and in one instance he saw as many as by Tom Marshall, Leesburg, Virginia newly captured birds were added to seven at one time. the collection. These parrots appear to Based on the possibility that he Cincinnati authorities listed have been colony breeders and Malamphy might have been correct, the death of the 32 year old enjoyed brief popularity as aviary birds the National Audubon Society leased a T male as having occurred in the United States and Europe. large area in the same vicinity and, in sometime during a cold February day However, their being inexpensive, 1936, established a base camp on the in 1918, but for about 20 years report common and noisy contributed to property so that they could make a ed sightings by reliable sources chal their decline in the supply and determined effort to spot the parrot. In lenged the official report. demand world of aviculture. They their official reports, they indicated the Compounding this seventy-year-old were largely forgotten until it was too sightings of at least one definite mystery are questions today about the late. -
Of Parrots 3 Other Major Groups of Parrots 16
ONE What are the Parrots and Where Did They Come From? The Evolutionary History of the Parrots CONTENTS The Marvelous Diversity of Parrots 3 Other Major Groups of Parrots 16 Reconstructing Evolutionary History 5 Box 1. Ancient DNA Reveals the Evolutionary Relationships of the Fossils, Bones, and Genes 5 Carolina Parakeet 19 The Evolution of Parrots 8 How and When the Parrots Diversified 25 Parrots’ Ancestors and Closest Some Parrot Enigmas 29 Relatives 8 What Is a Budgerigar? 29 The Most Primitive Parrot 13 How Have Different Body Shapes Evolved in The Most Basal Clade of Parrots 15 the Parrots? 32 THE MARVELOUS DIVERSITY OF PARROTS The parrots are one of the most marvelously diverse groups of birds in the world. They daz- zle the beholder with every color in the rainbow (figure 3). They range in size from tiny pygmy parrots weighing just over 10 grams to giant macaws weighing over a kilogram. They consume a wide variety of foods, including fruit, seeds, nectar, insects, and in a few cases, flesh. They produce large repertoires of sounds, ranging from grating squawks to cheery whistles to, more rarely, long melodious songs. They inhabit a broad array of habitats, from lowland tropical rainforest to high-altitude tundra to desert scrubland to urban jungle. They range over every continent but Antarctica, and inhabit some of the most far-flung islands on the planet. They include some of the most endangered species on Earth and some of the most rapidly expanding and aggressive invaders of human-altered landscapes. Increasingly, research into the lives of wild parrots is revealing that they exhibit a corresponding variety of mating systems, communication signals, social organizations, mental capacities, and life spans. -
Universidad Michoacana De San Nicolás De Hidalgo
UNIVERSIDAD MICHOACANA DE SAN NICOLÁS DE HIDALGO FACULTAD DE MEDICINA VETERINARIA Y ZOOTECNIA Centro Multidisciplinario de estudios en biotecnología PROGRAMA INSTITUCIONAL DE DOCTORADO EN CIENCIAS BIOLÓGICAS Estudio de la diversidad genética del Periquito Atolero Eupsittula canicularis (Aves: Psittacidae) TESIS QUE PRESENTA M.C. GABRIELA PADILLA JACOBO PARA OBTENER EL GRADO DE DOCTOR EN CIENCIAS BIOLÓGICAS EN LA OPCIÓN EN BIOTECNOLOGIA MOLECULAR AGROPECUARIA ASESORA: DRA. MARÍA GUADALUPE ZAVALA PÁRAMO Co-ASESOR: DR. TIBERIO CÉSAR MONTERRUBIO-RICO Morelia, Michoacán Septiembre de 2017. Dedicatoria: A mis Padres, hijos, esposo y hermanos. Agradecimientos: A mis asesores y miembros del comité tutorial. CONTENIDO Página I Resumen . 1 II Summary . 2 III Introducción general . 3 3.1 Especie de estudio: Eupsittula canicularis . 3 3.2 Amenazas sobre poblaciones de E. canicularis . 5 3.3 Filogeografía y conservación . 6 3.4 Filogeografía en aves neotropicales . 7 3.4.1. Patrones filogeográficos en aves neotropicales de México . 9 3.4.2. Patrones filogeográficos en aves del BTS de México . 11 IV Hipótesis . 13 V Objetivos . 14 VI Resultados . 15 6.1 Capítulo I . 16 6.2 Capítulo II . 34 6.3 Capítulo III . 61 VII Discusión general . 83 VIII Perspectivas y/o recomendaciones . 85 IX Bibliografía complementaria . 87 X Apéndice . 94 i I. RESUMEN Eupsittula canicularis es el psitácido que sufre mayor presión de sustracción en nuestro país (23,500 ejemplares sustraídos por año aproximadamente). Para establecer estrategias de conservación adecuadas es necesario reunir información de diferentes fuentes. Una de estas proviene de datos moleculares, ya que a través de ellos es posible proponer poblaciones prioritarias para su conservación. -
Biological Control and Eradication of Feral Honey Bee Colonies on Santa Cruz Island, California: a Summary
Pages 327–335 in Damiani, C.C. and D.K. Garcelon (eds.). 2009. Proceedings of 327 the 7th California Islands Symposium. Institute for Wildlife Studies, Arcata, CA. BIOLOGICAL CONTROL AND ERADICATION OF FERAL HONEY BEE COLONIES ON SANTA CRUZ ISLAND, CALIFORNIA: A SUMMARY ADRIAN M. WENNER,1 ROBBIN W. THORP,2 AND JOHN F. BARTHELL3 1Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106; [email protected] 2Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616 3Department of Biology, University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, OK 73034 Abstract—After 1880, feral colonies of European honey bees (Apis mellifera) spread over all of Santa Cruz Island, though never invading any of the other northern Channel Islands. In line with other exotic animal removal programs (e.g., cattle, sheep, pigs), we outlined a program in October 1987 to eradicate all honey bee colonies on that island. That project evolved through four phases: 1) mapping and eradication of many colonies on the eastern half of the island (1988–1993), 2) introduction of a parasitic mite as a biological control (1994–1998), 3) monitoring residual honey bee activity (1999–2004), and 4) continued monitoring and certification of honey bee absence (2005–2008). We located the last known feral colony at the top of the Matanza grade on August 6, 2002 and found that same colony dead on March 31, 2003. The number of target foraging sites visited by honey bees declined steadily through the years, with the last visitors seen on rosemary plants at the ranch headquarters in August of 2004. -
Extinction Rates in North American Freshwater Fishes, 19002010
Extinction Rates in North American Freshwater Fishes, 1900–2010 Author(s): Noel M. Burkhead Reviewed work(s): Source: BioScience, Vol. 62, No. 9 (September 2012), pp. 798-808 Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/bio.2012.62.9.5 . Accessed: 21/09/2012 12:59 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. University of California Press and American Institute of Biological Sciences are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to BioScience. http://www.jstor.org Articles Articles Extinction Rates in North American Freshwater Fishes, 1900–2010 NOEL M. BURKHEAD Widespread evidence shows that the modern rates of extinction in many plants and animals exceed background rates in the fossil record. In the present article, I investigate this issue with regard to North American freshwater fishes. From 1898 to 2006, 57 taxa became extinct, and three distinct populations were extirpated from the continent. Since 1989, the numbers of extinct North American fishes have increased by 25%. From the end of the nineteenth century to the present, modern extinctions varied by decade but significantly increased after 1950 (post-1950s mean = 7.5 extinct taxa per decade). -
Passenger Pigeon of Living Passenger Pigeons in Penn- Ectopistes Migratorius Sylvania Were in 1906
STATUS: Extinct; the last reports Passenger Pigeon of living passenger pigeons in Penn- Ectopistes migratorius sylvania were in 1906. The last known living passenger pigeon died at 1 p.m. September 1, 1914, in the Cincinnati Zoological Garden. The bird — named ―Martha‖ — was 29 years old. IDENTIFYING CHARACTERIS- TICS: A large dove; about 16 inches long, with a two-foot wing span; the head was slate blue with a black beak and red eyes; crimson feet; 12 tail feathers; gray to blue upper side; sides and back of neck, metallic golden violet; reddish- brown from throat to belly; white belly. Females were smaller than males. The birds weighed 9-12 ounces, two to three times the size of a mourning dove. BIOLOGY/NATURAL HISTORY: Passenger pigeons were once an abundant nester in the Common- wealth. Their North American popu- lation numbered as many as five billion birds when colonists arrived and comprised 25 to 40 percent of America’s total wild bird popula- tion. They captivated early residents with their spring and fall migrations. They ranged over eastern North America from Hudson’s Bay south to the Gulf of Mexico, and west into the Mississippi River valley in mixed hardwood forests. Hunters and market hunters alike pursued them with reckless abandon. The birds were trapped, shot, netted and clubbed; even the young, called "squabs," were knocked from nests with poles, or the trees holding their nests were cut down, and they, too, were collected for market. For years, the flocks seemingly withstood the losses. After 30 years of observation, John J.