DOCSLIB.ORG

Migrant Birds and Environmental Change in the Sahel

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Migrant Birds and Environmental Change in the Sahel !"#$% &'(% )*"#+(% "#$% ,-+."#/% 0-.$'% -#% /*(% '"*(!1% !"#"$!%&' (!)"*' + Migrant t 5IF4BIFMJTBOJNQPSUBOUGPSUSBOT4BIBSBONJHSBOUCJSETJOUIF &VSPQFBOXJOUFS.BOZPGUIFTFTQFDJFTBSFJOEFDMJOF Birds and t *OUIF4BIFM CJSETPDDVSPOMBOEJOUFOTJWFMZVTFEGBSNMBOET HSBTTMBOETBOEXPPEMBOET t -BOEVTFJOUIF4BIFMJTDIBOHJOHJOSFTQPOTFUPBXJEFSBOHFPG Environmental TPDJBM FDPOPNJDBOEFOWJSPONFOUBMGBDUPST t 5IFNPTUJNQPSUBOUMBOEVTFDIBOHFTGPSCJSETJOWPMWFDIBOHFT JOUIFFYUFOUPGUSFFTBOETDSVCJOSVSBMMBOETDBQFT5IFJNQBDUT Change in PGMBOETDBQFDIBOHFNBZCFQPTJUJWFPSOFHBUJWFGPSEJòFSFOU TQFDJFT t .PSFSFTFBSDIJTOFFEFEPOUIFJNQBDUTPGMBOEVTFDIBOHFPO the NJHSBOUCJSETJOUIF4BIFM Sahel Over 2 billion songbirds migrate between Europe and Africa1, many concentrating south of the Sahara in the farming and grazing lands of the semi-arid Sahel zone. Migrant birds are exposed to threats in breeding grounds in Europe, on migration, and in their wintering grounds in Africa. Many trans-Saharan migrants are falling in numbers2. It is not know why, but it is widely believed that changes in non-breeding and staging areas in Africa are important. The Sahel is subject to pressure from human-in!uenced climate change and increasingly intensive economic exploitation. There is still limited understanding of the implications of present and future land use change in the Loss of trees and scrub will impact even open country species such as Northern Wheatear (© Paul Hilllion) Sahel for African-Eurasian migrant birds3. Land Use Change in the Sahel There have been profound changes in land use in the Climatic Variability and Birds Sahel in the last four decades. As farmers, livestock keepers It is beyond doubt that Sahel rainfall has a major impact on and other landholders have responded to drought and migrant bird numbers. Rainfall in the Sahel is 200-600mm economic and social change8. per year, and is highly variable between years. There was t Agriculture has extended onto previously uncultivated an intense drought from 1968-74, and another in the early land, and become more intensive (with shorter fallow 1980s. Birds arrive in the Sahel at the end of the wet season periods, and increased use of pesticides and irrigation). (July-September), and stay though the ensuing dry season, t Areas of dryland forest have been more intensively in increasingly dry conditions. cut for fuelwood and livestock browse, and forest and grazing reserves have been subject to more intensive Numbers of Common Whitethroats in Europe declined use (both legal and illegal). markedly in the 1970s4. Rainfall in the Sahel has been t Livestock management has evolved, with changes in linked to survival or change in population size for at least cattle ownership, in movements by pastoral people 13 migrant species, including both birds that overwinter in between ecological zones and across borders, and the Sahel but also others such as Nightingale, Swallow and because of agricultural expansion. White Stork that pass through to winter further south5. t The extent of Sahelian wetlands has been reduced by the construction of upstream dams for hydro Land Use Change and Birds power and irrigation. There is less certainty about the impacts of land use change on birds, although bird researchers have suggested that Changes to Bird Habitat land use changes have had important impacts on migrant Analysis of the habitat preferences of 68 Sahel migrant birds, for example in woodlands and wetlands6. A series of birds suggests that the most signi"cant changes in habitat workshops were held in Cambridge in 2010 to explore the are: the amount of closed woodland, the amount of woody impacts and causes of habitat change in the Sahel7. scrub, the density of trees and scrub on open land and the !"#$% &'(% )*"#+(% "#$% ,-+."#/% 0-.$'% -#% /*(% '"*(!1% !"#"$!%&' (!)"*' + Table 1 - Negative Impacts of Habitat Change on Migrant Birds in the Sahel Habitat Trend Examples of negatively Examples of positively a!ected a!ected bird species bird species Amount of closed woodland More closed European Nightjar, Spotted Golden Oriole, Blackcap, Pied woodland Flycatcher, Common Rock Thrush Flycatcher, Common Nightingale Less woodland Common Redstart, Olivaceous Lesser Kestrel, Common Quail, Warbler Tawny Pipit, Stone-curlew Tree density in woodland Lower tree density Common Redstart, Olivaceous European Nightjar, Lesser Warbler Whitethroat, Spotted Flycatcher Amount of woody scrub More woody scrub Lesser Kestrel, Egyptian Vulture, Common Whitethroat, Willow Ortolan Bunting, Common Quail Warbler, Garden Warbler Less woody scrub European Nightjar, Spotted Black Kite, Montagu’s Harrier, Flycatcher, European Bee-eater Northern Wheatear, White Stork Density of trees and scrub on Increased tree density Lesser Kestrel, Egyptian Vulture, Black Kite, European Turtle Dove, open land Greater Short-toed lark Northern Wheatear, White Stork Reduced tree density Black Kite, European Turtle Dove, Lesser Kestrel, Stone-curlew, Northern Wheatear, White Stork Common Quail, Egyptian Vulture Structural and !oristic diversity More structural and Northern Wheatear, Tawny Pipit, Common Whitethroat, Tree Pipit, of vegetation on open land !oristic diversity Stone-curlew European Turtle Dove structural diversity of vegetation on open land9. 1 Hahn, S. et al. (2009) The natural link between Europe and Africa – 2.1 billion birds on migration’, Oikos 118, 624-626 All these changes are a#ected by the way farmers and other 2 Sanderson, F.J. et al. (2006) ‘Long-term population declines in Afro- resource users make their living (planting crops, grazing Palearctic migrant birds’ Biological Conservation 131: 93-105. livestock or cutting trees). Impacts may be negative for 3 The brief draws on a systematic review of published papers on birds some species, but positive for others. Examples of species in the Sahel, Small, R. et al. (in prep.) ‘Knowledge of the Impact of a#ected by the most important changes in habitats are Land use Change on Migrant Birds in the Sahel’. shown in Table 110. 4 Winstanley, D. et al. (1974) ‘Where have all the Whitethroats gone?’ Bird Study, 21 1-14; Peach, W. et al. (1991) ‘Survival of British Sedge Conclusions Warblers Acrocephalus schoenobaenus in relation to west African The impacts of environmental change in the Sahel on rainfall’, Ibis, 133: 300-305. birds are inadequately understood. Local land use change 5 See e.g. Berthold, P. (1973) ‘On the severe decline of populations of is linked to climatic variability, since the decisions of the Whitethroat and other song birds in Western Europe. Journal of rural people about land use re!ect their need to survive Ornithology’, 114: 348-360. economically in periods of drought. Sahelian rainfall is 6 Wilson, J.M. & Cresswell, W. (2006) ‘How robust are Palearctic mi- naturally highly variable, but human impacts on climate are grants to habitat loss and degradation in the Sahel?’ Ibis 148: 789- likely to increase this variability and have negative impacts 800; Cresswell, W.R.L. et al. (2007) ‘Changes in densities of Sahelian on both people and birds. bird species in response to recent habitat degradation’. Ostrich 78: 247-253; Roux, F. & Jarry, G. (1984) ‘Numbers, composition and dis- The implications of land use change for migrant birds are tribution of populations of Anatidae wintering in West Africa’, Wild- complex. Change may bene"t some species and harm fowl,35: 48-60. others. Reductions in European breeding numbers in some 7 Land Use Change and Migrant Birds in the Sahel (2011) Research species suggest that on balance changes are negative, but the balance of winners and losers is not well understood. Brief 4, Drivers of Land Use Change and Migrant Birds in the Sahel. 8 Raynaut, C. (1998) Societies and Nature in the Sahel, Routledge, There is an urgent need for more "eld research on migrant London; Mortimore, M. (1998) Roots in the African Dust: sustaining birds (particularly declining species) in the Sahel. Research the subSaharan drylands, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 9 must integrate an understanding of which birds use what Land Use Change and Migrant Birds in the Sahel (2011) Research habitats (and when), and how these habitats "t into the Brief 2, Key Habitats for Declining Migrant Birds in the West African farming and livestock economies of Sahelian people. Sahel. Farmland birds of the Sahel need the same careful study as 10 All species are listed as SPECC level 2 or 3 (http://www.birdlife.org/ those breeding in the subsidized countrysides of Europe. action/science/species/birds_in_europe/index.html). These Research Briefs are an output of the project ‘Reversing the declines of African-Palaearctic migrants: understanding the social and economic factors driving land use change in sub-Saharan West African wintering areas’, funded by the CCI Fund and the Newton Trust. Project partners were the British Trust for Ornithology, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and the Departments of Geography and Zoology, University of Cambridge. http://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/landusemigrantbirds/.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • • the Following Pages Have Some Identification Markers for Each of the Sylvia Warblers and Hippolais Warbler
    • The following pages have some identification markers for each of the Sylvia Warblers and Hippolais Warbler • To know more on these birds you can visit www.ogaclicks.com/warbler • If you are interested in coming on any of my tours or workshops please share your email id. I will keep you updated • Mail me at [email protected] • You can also call me on (91)9840119078 , (91) 9445219078 (91) 6369815812 Sylvia Warbler Asian Dessert Warbler - Identification Tips Asian Dessert Warbler : Sylivia nana: Winter visitor to North West India Eyering whitish Iris bright yellow, orbital ring dull yellow with inner skin blackish Bill blackish culmen and Upper parts are greyish-brown tip, pale pinkish-yellow cutting edges of upper mandible and basal three-quarters of lower mandible Rufous-orange rump and uppertail- coverts Chin and Throat Whitish Duskier greyish-brown on breast side Underparts pale white Legs are Yellowish Largest alula feather blackish with narrow whitish-sandy fringe ©www.ogaclicks.com Reference : www.HBW.com Barred Warbler - Identification Tips Barred Warbler : Sylivia nisoria : Vagrant in India Crown is darker Grey Iris deep yellow Bill dark grey, pale base of lower mandible Tail darker than Ear-coverts are darker Grey, speckled white upperparts Upper parts are grey to brownish-grey with bluish suffusion Chin and Throat barred with grey Breast and flanks with coarser and grey bars, Belly with short and narrow Two White wing grey bars bars Legs are dark grey, in spring sometimes yellower ©www.ogaclicks.com Reference : www.HBW.com
    [Show full text]
  • THE BUG RIVER VALLEY for NATURE LOVERS Eastern Poland with a Difference
    THE BUG RIVER VALLEY FOR NATURE LOVERS Eastern Poland with a difference By Olivier Dochy, Belgium From 21st until 25th of June, I got the chance to join a study visit to the valley of the Bug river on the border of Poland and Belarus, in the far east of Poland. The purpose of this visit was tot evaluate local initiatives for sustainable tourism, oriented to "riverside & country- side" tourism. This visit was organized by a Flemish-Polish exchange project with the prov- inces of West-Vlaanderen en Lubelski (Poland), but also the flemish initiative vzw De Boot (www.deboot.be). My task was to evaluate which topics in the region could be interesting for nature-lovers in general and keen nature-specialists in particular, such as birders. Well, there is a lot ! It is not like the wild expanses of the well-known Biebrza valley or the untouched forests of Bia- lowieza, but rather a small-scale (agri)cultural landscape. But it still has all the biodiversity that once flourished in Western-Europe and now all (but) disappeared. Here follow a number of tips voor those who want to visit the region. There is a lot of in- formation great and small on the internet about the region, but you have to surf a lot to find it all. Anyway, there certainly is a lot to discover for naturalists with a pioneer drive ! You can find pictures of our visit here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Odee.fotos/BugRiverPoland?feat=directlink 1 WHERE IS IT ? The province of Lubelski is in the extreme east of Poland.
    [Show full text]
  • 372 Common Whitethroat Put Your Logo Here
    Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze Sponsor is needed. Write your name here 372 Common Whitethroat Put your logo here SIMILAR SPECIES Recalls a Spectacled Warbler with similar wing pattern but smaller (12-13 cm; wing 53-57 mm). Whitethroat. Spring. Adult. Male (26-IV) COMMON WHITETHROAT (Curruca communis Spectacled Warbler. Female. IDENTIFICATION 13-15 cm. Brownish upperparts; pale under- parts, whiter on throat; wing coverts, tertials and secondaries with buff edges; legs and bill pale grey. Breeding male with grey head; non bre- eding male, female and juvenile with brownish head. Wing 66-77 mm. SEXING In spring, adult male with grey head; white throat; breast with pinkish tinge; iris yellowish- brown; lesser wing coverts with grey centres. Female (manily 2nd year) without grey on head; off-white throat; breast without pink tin- ge; iris gresyish; lesser coverts with brown cen- tres. Adult females are similar to 2nd year ma- les with brown head tinged grey; off-white throat; iris brownish; breast creamy-buff or with faint pinkish tinge; lesser wing coverts with grey-brown centres. (CAUTION: with many intermediate specimens this species can be con- fidently sexed only in extreme birds). In autumn sexes very similar, so sexing is very difficult and possible only for some extreme males with grey on base of crown feathers; breast with pinkish tinge; iris brown-orange; lesser coverts with grey centre. Birds with other appearence may be indistinctly male or female. Juveniles and 1st year birds cannot be sexed using plumage pattern. Whitethroat. Pattern of head, tail and upper- parts. http://blascozumeta.com Write your website here Page 1 Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze Sponsor is needed.
    [Show full text]
  • Birds Checklist STEPPE BIRDS of CALATRAVA
    www.naturaindomita.com BIRDS CHECKLIST C = Common R = Resident. All year round. Steppe Birds of Calatrava LC = Less Common S = Spring & Summer. Usually breeding. Calatrava Steppes and Guadiana Steppes R = Rare or Scarce W = Autumn & Winter M = Only on migration Familia Nombre Científico Inglés Español Frequency Season 1 Podicipedidae Podiceps nigricollis Black-Necked Grebe Zampullín Cuellinegro 2 Podicipedidae Tachybaptus ruficollis Little Grebe Zampullín Común 3 Podicipedidae Podiceps cristatus Great Crested Grebe Somormujo Lavanco 4 Phalacrocoracidae Phalacrocorax carbo Great Cormorant Cormorán Grande 5 Ardeidae Botaurus stellaris Great Bittern Avetoro 6 Ardeidae Ixobrychus minutus Little Bittern Avetorillo Común R S 7 Ardeidae Nycticorax nycticorax Black-Crowned Night Heron Martinete Común LC S 8 Ardeidae Bubulcus ibis Cattle Egret Garcilla Bueyera CR 9 Ardeidae Ardeola ralloides Squacco Heron Garcilla Cangrejera RS 10 Ardeidae Egretta garzetta Little Egret Garceta Común CR 11 Ardeidae Egretta alba Great Egret Garceta Grande LC R 12 Ardeidae Ardea cinerea Grey Heron Garza Real LC R 13 Ardeidae Ardea purpurea Purple Heron Garza Imperial RS 14 Ciconiidae Ciconia ciconia White Stork Cigüeña Blanca CR 15 Ciconiidae Ciconia nigra Black Stork Cigüeña Negra 16 Threskiornithidae Plegadis falcinellus Glossy Ibis Morito Común LC S 17 Threskiornithidae Platalea leucorodia Eurasian Spoonbill Espátula Común LC S 18 Phoenicopteridae Phoenicopterus ruber Greater Flamingo Flamenco Común 19 Anatidae Anser albifrons Greater White-Fronted Goose Ánsar
    [Show full text]
  • The Study of Bird Migration Across the Western Sahara; a Contribution with Sound Luring
    The study of bird migration across the Western Sahara; a contribution with sound luring Marc Herremans Royal Museum for Central Africa, Leuvensesteenweg 17, 3080 Tervuren, Belgium; e-mail: [email protected] Report of field research in Mauritania during spring and autumn 2003 in association with the Sahara project of the Swiss Ornithological Institute (Vogelwarte Sempach). Abstract During spring and autumn migration 2003, the Swiss Ornithological Institute set up a concerted project in Mauritania to study bird migration across the Sahara (see www.vogelwarte.ch/sahara/). I participated with a side project using artificial induction of landfall with sound luring in an attempt to overcome the potential problem of low sample sizes for random trapping of natural landfall. A comparison with sound lured samples was also expected to provide more insights into the motivation of birds to stop or fly. In total, 9.467 migrants of 55 species were ringed, 590 birds recaptured locally and 49 ringed in Europe were recovered. Sound luring was more effective in autumn, when samples became, however, heavily dominated by Reed Warblers (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) and Garden Warblers (Sylvia borin). In autumn, adults migrated ahead of juveniles, and in Reed and Garden Warblers, most adults travelled over the interior of the Sahara, while juveniles were concentrated along the coast; no such effect was seen in species that avoided the interior (Nightingale Luscinia megarhynchos, Grasshopper Warbler Locustella naevia). Local recapture rates were low (6%), particularly inland in autumn (1%), where many more birds (12%) made longer stopovers in spring. In autumn, there were many more birds in poor condition along the coast than inland; birds in poor condition had much higher recapture rates, and birds in good condition (fat score >3, muscle score=3) rarely made a stopover.
    [Show full text]
  • EUROPEAN BIRDS of CONSERVATION CONCERN Populations, Trends and National Responsibilities
    EUROPEAN BIRDS OF CONSERVATION CONCERN Populations, trends and national responsibilities COMPILED BY ANNA STANEVA AND IAN BURFIELD WITH SPONSORSHIP FROM CONTENTS Introduction 4 86 ITALY References 9 89 KOSOVO ALBANIA 10 92 LATVIA ANDORRA 14 95 LIECHTENSTEIN ARMENIA 16 97 LITHUANIA AUSTRIA 19 100 LUXEMBOURG AZERBAIJAN 22 102 MACEDONIA BELARUS 26 105 MALTA BELGIUM 29 107 MOLDOVA BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 32 110 MONTENEGRO BULGARIA 35 113 NETHERLANDS CROATIA 39 116 NORWAY CYPRUS 42 119 POLAND CZECH REPUBLIC 45 122 PORTUGAL DENMARK 48 125 ROMANIA ESTONIA 51 128 RUSSIA BirdLife Europe and Central Asia is a partnership of 48 national conservation organisations and a leader in bird conservation. Our unique local to global FAROE ISLANDS DENMARK 54 132 SERBIA approach enables us to deliver high impact and long term conservation for the beneit of nature and people. BirdLife Europe and Central Asia is one of FINLAND 56 135 SLOVAKIA the six regional secretariats that compose BirdLife International. Based in Brus- sels, it supports the European and Central Asian Partnership and is present FRANCE 60 138 SLOVENIA in 47 countries including all EU Member States. With more than 4,100 staf in Europe, two million members and tens of thousands of skilled volunteers, GEORGIA 64 141 SPAIN BirdLife Europe and Central Asia, together with its national partners, owns or manages more than 6,000 nature sites totaling 320,000 hectares. GERMANY 67 145 SWEDEN GIBRALTAR UNITED KINGDOM 71 148 SWITZERLAND GREECE 72 151 TURKEY GREENLAND DENMARK 76 155 UKRAINE HUNGARY 78 159 UNITED KINGDOM ICELAND 81 162 European population sizes and trends STICHTING BIRDLIFE EUROPE GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION.
    [Show full text]
  • Migration of Birds Circular 16
    U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Migration of Birds Circular 16 Migration of Birds Circular 16 by Frederick C. Lincoln, 1935 revised by Steven R. Peterson, 1979 revised by John L. Zimmerman, 1998 Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS Associate editor Peter A. Anatasi Illustrated by Bob Hines U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE D E R P O A I R R E T T M N EN I T OF THE U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE..............................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................2 EARLY IDEAS ABOUT MIGRATION............................................................4 TECHNIQUES FOR STUDYING MIGRATION..........................................6 Direct Observation ....................................................................................6 Aural ............................................................................................................7 Preserved Specimens ................................................................................7 Marking ......................................................................................................7 Radio Tracking ..........................................................................................8 Radar Observation ....................................................................................9 EVOLUTION OF MIGRATION......................................................................10
    [Show full text]
  • 1-Day Norfolk Coast Spring Birding Tour
    1-DAY NORFOLK COAST SPRING BIRDING TOUR 10 APRIL – 31 MAY Northern Wheatear is one of the iconic migrant passerines that arrives in Norfolk in early- spring and is usually one of the first migrant species to pass through the area as they move between their sub-Saharan wintering grounds and northern European breeding grounds. www.birdingecotours.com [email protected] 2 | ITINERARY UK 1-day tour: Norfolk Coast in Spring Norfolk in spring is a county of change and contrast. April sees the cold of winter left behind and the return of warmth and growth to the coastal areas. The increased daylight hours signal the beginning of spring migration and this is the focus of our coastal spring birdwatching day tour. As we move into May, most of the migrant species are settled in and we can begin to witness the miracle of life in progress as the number of resident and migrant species reaches its peak. Our spring coastal tour will begin at 8am and finish around 4:30pm. With birders and other tourists gravitating to several well-known sites, we will instead head to some of the lesser-known areas of the Norfolk coast. We will come across a similar selection of species to those seen at better known sites but will hopefully enjoy our birds with less people around. We begin our tour at Thornham Harbour, with the first part of the tour expected to take around three hours. Our meeting point, with its 18th century coal barn, is a great spot to find wading birds (shorebirds), such as Eurasian Curlew, Eurasian Whimbrel, Common Snipe, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Black-tailed Godwit, Pied Avocet, Common Redshank, and Grey Plover.
    [Show full text]
  • Madrid Hot Birding, Closer Than Expected
    Birding 04-06 Spain2 2/9/06 1:50 PM Page 38 BIRDING IN THE OLD WORLD Madrid Hot Birding, Closer Than Expected adrid is Spain’s capital, and it is also a capital place to find birds. Spanish and British birders certainly know M this, but relatively few American birders travel to Spain Howard Youth for birds. Fewer still linger in Madrid to sample its avian delights. Yet 4514 Gretna Street 1 at only seven hours’ direct flight from Newark or 8 ⁄2 from Miami, Bethesda, Maryland 20814 [email protected] Madrid is not that far off. Friendly people, great food, interesting mu- seums, easy city transit, and great roads make central Spain a great va- cation destination. For a birder, it can border on paradise. Spain holds Europe’s largest populations of many species, including Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca), Great (Otis tarda) and Little (Tetrax tetrax) Bustards, Eurasian Black Vulture (Aegypius monachus), Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), and Black Wheatear (Oenanthe leucura). All of these can be seen within Madrid Province, the fo- cus of this article, all within an hour’s drive of downtown. The area holds birding interest year-round. Many of northern Europe’s birds winter in Spain, including Common Cranes (which pass through Madrid in migration), an increasing number of over-wintering European White Storks (Ciconia ciconia), and a wide variety of wa- terfowl. Spring comes early: Barn Swallows appear by February, and many Africa-wintering water birds arrive en masse in March. Other migrants, such as European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster), Common Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos), and Golden Oriole (Oriolus ori- olous), however, rarely arrive before April.
    [Show full text]
  • Contrasting Strategies for Wing‐Moult and Pre‐Migratory Fuelling In
    Ibis (2018) doi: 10.1111/ibi.12686 Contrasting strategies for wing-moult and pre-migratory fuelling in western and eastern populations of Common Whitethroat Sylvia communis MAGDALENA REMISIEWICZ,1,2* ZEPHNE BERNITZ,3 HERMAN BERNITZ,4 MARC S. BURMAN,1,2,5 JACOBUS M.H. RAIJMAKERS,6 JOHANNES H.F.A. RAIJMAKERS,7 LES G. UNDERHILL,2 ANNA ROSTKOWSKA,8 YAHKAT BARSHEP,9 SERGEJ A. SOLOVIEV10 & ILONA SIWEK1 1Bird Migration Research Station, Faculty of Biology, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 59, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland 2Animal Demography Unit, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa 3PO Box 1276, Middelburg, Mpumalanga 1050, South Africa 4Department of Oral Pathology and Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, University of Pretoria, PO Box 1266, Pretoria 0001, South Africa 5Department of Statistical Sciences, Centre for Statistics in Ecology, the Environment and Conservation, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa 6PO Box 5067, Vanderbijlpark 1900, South Africa 723 Roy Campbell St, Vanderbijlpark 1911, South Africa 8Students’ Ornithological Group, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Institute of Biology, University of Białystok, Ciołkowskiego 1K, 15-245 Białystok, Poland 9A.P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute, University of Jos, PO Box 13404, Laminga, Jos East, Plateau State, 930106, Nigeria 10Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Dostoevsky Omsk State University, Prospect Mira 55A, 644077 Omsk, Russia Trade-offs between moult and fuelling in migrant birds vary with migration distance and the environmental conditions they encounter. We compared wing moult and fuelling at the northern and southern ends of migration in two populations of adult Common Whitethroats Sylvia communis.
    [Show full text]
  • Arabian Peninsula
    THE CONSERVATION STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE BREEDING BIRDS OF THE ARABIAN PENINSULA Compiled by Andy Symes, Joe Taylor, David Mallon, Richard Porter, Chenay Simms and Kevin Budd ARABIAN PENINSULA The IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM - Regional Assessment About IUCN IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges. IUCN’s work focuses on valuing and conserving nature, ensuring effective and equitable governance of its use, and deploying nature-based solutions to global challenges in climate, food and development. IUCN supports scientific research, manages field projects all over the world, and brings governments, NGOs, the UN and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice. IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization, with almost 1,300 government and NGO Members and more than 15,000 volunteer experts in 185 countries. IUCN’s work is supported by almost 1,000 staff in 45 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world. www.iucn.org About the Species Survival Commission The Species Survival Commission (SSC) is the largest of IUCN’s six volunteer commissions with a global membership of around 7,500 experts. SSC advises IUCN and its members on the wide range of technical and scientific aspects of species conservation, and is dedicated to securing a future for biodiversity. SSC has significant input into the international agreements dealing with biodiversity conservation. About BirdLife International BirdLife International is the world’s largest nature conservation Partnership. BirdLife is widely recognised as the world leader in bird conservation.
    [Show full text]
  • Red Data Book of European Vertebrates : a Contribution to Action Theme N° 11 of the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy, Final Draft
    Strasbourg, 5 July 2001 T-PVS (2001) 31 [Bern\T-PVS 2001\tpvs31e_2001] English only CONVENTION ON THE CONSERVATION OF EUROPEAN WILDLIFE AND NATURAL HABITATS Standing Committee Preliminary European Red List of Vertebrates Draft for comments - Volume 1 - Joint project between the Council of Europe and the European Environment Agency, based on WCMC draft from 1998. Co-ordinated by the European Topic Centre/Nature Conservation – Paris This document will not be distributed at the meeting. Please bring this copy. Ce document ne sera plus distribué en réunion. Prière de vous munir de cet exemplaire. T-PVS (2001) 31 - II - Comments should be sent to: European Topic Centre for Nature Protection and Biodiversity MNHN 57 rue Cuvier 75231 PARIS Cedex, France [email protected] - III - T-PVS (2001) 31 About this draft Red List This document is the result of a joint project between the European Environment Agency and the Council of Europe to develop a preliminary European Red List of Vertebrates. It is based on a first draft by WCMC in 1998. Except for Birds (Birdlife International, 1994), no assessment is yet available on the conservation status of Vertebrate species at European level, while Red Books exist at national level in almost all European countries. On the other hand, a global list of threatened species is published and maintained up-dated by IUCN according to well defined criteria (IUCN, 2000). The present assessment is a first attempt to identify the most threatened Vertebrates species at European level, building upon a first analysis of the list of globally threatened species present in Europe (WCMC, 1998) and taking into account the most recent available overviews on European species distribution provided by the various European atlas committees (European Bird Census Council; Societas Europaea Herpetologica, Societas Europea Mammalogica).
    [Show full text]