Are You Into Rare Birds?

Here on my desk is a copy of a new book from Princeton University Press entitled The World’s Rarest Birds. The content makes for disturbing reading, packed as it is with evidence and insight into how man is slowly but surely eliminating many of Planet Earth’s 10,000 bird species. 

The bare facts from The World’s Rarest Birds are not simply worrying, alarming or even disturbing, they are far worse. On a scale of scary words perhaps “chilling” or “frightening” could more accurately describe how: 

• 197 Critically Endangered bird species face an extremely high risk of extinction within the lifetime of the present human generation 

• 389 Endangered species are also at a very high risk of extinction 

• 4 species extinct in the wild now exist in captivity only 

• 60 more species are so poorly known they are classified as Data Deficient 

The World's Rarest Birds - Princeton University Press

Fortunately there are conservationists motivated enough to document this appalling situation in the hope it will stimulate others into action sooner rather than later. I have to sympathise with the trials and tribulations of the authors Erik Hirschfeld, Andy Swash and Robert Still, who together with the publishers Princeton University Press and BirdLife International decided to compile this book, the aim being to raise the profile of bird conservation efforts worldwide. In 2012 the book was scheduled to publish when events overtook the project, entailing a complete revision to account for the release of a major update to BirdLife International’s list of threatened birds. “Good News” they thought when seven species were removed from the list thanks to conservation measures or new population discoveries. The bad news for them was that 23 species had to be added, but following no further setbacks The World's Rarest Birds was finally published on April 3rd 2013. 

After spending a couple of days exploring the book I have no doubt that if it receives the circulation, attention and acclaim it clearly deserves their efforts have not been in vain. 

For all the wrong reasons The World’s Rarest Birds is an impressive book, remarkable for the fact that in the large format 360 pages of 8 ½ x 11, there are 977 colour photographs and 610 coloured maps which document and detail the many birds of the world under serious threat. It is worth repeating those figures - 360 pages, 977 photographs and 610 maps describing, listing, picturing and mapping threatened birds. In other words, this is not a tiny problem that will go away if we ignore it, but more precisely a major catastrophe that the whole world should act upon.

 Globally Threatened Bird Species - The World's Rarest Birds

The Introduction to The World’s Rarest Birds sets the scene for the remainder of the volume, describing the background to the book and the source and inspiration for the many fine photographs contained therein. There are short accounts of the diversity and distribution of bird species, the endemic and important bird areas, together with an illuminating section on the interaction between birds and the human race. Humans are of course at the root of the many problems that birds face but thankfully this latter discussion is not entirely negative. Witness the fact that despite the pressing need for this book, more is known about the status and distribution of birds than about any other order of plants and animals. This apparent contradiction is due in no small part to the mainstream involvement of ordinary bird watchers in Citizen Science such as the Christmas Bird Count in the USA, the Big Garden Birdwatch in the UK and to the many, many hours of field work donated by bird counters, bird ringers and amateur ornithologists all over the world. 

More than 25 pages are devoted to discussion of the pressures that birds face, ranging through agriculture and aquaculture, hunting, climate change, human disturbance, pollution, energy production, mining, damming and water abstraction, fishing, logging etc. and ad infinitum - The list seems endless. 

The major part of the book which lists the species of concern is entitled The Regional Directories and sub-divides into geographic regions of Africa, Asia, Australia, Oceanic islands, The Caribbean with North and Central America, South America, and Europe with the Middle East. This vital and detailed section is sure to become the main focus of a reader wherever they are based in the world, including as it does snapshots and photographs of the species themselves, on-going or planned conservation measures and risks to the particular species. 

Naturally enough I focused on the section for Europe and the Middle East where I found familiar names and faces.

 Europe and The Middle East - The World's Rarest Birds

Approximately 730 species have been recorded breeding or wintering on the landmass of Europe and the Middle East or migrating regularly through the region. Forty of those species - or over 5% - are globally threatened, including Red-breasted Goose, Balearic Shearwater, White-headed Duck and Velvet Scoter. 

The book touches upon other European species which may be “Next On The List”, the naming of which ensures the calamity becomes personal and immediate to any reader. European Turtle Dove is depicted, a victim of habitat loss in the UK and unsustainable hunting in blackspots like Malta where European Birds Directives seem to be regularly and quite belligerently ignored. 

European Turtle Dove - Phil Slade

It is in Europe also where agriculture and fisheries policies are implicated in declines of many species. Once a common enough bird in the UK, the only time I see Turtle Doves nowadays are on holidays to the Balearic island of Menorca where old-time agriculture holds sway - for now. 

The Egyptian Vulture, another species I see regularly in Menorca and the Canary Islands is globally endangered due to multiple threats across the 82 countries it occupies in Europe, Asia and Africa. For the Egyptian Vulture its disastrous decline is caused by the disappearance of wild animals on which it depends for food, poisoning of carcasses near the birds’ breeding grounds, collisions with power lines and the growing veterinary use of anti-inflammatory drugs in Africa; as the book explains and illustrates throughout, there is no single threat to a particular species, but more likely a series of misfortunes or deliberate acts which lead down an often short road to danger or even extinction.

Egyptian Vulture - Phil Slade

The Critically Endangered species Balearic Shearwater is another species I see in Menorca and where I admit until now I failed to appreciate the true extent of the endangered status of the species. That’s the other problem, endangered species don’t fly around with an “Endangered” label attached - the key to understanding is education and awareness of what is at stake for humans, birds and the environment alike. 

Menorca - Balearic Shearwater project 

The European pages mention others too, once common farmland species like Starling and House Sparrow which may be sinking towards threatened status. On a purely local level will other species like Corn Bunting and Yellowhammer soon appear on such shameful lists? 

In a section entitled Threats Without Borders the authors remind us that almost one-fifth of the world’s bird species migrate, making regular movements beyond their breeding grounds, often crossing one or more national boundaries on their long-distance travels. Strategies such as this can expose birds like the Basra Reed Warbler to threats on not only its main breeding areas but also in the wintering area of Kenya. Another example of this cross boundary phenomenon centres upon especially threatened groups of soaring birds such as cranes and raptors which migrate along narrow corridors of land subject to rapid changes in land use: also waterbirds which find more and more of their coastal wetland sites disappearing because of land reclamation or change of use.

Threats Without Borders - The World's Rarest Birds

There is a fine Appendix and Index to The World’s Rarest Birds, part of which is a three page list of extinct birds dated according to their passing. The 130 strong inventory stretches from the 1500s with the St Helena Dove all the way up to the Kauai Oo declared extinct on Hawaii in 1987. Along the way this sad list takes in the likes of Mauritius Night Heron in the 1600s, Jamaican Red Macaw circa 1700, Bonin Thrush in the early 1800s and Labrador Duck in 1875. We could go on adding to this roll of misfortune and we probably will. 

As the publishers quite rightly say with their accompanying literature, “this is a book that we all wish wasn’t necessary” (my emphasis). This is a sentiment that will resonate to most reading this blog but the book needs to find a wider audience rather than simply reach the already converted. The World’s Rarest Birds deserves that wider audience and I sincerely hope it reaches them; otherwise we may need to produce another and more desperate volume in a short number of years. Let’s hope not. 

This is a great book, and I have a suggestion. Buy two and send one copy to your elected representative at the highest level possible. I think I’ll send a copy to my European Member of Parliament, include a photograph of a Turtle Dove and a promise to use my vote wisely at the next European election.

Buy this book at Princeton University Press  $45 or £34.95.

I'm linking this post to I'd Rather Be Birding .

More Wheatears?

This morning’s dilemma was whether another frosty morning would produce any birds out on the moss or if a walk out Pilling way would be more fruitful. With the car windscreen just thawing about 9am I plumped on Pilling and began at Fluke Hall. From the tree tops Siskins greeted me with their “pinging” contact calls. There were at least five of the tiny green things moving through the branches and very difficult to see high up in the tallest trees. My attention switched to a Kestrel sat on the perimeter fence where it stayed for several minutes before flying off towards Ridge Farm.

Lots of Meadow Pipits were on the move near Ridge Farm, a continual movement of birds heading east and north, a flight path to be repeated later at Lane Ends. In all I counted over 400 mipits on the move this morning. There are Oystercatchers, Redshanks and Lapwings on territory now, particularly behind the sea wall on the Hi-Fly plots. With this year’s sowing and growing season being inevitably late I am hopeful of a good breeding season for the waders come May and June. 

The main objective of the morning was to catch more Wheatears, a glance at Fluke Hall revealing none along the sea wall so instead I made the short trip to Lane Ends. There was a soaring Buzzard over Pilling village and a Kestrel hovering at the roadside at Backsands. 

Kestrel

A short walk revealed 3 Wheatears in a similar spot to Monday, this time in a better catching situation but impossible to say if these were part of Monday’s gang of birds waiting for a southerly air stream. 

Within five minutes I’d caught an adult male and an adult female, both drawn to the irresistible meal worm. 

 Wheatear

Wheatear

Wheatear

On the pools were singles of Spotted Redshank, Greenshank and Redshank with a small selection of wildfowl again - 4 Shoveler, 12 Teal and 4 Pintail. A small party of about 40 Golden Plovers flew over, a couple landing briefly before they too joined in the flypast. Around here it is impossible to get close to Golden Plovers, hence the heavily cropped shot which is as good as I’m ever likely to get of these spangled beauties.

Golden Plover

Also overhead, 2 Buzzards pretty high, still climbing and heading north over Morecambe Bay. 

More news and maybe more Wheatears soon on Another Bird Blog - stay tuned.

Opening The Account

Although still windy from the east it was a touch warmer today, so much so that not only did I see my first Wheatears of the year, I also opened my yearly ringing account of the species. Pilling Lane Ends was the venue where a loose party of six or seven very mobile Wheatears were feeding behind the sea wall with 35+ Meadow Pipits. 

Wheatear

At least five of the Wheatears were bright, colourful males, so trust me to catch the only female I saw, a second calendar year. In the cool breezy conditions the males weren’t for hanging about my favoured catching spot on the stretch of rocky shore and seemed to prefer the grassy slopes behind the sea wall where they make it much harder for me. There’s sure to be other days soon to catch up with a few males. 

Wheatear

Wheatear

Just as a few days ago the pool here held singles of Spotted Redshank, Greenshank and a common Redshank. 

Spotted Redshank

Redshank

And there’s nothing much else to report for what proved to be a quick and windswept outing: 3 Little Egret, 400 Pink-footed Geese, 2 Kestrel and small numbers of wildfowl - 10 Teal, 8 Pintail and 6 Shoveler. 

Look in soon to Another Bird Blog for pictures of Little Owl plus news of a brand new essential reading bird book.

Owls About And Not Much Else

The outside temperature read minus 1 °C again, and as I took the frost guard off the windscreen the local Tawny Owls were busy making a fair old din. They called away to each other, tempting me to go and take a look, but it was too dark. Anyway I’ve tried it before and they just fly to their other spots where they continue their canoodling duet. 

Through Hambleton village a Little Owl flew across the highway ahead of the car and towards the darkness on the other side of the road. I was on the way out to the moss again hoping to kick off the migrant year with a Chiffchaff, maybe even a Willow Warbler. As I walked into the plantation I could see the local Barn Owl plugging away again in the distance but when I got back to the car the owl was gone, hopefully back to the barn with a vole or two from the frosty fields. 

Don’t forget to “click the pics” for a light box show, I think Blogger have sorted the problem for now. 

Barn Owl

I caught the Chiffchaff but not much else during an extremely quiet couple of hours. Just seven birds caught from the bare, leafless and insect free plantation - 2 Goldfinch with singles of Brambling, Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting, Robin and Blue Tit, all from the feeding station. 

Chiffchaff

Of over 400 Bramblings ringed by the ringing group in almost thirty years today’s is only the second one ringed in the month of April and an indicator of how Bramblings are very late in returning north this year. 

Brambling

Goldfinch

The birding was equally as quiet as the ringing, almost non-existent in fact with 4 Fieldfares and similar numbers of Meadow Pipits high overhead in the clear morning sky the only real signs of bird movement. Otherwise all was local stuff once again with 2 Buzzard, 2 Kestrel, 2 Mistle Thrush, 3 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 3 Corn Bunting, 4 Yellowhammer, 15 Tree Sparrow and 40+ Curlew. 

On the way home I stopped to check out the Little Owl pair where I found them both on the lookout for daylight food, and like me puffed up against the still cold air. 

Little Owl

I had to stop the car on the way home when the mobile rang from a lady in Knott End who’d seen a single Waxwing in gardens near the promenade. 

Waxwing

I thanked the lady for the info but there was no time for a Waxwing twitch after I’d spent a good fifteen minutes with the owls. I needed to get home, sort the pictures and grab a bite to eat myself - a birder’s work is never done. 

Log in soon for more news and views and find out if the Little Owls pics got sorted.In the meantime take a look at Stewart's Photo Gallery on the other side of the world down in Aussie.

There’s A Surprise

Yes I know the best birders get up early to catch the worm but sometimes a lie-in just seems a good option, especially after a run of icy mornings with not much doing. So waiting until lunch time I set off for Pilling hoping to see a freshly arrived Wheatear, perhaps hear a Chiffchaff, or watch a Sand Martin or Swallow hurrying north - anything really which might indicate the arrival of Spring. 

Not much at Lane Ends itself, just a pair of Canada Geese and a pair of Greylags seeing who could make the most noise above the trilling of the Little Grebe pair on the smaller west pool. The morning must have warmed up. I disturbed a Peacock Butterfly from the grass and it rested on the path momentarily before flying off; my first butterfly of the year before my first Wheatear or Swallow - now there was a surprise. 

Little Grebe

European Peacock 

All the bird action seemed to be nearer Pilling Water with several Meadow Pipits, leftovers from the morning rush hour I’d perhaps missed. There was no sign of any Wheatears ready for the pepper pot of meal worms stashed in the camera bag. The pools proved quite rewarding with singles of both Greenshank and Spotted Redshank, two species which could be the most unapproachable bird species on the planet, bettered only by our Common Redshank. 

 Spotted Redshank

Spotted Redshank

Greenshank

There was a good selection of wildfowl too, refugees from the shooting season but still as wary as ever and giving a sporting chance of a picture when they flew about the pools expecting a volley of shots from guns not a camera. I counted 18 Teal, 8 Pintail, 6 Shoveler, 4 Shelduck and just 2 Mallard. 

Pintail 

Teal and Pintail

Pintail

Shoveler

On the marsh there are still 300+ Pink-footed Geese perhaps reluctant to head north without a following wind. More Shelduck too, another 40+. 

One singing Skylark, 1 Little Egret and a few more Meadow Pipits highlighted the stroll back to Lane Ends, otherwise little sign of true April. 

More news and surprises on Another Bird Blog soon. In the meantime take a look at Anni's Skimmers .

Still Winter Birds

The weather people now say we have to wait until the middle of next week for warmer temperatures. If and when such warmth eventually arrives there’s sure to be a flood of birds, but in the meantime out on the moss this morning it was 1°C again at early doors with no surprises when all the birds were of the wintering kind. 

I had a couple of nets up for a while before the wind arrived again, time enough to catch 5 Goldfinch, 3 Reed Bunting, 2 Chaffinch and a single Brambling. The latter was a recapture from recent weeks, one of the Goldfinch a regular from 2010, 2011 and 2012 and a breeding male.

The morning kicked off with a Barn Owl, just one bird now where last week I was seeing two of them regularly, one of those probably a bird I found dead on 1st April. Let’s hope there’s a current surplus of Barn Owls large enough to fill gaps caused by winter losses. This Barn Owl hunts over a square half-mile or more from its night-time roost, flying a regular beat across the fields, along fence lines and woodland edge but seems to rarely cover the same ground twice in the one outing. There’s a lot of energy expended with seemingly not much reward at the moment, as I rarely see it catch anything to eat. 

Barn Owl

Into April and there are few birds at the feeding station now, the Reed Buntings thinned to 8 or 10, similar numbers of Chaffinch and Goldfinch with just odds and ends of Bramblings. Including today gives a total of 43 new Reed Buntings caught here since January 1st, not to mention the bonus of a Little Bunting amongst them.

Reed Bunting

Little Bunting

Overhead happenings this morning were limited to a single Siskin heading north and a noisy party of about 20 Fieldfares flying north-east. There are still regular flocks of 200+ Curlew, 15+ Golden Plover and 50+ Lapwing on fields towards Pilling, but a single pair of Lapwings close to the ringing station could well be on eggs now. This pair constantly chases off the local Carrion Crows suggesting something more than a simple territorial dispute. 

After seeing and hearing huge wintering flocks clattering through the skies since November, the Woodpigeon flocks are now much reduced in size and more easily counted to less than a hundred individuals today. 

 Woodpigeons

Raptors today: 2 Buzzard, 2 Kestrel and 1 Sparrowhawk. A day or two ago I noticed the male Kestrel is ringed, probably one of the nestlings Will and I ringed here in June 2010 and now occupying the same territory in which it was born. 

Kestrel

On the way off the farm I counted 11 Yellowhammers scattered across a yet to be ploughed field, the birds still finding some goodness in the soil, and nearby still 15 Corn Buntings. 

There’s more seasonal birds an Another Bird Blog soon. Log in to find out which they are.

Another Bad Barn Owl Day

This is in danger of becoming an unwelcome habit, but after Saturday's road casualty I found another dead Barn Owl yesterday. This one wasn’t a victim of a road accident as I found it in a partially wooded area at Out Rawcliffe. When I turned the body over for a closer look there was with a single large hole in its body, so readers of a squeamish disposition may wish to look away now. 

Barn Owl

Barn Owl

Not a pretty sight. It looks as if one of the crow family, and probably a Carrion Crow as there are plenty of them about here, found a freshly dead Barn Owl then pierced the carcass to take out the best bits, the heart and liver. It has been documented in the past that crows do this and they are not labelled “Carrion Crows” without good reason. 

Carrion Crow

The Carrion Crow is one of the cleverest, most adaptable of our birds and although this seems a particularly gruesome habit it is an example of nature in one of its rawest moments. So now there are two dead Barn Owl to pass on to Lancaster University where they will be tested as to cause of death (known in one case), but also for any secondary causes and/or remains of rodenticides/pesticides. 

The coldest months of January to March are known as a time of year when many birds have  difficulties finding food whereby many literally starve to death. The days and nights have been very cold of late, the coldest March for 50+ years. Barn Owls have been especially active recently suggesting that they are having to spend longer hunting in order to sustain themselves through the cold but to also build up reserves in readiness for the breeding season. 

With the nesting season due to start this may be an opportune time to remind readers of the law regarding Barn Owls, particulalry as a number of bird watchers and photographers choose to ignore or "forget" the rules in their preoccupation with Barn Owls and other birds with special protection.

Barn Owl

Most bird species have some protection by law, Barn Owls and their nest sites are specifically protected. The Barn Owl is specially protected under Schedules 1 and 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. It is illegal to kill, injure or take a wild Barn Owl or to take or destroy its eggs. It is also illegal to check nest sites or even to disturb a Barn Owl while it is at or near a breeding site - unless you hold a special licence. (Usually March to October is considered the breeding season, but they might breed at almost any time of year). 

Any study or disturbance of Barn Owl nesting sites requires a “Schedule 1 Licence” which can only be obtained through official government bodies or agencies - usually Natural England, Countryside Council for Wales, Scottish Natural Heritage or Northern Ireland Environment Agency or British Trust for Ornithology. The Schedule 1 scheme monitors where the observers are operating, and tries to ensure that no site is visited by more than one group of observers 

It has been a bad few days for Barn Owls, at least for me, so I hope the breeding season is a good one for them. 

In the meantime stay tuned to Another Bird Blog for both bad and good news about birds or take a look at Stewart's Photo Gallery from Australia where there could well be a Barn Owl or two.