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Kakapo

Journal of New Zealand Birds

The Editor

May 5, 2008, Vol.10

gaia mhtr jewn - sofoklhs
 

Events


National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count
British Bird Watching Fair
American Birding Association’s Events
British Ornithologists’s Union  Conferences
Birdlife International
FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE BIOLOGY AND CONSERVATION OF ALBATROSSES AND PETRELS
It is intended to hold the Fourth Albatross and Petrel Conference in Cape Town, South Africa over a five-day period during August 2008.

A more detailed announcement with dates, venue, and information on registration will become available later in the year on the Seabird Listserver (seabirds@lists.uct.ac.za).

Interest in receiving this and further announcements should be e-mailed to:
John Cooper, Local Organizing Committee, Fourth Albatross and Petrel Conference,
jcooper@adu.uct.ac.za

Australian Birdfair 13-16 November 2008 (more)
5th Asian Raptor Symposium, 03-06 April 2008, Tam Dao National Park, Vinh Phuc province, Vietnam.(more)
Indian Ocean Seabird Conference, 19-22 April 2008 Christmas Island, Indian Ocean.email:tern@git.com.au
International Ornithological Congress, Brazil, 2010. (more)
Since 1976, the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum has organized Birds in Art annually. (more)

Opinion, Columns & Articles



The seven myths of energy independence.(more)
Did your shopping list kill a songbird? (more)
The Tree Corporation Of Australia.(more)
Why do people steal birds' eggs? (more)
Suzuki sets real bottom line at Commonwealth Lecture.(more)
Rare birds yearbook.(more)
“Green Economics”: turning mainstream thinking on its head.(more)
Gondwana Link. (more)
“Life: a gene-centric view”.(more)
Life: what a concept!(more)
Conservation marketers choose land over beast.(more)
The Biggest Twitch. (more)
How to impress a female bowerbird.(more)
It’s time to put greens in their place.(more)
A Delightful Children’s Story - Shoba and the Sarus Crane.(more)
The great global warming swindle. Scientists will continue to monitor the global climate and the factors which influence it. Those who promote fringe scientific views but ignore the weight of evidence are playing a dangerous game. They run the risk of diverting attention from what we can do to ensure the world’s population has the best possible future.[(more)
Most terrifying video you’ll ever see?(more)
Songs and sojourns of the season.(more)
Chill Out.(more)
‘Feel Good’ vs. ‘Do Good’ on Climate.(more)
BirdLife International maintains its own taxonomic checklist of the world’s bird species.(more)
Global warming: how do scientists know they’re not wrong?(more)
Bill Moyers talks about the future of our planet with noted entomologist and father of sociobiology, E.O. Wilson.(video)
The 0.0174069% of Earth we call home is glorious. The trick is keeping it that way.(more)
Birds of a feather.(more)
An earth without people.(more)
E.O. Wilson: Help build the Encyclopedia of Life.(more)
Climate change: A guide for the perplexed.(more)
The Encyclopedia of Life. (more)
Birds of the World: Recommended English Names.(more)
In praise of... garden birdwatching.(more)
Why has mankind always loved to draw animals? David Attenborough explains the fascination.(more)
The GeesePeace programs emphasize effective long-term solutions to wildlife conflicts, while building communities by promoting cooperative and humane solutions to wildlife conflicts. (more)
“Is God Green?” (more)
Edward O Wilson, the distinguished evolutionary biologist has just made headlines across America following the publication of his book, The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth. In it, he asks America’s religious right to join forces with science to save the planet. ‘Pastor, we need your help,’ he writes. ‘The Creation — living Nature — is in deep trouble.’ The message is simple: let us bury our differences to save the world.(more)
End of the Wild: The extinction crisis is over. We lost.(more)
The Mystery of the Bradshaw Paintings; According to legend, they were made by birds. It was said that these birds pecked the rocks until their beaks bled, and then created these fine paintings by using a tail feather and their own blood.(more)
“Let’s be clear: This is not evolution versus God,” writes David Quammen in “The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution.” “The existence of God — any sort of god, personal or abstract, immanent or distant — is not what Darwin’s evolutionary theory challenges. What it challenges is the supposed godliness of Man — the conviction that we above all other life forms are spiritually elevated, divinely favored, possessed of an immaterial and immortal essence, such that we have special prospects for eternity, special status in the expectations of God, special rights and responsibilities on Earth.” Quammen does not flinch from “the horrible challenge” implied by Darwin’s idea: “In plain language, a soul or no soul? An afterlife or not? Are humans spiritually immortal in a way that chickens or cows are not, or just another form of temporarily animated meat?”
Peacock’s tail fans our flames. Can Darwinism explain the birth and extinction of art movements, or the enduring appeal of Jane Austen?(more)
James Lovelock: The Earth is about to catch a morbid fever that may last as long as 100,000 years.(more)
Deep Ecology. (more)
Life on Earth may have driven the evolution of the planet itself.(more)
My name is Lynn and I’m a birdwatcher ... It was the hobby that dared not speak its name.(more)
Life the remake.(more)
Evolution is a law that is as well substantiated as any other natural law, whether the law of gravity, the laws of motion or Avogadro’s law. Evolution is a fact, disputed only by those who choose to ignore the evidence, put their common sense on hold and believe instead that unchanging knowledge and wisdom can be reached only by revelation.(more)
Leading botanist Peter Raven calculates that species crucial to the survival of the human race are in steep decline.(more)
An atlas of environmental change compiled by the United Nations reveals some of the dramatic transformations that are occurring to our planet.(more)
The life cycle of a cell is amazing. The cell builds a copy of itself. Such a capacity is basic in biology but completely absent from physics. Stuart Kauffman explains... more).
That damn bird! Parrots, as we all know, can “parrot” human speech, but cannot grasp syntax and meaning. Well, anyway, that’s what we thought we knew. (more).
In our indifference to the pain of animals, says J.M. Coetzee, we are like the “Germans who went about their ordinary lives in the shadow of Treblinka”. (more)
World Birds
OSNZ Arctic wader colour–banding project
Australasian Waders Study Group
Shorebird Education Australia
Credo
A Year on the Wing of the Magnificent Migratory Eastern Curlew
Tree of Life
Ibis the international journal of avian science, published on behalf of the British Ornithologists’ Union.

Obituaries



Alex the African Grey.
Science’s best known parrot died on September 6th,
aged 31.



Vincent Serventy,
1916-2007
His last campaign was for a bill of rights for the environment, with 10 Green Commandments.



Geoffrey Buckland Orbell, MBE, 1908-2007



Rod Donald:
1957 - 2005



Kevin Smith:
1954 - 2005



John Harold Ostrom:
1928-2005



Ernest Mayr:
July 5, 1904 - February 3, 2005






We are one of many appearances of the thing called Life; we are not its prefect image, for it has no image except Life, and Life is multitudinous and emergent in the stream of Life.

— Loren Eiseley






















































































































































































































































































































Monthly Quiz: —  May
Question — Tawaki's more common name?

There will be 4 New Zealand Bird bird song CDs given every month for a correct answer.

Email name and postal address to:
narena @nzbirds.com
Quiz results: —  April

Question —Name the largest of the terns to be found in NZ?

Answer:Caspian tern.

Winners:
Trevor Bunyan, Auckland.
Jenny Connor, Wellington.
Brett Curry, Christchurch.
Gavin Pollock, Christchurch.




Birding Top 500 Counter

NZ, Australian & Pacific News


Three fine feathered friends fly in.(more)
Birds coming to a sticky end. (more)
Pukaha ferrets captured. (more)
Scientists find new evidence of pelicans' long distance breeding.(more)
Critic accuses shooters of leaving birds to die.(more)
The Australian government has outlined plans to secure water supplies and repair ailing rivers.(more)
Whitehead come home to Motuora. (more)
Chatham petrel chicks returned to Chatham Island.(more)
Rogue predator kills four kiwi in Pukaha forest. (more)
Farmers draining wetlands.(more)
UN gives New Zealand PM green award.(more)
World Migratory Bird Day 10-11 May, 2008.(more)
Migratory and resident bird populations collapse.(more)
High-tech sensors aid fight to save kiwi.(more)
Kiwi chick welcomed home to Rimutaka. (more)
Kakapo chicks relocate to maximise survival. (more)
Shorebird numbers crash: survey alarm. (more)
Loud Aussie migrant goes quiet. (more)
Poison fears as kaka found dead. (more)
Possum on menu for cheap living.(more)
Kakapo chick feeding video. (more)
Five an 'awesome' boost to kakapo pop.(more)
Thirty threatened Kakaruai birds have been successfully transferred to New Zealand's newest sanctuary.(more)
A gigantic Antarctic ice shelf is collapsing and global warming is being blamed.(more)
Stream springs to life after centuries of being neglected.(more)
Bounty Islands: Birdsong. (more)
The number is up for stoats on Resolution Island. (more)
Aerial rat-poison bombing of Lord Howe Island could endanger humans and kill a rare woodhen.(more)
Krill fishing threatens the Antarctic.(more)
Arrival of 7 females a bonus for Kahurangi National Park whio project. (more)
“ARE cows killing the planet?” (more)
Beck’s Petrel flies back from extinction! (more)
Two satellite-tagged godwits have taken advantage of the great winds over the past day and set off on migration. (more)
Moko the friendly dolphin saves whales.(more)
Taranaki dairy effluent record of compliance falls. (more)
Spring heeled rat astonishes scientists. (more)
 
Kakapo encounter 2008.(more)
 

Godwits leave New Zealand for Alaska. (more)
Australians worst nation on Earth at preserving wildlife.(more)
Arthur’s Pass kiwi survive! (more)
Beck’s petrel, a bird not seen for almost 80 years, has been discovered in the Pacific to the delight of conservationists. (more)
Stoats decimating takahe in Fiordland.(more)
Falconry considered for pest birds.(more)
Roadkill has been identified as a contributor to the declining populations of blue penguins in some parts of New Zealand. (more)
Makeover to pull the birds.(more)
Morepork thriving in areas where rodents poisoned.(more)
Wetlands in a flap after the rains.(more)
How green is Australia prepared to get? (more)
Fijian island beats the rat-race...(more)
Second wave of shore plover to Mana Island(more)
Last move of Hutton’s shearwater/titi chicks to Kaikoura Peninsula.(more)
Open season on Coast pukeko. (more)
New measures to protect seabirds. (more)
Pair get six weeks in jail for killing native birds. (more)
Recuperated Pukaha kiwi returns to the forest.(more)
The oldest known bird fossils from New Zealand were recently unearthed along a remote stretch of beach on the Chatham Islands.(more)
The flight mechanic for eagle force.(more)
 
Birders wanted
— New Zealand River Recreation Use Survey —
(more)
 

Penguin guard dogs win island reprieve. (more)
Operation Nest Egg... number 1000. (more)
Careless drivers killing kiwi. (more)
The tiny Pacific islands nation of Kiribati declared the world’s largest marine protected area. (more)
Catching godwits in NZ.(more)
Help stop intensive housing at Waipu River mouth. (more)
NZ wetlands receive international recognition.(more)
NSW bird breeding habitat destroyed. (more)
A trapping programme protecting the endangered takahe in Fiordland’s Murchison Mountains is about to be extended.(more)
Rodent invades ‘pest-free’ kiwi creche island. (more)
Restoring Australian biodiversity.(more)
Green image hot air, report finds. (more)
Kea found stapled to road sign.(more) and (more)
Shore plover breeding on Mana Island. (more)
Egg find brings hope for rescue of the kakariki.(more)
Whio chicks on display at Pukaha Mt Bruce for 30 days. (more)
Georgie, the takahe female which has delighted visitors to the Pukaha Mount Bruce Wildlife centre for the past two decades, has died. (more)
Protected rare gulls believed shot. (more)
Albino weka could become ‘ugly ducking’.(more)
Wake up to the tui resurgence.(more)
Beige lovers adopt shunned penguin. (more)
Urewera moa ‘probably emu‘.(more)
Some residents of Karori are sick of being woken by tui chirping.(more)
An Australian is adamant the moa is alive and well in remote North Island bush.(more)
Australia’s biggest wind farm in north-west Tasmania has become a “black hole” for endangered wedge-tailed eagles. (more)
Antarctica’s Adelie penguins extinct in a decade?(more)
Radical ‘prepared to die’ for whales.(more)
Researchers are asking residents to report any sitings of the Kookaburra.(more)
New trust aims to boost birdlife. (more)
Birds encouraged to school grounds.(more)
Kringle’s festive feathers. (more)
BIRD PROFILE - alaskan tattler.(more)
Gullible pair fly their colours.(more)
Loutish kaka rule the roost. (more)
Parrot suffers death by chocolate.(more)
Waitakere hihi prepare for flight.(more)
Seabird transfer a first for Auckland. (more)
Humpbacks whales win reprieve.(more)

Online petition - Stop Japan’s whaling programme


Robins make a comeback at Cape Kidnappers.(more)
Celebrating the arrival of the first whio chicks to have hatched in Kahurangi National Park’s Flora Stream for over a decade. (more)
Kiwi smarter than the average bird. (more)
Fauna near Sydney in trouble. (more)
DOC hopes to expand kakapo gene pool this breeding season.(more)
The once presumed extinct New Zealand storm petrel has again been recently captured in the Hauraki Gulf but its breeding site remains a mystery.(more)
Elton John has received a specially made bird-feather cloak for his many visits to Maori communities. (more)
‘Extinct’ seabirds captured.(more)
One of New Zealand’s rarest birds is now producing chicks in west Auckland.(more)
About 2,500 penguins en route to their Antarctic mating grounds could be sickened by a diesel fuel spill from a cruise boat that struck an iceberg and sank.(more)
Seabird transfer a first for Auckland.(more)
Birdies unwelcome at golf club. (more)
Rare native birds fall victim to cats.(more)
Blogger waddles with penguins.(more)
Group vows to block Japan whaling fleet. (more)
Future Australian govt may use military to track Japanese whalers. (more)
A second fatal dog attack on a Stewart Island brown kiwi/tokoeka in just four months has angered residents. (more)
The Department of Conservation is asking the public to help threatened Caspian terns at Wairarapa’s Onoke Spit. (more)
UN chief highlights global warming in visit to Antarctica.(more)
Palmy hails the return of Inky.(more)
Falcons find an unlikely friend in the mohua. (more)
Kakapo to be artificially inseminated.(more)
Save the krill. (more)
Sea Shepherd: Prosecute Japan over whaling and we will withdraw. (more)
Bird eggs smuggler arrested at Sydney Airport.(more)
Inky the peripatetic pukeko has taken off on another perambulation.(more)
A fifth-generation Banks Peninsula farming family have broadened the scope of their farming operation to include the protection of native birds. (more)
Ecologists fear huge rise in krill catch.(more)
The last 10 breeding Campbell Island teal left Pukaha Mount Bruce this morning to be released onto Whenua Hou /Codfish Island in Southland. (more)
Flourishing native gardens and keeping cats in cages can help save Australia’s birds from extreme heat and drought this summer. (more)
Farming family looking out for the birds. (more)
Endangered dotterels thriving on busway site. (more)
Who, or what, is poisoning NSW’s bogong moths? (more)
Fijian seabird isles to be “de-ratted”.(more)
Threatened blue ducks breeding on Tongariro River. (more)
A bird described as small and drab has beaten flashier favourites, the fantail and the tui, to be named New Zealand’s bird of the year. (more)
Ecoshow. (more)
Noisy Aussie birds invade NZ.(more)
New Zealand albatross making massive flights. (more)
Endangered parrots relocated to Tasmania. (more)
Conservation scientist and Australian of the Year, Tim Flannery, has warned that huge industrial and economic changes need to be implemented quickly to slow the growth of greenhouse gases.(more)
Australia approves 17.8-billion-dollar Gorgon gas project on Barrow Island, a nature reserve about 70 kilometres off Western Australia.(more)
Dogs force birds from habitat.(more)
Rogues gallery of bad birds. (more)
Love lies bleeding after encounter with an angry peewee. (more)
Plunder or protection: WWF calls for safeguarding Coral Sea.(more)
Exotic parrots return to Cook Islands. (more)
Garden Bird Survey: progress results. (more)
Let’s Go NZ: Holidays in the Bay are for the birds.(more)

Restore Saemangeum


Urgent call to action follows New Zealand albatross deaths. (more)
There are bleak predictions today about the impact of climate change on the future of Australia’s tropical birds. (more)
Climate change for DOC - questions and answers.(more)
Matakana Island dotterel project.(more)
BirdsaPlenty Festival 4 - 13 October 2007. (more)
Rare kiwi thriving on Tiritiri Matangi. (more)
War against magpies.(more)
Dozens of birds die on longline. (more)
Wildlife faces extinction despite territory‘s vastness.(more)
Anti 1080 protesters threaten New Zealand‘s national icon. (more)
Rat stopped from getting to Tiritiri Matangi. (more)
E7 has landed! (more)(more)
Application for tours to Stephens Island/Takapourewa declined.(more)
The acquisition of 36 ha adjoining Opouahi Scenic Reserve in Hawke’s Bay will boost volunteer efforts to protect kiwi and carry out other conservation work. (more)
Progress results, Garden Bird Survey. (more)
Bird killing spurs law-books search. (more)
Some of New Zealand’s best loved species of birds have vanished from parts of the country - wiped out it appears by changing land use. (more)
Outward bound: North Island robins the first birds to be transferred out of Karori Sanctuary.(more)
Fiordland Lobster Company has sponsored the reintroduction of two native bird species not seen on Pigeon Island in Fiordland in 100 years. (more)
Councillor backs bird bombings.(more)
Herbicide banned to protect compost.(more)
Australia holds the last great savanna in the world.(more)
Australian-owned Gloria Jean’s Coffees, announced this week that it will significantly increase the amount of coffee it purchases from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms. (more)
Rediscoverer of the takahe dies at 98.(more)
Wee pill boosts kakapo numbers. (more)
Massive explosion leaves thousands of birds dead. (more)
Little penguin steals the show.(more)
Franklin residents are being asked to keep an eye out for one of New Zealand’s rare birds - the kaka. (more)
DoC wants aerial drop on Bay of Islands.(more)
The Murray River is choking to death in the worst drought for a thousand years. (more)
Dairy industry’s water use criticised.(more)
A Great Barrier Reef on land breeds hope for threatened eco-systems. (more)
Gary Taylor: First test of National Party’s green stance.(more)
Amputee heron on the mend in Willowbank.(more)
Mystery kiwi stumps rangers.(more)
Major climate change initiative on conservation land. (more)
Conservation Department plans to shoot two protected birds. (more)
Big culls ‘unlikely’ if bird flu comes to NZ. (more)
Twitchers cry foul in case of the deceased parrot.(more)
Mysterious bird in a league of its own.(more)
Garden bird survey.(more)
Macquarie Island funding deal. (more)
Landowners barred from farming on cleared wetlands. (more)
Australia - the continent that ran dry. (more)
Restored land brings back the birds. (more)
Birds trill to sanctuary news.(more)
Global warming threatens NZ ‘dinosaurs’. (more)
Waitangi kiwi safe after logging.(more)
Sightings may help solve southern right whales mystery. (more)
Large colony of endangered birds found on Lana’i.(more)
Fonterra payout dismays environmentalists. (more)





Il faut cultiver notre jardin - Voltaire






















































Overseas News


Rare red ibis breed in wild in China.(more)
Scottish birds of prey deliberately poisoned. (more)
Interference and Loathing in Washington, D.C. Over 800 EPA scientists report political interference in their work.(more)
New species discovered in Brazil.(more)
Asian vultures disappearing faster than dodo.(more)
Survival fight for eagle and hen harrier.(more)
A custom-crafted wetsuit may have helped Pierre the African penguin recover from a bout of a baldness.(more)
Nesting bird finds safest haven. (more)
Endangered birds come first: Scottish ministers say no to huge wind farm on Lewis peatland.(more)
National parks in North Yorkshire have one of the worst records for birds of prey being killed illegally.(more)
World Migratory Bird Day 10-11 May, 2008.(more)
Conservationists in Cambodia think they may be turning the corner in their fight to save one of the world's rarest birds.(more)
A Tribute to Aldo Leopold. (more)
Plant a billion trees: Earth Day, April 22. (more)
Even as South Korea prepares to host the next Ramsar "Wise Use of Wetlands" Convention conference (in October-November 2008), Korean bird news tragically remains dominated by the impacts of the Saemangeum reclamation on shorebirds.(more)
World must reform agriculture now or face dire crisis: report. (more)
Hunters held as birds flock in.(more)
Fowl play by Malta.(more)
Cold snap spells tragedy for Europe-bound swallows.(more)
Giant beak puts woodpecker top of the bill.(more)
Hunger. Strikes. Riots. The food crisis bites. (more)
Survival of the dumbest. (more)
Surprise return for Lakes ospreys. (more)
Comorant massacre on Lake Constance.(more)
Robot hawk scares birds from airport.(more)
The future of agriculture.(more)
Corps of Engineers building sandbars for migratory birds. (more)
April 22, 2008, Earth Day.
A radio station that only broadcasts birdsong from an English country garden every day from 6am to midnight has become a hit with half a million listeners. (more)
The extremely rare yellow-billed loon a step closer to much-needed protection from threats such as oil development in Alaska and the loss of its tundra habitat in the face of global warming. (more)
Agriculture must revert to more natural, local production — UN–backed report.(more)
A foul-mouthed parrot, who once told a vicar to f**k off, has been teaching other birds how to swear.(more)
Gore's green army.(more)
Zoology students and staff from Dundee University are to help in a project which has seen a rare bird reintroduced into the rainforest of Trinidad. (more)
Jailed: The professional egg thief who kept 'Aladdin's cave' of 7,000 samples from wild birds.(more)
Rare water birds recovering in Cambodia.(more)
More than 15,000 birds died on Great Salt Lake last fall. Most of the birds were eared grebes.(more)
Bermuda Petrel returns to Nonsuch Island (Bermuda) after 400 years.(more)
Fighting to save the albatross from extinction, BirdLife International and the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK) are doubling the number of countries — from three to six — in which they work. (more)
The number of finches seen in the UK's gardens this winter is at the highest level for five years, but overall garden bird numbers are down.(more)
The chaffinch is the most popular bird in Cornish gardens, according to the latest RSPB survey. (more)
Why are magpies so often hated?(more)
Land deal could open Alaska wildlife refuge to oil. (more)
Sharp decline in sightings of garden birds. (more)
Starling tops garden birds poll. (more)
Brown hares boxing may become a rarity in Britain.(more)
Europe’s rarest finch finds favour. (more)
Wildlife police raid Scottish grouse moor.(more)
Birdsong hits flat note. (more)
Massive threat to Korea’s wetlands and waterbirds: The Grand Canal proposal. (more)
Birds who are a ferry’s most punctual passengers. (more)
Wandering Albatrosses follow their nose. (more)
RSPCA has uncovered a trap in Darlington it thinks was used to catch birds for sale on the black market. (more)
Feisty US kiwi born. (more)
Philippines:‘lure tourists with birds’.(more)
Golden eagle returns to the skies.(more)
Encyclopedia of Life goes live. (more)
Warming climate may cause arctic tundra to burn.(more)
Birds find nesting place in Valenzuela City. (more)
‘Fireflies’ helping to protect birds from power lines. (more)
China launches crackdown on Web sites that openly trade in animal products made from threatened species. (more)
BirdLife Cyprus cries foul over weak penalty for falcon slaughterers.(more)
Paraguay’s first Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network site.(more)
Retain spring hunting... or else, FKNK warns. (more)
Japan and US working together to give endangered seabirds a new home.(more)
Climate science maverick James Lovelock believes catastrophe is inevitable. (more)
Young sea eagles are ‘doing well’. (more)
Black birds descend on Texas. (more)
Red Knot birds may be endangered species.(more)
Conservationists mobilise to halt mass slaughter of birds in Malta. (more)
Hollywood’s eco trip. (more)
‘Paradise’ helps white swans survive the winter. (more)
Invasive rats on ocean islands are threatening the survival of many of the world’s seabirds. (more)
A flourishing wetland on Kenya’s northern coast is under serious threat from plans to grow vast amounts of sugarcane, partly for biofuel production. (more)
More people are putting their money into ethical funds. But many might be shocked to learn how it’s being invested. (more)
Starlings blacken motorway skies.(more)
Eagles die in suspected poisoning. (more)
U.N. says world fisheries face collapse.(more)
British billionaire adventurer and Virgin Group Founder/CEO Richard Branson proposed the creation of an international “environmental war room”.(more)
The Bush administration is proposing to take yet another wildlife species–the brown pelican–off the federal endangered list. (more)
A federal appeals court today ordered the Federal Communications Commission to establish safeguards to protect the millions of birds killed each year in collisions with telephone, radio, cellular and other communications towers in the Gulf Coast region. (more)
Malta: BirdLife volunteers’ cars torched. (more)
Beekeepers seek £8m to fight hive plagues. (more)
Investment fund giants demand 90% reduction in carbon emissions. (more)
A Suffolk farm has recorded 12 breeding pairs of rare yellowhammer birds this year after setting down grass margins for wildlife habitat. (more)
100,000 migratory birds disappear in China storms. (more)
A voluntary warden of migratory birds in Uttar Pradesh. (more)
New website creates online condor community.(more)
Migrant birds suffering on snow-bound wetlands. (more)
‘New type of bird’ found in Nepal.(more)
Hungry bird swallows whole pike. (more)
Painted birds confuse twitchers. (more)
Three gamekeepers admit trying to trap birds of prey. (more)

...‘game over’ for Malta’s most notorious national pastime: shooting migratory birds during the breeding season.(more)
Botulism is killing Great Lakes birds.(more)
Farms are eating up the world’s wildernesses. (more)
Iraq bird book for children launched. (more)
World’s biggest birdfair provides record funding for preventing extinctions.(more)
Rats from sinking ship feared to threaten seabird colony. (more)
Report reveals ‘alarming’ rate of mangrove habitat loss. (more)
UK’s bird watching event begins.(more)
Why Great Lakes birds are dying.(more)
Largest cache of poisoned bait discovery fuels birds of prey concerns. (more)
Wanted: homes for 65,000 birds displaced by Severn barrage. (more)
Warm British winters tempt home birds to shun the Med. (more)
Anger in Philippines as hunters posted pictures of killed threatened birds on their websites. (more)
Shouting Macaw scares off pet store burglar. (more)
Bald Ibis jigsaw falling into place.(more)
The Critically Endangered Laysan Duck had a very successful 2007 breeding season according to U.S. Geological Survey. (more)
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed six imperiled birds from around the world as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.(more)
Bird condo boom for Thailand’s “birds nest soup” birds. (more)
Purple swamphen found in Hainan - in a restaurant... (more)
Bald eagles die after eating fish waste.(more)
Local increase in vultures thanks to diclofenac campaign in Nepal.(more)
Satellite images reveal deforestation threatening endemic bird species. (more)
Qatar to be a paradise for birds.(more)
Historic penguin sketches found in university basement. (more)
Ministers failing to act on wildlife crime. (more)
50 people who could save the planet.(more)
Eagle to patrol Italian airport. (more)
The Asian Development Bank says it will help China protect Yancheng, one of Asia’s largest coastal wetlands which is an important winter site for threatened red-crowned cranes.(more)
Fuels made from U.S. corn, Brazilian soy and Malaysian palm oil may be worse overall than fossil fuels. (more)
Banned toxin killed birds on S. Shore. (more)
Hugo man pays $30,000 for poisoning birds with insecticide.(more)
Whooping Crane record broken in Texas. (more)
Cranes fly over the wetland of the Yellow River Delta in east China’s Shandong Province. (more)
A barn owl has been entrusted with a very special task at a wedding - flying in the rings for the bride and groom. (more)
Wood pigeons are flocking from the countryside to towns and cities because of changes in farming.(more)
All about owls.(more)
Pacific salmon invading Atlantic, threatening penguins.(more)
Birds of prey stand guard at Real Madrid stadium.(more)
“Guest birds” threat to cyclone survivors.(more)
A return trip to the Foja Mountains of western New Guinea, Indonesia has yielded two new species of mammal as well as more photos of some of the region’s stunning bird species.(more)
European Court condemns Ireland on insufficient bird protection.(more)
Autumn 2007: the worst for illegal bird trapping in Cyprus in four years. (more)
Two men charged with Cyprus falcon massacre. (more)
Study reveals severe decline of Europe’s common birds. (more)
Gulls flock to south China.(more)
Birdwatchers’ world record bid. The Biggest twitch.(more) (more)
The island of Oronsay and the southern part of neighbouring Colonsay are to be designated special protection areas for hen harrier, chough and corncrake. (more)
Six species of seabirds native to New Zealand, Fiji, Ecuador, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands would be protected by the Endangered Species Act under a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal.(more)
Not even birds can avoid Israeli politics.(more)
Annual count finds nearly 8,000 birds in Central Park.(more)
Illegal trappers on Cyprus killed more than half a million protected birds this fall for sale at local restaurants.(more)
Oil spill in Korea.(more)
Obsession with caged birds kills off wild white starling.(more)
A deal is finally struck in Bali.(more)
Bali Climate Change Conference revives hope for tropical forests.(more)
Rainforest park sets the bar for Bali talks.(more)
Law enforcement fails Bolivia’s parrots.(more)
Shell plans to take on greener tinge by growing algae. (more)
Bleak future for Antarctic penguins.(more)
A pair of peregrine falcons who have set up home on top of one of Wales’ most famous church towers. (more)
Singing bird’s grave reinstated. (more)
Oil Threatens South Korean Seafood, Birds, Tourism.(more)
Bali Climate Change Conference revives hope for tropical forests.(more)
A rare sea eagle is feared to have been killed on a shooting estate in Scotland. (more)
Rarely-heard recordings of birdsong from the biodiversity hotspot of Madagascar have been compiled and released by the British Library. (more)
South Korea’s worst oil spill is threatening beaches and wildlife on the country’s west coast. (more)
Rats are eating the birds in Alaska. (more)
Google investing hundreds of millions in green energy. (more)
Take over our rainforest. Guyana’s extraordinary offer to Britain to save one of the world’s most important carbon sinks. (more)
Outrage as birds slain by ‘glass wall of death’. (more)
Potato chips get eco-friendly.(more)
More than 25% of U.S. birds need help. (more)
Canada draws applause for protecting “Amazon of the North”.(more)
The Birds in My Life Soars to #1 Bestseller at AMAZON.com. (more)
South Korea land grab hurting shore birds. (more)
The Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan, once renowned for supporting 40,000 birds from 370 species, has only 30 species left this year.(more)
Leaked oil kills more than 30,000 birds in Russia.(more)
Queen Charlotte goshawk warrants protection as an endangered species in Canada, but not in Alaska. (more)
Government of Cambodia declares Sarus Crane Reserve. (more)
Runway success for La Mercy swallows. (more)
There are less than fifty Chinese Crested Terns in China.(more)
A study involving whooper swans wintering on a Dumfriesshire reserve could have a major impact on new wind farm developments across Scotland. (more)
The black oil spreading for miles from the Golden Gate is staining one of the richest wildlife regions on the Pacific Coast and threatening hundreds of thousands of birds. (more)
Two hen harriers dead, one prince questioned, no charges. (more)
President Bush uses Cornell’s recommendations in national strategy to conserve birds.(more)
The UN’s quiet new boss is hoping that his eco-tour of the southern hemisphere will concentrate minds on the planet’s travails.(more)
Video: Japan’s Dolphin Hunt Protested. (more)
Vulture-killing drug now on sale in Africa. (more)
Rare bird registration ‘crucial’. (more)
More and more foxes are seeking their fortunes in German towns, where food is ample and people sometimes mistake them for overgrown dachshunds. (more)
Foreign birds threaten Taiwan’s native species.(more)
Detectives who questioned Prince Harry during an investigation into the illegal killing of two rare birds of prey over the Queen’s estate at Sandringham are to send a report to the Crown Prosecution Service. (more)
Biggest ever survey of British birds starts. (more)
Heroes of the environment - Time. (more)
Brazilians are angry that foreigners are making online purchases of chunks of Amazon rainforest in an effort to stop deforestation.(more)
Biofuel plantations, logging and hunting are stealing habitats from our closest relatives.(more)
The Eco Fashion revolution. (more)
In the largest “debt-for-nature” swap in history, the U.S. government forgave $26 million owed it by Costa Rica on the stipulation that the funds be spent on the preservation of tropical rainforest.(more)
Outrage as poaching discovered on Greece’s Lesvos island.(more)
President Bush moves to conserve birds. (more)
Give birds a chance - let your garden grow a little wild and insect-friendly.(more)
Rare birds shot at Queen’s Sandringham estate. (more) (more)
















Research


Birds can detect predators using smell.(more)
Young birds babble like babies. (more)
Ancient ecosystems organized much like our own. (more)
Birds can tell if you are watching them -- because they are watching you.(more)
Do birds see with quantum eyes? (more)
How birds navigate: research team is first to model photochemical compass. (more)
Birds on the verge of extinction.(more)
Climate Change study predicts hazy future for Europe's birds.(more)
Climate change has birds out on a limb. (more)
A molecular analysis of a 68-million-year-old sample of collagen protein from a Tyrannosaurus Rex confirms dinosaurs' evolutionary link to modern birds. (more)
Mercury in river moves into terrestrial food chain through spiders fed to baby birds.(more)
Birds smart enough to stand guard.(more)
Hitchcock was right: Birds cooperate in task-solving.(more)
Migratory birds make mistakes in terms of direction, but not distance.(more)
Cause of bird beak deformity stumps scientists. (more)
New research finds fresh evidence that urbanization in the United States threatens the populations of some species of migratory birds.(more)
Rooks team up to solve problems. (more)
Over 100 chemical contaminants reported in birds in Maine. (more)
Noise pollution could be driving birds out of our towns and cities.(more)
Birds team up to solve food puzzle. (more)
Spring keeps coming earlier for birds, bees, trees. (more)
Birds’ singing linked to length of day. (more)(and more)
Ornithologists announce discovery of new bird species. (more)
Early bird doesn’t always get worm.(more)
Song-learning birds shed light on our ability to speak.(more)
Common insect-eating birds suffer dramatic declines...(more)
Butterfly ‘stare’ doesn’t intimidate birds. (more)
Tree of animal life has branches rearranged, by evolutionary biologists. (more)
Polluted prey affects wild birds.(more)
Famed geneticist creating life form that turns CO2 to fuel. (more)
Hi-tech bird tracker breakthrough. (more)
Fossil find supports four-winged birds theory. (more)
Huge study gives wake-up call on state of world’s oceans. (more)
Modern birds originated a hundred million years ago — long before the demise of dinosaurs.(more)
King penguins near the Antarctic may be on a perilous path to extinction as a result of global warming, new research suggests.(more)
Global meltdown: scientists isolate areas most at risk of climate change. (more)
Do starlings follow the leader? (more)
Hummingbird ‘uses tail to chirp’.(more)
Study suggests birds can truly navigate.(more)
A new geologic age–started by us.(more)
Algae hold the key to the biofuel conundrum.(more)
A new study shows that the breeding ranges of North American birds have shifted northward coinciding with a period of increasing global temperatures.(more)
Siberian jays can communicate about behavior of birds of prey.(more)
Scientists find first “grandparenting” birds. (more)
Earth: A Borderline Planet for Life? (more)
Scientists take note of how birds learn to sing.(more)
Barcoding an entire ecosystem. (more)
Duetting birds found to be unfaithful.(more)
More evidence for new species hidden in plain sight. (more)
Emperor penguins may have a supercharged form of a blood protein that allows them to dive underwater for more than 20 minutes on a single breath.(more)
Conservationists have begun to broach a taboo.(more)
Researchers at Aberdeen University will spend two years listening to birds to find out how their songs, calls and cries become a part of people’s lives.(more)
New Antarctic image map to “revolutionize” research. (more)
Study says wild birds unlikely to bring H5N1 to Americas.(more)
Birds may not have clawed their way up the evolutionary tree.(more)
Most birds are sole proprietors of their nests, but some tropical species “time share” — a discovery that helps clear up a 150–year–old evolutionary mystery.(more)
Incidents of a seabird preying on colonies of another species at night may be unique to a remote islands archipelago.(more)
Scientists have shown that migrating adult sparrows can find their way to their winter nesting grounds even after being thrown off course by thousands of miles, adjusting their flight plan to compensate for the displacement. (more)
A new study says that velociraptors and some other theropods–two–legged meat–eating dinosaurs closely related to birds–breathed like today’s geese and penguins.(more)
Study: Ancient birds were turkey-like. (more)
Scientists have shown that birds with higher stress levels adopt bolder behaviour than their normally more relaxed peers in stressful situations. (more)
Migrating birds bulk up in the Big Apple.(more)
Researchers track Boobies for climate change data.(more)
Do birds, bees dance to same tune? How science goofed. (more)
Climate change -what’s the worst that could happen?(more)
A group of birds has evolved a unique way of finding food — by following hordes of army ants and letting them do all the work.(more)
Penguins take fishing trips with their buddies.(more)
Hi-tech ‘scarecrow’ not just for the birds.(more)
One species–Homo sapiens–consumes nearly a quarter of Earth’s natural productivity.(more)
The incredible journey of sooty shearwater from New Zealand to the north Pacific for an endless summer.(more)
Ultralight video cameras fastened to the tail feathers of crows have shown the birds to be versatile tool-users in the wild.(more)
Giant ocean-based pipes could curb global warming: scientists. (more)
Frog deformities blamed on farm and ranch runoff.(more)
Sunny Outlook: Can Sunshine Provide All U.S. Electricity? (more)
Birds that hang out in large urban areas seem to have a marked advantage over their rural cousins.(more)
Do migratory birds ‘see’ the magnetic field? (more)
Scientists sifting genetic material from thriving and ailing bee colonies say a virus appears to be a prime suspect in the mass die-offs of honeybees reported last fall and winter. (more)
Scottish raptors with transmitters.(more)
Scientists aim to barcode world’s species.(more)
Eggheads: how bird brains are shaking up science.(more)
Recent research has revealed that by feeding spiders to their chicks, birds can manipulate the personality and learning ability of their young.(more)
Birds band together to raise offspring in dire times.(more)
Crested Auklet birds rub tick-repelling perfume on their mates during courtship.(more)
British researchers have determined the reason birds learn to fly so easily is because of genetically specified latent memory for flying. (more)
Cleverest crows opt for two tools.(more)
Prof using penguin remains to measure Antarctic ice movement.(more)
Researchers have discovered a way to protect Australia’s fishing industry, as well as endangered sea birds that die as a result of commercial fishing operations.(more)
A recent study in the journal Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems shows that organic farming can yield up to three times as much food as conventional farming in both developed and developing countries. (more)
Secret of bird flight revealed.(more)
Organic farming can yield up to three times as much food as conventional farming on the same amount of land.(more)
Ancient American bird was glider. (more)
Dedicated birds duet to protect territory. (more)
Bird song goes out of fashion too.(more)
Birds learn from their rivals.(more)
Ancient giant penguins liked it hot. (more)
Wilderness almost non-existent on planet Earth: study (more)
Gannet population under threat from global warming. (more)
The scheming minds of crows.(more)
Big song repertoire makes male sparrows sexier.(more)
Huge bird dino unearthed in China.(more)
Animal attitude ‘makes evolutionary sense’.(more)
Duetting birds intimidate rivals with their song.(more)
Flowers evolve in a predictable fashion to match the mouthparts of pollinating birds and insects, rather than engaging in a gradual “arms race” between flower and pollinator.(more)
Banning the trade in endangered wildlife may result in increased trade in the animals and their parts.(more)
Paleontologists have fired a broadside over a fossil that is the cornerstone evidence to back the theory that birds descended from dinosaurs. (more)
In the steamy tropics, even the birds find the pace of life a bit more relaxed.(more)
Mother birds ‘engineer’ their offspring. (more)
Some tropical forest birds can survive alongside humans if given a helping hand.(more)
Bats and birds, the only two vertebrate fliers on Earth, use their wings very differently.(more)
Global warming can be stopped, world climate experts say. (more)
Animal world’s communication kings.(more)
Female ducks fight back against ‘raping’ males. (more)
Birds species and climate change.(more)
Surveys reveal raptor ‘super-roost’.(more)
Clever raven proves that it’s no birdbrain.(more)
Robins in urban areas are singing at night because it is too noisy during the day.(more)
Masters of deceit.(more)
Secret of the swift’s aerial mastery is revealed.(more)
A good home environment boosts birds’ morale.(more)
Birds to become latest indicators of climate change.(more)
Video: First Footage of Rare Hummingbird Courtship. (more)
On a remote Florida island crawling with venomous snakes, a scientist believes he has discovered an unusual truce between predator and prey.(more)
Giant bats snatch birds from night sky.(more)
Why chickadee calls spook other birds. (more)
Scientists use penguins to do research for them.(more)
Hordes of giant mice are devouring endangered seabird chicks on a remote South Atlantic island and may be pushing some of the birds to extinction.(more)
Power company trying to divert birds away from lines.(more)
Global warming is starting to have a significant impact on Australian marine life, driving fish and seabirds south and threatening coral reefs. (more)
Rising carbon dioxide emissions are making the world’s oceans more acidic, particularly closer to the poles, heralding disaster for marine life.(more)
U.S. researchers say warmer currents from the Gulf of Alaska may not be producing enough plankton to support West Coast seabirds. (more)
Chernobyl-based birds avoid radioactive nests. (more)
Better architecture and energy savings in buildings could do more to fight global warming than all curbs on greenhouse gases agreed under the U.N.’s Kyoto Protocol. (more)
GLOBAL SHOREBIRD TRACKING
A new global shorebird tracking project is scheduled to tag and follow Bar-tailed Godwit, Long-billed Curlew, Bristle-thighed Curlew, and Hudsonian Godwit.

With joint funding from the Department of Interior and the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, biologists from PRBO Conservation Science, US Geological Survey’s Alaska Science Center, and a host of other collaborators, initiated a major program aimed at understanding the migratory patterns and behavior of godwits and curlews using the Pacific Basin.

In early February 2007, assisted by the New Zealand Ornithological Society, the Miranda Shorebird Centre, and Massey University, satellite tracking devices (PTTs) were attached to a total of 16 Bar-tailed Godwits at locations on the North and South Islands of New Zealand. For the past month, marked birds have made local movements, while preparing to migrate. On 16 March 2007, the first tagged godwit (a female banded Z8) left New Zealand heading north. Maps showing the daily movements of these marked godwits are available for viewing through: (more)

Antarctic melting may be speeding up. (more)
A hint of bitterness curbs birds’ greed.(more)
Barry Gardiner, Minister for Biodiversity, is reinforcing the UK Government’s commitment to migratory birds, by pledging £176,000 of funding to projects that will protect and conserve them.(more)
Iron minerals in birds’ bills may serve as a magnetometer.(more)
Birds can act like gangsters who threaten shopkeepers who fail to pay “protection money,” a new study says. (more)
History of aviation repeats history of evolution of birds.(more)
Birds’ motivation to migrate studied.(more)
Two rare vultures said to be the first of their species bred in captivity have died after only a few weeks. (more)
Scientists are struggling to explain the rare death of 17 loons in New Hampshire, saying warm weather may have confused the threatened species of bird which typically heads to the ocean for winter. (more)
Antarctic warming to reduce animals at base of ecosystem as penguin shift south.(more)
Birds have emerged as strong challengers to chimpanzees and dolphins for the title of our smartest rivals in the animal world.(more)
Birds found to plan future meals.(more)
Birds know to avoid wind turbines.(more)
Genetic tests of North American birds show what may be 15 new species including ravens and owls -- look alikes that do not interbreed and have wrongly had the same name for centuries.(more)
The world’s oceans are turning acidic due to the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and scientists say the effects on marine life will be catastrophic.(more)
Ponds and swamps are becoming eerily silent. The familiar melody of ribbits, croaks and chirps is disappearing as a mysterious killer fungus wipes out frog populations around the globe, a phenomenon likened to the extinction of dinosaurs.(more)
Bats eat songbirds on the wing at night.(more)
As humans exert ever-greater influence on the Earth, their preferences will play a substantial role in determining which other species survive. (more)
‘Terror birds’ never met humans.(more)
Their motions might seem erratic and graceless, but bats are more efficient fliers than birds.(more)
Four-winged birds may have been first fliers. (more)
A radical step to preserve a species: assisted migration.(more)
A University of Florida-led study has determined that Titanis walleri, a prehistoric 7-foot-tall flightless “terror bird,” arrived in North America from South America long before a land bridge connected the two continents.(more)
Did humans wipe out Australia’s big beasts? (more)
Urban sprawl might not be as harmful to wildlife as previously thought.(more)
It takes a village -- female ducks negotiate joint rearing of ducklings. (more)
Natural changes in the environment, not man-made pollution, may be to blame for the mass deaths of flamingos in Kenya.(more)
Australia’s giant prehistoric animals, including 10-foot-tall kangaroos and wombat-like creatures as big as a rhinoceros, were likely wiped out by aboriginal settlers, not climate change.(more)
Shoulder ligament a linchpin in the evolution of flight. (more)
Flocking together creates birds of a feather.(more)
Why rap has become the music of choice for city high-flyers.(more)
New research suggests that as testosterone in male birds increases, so does the level of carotenoids, the chemicals that create the bright coloring on birds’ feathers, beaks, and legs.(more)
Four-winged birds may have been first fliers. (more)
A new report released today by WWF finds a clear and escalating pattern of climate change impacts on bird species around the world, suggesting a trend towards a major bird extinction from global warming.(more)
An “audio telescope&Rdquo; that can identify different species of bird by their calls could soon help protect planes from crashing.(more)
Less than one degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) is all that stands between the tuatara – New Zealand’s “living fossil” reptile – and extinction.(more)
Memory test puts pigeons high in pecking order. (more)
Seafood may be gone by 2048. (more)
Climate change is sending birds once native to Africa north, to settle in southern Spain.(more)
British Ornithologist’s Union
Register of Avian Thesis Abstracts

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