Golden Eagles still threatened with persecution in Great Britain

Golden Eagles are still heavily persecuted in many parts of Scotland. This keeps the bird from recolonizing areas where it has already been extirpated. According to the RSPB and a recently published report about Golden Eagle conservation in Scotland persecution is still the major threat to the species.

In 2003, there were 440 breeding pairs of Golden Eagles in Great Britain. All of those pairs are in Scotland. In England, where there is suitable habitat, there is currently only one single male.

The biggest problem is in the central and eastern Highlands of Scotland, where many suitable Golden Eagle territories are not occupied by the eagles and where the population is currently declining.

Golden Eagles are often killed because they are seen as competition grouse hunters. Often, poisoned baits are used to kill raptors and mammals like foxes. The Golden Eagle regularly feeds on carrion, especially during winter. Young and immature birds also feed often on carrion. That behavior makes them very vulnerable to poisoning.

In order to keep the current population stable and help it increase in the coming years (including spreading to new territories in currently unoccupied areas in Scotland and also in England and Wales), it’s very important to stop the illegal killing of Golden Eagles.
Stopping that threat would also help other raptors who suffer from illegal shooting and poisoning like Hen Harries, Common Buzzards, Northern Goshawks, Red Kites or White-tailed Eagles.

More information:
RSPB information about Golden Eagle persecution:
http://blogs.rspb.org.uk/investigations/archive/2008/07/14/Golden-Eagle-Report.aspx

A conservation framework for golden eagles:
http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/publications/commissioned_reports/Report%20No193.pdf

Scottish Raptor Study Groups:
http://www.scottishraptorgroups.org

Birding Tip: Parque Nacional de Monfragüe in Spain

The Monfragüe National Park in Extremadura (Spain, about 250km south-west of Madrid) is one of the best birding destinations in Western Europa. It’s especially popular because if it’s high number of raptors.
There you can see 3 species of vultures (Cinereous, Griffon and Egyption vulture) and 5 species of Eagles (Booted, Short-toed, Golden, Bonelli’s and Spanish Imperial Eagle). All those species are very popular among birders and are some of the most sought-after species in Europe. Other interesting species are Black Stork, Eagle Owl, Blue Rock-Thrush or Cetti’s Warbler.

In the plains south of Monfragüe you can see Great and Little Bustards, Red Kites, Montagu’s Harrier or Southern Grey Shrike.

In the city of Trujillo, you can see nesting Lesser Kestrels.

The park offers good birding all year, but during the summer (especially July and August), it’s very hot. A very good time is early April, when most migrants are already back, but the temperatures are still not too high.

If you live in Europa or plan a birding trip there, Monfragüe and it’s surroundings are definitely worth a trip. If you want to see raptors, Monfragüe is a MUST.

For more information about birding in Extremadura, visit the following website:

http://www.fatbirder.com/links_geo/europe/spain_extremadura.html

American Birds Campaign by the American Bird Conservancy

The American Bird Conservancy has started the American Birds Campaign. It’s a 40 Million US $ campaign over the next five years to advance bird conservation across the Americas.
It’s aims to save the rarest species in the Americas and to protect important habitat for birds. Some of the flagship birds of the campaign are Long-billed Curlew, Laysan Albatross, Santa Marta Parakeet, Lear’s Macaw or the magnificent Marvelous Spatuletail from Peru.

I think this is a very ambitious program that can really make a difference.

To learn more about the campaign, click here:
href=”http://www.abcbirds.org/aboutabc/campaignintro.html

Bird conservation in South America

South America has the most bird species off all continents. Over 3.200 species have been recorded there. Unfortunately South America also has many endangered species, as habitat destruction (especially deforestation) is common there.

But there is hope. Many people and organizations both from South America and all over the world work to save South America’s amazing wildlife. I’ve collected a list of interesting websites of organizations working there. The websites are either in English or Spanish or both.

Nature Conservancy in South America
Birdlife Americas
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Latin America
Pro Aves (Columbia)
Sociedad Conservacionista Audubon de Venezuela
Asociación Civil Armonía/BirdLife Bolivia
Rainforest Alliance
Sociedade para Conservacao das Aves do Brasil / Birdlife Brasil (English and Portuguese)
Aves & Conservación / Birdlife Ecuador
Fundación Jocotoco. A organisation working in Ecuador.
Aves Argentinas
Neotropical Bird Club
Wetlands International in Latin America
Neotropical Raptor Network

All those organizations work very hard to protect birds and other animals and in South America. Consider joining one or more of them or making a donation.

If you know more organizations, please leave a comment.

Situation for Indian Vultures dramatic

According to this report by Birdlife International , the situation for Indian Vultures is dramatic and three species could face extinction in the wild within ten years. The population of the White-rumped Vultures Gyps bengalensis has dropped 99.9 percent since 1992. Indian Vulture Gyps indicus and Slender-billed Vultures Gyps tenuirostris have lost about 97 percent of their population. The reason is the veterinary drug diclofenac which is used to treat livestock, but kills the vultures once they feed on dead animals which where treated with the drug.

The drug is now officially banned in India, but still widely available. Sadly, the drug now also seems to be available in Africa.

Sources:
http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2008/04/vulture_declines.html
http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2007/10/africa_diclofenac.html

New record year for Spanish Imperial Eagle

The Spanish Imperial Eagle is one of the most endangered birds in Europa. In the 1960s the population was below 50 pairs. Due to a lot conservation work in Spain, the population has reached 234 reproductive pairs in 2007 (2 in Portugal, the rest in Spain) according to this report (in Spanish).

The population increase was 17 pairs in 2007 compared to the year before. In 2006 there were 11 new pairs, in 2005 10 and in 2004 9 new pairs.

The highest number of pairs (73) are in Castilla La Mancha. In Extremadura there 49. Other regions with a significant number of pairs are Andalusia and Castilla y Leon.

One of the reasons for the increase in Castilla La Mancha is a reduced mortality through electrocution. During the 1990s the power lines and pylons where modified to reduce raptor mortality. But there are still some cases of eagles getting killed through electrocution every year. Illegal poisoning is also still a threat.

The number of young eagles fledged in 2007 were 242 compared to 294 in 2006 and 221 in 2005.

Despite the increase, the Spanish Imperial Eagle is still a very threatened species that will need a lot of conservation work in the future.

Source:
http://www.ambientum.com/boletino/detalle.asp?noticia=39801

More information about the Spanish Imperial Eagle conservation program by SEO/Birdlife Spain can be found here:

Programa de Conservación del Águila Imperial Ibérica

Websites about the Harpy Eagle

The Harpy Eagle is one of the most spectacular birds in the world. It has talons the size of a Grizzly Bear and is the largest and most powerful raptor in Central and South America.

I have collected interesting websites and documents about that amazing bird (English or Spanish):

Captive Breeding information by the Peregrine Fund

Harpy Eagle conservation by the Peregrine Fund

Harpy Eagle species account at globalraptors.org

Harpy Eagle conservation in Panama (Spanish)

Harpy Eagle in Peru (PDF, Spanish)

Three amazing videos about the Harpy Eagle

If you know more websites, please leave a comment.

Eurasian Bittern

The Eurasian Bittern is one of the most endangered species in most parts of Europe. A member of the heron family, it needs wetlands with large reedbeds.
The Bittern has a very strange sound. Visit the RSPB Site about the Bittern to listen to its call.

On my trip to Neusiedler See Nationalpark (Eastern Austria) last week I was finally able to see one of those amazing birds. For 3 days we were only able to hear them (even from the hotel during the night). But on the fourth day we finally were lucky. We saw four of them. That one on the photograph came pretty close to our car after we waited silently. It was perfect to get a shot with the my 500mm telephoto lens (and 1.4x converter).
I hope you enjoy the picture. More pictures from that trip will follow once I have worked myself through the more than 2.000 pictures I took during that trip.

Book review: Owls of the United States and Canada by Wayne Lynch

I’ve just added a new book review about Owls of the United States and Canada by Wayne Lynch. A must have book for anyone interested in owls. Click here to get to the review.

A billion trees for Brazil

The Nature Conservancy launched a new campaign to plant one billion!!! trees in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. That forest has one of the highest diversity of animals, including birds (almost 950 species). Some unique birds to this area include Red-billed Curassow, Brazilian Merganser and several threatened parrot species.
Unfortunately more than 90% of that forest has been destroyed and the rest is fragmented. Now the Nature Conservancy wants to plant trees covering an area of around 2.500.000 acres (about 1.000.000 hectares or 10.000 square kilometers). That’s bigger than the size of Yellowstone National Park.
This is a very ambitious project that will not only help local wildlife but also many people in the area.

Today, nature conservation needs big visions. The Plant a Billion Trees campaign is such a vision. Let’s hope that similar projects will be started in other areas, like Western Africa, South-East Asia and the Amazon forest. Similar projects could also be started in Europe or North America, even if it’s only 1 Million trees.

More information:
www.plantabillion.org
www.nature.org/pressroom/press/press3443.html