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

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.

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

Lead Poisoning still a threat to birds

Lead poisoning is still killing many birds, especially raptors who feed on carrion. When an animal is shot with lead ammunition and is later consumed by an eagle or other bird, the bird will also swallow the lead. That can either kill the bird or dramatically compromise it’s health through loss of balance, tremors or and impaired ability to fly. Such a bird will almost always end up as a dead bird. Sometimes, when found by humans, the bird can recover, but most of the time it’s too late.

According to a recent press release by the Peregrine Fund, Ravens in the Greater Yellowstone area show high lead levels during the hunting season. Hunters, after shooting elk and deer, left behind the gut piles which where consumed by the Ravens, of which many later had high levels of lead in their blood. Of course, the lead would not only affect Ravens, but all birds who feed on the gut piles like Golden Eagles or Bald Eagles. Grizzly Bears also are known to feed on the gut piles regularly.

Another problem are lead fishing weights which threaten loons and probably other birds with a similar biology than loons. See here for more information about this.

The best way to avoid future deaths of birds or other animals is to ban lead ammunition and fishing weights and replace it with something saver. Alternatives exist. It’s time that those unnecessary deaths of (often endangered) species come to an end.

Why bird conservation is important

I just came across this wonderful post why bird conservation is important. Many people ask why we should care about birds and other animals at all. The Birdfreak Team has published that very helpful list about why the conservation of birds is so important. Read it and pass it on to your friends. It’s even available as a printable PDF.

Born Again Bird Watcher: another great bird blog

This is another great bird blog I recommend reading:
Born Again Bird Watcher.
John Riutta, the blog owner writes regularly about interesting stuff in the birding and bird world. He also writes regularly about conservation. Recently he has written an interesting article about a ridiculous fine levied against two poachers in Cypress who killed 52 Red-footed Falcons.

Hope for Albatrosses in New Zealand

According to this news by Birdlife International, New Zealand will take further measures to reduce the number of seabirds killed in New Zealand’s fisheries.

This is great news for many endangered seabird species, especially the albatrosses. It’s estimated that about 100.000!!! albatrosses die each year on fishing hooks used by long-line fishing. The long lines (many kilometers long) has hundreds or thousands of hooks with bait on a single line. When the long-lines are set out on the water, many seabirds try to eat the bait and swallow the hook. Due to the weight of the line, the birds are pulled underwater and drown.

Albatrosses are long lived species which only raise a chick every year or some only every second year. Additionally, some species start breeding first after reaching the age of ten years or even more. So it takes a long time for a population to recover.

Up to 19 of the 22 albatross species (the actual number of albatross species is still open to debate) are already endangered, mostly because of long-line fishing.

The new measures taken by New Zealand should help reduce the senseless dying of those magnificent birds.

For more information about albatrosses, the threats they face and how you can help, click here: http://www.savethealbatross.net.