January 31st, 2008 , No Comments »
Spring hunting of birds has still been practiced legally for several species on Malta. European Turtle-doves and Common Quails have been hunted during the last years since Malta joined the European Union (EU) despite being protected by the EU Birds Directive . Both species are endangered in many parts of Europe with declining populations. According to Birdlife International, the EU now takes Malta to court over spring bird hunting. Let’s hope that the Maltese government will prohibit spring hunting for 2008 and beyond.
January 30th, 2008 , No Comments »
The Golden Eagle Trust in Ireland has a new website. I don’t know exactly for how long, since I visited the site some month ago last year, but I really like what I saw there when I visited it again some hours ago.
The new site looks much better and beside focusing on Golden Eagles, it also covers the Red Kite and the White-tailed Eagle and their conservation in Ireland. A must read website for all concerned about those species and about raptor conservation in Ireland.
January 25th, 2008 , No Comments »
The 2nd edition of Ian Carter’s classic book about the Red Kite in Britain has recently been published. It covers the conservation, biology and ecology of this fascinating raptor in the UK. A must for all raptor enthusiasts.
Click here for more details and a possibility to order the book.
January 23rd, 2008 , No Comments »
Lead poisoning is a major cause for death among birds, especially raptors. When hunters use lead ammunition to kill deer, ducks or other animals the lead can become very dangerous for raptors. When a duck is shot, but does not die immediately, the hunter may never find the bird. Bat later a raptor like a Bald Eagle might find it an easy meal. With the duck, the eagle also eats the ammunition. Unfortunately lead is very poisonous for raptors. Sometimes the birds day very fast after feeding on the lead, sometimes it may take a long time. Raptors can loose their vision due to lead. And a blind raptor is a dead raptor. In Germany, lead poisoning is one of the major human caused deaths among White-tailed Eagles.
The Peregrine Fund now convenes a conference on this topic in May in Boise, Idaho (USA).
Registration is still open. This will be a very interesting conference for all people interested in raptor conservation.
January 21st, 2008 , No Comments »
A new publication shows the effects climate change may have on European birds. The book, called A Climatic Atlas of European Breeding Birds, shows for 431 species their current distribution in Europe and how it might look like at the end of the 21st century.
According to BirdLife International, the ranges of about 75% of all European breeding birds may decline. The book also shows ways to respond to those threats to our birds.
With warmer temperatures, the range of many species will shift north. Unfortunately, it is not always easy for birds to move north, as their is no suitable habit or it has already been destroyed by humans.
In order to mitigate the effects of climate change on birds, we must both fight climate change and also protect existing habitat and restore destroyed habitat wherever possible.
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