Interest in the ecology and conservation of birds in coffee plantations around the world has greatly increased since the early 1990s, especially in the Neotropical region. Much of the interest was inspired by untested hypotheses proposing that extensive conversion of traditional coffee plantations, grown under a diverse canopy of shade trees, into modern, technified plantations with severely reduced shade canopy, contributed to concurrent declines of long-distance migratory birds. This possible relationship sparked major publicity campaigns during the late 1990s and continuing today, promoting shaded coffee plantations as quality habitat for migratory birds. Based on a review of the published scientific literature concerning avian use of coffee plantations, I summarize avian ecology in coffee agroecosystems, and evaluate the hypothesis that coffee plantations are important for the conservation of migratory or resident birds. While no literature has presented strong evidence that coffee plantations in general negatively affect bird populations of conservation importance, nonetheless published studies have not tested hypotheses that birds have greater survivability, fitness or productivity in coffee plantations compared with other available habitats (natural or artificial), or that any species selects coffee plantations over other available habitats for foraging or for breeding. While coffee plantations may have higher avian richness and abundance than other highly disturbed agricultural habitats and some natural habitats, more research is needed to evaluate whether and how certain coffee agroecosystems contribute to the conservation or decline of avian diversity.

The Sierra Madre Sparrow (Xenospiza baileyi) is a highly endangered and endemic species of the highlands of south-central Mexico, where it is resident in bunchgrass (Gramineae) and adjacent marshy habitats in the southern Sierra Madre Occidental (Jalisco and Durango states) and in the mountains around the Valley of Mexico (Distrito Federal and the states of Morelos and Mexico). This species was first collected in the southern part of this range on 23 April 1945 at La Cima, D.F., where its persistence has been documented essentially continuously since 1951. The first specimens of the taxon were collected in the Sierra de Bolaños of extreme northern Jalisco on 3–10 March 1889, including the type from which the genus and species were described in 1931. Two populations have been found in southern Durango: one 30 miles (48 km) south-west of the City of Durango on 22 March 1931, and the other 5 miles (8 km) west of El Salto on 16–17 June 1951. The Sierra Madre Sparrow has not been otherwise confirmed in the northern part of its range, which in July 2004 led us to conduct an extensive search for it in these areas of Durango and Jalisco as well as south-western Zacatecas. Here we present the findings from that search, during which several sites were intensively surveyed and a single population of this sparrow was located – a new one between the city of Durango and El Salto, Durango. This rediscovery increases possibilities for understanding the biogeography, ecology and basic requirements of the Sierra Madre Sparrow, information of fundamental importance for proposing measures that promote its conservation in any of its remaining populations.

There is a clear need for protection of the migration and wintering grounds of the Globally Threatened Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola, but little is known about them and the threats they face. To narrow this gap, a desk study was performed between May 1998 and October 2004. Information on known wintering grounds was sought by means of questionnaires, personal communications, ringing data, publication and internet searches. Results show that the Aquatic Warbler has so far been recorded in nine African countries, but with recent records since 1980 from only five countries (Egypt, Ghana, Mauritania, Morocco and Senegal). All present data suggest that the Aquatic Warbler migrates through north-west Africa in autumn and spring, with the wintering grounds limited to wetlands of western sub-Saharan Africa, with verified records only from Mauritania, Mali, Senegal and Ghana during the months of August to April. The species was almost always found in habitats similar to that of its breeding grounds, i.e. in Carex, Juncus or Phragmites (sedge, rush and reed) associations, but also in dense grasses, shrubs and other vegetation found in freshwater marshes, flooded or wet meadows, and along the edges of backwaters, flood basins, lagoons, lakes, ponds, rivers and wadis. Recent research suggests that at least some Aquatic Warblers may actually winter further south than the present data suggest, in countries such as The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Benin, or maybe even in so far unexplored wetlands in Central or East Africa. Because wetlands throughout Africa face imminent threats from agricultural and tourist development, more fieldwork is urgently needed to further pinpoint the migration and wintering grounds of the Aquatic Warbler.

Hornbills are useful indicators of forest condition and human disturbance because they require large tracts of unfragmented forest with large fruiting trees for feeding and nesting. They are relatively large-bodied, which makes them targets for hunting. Density estimates of such species are critical for population monitoring and serve as a baseline against which future changes can be measured. In this study we used variable-width line transect surveys to estimate the densities of nine hornbill species in the Bala portion of the Hala-Bala Wildlife Sanctuary on the Thai–Malaysia border, one of the few remaining areas of lowland forest in Thailand. The hornbill species were: Rhinoceros (Buceros rhinoceros), Great (B. bicornis), Helmeted (B. vigil), Black (Anthracoceros malayanus), Bushy-crested (Anorrhinus galeritus), White-crowned (Aceros comatus), Wrinkled (A. corrugatus), Wreathed (A. undulatus) and Plain-pouched (A. subruficollis). Between January 2001 and April 2002, 11 transects along trails, old logging roads and one paved road were surveyed once per month. A total of 1,261 observations of the nine species were made during the observation period. Estimates for Rhinoceros and Helmeted Hornbill were 2.69 and 1.21 individuals/km2, respectively, and were similar or slightly higher than densities reported elsewhere. Estimates for Great (0.12), Bushy-crested (0.64), Wrinkled (0.08), White-crowned (0.08) and Wreathed Hornbills (0.69) were generally lower than estimates from other areas in the region. It was not possible to obtain density estimates using distance sampling for Black and Plain-pouched Hornbills due to the small number of observations, but our data did suggest that their densities were also low (<0.10 individuals/km2). Potential reasons for differences between this and other areas include a scarcity of lowland habitat, habitat isolation, lower abundance of specific fruit resources and interspecific competition, but these factors require further investigation. Standardization of survey techniques among studies would significantly improve assessments of habitat requirements as well as of the effects of human disturbance on Asian hornbills, most of which are globally threatened. Our study specifically underscores the need for additional research on the Plain-pouched Hornbill, the most threatened of the species studied, as density estimates from elsewhere in its range are lacking, while more generally it highlights the need to investigate the underlying causes of the often substantial variation in hornbill densities among species and sites.

This paper describes changes in bird communities following the conversion of lowland forest to commercial oil palm and rubber plantations. Conversion of forest to plantations resulted in a reduction in species richness of at least 60%, with insectivores and frugivores suffering greater losses than more omnivorous species. Of the 128 species recorded across all habitats, 84% were recorded in forest, and 60% were recorded only in that habitat. Of the 16 Globally Threatened or Near-Threatened species recorded in the study, 15 were recorded only in forest. Species occurring in plantations were significantly more widespread in Thailand than species recorded only in forests and had a tendency towards smaller body size. Species richness in plantations was unaffected by plantation age or distance from nearest forest edge, but was significantly greater where undergrowth was allowed to regenerate beneath the crop trees. Bird communities in oil palm and rubber plantations were extremely similar, and there was a strong positive correlation across species in their relative abundance in each plantation type. The results indicate that a high proportion of species formerly present in the region are unable to adapt to conversion of forest to oil palm and rubber plantations, resulting in large losses of bird species and family richness and the replacement of species with restricted ranges and high conservation status by those with extensive ranges and low conservation status. Initiatives that reduce pressure to clear new land for plantations, for example by increasing productivity in existing plantations and improving protected area networks, are likely to be more effective in conserving threatened forest birds than initiatives to improve conditions within plantations, though both should be encouraged.

Arthropod abundance in most places across Europe has suffered a dramatic decline induced by modifications in agricultural practices, and this could induce changes in the selection of breeding habitat and foraging behaviour of several endangered raptor species. We studied a 6,500 ha Special Protection Area (SPA) in Spain created for the benefit of its important steppe bird populations and examined the patterns of land-use selection and use of vegetation structure by the Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni in relation to prey-capture success. We also studied the spatial relationship between foraging sites and the location of colonies in that breeding area. The type of land-use most frequently used by foraging Lesser Kestrels was unploughed fallow (positively selected) while kestrels significantly avoided areas with cereal crops. The relationship between foraging sites and colonies (kestrels forage preferentially in areas close to the colonies) indicates that not only is farmland management important, but also the spatial relationships between foraging areas and breeding sites. Maintaining the Spanish traditional rotation of cultivation (called barbechos) may improve the correct habitat management for Lesser Kestrels in agricultural areas in Spain.