A main cause of nestling loss of the ‘Critically Endangered’ Giant Ibis Thaumatibis gigantea appeared to be mammalian predation. Predator-exclusion devices were added to a randomly selected half of 52 nesting trees, with the other half acting as controls. The number of young fledged per nest was 50% higher for protected nests than control nests. Each protected nest produced almost two-thirds (0.63) of an extra chick. During the nestling period, the daily nestling survival rate was (99.9%) (equivalent to 90% survival over the nestling period) for protected nests and 99.3% (61.3% survival over the whole period) for control nests. Nest protection devices cost US$5 per tree. Each extra nestling fledged as a result of this intervention therefore cost $8. If it was also necessary to pay to locate the nests, then the cost of protecting each nest would be $140 and the cost of producing each extra chick $224. Trees with protectors added were significantly more likely to be reused in the next year than unprotected trees.

Steller's Eider Polysticta stelleri has a restricted arctic breeding range. The world population declined to c. 220,000 individuals in the late 1990s from an estimated 400,000–500,000 in the 1960s. The species has a limited global wintering distribution, occurring in marine habitats in north-east Europe, islands close to Kamchatka in Russia, and the eastern Aleutian Islands and south-west Alaska. European wintering numbers were estimated at 30,000–50,000 in the early 1990s, when the population was considered of favourable conservation status. Recent census data from the most important European wintering sites show annual declines of 8% in Norway since 1984, 9% in Estonia since 1994 and 22% in Lithuania since 1995, suggesting an overall 65% reduction in Europe. Counts in 1994 suggested that 30–50% of the European population wintered in Russia at that time. Current census data from Russia show similar declines along monitored sections of the Kola Peninsula wintering grounds since 1994. Accounting for trends in Russia, the current European wintering population could possibly stand at 10,000–15,000 individuals (a more than a 50% decline in 10 years), qualifying this population as Endangered under IUCN criteria. The changes in Baltic/Norwegian wintering numbers did not correlate with changes in the extent of ice-free marine waters in the Kola Peninsula/White Sea areas, but changes in annual numbers in Norway were correlated with winter North Atlantic Oscillation indices. Variation in annual numbers in the Baltic Sea correlated with projected number of juveniles among wintering birds. However, none of the possible causes discussed in this paper could fully explain the decline in Steller's Eider, confirming the need for comprehensive monitoring of the population throughout its winter range and for cohesive demographic monitoring to target effective conservation action.

The Reed Parrotbill Paradoxornis heudei is an endemic reedbed-inhabiting passerine of east Asia. In the Shanghai municipality, which harbours significant populations of this species, almost all reedbed surfaces are annually harvested. Furthermore, the reedbeds are being invaded by Smooth Cordgrass Spartina alterniflora, an introduced species that can outcompete the native Common Reed Phragmites australis. In this paper, we have shown that Reed Parrotbills do not nest in areas dominated by Smooth Cordgrass and avoid using them. In the areas that are primarily composed of Common Reed, the densities of birds are higher in the unharvested sections. The birds appear to select nesting sites with low Smooth Cordgrass densities, tall reed stems, and relatively equal densities of both dry and green stems. Reed harvesting activity results in vegetation that is too low for bird nesting. However, no nests were found in areas where the reeds had not been harvested for several years and had high densities of dry reed stems; these results could be attributed to the fact that the high density of broken stems reduced the vegetation cover. On the basis of our results, we recommend implementation of four years harvesting-cycle rotation and avoidance of reclamation in reedbeds which have not been invaded by Smooth Cordgrass.

The current ranges of many tropical species of conservation concern are poorly known, yet this information is critical for assessing their conservation status against the IUCN Red List criteria and implementing species-level management. Antpittas in the genera Grallaria and Grallaricula are elusive, ground-foraging insectivores, highly susceptible to a range of threats. For these genera, we combine environmental niche modelling with expert knowledge in order to predict species’ geographic distributions, and we use current estimates of deforestation to evaluate their conservation status in Ecuador. We use BIOCLIM to generate a first pass geographic prediction, which was further aided by expert knowledge of their natural history. This methodology allowed us to assess the conservation status of each species, revising previous assessments at the national level and making recommendations for revision of global IUCN Red List categories. Based on inferred rates of population decline, derived from estimates of loss of suitable habitat, we suggest ranking three species as ‘Endangered’ in Ecuador, one as 'Vulnerable', and three as ‘Near Threatened’. Predicted national ranges vary in size from 56.05 km2 to 112,745 km2. Patterns of range loss were different for each Andean slope, with higher deforestation on the western slope. The combination of niche modelling and knowledge of habitat loss can be a powerful tool to aid conservation efforts in the face of a poor understanding of population demographics, as is the case for many Neotropical taxa. We hope the methodology and results provided here will increase our understanding, and focus future attention on the conservation of this poorly known avian group.

The number of vultures is declining in many parts of the world due to numerous threats, such as poisoning and collisions with power-lines as well as the lack of adequate food sources. Vulture restaurants, i.e. supplementary feeding stations, have become a widespread conservation tool aimed at supporting vulture colonies. However, it is poorly understood how vulture restaurants influence population dynamics and whether they affect breeding success of vulture populations. We used a 12-year dataset from a breeding colony of the Cape Vulture Gyps coprotheres and a nearby vulture restaurant in South Africa to investigate the effect of supplementary food on population dynamics and breeding success. We found a significantly positive effect of supplementary food during the nest-building stage on the number of breeding pairs. However, breeding success, i.e. the proportion of successful nests, did not depend on supplementary food during the incubation and rearing stage. Especially during the critical rearing stage, the amount of food supplied might not have been sufficient to meet food demands of the colony. Still, our results indicate that carefully managed vulture restaurants might stabilise vulture colonies and can therefore aid vulture conservation.

We evaluated the abundance and distribution of low-elevation forest birds on windward Hawai'i Island during August 1993-February 1994, and present evidence of changes in the species composition of the forest bird community since 1979. Endemic Hawaiian birds occurred in native-dominated forests as low as 120 m elevation. Non-native species were detected at all survey locations. We observed non-native Saffron Finch Sicalis flaveola, previously unrecorded in Puna. Variable circular plot surveys of Kahauale'a Natural Area Reserve indicated the disappearance of two native species ('I'iwi Vestiaria coccinea and 'O'u Psittitostra psittacea), and two non-native additions (Red-billed Leiothrix Leiothrix lutea and Kalij Pheasant Lophura leucomelana) to the study area since the Hawai'i Forest Bird Survey conducted in 1979. We present evidence that native 'Elepaio Chasiempsis sandwichensis has experienced a decrease in population density and an elevational range contraction since 1979. Surveys indicate Puna's forest bird community has had increasing aliens and declining native species since 1979. The persistence of some native bird species within the range of avian disease vectors such as Culex quinquefasciatus in forests below 1,000 m elevation presents an important enigma that requires additional study.

Since 2010, Jankowski’s Bunting Emberiza jankowskii has been listed as ‘Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. However, because no comprehensive surveys had been conducted, it was not known whether undiscovered populations existed elsewhere, so the population status of the species could not be assessed accurately. The aim of this study was to assess the breeding distribution and population size of Jankowski’s Bunting in China. Fifty sites in Inner Mongolia, and Jilin, Heilongjiang, Liaoning and Hebei Provinces were surveyed to locate suitable habitat and breeding populations of Jankowski’s Bunting. The surveyed sites included historical breeding distribution areas, wintering sites, and regions adjacent to historical breeding distribution areas. We confirmed that Jankowski’s Bunting has disappeared from most of its former breeding distributions, with the exceptions of Dagang, Xiergen and Tumiji. Additionally, 13 new breeding sites were discovered in Inner Mongolia. All currently known populations breed in Mongolian steppe-vegetation zones, with shrubs dominated by the natural Siberian apricot Prunus sibirica, indicating that this type of habitat is crucial for the survival of the species. Based on remote sensing, the suitable breeding habitat for Jankowski’s Bunting is estimated to be approximately 280 km2. The population size of Jankowski’s Bunting could range between 9,800 and 12,500 individuals, which is much higher than the numbers estimated in previous reports that were based on partial surveys. The suitable habitat remaining in Inner Mongolia would highly benefit from the implementation of the National Key Public Forest Protection Project. The population size of Jankowski’s Bunting is larger than previously estimated, but it is still threatened by habitat degradation and fragmentation, and our survey results reinforce the need for more research. The status of Jankowski’s Bunting in China still meets the IUCN criteria B2ab for an ‘Endangered’ species.

The island of Buru in Maluku province, Indonesia was visited in November and December 1989. Using a point count method, we assessed the conservation status of the island's restricted-range lowland birds by examining their abundance and habitat associations. Thirteen of Buru's 19 lowland restricted-range species were recorded during the fieldwork. Of these we assign nine (White-eyed Imperial Pigeon Ducula perspicillata, Moluccan Red Lory Eos bornea, Bum Racquet-tail Prioniturus mada, Black-tipped Monarch Monarcha loricatus, White-naped Monarch Monarcha pileatus, Dark-grey Flycatcher Myiagra galeata, Flame-breasted Flowerpecker Dicaeum erythrothorax, Bum Yellow White-eye Zosterops buruensis and Black-faced Friarbird Philemon moluccensis) to IUCN's Safe/Low risk category of threat, on the basis of their large populations, widespread occurrence on Bum and association with non-pristine habitats. We recommend that the remaining six of the recorded species remain Data-deficient but some of these (e.g. Blue-fronted Lorikeet Charmosyna toxopei and Bum Cuckoo-shrike Coracina fortis) may be Vulnerable. While data on the birds which we did not record are obviously needed, we suggest that the amount of forest remaining, the abundance of many species and their tolerance of selectively logged forests bodes well for the immediate future of the bulk of Buru's lowland avifauna.

The rapid destruction of habitat in biodiversity hotspots calls for the urgent formulation of conservation strategies. In this study, macro-scale biogeographical data for 33 species of Psittacines were used to select networks of priority areas, using an algorithm based on the complementarity concept. Human population size was also incorporated as a cost in the selection process, and the two networks of priority areas (with and without cost) were compared. In the comparison the number of cells selected to represent all species did not differ, but a rearrangement occurred between them. Two of the four cells were located in the same place, and the others changed location but stayed aggregated within the same regions. The study shows that it is possible to minimize human population size and represent all species in a network of priority areas.

Habitat loss and degradation are critical threats for the globally threatened White-naped Crane Grus vipio. We estimated the size of the area used per day and the time budgets of parental and non-parental White-naped Crane pairs in north-eastern Mongolia during 2000 and 2001. Six parental crane pairs used an area of 11–155 ha per day. The maximum distance of a focal parental crane from the roosting-site was 3,030 m. Habitat conservation measures for breeding White-naped Cranes need to be targeted to within at least 3 km of the roosting-site or nest-site. Parental cranes spent 79.6 ± 4.8% of the daylight period foraging and had reduced preening and resting behaviour to 4.4 ± 1.9%. Pairs without juveniles showed a pronounced period of resting and preening behaviour during midday, which was absent in parental cranes. This indicates that parental cranes may be time-stressed. We conclude that increases in feeding-related activities (e.g. caused by a decrease in food availability) are likely to be at the expense of parental vigilance. Conversely, increases in vigilance (due to e.g. increased disturbance) may have a negative impact on feeding-related activities. Both increases can potentially negatively affect reproductive success in this Vulnerable species.

Swainson’s Warbler Limnothlypis swainsonii is a secretive species of high conservation concern with an estimated global breeding population of 90,000 individuals sparsely distributed across 15 states in the south-eastern United States. Its status as one of the rarest songbirds in North America has been attributed to the scarcity of breeding and wintering habitat. Although the warbler was once thought to be a habitat specialist of lowland canebrakes, it is now known to breed in a wide spectrum of broadleaf forest habitats linked by the common denominator of high stem densities and visual screening in the understorey stratum. Scattered instances of a fundamental habitat expansion into early seral stages of even-aged pine plantations were first observed in east Texas in 1992. Here I report that the colonisation of pine plantations is not only locally extensive in Texas but that it is widespread on the coastal plain eastward to south-eastern Virginia. During two decades of field surveys, breeding territories (n = 297) were documented in young pine plantations in 95 counties and parishes in 10 states. Occupied plantations were mostly 6–12 m tall (median = 7.5 m), corresponding to 8–15 years after planting. Soil type and the presence of interspersed broadleaf vegetation may be important co-factors in plantation occupancy. The chronology of this breeding niche expansion is poorly known but it appears to have occurred after the 1970s, most likely catalysed by the rapid growth of pine plantation silviculture after World War II. As late as 2001, it was believed that > 90% of the breeding population occurred in broadleaf floodplain forest. The recent range-wide colonisation of pine plantations changes the calculus. If the current trend continues, forest lands managed for short-rotation pine plantations will support the majority of breeding populations by the end of the 21st century.

New Zealand's endangered Black Stilt Himantopus novaezelandiae is confined largely to South Island's upper Waitaki River Basin, where it breeds on braided riverbeds and associated wetlands. It is under pressure from nest predators (particularly introduced carnivorous mammals), habitat loss and hybridization with the Pied Stilt H. himantopus leucocephalus. Management focuses on localized predator control, habitat enhancement, egg manipulation and cross-fostering, and more recently captive breeding and release. Future management may be extended to establish an island population.

The Maleo Macrocephalon Maleo is a megapode bird endemic to Sulawesi, Indonesia, that lays large eggs at communal nesting grounds in naturally-heated sands or soils. It is classified as ‘Endangered’ and many populations have been extirpated due to overexploitation of eggs and loss of connectivity between forest and nesting grounds. The distribution and status of nesting grounds across Northern and Central Sulawesi are relatively well-established, but almost nothing is known about potential Maleo populations of South-east Sulawesi. In this study we used previously established methods to formally assess the status of three Maleo nesting grounds in Buton, South-east Sulawesi, and interviewed egg collectors at these three sites to determine the trends of populations and threats over time. All nesting grounds were severely threatened and can be expected to be abandoned in the near future due to extensive harvest of eggs and deforestation. Eggs were collected both for the wildlife trade (intensively harvested and sold as luxury items to people from distant cities) and local use (opportunistically harvested and both eaten and sold locally). All egg collectors remarked on an increase in illegal logging around nesting grounds over the previous decade. Though the Maleo’s current situation is dire, previous case studies show that collaborative grassroots initiatives supported by government and NGOs can protect nesting grounds and reverse population declines.

Searches were made for the Colombian Grebe Podiceps andinus in 1981 in the wetlands in the Eastern Andes of Colombia. The studies also included surveys of other waterbirds and recorded the general conditions of these wetlands, once the stronghold for waterbirds in the northern Andes. The Colombian Grebe was apparently last seen in 1977 in Lake Tota, and is probably extinct, although a flock may have been moving around outside Lake Tota and could have settled outside the former breeding area. The primary reason for the decline must be draining of wetlands and eutrophication and siltation which destroyed the open submergent Potamogeton vegetation, where this grebe may have been feeding on a large diversity of arthropods. Introduction of exotic fish and hunting may also have played a role.

Durante 1981 se han realizado varias expedidones en busca de Podiceps andinus en las zonas húmedas de los Andes Orientales de Colombia. Durante estos estudios también se censaron otras aves acuáticas y se tomaron notas sobre el estado general de éstas zonas húmedas, que en el pasado fueron el principal enclave para las aves acuáticas en los Andes del Norte. Aparentemente Podiceps andinus fué visto por última vez en 1977 en el Lago Tota, y está probablemente extinguido, aunque podría haber un bando en las inmediaciones de dicho lago que se hay a establecido fuera de la antigua área de cría. La razón fundamental del declive debe ser el drenaje de las zonas húmedas y la eutrofización y salinización que ha destruido la vegetatión sumergida de Potamogeton, donde ésta especie se alimentaba de una gran variedad de artrópodos. La introducción de peces exóticos y la caza pueden haber influido también.

The Greater Spotted Eagle is an extremely rare species which is strongly associated with wetlands during the breeding period. The winter habitats of this vulnerable species have not been extensively studied so far, although eagles spend over one third of the year there, and these are therefore also crucial for the conservation of the species. We investigated the distribution of Greater Spotted Eagle wintering grounds in the Mediterranean Basin on the basis of telemetry data from individuals caught in breeding grounds, detailed species counts during wintering in Greece, and a literature search. We found that at least 300–400 individuals (c.15% of the European population) winter in the Mediterranean Basin, sometimes numbering a few dozen in particular river valleys. Individuals used on average 89.7 km2 home ranges for wintering. The Maxent model of wintering habitats performed with high reliability, indicating that most of the coastline along the Mediterranean Sea and some parts of the Black Sea are suitable for the wintering of this species. The distribution of coastal marshes was the most informative for the model. Compositional analyses done for home ranges of GPS tracked individuals and wintering sites in Greece showed the highest preference for salines and salt marshes but also a high preference for coastal lagoons and water courses. We link wetland preference with the availability of medium size prey, optimal for this species, and prey specialisation common to breeding sites.

Since the mid-1980s, exhausted pastures in Ecuador have been increasingly abandoned, allowing forest regeneration. At approximately 2,200 m in the Tandayapa valley I surveyed four abandoned pastures to evaluate their use by birds. Each former pasture represented a different age of vegetation maturity. The number of bird species recorded in each successively older abandoned pasture increased but only half the number of species recorded in the undisturbed forest site was recorded in the most mature pasture. However, at least four restricted-range bird species were recorded in a single pasture. As pastures rapidly convert to secondary forest, more bird species and rarer bird species use them, even in highly disturbed areas where surrounding pristine forest constitutes less than 10% of local forest cover. Conservation efforts should then be directed toward them.

Determining the efficacy of using indicator species to predict the spatial location of biodiversity hotspots is one way of maximising the conservation of biodiversity in already threatened habitats. Recent evidence from Europe suggests raptors can play such an indicator role, so we tested this approach with a globally threatened southern hemisphere species, the Black Harrier Circus maurus. We asked if this species, found in South Africa’s mega-diverse Cape Floral Kingdom, breeds in habitat fragments that were more diverse in terms of small mammals, birds and plants than unoccupied fragments of similar size. Renosterveld is a highly fragmented habitat that has lost > 90% of its original extent and remains only on privately-owned lands. Surveys of small mammals, birds and plants undertaken in 20 fragments in the Overberg region, South Africa, revealed nine with breeding harriers and 11 without harriers. Harrier-occupied fragments were associated with a 3.5 fold higher number of bird species and higher small mammal species richness than unoccupied ones. There was a lower abundance of most plants in occupied patches, except for red grass Themeda triandra which is an indicator of pristine renosterveld. Vegetation structure was significantly different, with harriers nesting on patches with taller, more open vegetation. While the diversity trends were not statistically significant, a positive trend between the presence of harriers and higher abundance of red grass – as an indicator of the more pristine state of the patch, suggests that harriers might allow biodiversity managers a heuristic approach for selecting the remaining patches of pristine renosterveld. The need for intensive sampling of several taxa leads to small samples and a lack of clear-cut trends for these top predators as indicators of plant diversity.

In this study I present data suggesting altitudinal movements of some species of foliage-gleaning insectivorous birds and related species of an oak-pine woodland of western Mexico. These movements can be regarded as short-distance or local migrations because the species involved breed in the woodlands and forests of the Sierra Madre Occidental highlands and winter in the tropical forests of the Pacific lowlands. Nine species of insectivorous birds out of 17 breed at the study site in the mountains of southern Durango and move to the lowlands in the winter; these can be regarded as short-distance or local migrants. In Mexico tropical deciduous and semi-deciduous forests are distributed mostly in the Pacific lowlands in the states of Sinaloa, Durango, Nayarit and Jalisco. Tropical forests of the Pacific lowlands are very important as wintering grounds for both North American and local west-Mexican migrants; however, there is only one protected area in western Mexico which to some degree includes these two types of tropical forests, and it is not located in the Sierra Madre Occidental, the most important mountain range in Mexico in terms of length and area covered. In addition, these tropical forests are the northern limit of the range for many tropical species. At present, these habitats are not threatened seriously by human activities (mainly forestry and cattle-raising) but this might change at any moment. At the study site the temperate highlands of southern Durango are already under the protection of “La Michilía” Biosphere Reserve, but a proposal to enlarge the area of the reserve to include the valley of the Río Mezquital and the western slope of the valley will increase the diversity of habitats, both temperate and tropical. As a consequence more bird species, as well as other taxa, will be protected in their natural environments. Such a proposal must be supported by field evidence on actual habitat use both during the breeding and wintering season, by local and long-distance migrants, in order to assess accurately the importance of this area as a representative place of western Mexico.

Spix's Macaw Cyanopsitta spixii has always been a very poorly known species from the arid interior of north-east Brazil. Previous views that its habitat is buriti palm swamp appear mistaken, as the most recent field observations and the testimony of local people suggest that Tabebuia caraiba gallery woodland along seasonal creeks is a critical habitat component. Owing to widespread destruction of such woodland, during a survey in June/July 1990 only three good patches were found, all failing to regenerate; one held a single bird, and another held birds up to last year.

A Ararinha-azul Cyanopsitta spixii sempre foi uma espécie pouco conhecida no interior árido do nordeste do Brasil. Opiniōes anteriores que o seu habitat é buritizais parecem erradas porque as observações de campo mais recentes e o testimônio dos habitantes locais sugestem que matas de Tabebuia caraiba ao longo de riachos estacionais são um crítico componente do habitat. Devido à destruição extensa deste tipo de mata, durante um levantamento em junho/julho 1990 somente tres áreas boas foram achadas, todas sem regeneração; uma abrigava um único pássaro, e uma outra abrigava pássaros até o ano passado.

The effects of habitat fragmentation on the distribution and abundance of birds is a well-researched topic but there is little information published in terms of how habitat fragmentation affects reproductive life history traits. We reviewed the available literature on this subject and found that only 8% of the 1,433 studies dealing with birds in fragmented habitat studied life history traits and only 1.3% provided appropriate data to perform statistics. We found no effect of fragmentation on clutch and brood size patterns. Those patterns did not change when corrected by phylogeny. However, there is a significant heterogeneity among species responses, thus data on large-bodied, ground-nesting, and precocial birds suggest an increasing response in brood size in fragmented habitats. Finally, our review shows that despite birds being the most studied vertebrate group, crucial information such as the effects of habitat fragmentation on life history traits is still scarce and insufficient, especially on species of conservation concern. Indeed, only one out of 15 species reviewed here was threatened. Studies on reproductive, behavioural and life history trait variation are urgently needed in order to advance conservation actions.