The islands of Wallacea were surveyed most intensely by field ornithologists in the nineteenth century, and again in the 1990s. However, the status and habitat use of bird species on many islands remains unknown. This study examined birds in several natural and disturbed habitats on Lembata (also known as Lomblen) Island, Indonesia. A total of 78 bird species were recorded including six endemic to the Lesser Sundas, an additional three Wallacean endemics and a total of 27 resident forest species. Including published records, 91 bird species have been recorded for Lembata. Extrapolation from the cumulative number of new species in the 45 samples gave an expected Total Bird Richness of 103.4 species. The frequency of occurrence of Lesser Sundas endemic bird species, all Wallacean endemics and Lesser Sundas endemic subspecies, forest-dependent species and frugivores was greatest in closed canopy forest (at higher elevations). Conversely, generalist “Australo-Papuan” species, granivores and nectarivores occurred more frequently in lowlands (including human-modified habitats). Protected area proposals were made in 1982, but there has been no management of natural areas for biological conservation on Lembata. Conservation activities aiming to stem forest loss and fragmentation in an Important Bird Area in southern Lembata, which includes significant populations of the Flores Green Pigeon Treron floris (Globally Vulnerable), may be an important step. Merits of the “Species list” survey method are discussed.

Pygmy Palm-Swift Micropanyptila furcata is endemic to the Maracaibo Basin of Venezuela and Colombia. Described by Sutton in 1928, it is still known only from < 30 museum specimens from seven localities, leading it to be included in the first edition of the bird Red Data Book, but not subsequent editions. During a field survey in January 1995 we regularly encountered this species throughout the south-eastern Maracaibo Basin in Venezuela, at elevations from 30 m to 800 m. We found them in a variety of habitats including cleared pastures, cropland, open forest and rural towns, and observed them near mature cultivated palms, which represented nesting and roosting substrates. Pygmy Palm-Swifts foraged in small groups immediately above the treetops and over grass savannah. As we recorded them at nearly all previously known sites and many additional ones, often in close proximity to human activities and potential sources of disturbance, we suggest that it is not a rare bird and currently does not require special status or conservation efforts.

We carried out a four-year (1995-1999) survey on the foraging and breeding distribution of Bearded Vulture Gypaetus barbatus on the island of Crete. The age classes of all birds sighted were systematically recorded and data on seasonal distribution patterns were collected; 262 observations were made covering an area of about 4,000 km2, at altitudes ranging from 200 m to 2,450 m a.s.l (mean 1,100 m). Adult birds were distributed evenly throughout the island while young birds avoided active territories and were mostly sighted at the periphery of the high mountains. The species depended almost entirely on domestic livestock herded into and away from the mountains seasonally, with birds foraging in the uplands (> 1,200 m a.s.l.) from early May to late October and frequenting midland pastures (600-1,200 m a.s.l.) for the rest of the year. The mean altitude of nesting sites was 750 m (range = 280-1,450 m), with 80% of nests positioned below the 1,000 m contour. Bearded Vultures are more vulnerable to human-induced mortality within their breeding territories and on midland pastures in winter than in the upland areas in summer.

The editor would like to acknowledge the following for acting as referees of papers considered for Volume 12 of Bird Conservation International.