conservation

Last week, the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) asked for your help in protecting the migratory red knot, Calidris canutus rufus, and other shorebirds from the effects of overfishing of horseshoe crabs in Delaware Bay (I linked to this request from Monday's Birds in the News). They report that they received a tremendous response, with emails pouring in to their public comment mailbox showing your support for a moratorium on the horseshoe crab take until both crab and knot numbers recover. They thank you for your efforts on behalf of the shorebirds. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries…
tags: birds, South Pacific Islands, Philippines, ornithology, new species, conservation, Camiguin, parrot . Camiguin Hanging-parrot, or Colasisi, Loriculus camiguinensis, is newly described and is found only found on the Philippine Island of Camiguin. This tiny island is especially rich in biodiversity but is increasingly threatened by logging, agriculture and human settlement. Click image for much larger view in its own window. Note: this a live pet. Photo by Thomas Arndt, Courtesy of The Field Museum of Natural History. Hey, dear readers, a colleague of mine, Jose Tello, co-discovered a…
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. -- Carl Sagan A trio of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers, Campephilus principalis. Adult male (left) and female (lower right). Painting by John James Audubon (1785-1851). With every day that passes, the elusive ivory-billed woodpecker looks more like an apparition or, more likely, a case of mistaken identity. Bird artist and ID expert, David Sibley, and several of his colleagues, Louis Bevier, Michael Patten, and Chris Elphick, published a rebuttal that was released today at 2pm EST by the top-tier journal, Science (this rebuttal should be…
The apparent rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker, Campephilus principalis (pictured), in 2005, which thrilled birdwatchers around the globe and was hailed as one of the great conservation triumphs of recent times, causing the US government to commit more than $10 million to rescue the species, may actually be merely a case of mistaken identity, according to a new study. According to a detailed frame-by-frame analysis of 4.5 seconds of blurry video (.mov, Quicktime required), it was concluded that the bird was an ivory-billed woodpecker. But intensive searching this past winter for more…
In an effort to make their research freely available to the public and to support a greater global exchange of knowledge, Avian Conservation and Ecology provides open access to all of its content. Such access is associated with increased readership and increased citation of each author's work. This journal is available in both English and French. . tags: online journals, ornithology, birds, avian, conservation