Wildlife Conservation, Environment, Ornithology

We report records of 25 species of resident breeding birds in St Katherine Protectorate, south Sinai, Egypt in 2006, 2007 and spring 2008. We note a number of chronological and geographical discrepancies in the distributions and abundances of these species in reference to earlier surveys and records. Located in the southern Sinai mountains, St Katherine Protectorate is an important area for both breeding and migratory birds and requires ongoing protection, appropriate management, and more detailed research in ecology and community-based conservation. A number of bird species that formerly appeared to be common in the St Katherine Protectorate were detected only rarely or were not detected at all in recent surveys. Remaining bird populations are threatened by overgrazing, illegal hunting and the demands placed on water supplies by development associated with a recent increase in tourism.

Study on the birds of Patan district was conducted during 2006-2008. Observations on bird species were recorded at two locations in each Taluka. Observations on breeding status, residential status, and utilization of site by various species, foraging guild and flocking habit were recorded by frequent visit of each site during study period. In all 141 bird species found in the Patan district, majority of them being regular breeder (88=62.41%), followed by irregular resident (22=15.60%), regular migrant bird species (14=9.93%) and more or less equal number of irregular migrant bird species (13=9.22%) were noted in Patan district, whereas, only three bird species were irregular breeder and Rosy Starling, Sturnus roseus was the only species found to be transient. It was also revealed that majority of bird species used the site under observation for foraging (96=68.09%) followed by foraging and nesting (17=12.06%) and foraging and cover (9=6.38%). None of the bird species recorded used the site solely either as cover or for roosting or nesting. Majority of bird species (77 = 54.61%) were ground forager, followed by ear head gleaner (12 = 8.51%), hawkers (10 = 7.09%), 51 species of birds (36.17%) preferred to live in group and only 10 species exhibited both solitary as well as group flocking habit.

Cangak Merah merupakan burung yang berdarah panas dan merupakan salah satu jenis burung Kuntul-kuntulan. Berukuran besar (80cm), berwarna abu-abu, coklat berangan dan hitam. Topi hitam dengan jambul menjuntai. Terdapat strip hitam menurun sepanjang leher yang merah karat khas. Punggung dan penutup sayap abu abu, bulu terbang hitam. Bulu lainnya coklat kemerahan. Burung betina tidak berwarna cerah seperti burung jantan, dengan bulu yang lebih pendek memanjang pada tengkuk (Robinson & Chasen 1936).

Dans cette synthèse nous mentionnons 187 espèces inventoriées, appartenant à 18 ordres, à 46 familles et à 112 genres différents, où les Passériformes sont les plus représentées avec 90 espèces appartenant à 19 familles. Les consommateurs d’invertébrés prédominent avec 47,3%, puis viennent les polyphages (22,6%), les granivores (14,5%), les carnivores (9,7 %) ; alors que les piscivores et les charognards ne représentent, respectivement, que 3,2% et 2,7%. Les espèces migratrices (hivernales, estivales ou de passage) représentent 59 % de l’avifaune des Aurès. Les sédentaires sont représentés par 39 %. Les espèces accidentelles, sans statut phénologique évident figurent avec 2%. On compte 47 espèces protégées en Algérie, représentant 44% de l’avifaune algérienne protégée. À l’échelle internationale, 39 espèces sont mentionnées sur les annexes de la convention de Washington (CITES) ; 72 espèces sur celles de la convention de Bonn et 04 sur celles de la convention de Barcelone.

"This paper documents a list of wetland birds with reference to the migratory birds of Kundavada Lake, Davanagere Dist, Karnataka. Till date, there is no report on the wetland birds
of Kundavada Lake and the present study is therefore first of its kind. Hence, the study becomes the preliminary data for future investigation and during the study, around 53 species of birds belonging to 16 families were collected."

An evaluation of Black-headed oriole Oriolus brachyrhynchus as bioindicator of arsenic contamination using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) was carried out to determine the bioaccumulation level of arsenic concentration in the liver, skin, heart, adult feathers, nestling feathers, and eggs so as to ascertain which of these parts harbours more contaminants. A total of 30 birds were trapped from different farm locations in Buruku, Daudu and Adega using mist net and 150 of parts were obtained. A total of 9 eggs and 9 nestling were also collected from different nest from the study locations for investigation. We also examined the crops foraged on, and the water and soil of the environment. Summary statistics of Arsenic concentration (mg/kg) in selected parts were expressed using descriptive statistics and correlation. Arsenic concentration in feathers of the Original Research Article

Natural avifaunal diversity is the nature's reliable monitoring tool for checking ecosystem's health and the Bengal plain is not an exception. Extensive survey with standard field ecology methods carried out during August 2018 to September, 2019 in and around the West Bengal State University (WBSU) campus revealed the presence of 65 bird species from 16 orders and 37 different families of terrestrial, aquatic and waders. Family-wise relative diversity index has been calculated and observed birds were divided into seven major categories of foraging guilds. Most bird species were found to be insectivorous (23) followed by other foraging guilds. This is perhaps the first effort in recent times to prepare a list of birds in and around the WBSU. Pertinently, only a single species of family Anhingidae was found with Near Threatened (NT) status of IUCN in the study area. The study area also has a diverse flora and water bodies, facing drastic change in becoming a suburban sprawl.

En el periodo de reproducción de 2014, la población reproductora de aves acuáticas ha sido muy repartida entre las distintas zonas, de forma más marcada que en años anteriores. La Laguna de Fuente de Piedra es la zona que ha acogido al mayor número de parejas de aves acuáticas, con 21 especies y el 24% de la población reproductora, dominada por la abundancia de parejas de el flamenco común. Por orden de abundancia de efectivos reproductores le siguen otras zonas (22%), Doñana (18%), el Litoral de Huelva (15%, el Litoral de Cádiz (14%) y la costa de Almería (7%). La riqueza específica ofrece los mayores valores en Doñana y la Costa de Almería, con 36 especies reproductoras registradas en 2014.
En 80% de las parejas reproductoras se localiza en humedales de la Red Natura 2000.
Casi la tercera parte del total de parejas nidificantes de aves acuáticas corresponde al flamenco común, que ha criado con éxito en la Laguna de Fuente de Piedra (Málaga) y las Marismas del Odiel (Huelva), con un total de 10.118 parejas (28,3%). Otras de las especies más abundantes fueron la garcilla bueyera (4.170 parejas, 11,6%) y la gaviota patiamarilla (4.031 parejas, 11,3%), especies que se alimentan básicamente fuera
de los humedales. Los efectivos reproductores de estas tres especies suponen más del 51% del total de parejas reproductoras en 2014. Destacan los efectivos de otras especies como el morito común (1.873 parejas), la avoceta común (1.757 parejas), la cigüeñuela común (1.575 parejas) y la gaviota reidora (1.175 parejas). De las 52 especies de aves acuáticas con reproducción confirmada en 2014, 5 están catalogadas “en peligro de extinción” (cerceta pardilla, focha moruna, malvasía
cabeciblanca, garcilla cangrejera y porrón pardo) y una “vulnerable” (águila pescadora); las 6 están incluidas en el Plan de recuperación y conservación de aves de humedales. Otras 30 especies están incluidas en el Listado de Especies de Protección Especial (LESPE) y las 16 restantes no incluidas en el Decreto 23/2012. En el periodo 2007-2014, de las 52 especies, 26 (50%) muestran una disminución de la población reproductora (19 de ellas un fuerte declive); 6 (11,5%) son estables y 4 (7,7%) muestra una tendencia al incremento (fuerte en el caso de 3 especies). Para las 16 especies restantes no se puede detectar ninguna tendencia fiable en ese periodo.
Los grupos tróficos más numerosos que presentan mayor abundancia son los flamencos (10.121 parejas), las zancudas (ciconiformes) (9.759 parejas), los láridos (8.343 parejas) y los limícolas (4.832 parejas), con respectivamente, 28,3%, 27,2%, 23,3% y 13,5% del total de los efectivos reproductores. En todos los grupos tróficos se registra un número de parejas inferior a la media 2004-2013, salvo para los rapaces. El periodo 2003-2014 se registra una tendencia al fuerte declive en el grupo de las fochas (-15,6%), los limícolas (-7,4%), las gaviotas (-7,2%) y los somormujos (-6,3%) así como un declive moderado en garzas y cigüeñas (-3,8%) y anátidas (-1,1%). Por el contrario las rapaces y los flamencos muestran tendencia al incremento con porcentajes anual estimados respectivamente en +4% y + 13% anual.
Entre los humedales que albergan una mayor cantidad y diversidad de aves acuáticas, destacan la Laguna de Fuente de Piedra (Málaga), con 8.531 parejas de 21 especies diferentes, el Espacio Natural de Doñana (6.479 parejas de 35 especies), la Bahía de Cádiz (4.797 parejas de 19 especies) y las Marismas del Odiel en Huelva (3.670 parejas de 28 especies), sumando entre los cuatro humedales casi el 70% de los efectivos reproductores. El 80,2% de las parejas reproductoras se localizan en 12 humedales, destacando la Laguna de Fuente de Piedra (MA), el Espacio Natural Doñana, la Bahía de Cádiz (CA) y las Marismas del Odiel (HU). También se registran importantes efectivos  reproductores en humedales sin figura de protección como los arrozales de la Janda (CA), las Marismas de Trebujena (CA), el Embalse del Piedras (HU) la Cañada de las Norias (AL) o las Marismas de las Mesas (CA).

Conservation Kaleidoscope is a collection of over a 100 edits and accompanying news items that have appeared over the last two decades in the Protected Area Update.
Written by the newsletter's long-time editor, Pankaj Sekhsaria, the individual edits offer an interesting and often counter-intuitive account of the state of wildlife conservation and protected area management in contemporary India. Organised over 14 broad themes in this collection, the book offers a ringside view of conservation that is as challenging and informative as it is insightful and provocative.

La alondra ricotí (Chersophilus duponti) cuenta en Andalucía con una población muy pequeña y fragmentada aislada de las del resto de la península ibérica y de Marruecos. Desde el año 2006, la Junta de Andalucía realiza el seguimiento, caracterización y gestión de la población y su hábitat, circunscrita actualmente a las provincias de Granada y, sobre todo, Almería. En 2015 se han confirmado solamente tres núcleos reproductores con tan sólo un mínimo de 19 machos reproductores, cuando hace 25 años se estimaban unas 100 parejas. Este declive se ha producido no sólo en tamaño sino también en distribución, de modo que ha dejado de detectarse desde 1990 en las tres localidades que habitaba Granada y en cuatro de Almería. Además, desde la última estima regional completa realizada en 2012 se ha reducido el número mínimo de machos de 31 a 19, de modo que se encuentra solamente en tres localidades de Almería: espartales de Amoladeras, tomillares de Tabernas-Sorbas y matorral esclerófilo de porte almohadillado en la Sierra de Gádor. En Las Lomas del Padul, localidad granadina que en 1998 contaba con 17 machos, no se ha detectado ninguno en 2014 y 2015, aunque en este año se capturó un joven por la Estación Ornitológica de Padul para su marcaje. En 2013, se genera mediante el software MaxEnt un modelo de distribución potencial de la especie con la detección de 335 fragmentos, de los que se ha prospectado hasta 2015 más del 50 %, con resultados siempre negativos. Aunque se seguirá buscando posibles núcleos ocupados en el resto de zonas potenciales, los datos parecen indicar que la fragmentación observada en la población y la desaparición de nodos poblacionales intermedios pudieran los responsables del declive registrado. En la actualidad la especie parece requerir de cualquier modo de un esfuerzo de gestión más directa y activa para fomentar el crecimiento de los núcleos ocupados y su conectividad.

Th e marshlands of Lower Mesopotamia witnessed severe draining programs during late 1980s and early 2000s, which turned vast areas of the former water body into desert areas. New fi eld surveys of birds and their habitats in the marshes of southern Iraq were launched in 2005 through a national and international partnership of non-government organizations, ministries and donor agencies. Th is has resulted in the collection and collation of new data on the status, distribution and habitat requirements of birds and other biota in Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in Iraq from 2005 to 2008. Th is paper summarizes the bird data obtained in these surveys in the southern marshes, during which 159 species of birds were recorded; of these 34 are considered to be of conservation concern, including eight that are globally threatened.

Louisiana State University, the University of Kansas, and the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak undertook collaborative research on the evolution and ecology of Bornean birds starting in 2005. This collaboration included a series of expeditions from 2007–2017 to collect and study birds at >30 sites in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Here we provide information on the study sites and summarize the main discoveries resulting from the collaboration. KEYWORDS: Biogeography, Birds, Ecology, Evolution, Gazetteer, Phylogeny, Phylogeography

Over the past years, environmental change and global warming have become a key issue in discussion because of the human activities that cause the negative effects therefore there is need to conserve biodiversity especially bird species which play an important role in our ecosystem (Houlahan et al. 2006).The main reason for studying bird species in Egerton and Chemeron is to conserve and protect them against climatic changes affecting them negatively and preventing human unsustainable utilization in their habitat. Some of the objectives of the study are; to identify the families of bird species within the university and in Chemeron, to identify the feeding guilds of these birds, to assess the families of the bird species and finally to assess the emigrant birds and native birds in Botanical garden and in Chemeron. Some of the research questions of the study include; what is the species abundance in Botanical garden and in Chemeron? And what is the relationship between vegetation and bird species in both Egerton and Chemeron. The study area was the Botanical garden in Egerton and Chemeron field station. The climate of Njoro is favorable in terms of temperature, rainfall and humidity where it is cool most of the time, while Chemeron receives an annual rainfall of 635mm making it hot and dry. Egerton is densely vegetated with Pinus patula and Cuppressus lucitanica while Chemeron is sparsely vegetated with shrubs. The grouping and classification was based on habitat preferences of various bird species in Egerton Botanical Garden and Dry land Research Training and Ecotourism Centre in Chemeron has provided a variety of literature materials. Data was collected through line transect method covering 400metres at 100metres interval for five days in the mornings. Data was collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics and summarized in to species composition list for both sites. The summary was done by a spreadsheet e.g. Excel and it included information such as feeding guilds, common English and Scientific names, family and forest dependency habits. Analysis was used for a detailed discussion and conclusion of the species diversity and abundance of birds in the two study areas. The botanical garden is an ideal environment for studying birds since the birds are relaxed giving brilliant opportunities to study their beauty, behavior, physical appearance and feeding for certain species like the Olive thrush. The garden is therefore ideal for a bird viewing/watching park which will intern encourage tourism leading to job creation thus benefiting the institution and even the local community.

Effects of mating sex ratios on production performance in Indian peafowl were investigated at Punjab
Wildlife Research Institute, Gatwala Faisalabad. Research was conducted from May through August 2007 to
explore the most productive mating sex ratio. The sex ratios have a significant effect on egg production.
Maximum mean eggs (1.63) were produced by the sex ratio 1:2 while maximum egg fertility (79.63%) and
hatchability (61.59%) was noted in the sex ratio 1:3. Sex ratios had a significant effect on egg weight. Sex
ratios have shown no effect (except number of mountings) on courtship behavior of peafowl. Statistically less
feed was consumed by sex ratio 1:3 and better feed conversion was shown by sex ratio 1:1.

RESUMEN.

En los últimos años, los países del mundo entero y Guinea Ecuatorial se enfrentan al gran desafío del desarrollo sin hacer daño al medio natural. Este hecho no ha alejado a la isla de Bioko de esta realidad. Las aves, a pesar de ser unos de los animales más estudiados del mundo, existe muy poco conocimiento de las existentes en esta isla. Este trabajo fin de grado que tiene por título “Diversidad y abundancia de aves con respecto a una variación altitudinal a lo largo de la carretera de Luba-Ureca, isla de Bioko, Guinea Ecuatorial 2016-2017”, que tiene como objetivo general: determinar el efecto de la carretera de Luba-Ureca sobre la diversidad y abundancia de aves en tres vertientes altitudinales, y como objetivos específicos: Identificar las especies de aves que habitan en las tres vertientes altitudes a lo largo de la carretera, Comparar la riqueza y abundancia de aves entre el bosque colindante a la carretera y el interior de la selva en tres elevaciones e Identificar especies indicadoras en cada gradiente altitudinal, para conocer el grado de afectación de la carretera sobre las aves. La recogida de datos se llevó a cabo a lo largo de la carretera de Luba-Ureca en tres gradientes altitudinales durante dos temporadas. Para la captura de las aves se utilizaron las técnicas y pasos descritos por Bub, (1991), De Beer et al, (2001) y North American Banding council, (2003) con las que se pudieron capturar 570 individuos de 18 familias. La composición y riqueza de la comunidad aviar fue muy consistente en las tres elevaciones, con algunas variaciones de captura de especies en el interior del bosque comparado con la carretera. Los cambios estacionales fueron notorios en ambas temporadas, debido a que en la primera temporada hubo una buena presencia de frugívoros, siendo así que, en la segunda temporada, el tratamiento muestra una proporción promedio superior de nectarívoros, convirtiendo así a la temporada en un predictor significativo de riqueza proporcional con una interacción de los frugívoros y nectarívoros (frugívoros: χ21 = 5.51, p = 0.02; seguidoras de hormigas: χ21 = 4.38, p = 0.04). La prueba multivariada realizada basada en la abundancia mostró que las comunidades de especies, incluidas todas las especies, diferían significativamente en el gradiente altitudinal (desviación2 = 239, p = 0.001). El efecto de la elevación sobre la abundancia relativa de las especies no dependió del tratamiento. Con el análisis multinivel, en el que se incluyeron todas las especies, se pudieron identificar especies indicadoras en cada elevación. Todavía no se está viendo ningún efecto de la carretera sobre la población de las aves, aunque factores como la caza furtiva, la contaminación acústica por la circulación de vehículos, pueden ser los elementos en los que enfocar para los futuros estudios.

Avian diversity is used to assess the functionality of diverse types of habitats around Salt Lake Djendli, Northeast Algeria. The landscape is stratified into five habitat types in a gradient from wetland to forested mountains. Bird species found in these habitats can be classified into four ecological groups with decreasing degrees of aquatic specialisation and increasing forest specialisation. For each surveyed species, five ecological status were assigned. Overall, there was lower species richness in urban areas compared to other “natural” habitats. Birds have a biogeographical affinity to the western Palaearctic according to the dominant faunal types. Interactions of ecological status with phenological traits reveal that water birds are different from non-aquatic species because most of them are migrants. Moreover, overall, there is no worrying conservation status for surveyed birds. Bird diet is dependent on the ecological status that differentiate bird groups from each other due to differences in the food resources of the habitats they frequent. Phenological categories tend to link together birds of urban and open-lands. These two groups are affected by seasonal human activities. Our findings emphasise the importance of using combinations within the birds’ ecological status, which would give information on the actual state of avifauna. This approach is relevant for future programmes and conservation actions.

Present study was conducted in October 2015 to October 2016 to explore the mammalian fauna of Mahaban
and Malka valley of district Buner, KP. The study area was divided into six different localities namely,
Shahkot, Shalhodabuna, Sharra, Hanjar, Hkar gata and Muhammad Baig. During this study 10 different
species belonging to 9 families, 5 orders and 10 genera of mammalswere identified. The reported species
are Naemorhedus goral, Panthera pardus, Sus scrofa, Lepus nigricollis, Macaca mulatta, Canis aureus,
Vulpes vulpes, Myotis myotis, Herpestes edwardsii and Hystrix indica. During the research jackals and fox
species were dominant in the area. It is concluded from this study that threats like deforestation, habitat
destruction, illegal and over hunting, urbanization and deforestation are possible factors of extinction
formammalian fauna in district Buner. The responsible authorities are requested to take action against
such problems to ensure the safety of mammalian fauna of Malka and Mahaban valley district Buner.

We studied variations in the size of breeding colonies and in breeding performance of White Storks Ciconia ciconia in 2006–2008 in north-east Algeria. Each colony site was characterized using 12 environmental variables describing the physical environment, land-cover categories, and human activities, and by three demographic parameters: the number of breeding pairs, the number of pairs with chicks, and the number of fledged chicks per pair. Generalized linear mixed models and the self-organizing map algorithm (SOM, neural network) were used to investigate effects of biotic, abiotic, and anthropogenic factors on demographic parameters and on their relationships. Numbers of breeding pairs and of pairs with chicks were affected by the same environmental factors, mainly anthropogenic, which differed from those affecting the number of fledged chicks per pair. Numbers of fledged chicks per pair was not affected by colony size or by the number of nests with chicks. The categorization of the environmental variables into natural and anthropogenic, in connection with demographic parameters, was relevant to detect factors explaining variation in colony size and breeding parameters. The SOM proved a relevant tool to help determine actual dynamics in White Stork colonies, and thus to support effective conservation decisions at a regional scale.