The Sociedad Ornitológica Puertorriqueña (SOPI, BirdLife in Puerto Rico) has signed an agreement with Cafiesencia, a local NGO, to collaborate in promoting economic sustainability and biodiversity conservation through the production of "Ecological Shade-grown Coffee" in the Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) of Maricao and Susua in Puerto Rico.

Maricao and Susua IBA is home to the globally threatened Puerto Rican Nightjar (Caprimulgus noctitherus) and Elfin-woods Warbler (Setophaga angelae). It also supports populations of many Neotropical migratory birds, and 18 restricted-range species including the Puerto Rican Tody (Todus mexicanus), which is the charismatic species featured on the branding of coffee being produced by participating farmers. The IBA is also recognized as a Key Biodiversity Area in recognition of its importance for plants, bats, reptiles and amphibians.

The Shade-grown Coffee Round Table is made up of representatives from national and federal government, NGOs and farmers, and is developing the criteria for certification of the ecological shade-grown coffee. They have identified a niche for an organization with expertise in bird conservation and agri-tourism to develop workshops for farmers, establish bird monitoring plots and train farmers in birdwatching. With this niche in mind, Cafiesencia, the leading NGO of the Round Table, has invited SOPI to participate in this initiative and start by establishing of bird monitoring plots. By signing this agreement, both organizations will work with coffee-farming communities to implement best practices that benefit birds, the forests and people. "It is important to maintain agriculture and conservation in harmony as they will both benefit each other in the long term," said Lisette Fas, Executive Director of Cafiescencia.

SOPI is supporting the production and marketing of this shade-grown coffee as it represents an important means of conserving birds (through the maintenance of the shade-providing canopy trees) and securing a premium price, thereby improving the livelihoods of the farmers. Ela M. Cruz, SOPI's Executive Director, said: "If the recommended best practices are adopted by the farmers, these farms will provide excellent buffer zones and wildlife corridors to the adjacent protected areas, and protect an important watershed. In return, the biodiversity — including the birds — will provide pest control and pollination services, and the coffee that is produced will command a premium price." In parallel to working on best practices, SOPI will also promote birding in these farms as an additional income-generating activity which will reinforce this production system as a win-win for both the farmers and biodiversity.

For more information about SOPI's conservation work, please visit their website atwww.avesdepuertorico.org.

It is a question people have pondered for centuries: how do migrating birds
navigate between breeding and wintering grounds? Do they have some genetic GPS
to steer them along time-honoured routes, or do they learn the way from parents
or elders in migrating flocks? New research shows that, in the case of the
endangered Whooping Crane of North America, the birds do learn routes from older and more experienced companions — and all of them become better at navigating with age and experience.

University of Maryland ecologist Thomas Mueller and colleagues took advantage
of eight years of detailed migration data compiled on birds bred in captivity
and released in Wisconsin's Necedah National Wildlife Refuge for a journey to
their Florida breeding grounds. Flying groups that include a migration-savvy
seven-year-old crane veer off course 38% less often than groups in which the
oldest birds are only a year old, according to an eight-year study of Whooping
Crane migration between Wisconsin and Florida. On average, the one-year-olds
that don't follow older birds veer off the flight path by 60 miles (97km). But
the cranes' migration ability improves steadily with age, the study shows.
Groups with even one of these older birds deviate less than 40 miles (64km), on
average, from the most efficient route.

 Other likely variables for navigation success, including gender and the size
of flying groups, appeared to make no difference in the results. Mueller, a
co-author of the study, and his team theorized that the older birds recognize
landmarks better and may also know how best to cope with bad weather — two
skills they apparently pass on to the young birds that follow their lead. "As
the oldest bird in the flying group gets older, it seems that there's dramatic
improvement in its migratory efficiency for about the first five years," Mueller
said. "There is a very big difference if the oldest bird in a flying group is
one or two years old or if it's five or six or seven years old. A bird can be
pretty young and still have great success," he added, "as long as it flies with
a bird that is pretty old."

What's new?
Previous studies have suggested that learning plays some role among migrating
species. However, as Mueller cited, what is new here is that learning takes
place over a number of years and the older birds are crucial to the development
of the younger birds. Mueller explained: "That was difficult to look at before
because the data simply didn't exist. Usually tracking data on animals lasts for
a year or two years if you're lucky."

As part of unprecedented efforts to save and reintroduce the species,
scientists collected data to gauge the success of breeding, training, and the
birds' subsequent 1,300-mile (2,100km) migration. Individual birds were
identified and tracked with satellite transmitters, radiotelemetry, and human
observers. "Usually you don't even know if a bird is two or three or four years
old," Mueller continued. "There are lots of [previous] comparisons between
juveniles and adults, but here we had the full progression of many years as well
as the information of how old the birds were, how they were related to one
another, and exactly where and when they migrated."

What does this mean?
The Whooping Crane research is important new evidence showing how bird
migration is, at least in part, a learned skill. But it won't put to rest the
long-running debate on the respective roles played by genetics and social
learning.

 In fact, Mueller said, the study suggests an interesting combination of
genetics and learned behaviour at work. It begins when the time comes for the
cranes' first autumn flight to their southern wintering grounds and the
captive-bred animals are actually guided by humans who fly ultralight aircraft
all the way to Florida. "If you think about even that initial migration, it
needs to be at least somewhat learned," he explained. "They may have a natural
tendency to migrate in the fall, but we don't think many would get anywhere
where they could survive without some training."

 But genetics do begin to play a more easily visible role on the return trip,
he added. "Then after they've been shown the route once, in the spring they know
it's time to initiate a return and there's a genetic component in play there.
Because nobody has showed them this, so it's genetics combined with the learned
knowledge from the trip south in the fall."

 What's next?
Co-author Sarah Converse, a research scientist with the U.S. Geological
Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, has worked extensively with the
Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, which runs the eastern migratory population
reintroduction program. She said: "Our results suggest that an effort to restore
Whooping Crane populations isn't just an effort to restore a biological
population, but also an effort to restore a culture, where knowledge is
transmitted across generations via learning, rather than genetics."

 "We can imagine that the low breeding success that we are currently
struggling with in this reintroduced population might actually improve over
time, with increased experience and learning of appropriate breeding behaviours.
For example, maybe chicks learn from their parents how to themselves be
successful parents. Overall, these results suggest that patience may well be
important if we hope to restore migratory Whooping Cranes to eastern North
America."

Critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper fledglings have increased
in number by a quarter in 2013, after conservationists intervened to hand-rear
chicks. As few as 100 breeding pairs remain in the wild, rearing just 60 young
between them each year on average. The 16 additional hand-reared young from this
year are a significant boost for the species, which is on the verge of
extinction.

WWT Conservation Breeding Officer Roland Digby commented: "The breeding
season in Russia is short and brutal for Spoon-billed Sandpipers. Each pair is
lucky to get even a single chick as far as fledging. Normally, that's life, but
right now the Spoon-billed Sandpiper needs a lifeline to keep them from going
under."

 Experts from the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust worked with Russian scientists
to source eggs from breeding pairs soon after being laid. Taking the eggs
prompted each breeding pair to lay a further clutch, which they were left to
rear themselves. One pair produced a total of six fledglings this year — no less
than ten times the average.

The tiny fledglings now face their first 8,000-kilometre migration to Myanmar
and Bangladesh. Along the way they will struggle to find undeveloped coastal
mudflats to rest and feed, and on arrival they risk being trapped in nets.
Birdwatchers in Asia are being asked to report any sightings of Spoon-billed
Sandpipers. All hand-reared birds have a tiny coloured flag attached to one
leg.

 Intervening to increase breeding productivity in wildlife like this is known
as headstarting. It is a short-term strategy and Tim Stowe, RSPB Director of
International Operations, said: "Having been part of an expedition to look for
additional Spoon-billed Sandpiper breeding sites, I can appreciate that giving
these amazing birds a helping hand through headstarting will help deliver
short-term conservation benefits."

Conservationists are tackling the problems of illegal trapping and habitat
loss along the species' flyway. It is calculated that headstarting Spoon-billed
Sandpipers will increase the number returning to breed as problems are
addressed, allowing the population to stabilise and recover more quickly.

For a fuller account of the expedition to Chukotka and for details of how to
support Spoon-billed Sandpiper conservation, visit www.saving-spoon-billed-sandpiper.com.

awesome website displaying some of the most innovative (and crazy) of our nesting birds! Click here

Twenty critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper chicks have hatched under expert care in the Russian Far East. Conservationists took the eggs from the wild, in order to protect them from extreme weather and predators. The first hatched early last Wednesday morning and they continued until the last hatched on Sunday evening.

Numbers of Spoon-billed Sandpipers have plummeted in recent years because of the destruction of wetland habitats and the effects of illegal trapping along their migration route. While tackling these problems, conservationists are boosting the productivity of the remaining breeding pairs by taking eggs from the wild, hatching and rearing them in captivity and releasing them once they have fledged. WWT Head of Species Conservation Dr Baz Hughes said: "This is conservation at the edge; it's risky work, in difficult conditions, but my colleagues have proved yet again how incredibly experienced they are at rearing endangered birds. Breeding season is brief and brutal for Spoon-billed Sandpipers in the wild, but by intervening like this we can help rear five times as many young and help the population stabilise. But it's expensive to work in the remote Russian Far East and it's only possible due to the financial support we've raised for this charismatic bird."

RSPB's Head of International Species Recovery Team Dr Rob Sheldon added: "This delightful and engaging bird has been brought to the edge of extinction by rampant habitat loss and severe hunting pressure, which are now being recognised and tackled. The conservation breeding programme is but one part of an international effort to save Spoon-billed Sandpipers. Head-starting is an innovative additional technique that gives the population a helping hand at this critical stage in our attempts to prevent their extinction."

Chief Executive of Birds Russia Dr Evgeny Syroechkovskiy commented: "We have come so close to losing the Spoon-billed Sandpiper. Each of these twenty chicks represents a bit more hope for the future of the species. I am very proud of the hard work by our team of fieldworkers, aviculturists and researchers."

Jean-Christophe Vié, Director SOS — Save Our Species, said: "At SOS we are delighted to support this project and its innovative conservation methods. The head-starting programme had already delivered meaningful results in 2012 and the news of this additional batch of hatchlings in Chukotka fortifies hope for the Spoon-billed Sandpiper's future. It is rewarding news not just for the experienced team out there but for all the unsung heroes who strive — often in remote corners of the world — to save our threatened species."

Foxes, skuas and feral dogs take eggs and chicks from the ground-nesting birds, and sudden changes in the weather can be fatal. Studies show that on average each pair lays four eggs per year but raises less than one chick. Artificial incubation and captive rearing increases that to more than three and, by taking eggs within days of them being laid, the birds naturally start again with a second clutch that they incubate and raise themselves. The approach, known as head-starting, is a short-term tactic. It increases the number of birds approaching breeding age as conservationists tackle the problems of illegal trapping and habitat loss, hopefully enabling the species to stabilise and recover more quickly.

The team is blogging about their progress at www.saving-spoon-billed-sandpiper.com.

follow this link! It is awesome! Who does not want this little guy for their disco! ;)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8027379.stm

And who says birds aren't musical???