The RSPB is warning that some of Scotland’s globally important seabird colonies could become extinct if the Scottish government does not act quickly.

Species like Common Guillemot, Razorbill and Puffin are struggling to cope with increasing challenges including lack of food and the effects of climate change, leaving Scotland’s once bustling 'seabird cities' in danger of failing entirely. The RSPB's warning comes after end-of-season counts at its coastal reserves revealed that these species are continuing to experience severe long-term declines. Recent reports that numbers had stabilised now appear to have been premature.

Recent counts carried out at Noup Cliffs RSPB, Orkney, reveal a 41 per cent fall in numbers of Common Guillemot since the last census in 2000. Dunnet Head RSPB on the Caithness coast saw a decline of around 45 per cent, from 8,980 to just 4,880 birds, since 2000, while Common Guillemots on Ailsa Craig RSPB in the Firth of Clyde have suffered a decline of over 27 per cent.

The charity is calling on the Scottish government to urgently designate Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) for the country’s seabird populations. To date, only Black Guillemot is listed in government proposals, leaving species like Common Guillemot, Kittiwake, Arctic Skua and Razorbill unprotected at sea. In contrast with its close cousin, Black Guillemot appears to be doing well, with colony counts in the northern isles in particular showing good productivity. Extensions of protected areas around the colonies feeding grounds in 2009 would seem to have been nowhere near enough.

Allan Whyte, Marine Policy Officer at RSPB Scotland, said: “Scotland is home to 24 species of breeding seabird and it is baffling that the Scottish government chooses to ignore all but one when designating MPAs. Puffin, Kittiwake, Common Guillemot and the rest are struggling to survive in these tough times. The Scottish government must throw these birds a lifeline and designate MPAs to protect this amazing group of species. It is time we take action to give all of our seabirds a fighting chance.”

An impressive 2,000 Saker chicks have hatched in 2013 as a result of an artificial nesting programme in Mongolia. The project, which is run in partnership by the Environment Agency — Abu Dhabi (EAD) and Mongolia's Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism, was launched in 2010 with the aim of increasing the wild Saker population.

In 2010, EAD — on behalf of the United Arab Emirates government — signed an agreement with the government of Mongolia to build 5,000 artificial nests in the Mongolian steppes to encourage breeding among the species and increase the world's population of Sakers. EAD reported that 3,700 chicks have been born since the project was first launched.

Several of the artificial nests have been fitted with cameras that record continuously, allowing officials to record the falcons' eating habits and predator threats. This year, the project has also been extended to address the problem of Sakers being electrocuted by power lines — a major cause of falcon mortality in Mongolia and China, which kills one falcon each week. Officials took a number of steps to address this issue, including adding insulation covers to the power lines.

This project has been instigated partly in response to the last 20 years when the United Arab Emirates has been the main destination for thousands of falcons caught and sold illegally for hefty sums on the black market. Kazakhstan is estimated to lose up to 1,000 Sakers per year to Middle Eastern falconers.

H.E Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Secretary General of EAD, commented on the project's progress: "This initiative was introduced to promote sustainable breeding practices and to provide birds with safe and secure breeding environments in a bid to boost global population numbers. I am happy to report that, in addition to the success we have seen with the breeding, we have also built up the capabilities of local biologists and have incorporated an educational programme in schools in Mongolia as well as two schools in Abu Dhabi, in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Education Council."

More information can be found on the Middle East Falcon Research Group website.

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."

For first time since Middle Ages, Common Cranes have raised young in Scotland, on a farm whose precise location has been withheld.

The striking wading birds have successfully raised two chicks within the last two years in North-East Scotland, said the RSPB, indicating conditions could be right for the species to recolonise Scotland.

Small but increasing numbers of the migratory birds, which spend summer in northern Europe and winter in southern France and Spain, have passed through Britain in recent years and a small breeding population became established in Norfolk in 1979, with further breeding in Suffolk. However, these are the first confirmed successful nests north of the border for hundreds of years.

Common Crane once bred regularly in Scotland but died out about 400 years ago, primarily due to being hunted for mediaeval  tables. Habitat loss and a slow reproductive cycle may have also contributed to the species' disappearance.

The species, which favours large wetland areas such as lowland peat bogs with an abundance of pools, appears to be benefitting from farming methods in the area which provide plentiful invertebrates, grain and other foods, as well as the right conditions to breed and successfully raise chicks.

Stuart Housden, Director of RSPB Scotland said: “We are stunned and delighted to see that Common Cranes have bred successfully in Scotland. These charming, elegant birds have a strong place in our myths and history and are a delight to see, particularly during the breeding season with their 'dancing' displays. They undertake regular migrations and small numbers have turned up on the east coast of Scotland in recent years, raising hopes of a recolonisation. Last year a pair reared one chick, followed by a second chick in 2013.

“Thanks to the co-operation of farmers in the area, the conditions appear to be right for cranes to take up residence and it is possible that more will choose to re-establish themselves in the country in future.

“We have been working with local farmers, landowners and the community to monitor these fantastic birds. Despite their size and flamboyant breeding displays, cranes are secretive birds and are very sensitive to disturbance and  we ask that they be given space and peace so they may establish a breeding population in Scotland.”

To minimise risk of disturbance, the exact location of the nest site has not be revealed. The British breeding population stood at 17 pairs in 2011. In addition to natural re-colonisation, a re-introduction project began in 2010 on the Somerset Levels, the result of a partnership between RSPB, WWT, Pensthorpe Conservation Trust and Viridor Credits.

RSPB’s Loch of Strathbeg nature reserve, a major coastal wetland near Fraserburgh, is visited by cranes on spring migration and offers the best opportunity to see them doing their ‘dancing’ displays. 

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

Recent surveys on its coastal Patagonian wintering grounds indicate that the
Endangered Hooded Grebe Podiceps gallardoi has declined by 40% in
the last seven years and this, along with alarming new threats detected on its
breeding grounds during 2011, indicate action is now urgently required to
prevent the rapidly increasing threat of its extinction.

 In response to these worrying findings, Aves Argentinas (BirdLife in
Argentina) has mounted a wide-ranging offensive to protect this
highly-threatened migratory species from further decline. In support, we are
launching an international online appeal through the BirdLife Preventing
Extinctions Programme to help fund the urgently required conservation
action that they have already begun.

 Please click here to visit BirdLife International's 
appeal page and see a video of breeding Hooded Grebes filmed by our
conservation team last week.

  Discovered only as recently as 1974, Hooded Grebe has declined by as much as
80% in the last 30 years and as a result of surveys conducted in 2006 and 2009,
the species was uplisted by BirdLife to Endangered on the IUCN Red List in
May 2009. Recent counts on the wintering grounds last year, suggest the decline
is steepening further.

 “Our teams started to become really worried when we realised that
there was more than one cause to tackle if we were to conserve the Hooded
Grebe”, said Gustavo Costa, President of Aves Argentinas.

In many of the lakes in the grebe’s core distribution, exotic trout have been
introduced for industrial fish production. “Trout rearing has reached the most
isolated places, and this industry is threatening not only the future of the
grebe but also the rest of the wildlife present in those environments”,
Gustavo Costa added. Also evident are the increasing numbers of Kelp Gull
Larus dominicanus, a known predator of the grebe that has benefited
from both the fish industry and poor waste management at human settlements.

As if these problems were not already enough to push this struggling species
over the edge, a breeding colony which Aves Argentinas was studying at Laguna El
Cervecero, Santa Cruz Province in March 2011, was devastated by a sinister
and ferocious invasive pest that is now advancing in western Patagonia: the
American mink, Neovison vison. More than 30 breeding adult Hooded
Grebes were found killed by mink at this one site, and a further 40-plus eggs
were abandoned.

 “This was one of the saddest days in my life as a naturalist, but at least it
meant that we had discovered another reason for the Hooded Grebe’s decline – and a very frightening one at that – that could allow us to implement suitable
management actions in the field”, said Kini Roesler, a field biologist who is
doing his PhD on the species.

 As part of the immediate conservation action Aves Argentinas is coordinating,
a team of scientists and conservationists including staff from Aves Argentinas,
Ambiente Sur and CONICET are currently in the field attempting to prevent
predation at several known colonies this breeding season. Measures to
control mink and reduce predation by gulls are being prioritised and wherever
breeding populations are located, they plan to set up ’round the clock’ watches
to protect the nesting birds.

Climate change is also a major threat to this species and its habitat: anecdotal reports suggest that recent winter snowfall has been much reduced, without a corresponding increase in precipitation at other times. Many of the lakes surveyed last year were found to be dry or becoming clogged with silt as a result of the general desertification of the region, leading to changes in the composition of the water.  Water levels at known breeding sites were 2-3 m lower than in previous years.

 Recent investigations indicate that wind gusts have also significantly
increased in recent decades. Unseasonably strong winds have caused around
50% of all breeding attempts to fail in the last three years. At other
times this threat would be marginal; with adult mortality naturally very low,
the species may be adapted to survive a succession of poor breeding seasons.
But, with numbers now so reduced and still falling so rapidly, the loss of
entire breeding colonies to wind damage could have a much greater impact.

 A stark shadow was cast over Aves Argentinas’s findings when, in May 2010,
the Alaotra Grebe Tachybaptus rufolavatus of Madagascar was declared extinct. This was the third known grebe extinction since the last quarter of the 20th Century, after the Colombian Grebe Podiceps andinus and Atitlan Grebe
Podilymbus gigas, and followed news that the Critically Endangered Junín Grebe Podiceps taczanowskii, which already had a population of fewer than 250 individuals, had suffered a further population decline.

 “This is why we are developing an action plan for the Hooded Grebe, that
involves research, pest control and advocacy at every level”, said Dr. Andrés
Bosso, Director of Aves Argentinas’ International Co-operation Programme.
 An initial meeting to develop a species action plan took place at Aves
Argentinas’s headquarters, in July 2009, and brought together specialists from
Ambiente Sur, Aves Argentinas, and Fundacion Vida Silvestre Argentina who are
now working closely together.

 “We need to strengthen the protected areas system in the region”, Andrés
Bosso added. “Eight Important Bird Areas (IBAs) contain the species, but only
one is fully protected.” Laguna Los Escarchados, the site where Hooded Grebe was
discovered in 1974, was declared a reserve in 1979, but is now known to
only hold a marginal population. Key breeding lakes in the core of the
grebe’s range lack any kind of legal protection, though the population
stronghold on Meseta de Strobel is still afforded some protection by its
remoteness and inaccessibility.

Aves Argentinas has been appointed official BirdLife Species Guardian for Hooded Grebe and is seeking funding for a range of urgent actions that are already in progress to  ensure the survival of the species. These include implementation of summer and  winter surveys and predator control in 2012, 2013 and 2014, embracing the  entirety of the Buenos Aires, Asador, Las Vizcachas, Viedma, Cardiel and Strobel  plateaus, the Coyle and Gallegos estuaries, and any of the plateaus reachable in  winter. Surveys are also now being carried out on previously unsearched plateaus.

 A number of local conservation agents are also being assigned to the
species’ breeding and wintering grounds to execute a monitoring plan and
implement the needed conservation measures.

 The programme to eradicate mink, control Kelp Gull numbers on the breeding
grounds, and help protect breeding sites from strong winds has already begun in
earnest. Farm-workers will be encouraged to become local “Hooded
Grebe Guardians”, monitoring the presence or absence of the birds, and give
Aves Argentinas early warnings of potential new threats to the species.
Conservationists are also seeking agreements with landowners on the plateaus to
purchase and/or protect their properties as private reserves.

 Ringing/banding and satellite tracking will be used to improve knowledge of
the birds’ movements, and determine where juvenile Hooded Grebes spend the
winter.

 A national campaign to raise awareness of the Hooded Grebe and its
predicament among the Argentinian public is also planned, with an additional
goal of having the bird declared an official National Monument. A team from
Aves Argentinas is currently in the field overseeing the filming of a Hooded
Grebe documentary which will be used in this campaign. This production is
being supported by the Argentine Ministry of Tourism.

 There is clearly much to be done if the fortunes of the remarkable Hooded
Grebe are to be turned around. A robust plan is in place and work has already
begun but significant funding is now urgently required to deliver this ambitious
project and achieve long-term success.

 Every little helps and every one can join in. If you would like to help save
the magnificent Hooded Grebe from slipping away, within just four decades of its
original discovery, please click here to make a donation online
today.

Following a near miss at its international airport, Marseille authorities gave the go-ahead to destroy a flock of Little Bustards.

On 25 June, the prefect of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) region, authorized the shooting of up to 50 Little Bustards at Marseille Provence Airport because of the risk to aviation safety. This decision followed the narrow avoidance of what was considered a potentially serious accident on May 31 involving an Airbus A320. A large flock of the bustards was then present on the site.

Little Bustard is listed as Near Threatened by BirdLife International due to a decline in its global population, resulting from the loss of natural dry grassland and traditional low-intensity cultivation in favour of intensive arable farming. The large, open grassy spaces of airports are consequently potentially attractive to bustards, and Marseilles Provence Airport is already known as a productive site for them.

In response to this decision, the LPO (BirdLife partner in France) sent a letter to the state representative to find a quick solution to the potential bird-strike problem, without destroying any more individuals of a declining bird that is the subject of a conservation National Action Plan in France. The LPO consider the destruction of the birds to have been illegal, as the species is protected under French and EU law.

The LPO also organised a meeting on 27 June to discuss the framework of the Little Bustard National Action Plan, bringing together governmental bodies and regional coordinators for PACA and the adjacent Languedoc-Roussillon region. At this meeting, LPO proposed a short- and medium-term action plan to prevent radical solutions like the shooting of the birds from happening again.

Allain Bougrain Dubourg, President of LPO, met the Secretary General of the Prefecture of the Bouches-du-Rhône, who ensured the immediate suspension of the shooting. Thirty-eight bustards were, however, already killed in those few days, even though they were in the process of breeding. Following another meeting on Tuesday, 2 July 2013, the Secretary General confirmed the repeal of the decree.

LPO has stated that it applauds this decision, but will remain vigilant on the status of Little Bustards at southern French airports. In the meantime, it will lead a working group under the NAP, in conjunction with all parties concerned to prevention risk to aviation safety.

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.

A pioneering project on Scottish lochs to create nesting rafts for one of Scotland’s rarest birds has met with remarkable success.

The Black-throated Diver, a species that only breeds in freshwater lochs in the north-west of the country, is benefiting from the scheme to create floating rafts that provide the necessary conditions for it to nest and raise chicks.

Although graceful in the water, it’s a different story for the bird on land. Black-throated Divers have to nest close to the water’s edge as their legs are set so far back on their bodies that they are very poor at walking, and shuffle around on their bellies instead. This makes the birds highly susceptible to changes in water level, often on lochs used to generate hydro-electric power. If water levels are too high, the nests are prone to flooding, and if too low, adult birds are unable to reach their nests when returning from feeding. 

Conservationists devised the unique system of tethered floating rafts covered in vegetation to provide stable breeding habitat and have partnered with landowners to implement them throughout the region. 
The efforts appear to be working. Since the introduction of the raft programme in the late 1980s, the Black-throated Diver breeding population has gradually risen from a low of 180 pairs to 240 pairs in 2012.

Stuart Benn, RSPB Scotland Conservation Manager, said: “Black-throated Divers are arguably the most stunning of British birds: a gorgeous, sleek combination of black, grey and white, with never a feather out of place. It's fantastic to see these charming birds successfully breeding on our lochs. This is a great example of how, through simple measures we can have a huge impact on the success of a struggling species. Thanks to our partnership with landowners, we are able to provide a safe haven for these birds and the conditions they need to thrive."