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January 24, 2007
Don't can albatross populations
As representatives from the five commissions controlling global tuna fishing meet for the first time to discuss the future of tuna stocks, the RSPB and BirdLife International have warned that the outlook for most of the world's albatrosses also rest with these bodies.
Dr Cleo Small, of BirdLife International, is attending this week's meeting in Kobe, Japan. She said: "Nineteen of the world's 21 species of albatross are threatened with extinction and bycatch from longline fisheries, including those for tuna and swordfish, is the principal threat. Coordinated action by the tuna commissions is critical to the survival of many albatrosses, as well as other vulnerable species including turtles, sharks and, of course, tuna and swordfish stocks.
Black-browed Albatross, copyright Steve Huggins
"Failure by the tuna commissions to resolve overfishing and bycatch issues will not only leave tuna 'canned', but many other species, including albatrosses, will be 'canned' too."
Seabird bycatch is a solvable problem. Bycatch can be reduced dramatically by using a combination of simple techniques such as streamer lines towed behind a vessel, setting lines at night when birds are less active, or adding weights to lines so they rapidly sink beyond the reach of foraging birds.
Dr Cleo Small added: "By acting together to address bycatch issues, the tuna commissions can share knowledge and spread the cost of development of these bycatch mitigation measures."
The first meeting of the world’s five tuna commissions will seek ways to reduce the over-fishing and illegal fishing that threatens many valuable tuna and swordfish stocks around the world.
BirdLife International hopes that this meeting will develop systems for sharing knowledge and research on measures to reduce bycatch, and establish global systems for monitoring data on catch of target and non-target species through on-board observer programmes.
In 2000 BirdLife International launched the Save the Albatross campaign to ensure the survival of albatrosses threatened with global extinction because of longline fishing.
As part of the campaign, the RSPB and BirdLife are running the Albatross Task Force, a practical project to reduce the number of seabirds killed on longline hooks. Specially-trained task force members are working as sea helping fishermen to adopt simple and proven measures, such as flying streamer lines adjacent to the longlines to prevent birds becoming accidentally hooked.
For further information on the campaign visit www.savethealbatross.net
Posted by Surfbirds at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)
Oiled seabird numbers continue to grow in Lyme Bay
The RSPB has raised fears that the effects of oil spilled by the MSC Napoli could hit seabirds that breed in Lyme Bay.
There have been reports of hundreds of oiled birds, most of which are guillemots, washing up along Chesil Beach and at Portland Bill in Dorset. Guillemots have recently returned to cliff ledges on Portland where they nest.
The RSPB's South West seabird specialist, Helen Booker said: “Guillemots start congregating at their breeding sites at this time of year and if birds that breed here are among those oiled then this could have a dramatic effect on the colony.â€
Guillemot, Norfolk September 2006 copyright Peter Beesley
Portland Bill has one of the largest guillemot colonies on the south coast, with several hundred birds congregating on the cliffs there each summer.
The RSPCA is leading the operation to recover and clean up oiled birds on the Dorset coast, but staff from the RSPB’s Weymouth nature reserves are also lending a hand.
RSPB regional policy officer Mark Robins said: “Once again, birds and other wildlife suffer while we wait for progress towards the proper protection the natural environment deserves.
“There’s just got to be better approaches to shipping management. More than 10 years on from the 1994 Lord Donaldson Enquiry following the Braer disaster and we’re still waiting for those ‘Safer Ships, Cleaner Seas’â€.
The RSPB’s South West Regional Office plans to mobilise a team of volunteers to monitor beaches east of Branscombe in Devon, where the Napoli beached, to determine the effects of the oil spill outside of the worst hit Dorset beaches.
The conservation charity is particularly concerned about how the oil will affect birds in Lyme Bay which is recognised for its wide diversity of marine wildlife and fisheries.
Helen Booker added: “The area is used regularly by seabirds in winter, including concentrations of guillemots, razorbills and common scoter, a type of sea duck which is often a major casualty of pollution incidents.
“It appears that a relatively small amount of oil has leaked into the sea off Devon and Dorset, but given the birds affected so far, our concern now is whether there is more to come.â€
As well as oiled birds washed up on shore, there may also be a risk to birds out at sea. Experts say that, depending on weather conditions, anywhere between three and ten times as many birds die at sea than are washed up on the shore.
Posted by Surfbirds at 10:37 PM | Comments (0)
New Coffee Helps Rare Songbird
American Bird Conservancy Launches Shade Grown Coffee to Protect Cerulean Warblers
(Washington, D.C. January 22) American Bird Conservancy (ABC) is pleased to announce that Cerulean Warbler Conservation Coffee is now available for sale to the public. Cerulean Warbler Conservation Coffee is shade grown coffee from plantations in Central Colombia that the Cerulean Warbler - a declining songbird that nests in North America - depends on during the winter. Proceeds from the coffee sales will be used to maintain the shade plantations and an adjacent Cerulean Warbler forest reserve.
“By purchasing this premium coffee today, you are helping traditional coffee cooperatives maintain shade plantations, and preserving habitat for the Cerulean Warbler and other migratory songbirds,†said George Fenwick, President of American Bird Conservancy.
Shade grown coffee plantations are at risk of being converted to sun coffee and other cash crops, resulting in a loss of forest cover and bird habitat. The loss of these plantations is cited as a reason for the bird’s decline.
“This is the best Colombian coffee I have tasted, and I have been roasting coffee since 1969,â€said Paul Katzeff, roastmaster for Thanksgiving Coffee. “The flavor is deeply blessed with heavy body, silky smooth notes of cashew and apricot, and has a long fruity finish. If you like coffee ice cream, you will love this classic Colombian coffee.â€
ABC has teamed up with its Colombian partner, Fundacion ProAves, local growers’ cooperative COOPERAN, American Birding Association, and the Thanksgiving Coffee Company to bring this high-quality, shade grown and organic coffee to market. Cerulean Warbler Conservation Coffee can be ordered from www.abcbirds.org or by calling 800-648-6491.
“We at ABA have long been involved in the shade grown coffee market with Thanksgiving Coffee and are pleased to now have the opportunity to also work with ABC, Fundacion ProAves, and COOPERAN in a meaningful effort to protect Cerulean Warbler and other songbird habitat in Colombia. Maintaining shade plantations and the forest reserve may be our last real chance to reverse the negative population trends among these birds,†said Richard Payne, President of the American Birding Association.
“The Cerulean Warbler is North America’s fastest declining neotropical migratory songbird - loss and fragmentation of its wintering habitat is a major reason why its population is down 80% since 1966,†said Fenwick. “ABC is working to reverse this trend by bringing shade grown coffee benefiting birds and local communities to market and by raising funds to conserve the warbler across its range.â€
Posted by Surfbirds at 06:46 AM | Comments (0)
January 21, 2007
Recently Discovered Species Gain Protection
New Forest Reserve Created for Colombian Rarities
Washington, D.C. (Jan. 18, 2007) – The chestnut-capped piha is an unassuming robin-sized bird restricted to a few tiny remnant forest patches in the Antioquia Department of Colombia, in the Central Cordillera of the Andes. It is so restricted in its distribution that it evaded discovery until 1999, and has been identified by the Alliance for Zero Extinction as a priority conservation species (see www.zeroextinction.org).
Cerulean Warbler will gain from protection
© Aaron Boone from Surfbirds galleries
Affectionately called Arrierito Antioqueño or “little herdsman of Antioquia†by the locals for its call, reminiscent of the whistles made by horsemen herding cattle, this Endangered species hangs on in an area devastated by gold mining in the early 20th Century and subsequently by broad scale deforestation for pasturelands. Only 370 acres of the bird’s habitat previously had been in any way protected, but even this limited sanctuary is at risk from timber extraction clearing the last subtropical forest fragments surrounding it.
Now, support from the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and partners has allowed for the purchase of further habitat area in a crucial move to protect the chestnut-capped piha and other Endangered species.
“Thanks to the generous support of Conservation International, the IUCN/SSC Amphibian Specialist Group, Robert Wilson, and Robert Giles, ABC has funded the purchase of an additional 1,310 acres, to be owned and managed by Colombian partner Fundación ProAves,†said George Fenwick, the ABC president.
The reserve is also critically important for globally threatened frog species, whose last remaining habitat is diminishing rapidly within the Central Cordillera. Seven vulnerable and four endangered frog species occur within the new reserve, as do five additional species so new to science that they are still awaiting formal descriptions. At least one of these species is believed to be found only at this site, known as La Forzosa, and belongs to one of the most globally threatened amphibian groups, the harlequin toads.
In addition to the piha, the reserve also contains populations of many other rare and restricted birds, including the black tinamou (known from one other site in southern Colombia, and one in central Peru), sharpbill, Stiles’ tapaculo, Parker’s antbird, semi-collared hawk, red-bellied grackle, multicolored tanager, black-and-gold tanager, and a wintering population of the rapidly declining cerulean warbler – a migratory songbird that nests in North America.
“The area is such a remarkable center of micro-endemism that scientists believe more species may be there waiting to be discovered,†said Claude Gascon of Conservation International, who is co-chair of the IUCN/SSC Amphibian Specialist Group. “The new Arrierito Antioqueño Bird Reserve will ensure that the piha, its habitat, and the astonishing biodiversity contained there are better protected and can thrive into the future.â€
Posted by Surfbirds at 12:51 AM | Comments (0)
VICTORY FOR BIRDS AND WILDLIFE
EPA to Put Limits on Toxic Rat Poisons
(Washington, D.C., January 17, 2007) In a decision applauded by conservationists, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today published in the Federal Register its proposed mitigation plan for rat poisons that should greatly reduce accidental poisonings of birds and other wildlife. Specifically, EPA will make three of the nine rodenticides restricted use pesticides, which means only certified pesticide applicators can use the chemicals and all over-the-counter sales of the non-restricted rodenticides will now have to be in tamper resistant bait stations.
San Joaquin Kit Fox Vulpes macrotis mutica will benefit
© Philip Precey from Surfbirds galleries
“This is an important victory for birds like eagles and hawks,†said Dr. Michael Fry, Director of American Bird Conservancy’s (ABC) Pesticides and Birds Program. “Over the years thousands of birds of prey, including Golden and Bald Eagles, have been killed as a result of eating dead or dying rodents that have been carelessly poisoned. The new regulations will limit the indiscriminate use of these highly toxic chemicals, and the tamper resistant bait stations will also help prevent up to 15,000 poisonings of children each year.â€
ABC, Defenders of Wildlife, the National Pesticides Reform Coalition and other conservation groups have been pressuring the EPA for years to address the threats to wildlife and human health. In 1998, the EPA initiated a special review that has led to today’s mitigation plan.
The three highly toxic pesticides that will no longer be available over the counter are brodifacoum, bromodialone, and difethialone, which have the greatest potential for poisoning wild birds and scavenging mammals as a result of eating poisoned rodents. These will become “restricted use only†and will be available only to certified pest control operators.
“The proposed EPA restrictions will significantly benefit several endangered species including the San Joaquin kit fox, and other wildlife species such as mountain lions and bobcats, each of which have been found poisoned by these chemicals in both suburban and rural areas,†said Caroline Kennedy, Senior Director of Field Conservation for Defenders of Wildlife.
There will be a 60-day comment period on the mitigation plan, followed by a review of comments, and then a rule. The federal register notice is available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/E7-351.pdf
Posted by Surfbirds at 12:47 AM | Comments (0)
January 06, 2007
Paul Coopmans Passes Away
Announcement from Birdquest Regarding Paul Coopmans – 5th January 2007
It is with great sadness and regret that we must inform you of the tragic and untimely death of Paul Coopmans, who died on the night of the 1st of January following a brave battle with cancer. Paul moved to the Galapagos after graduating from Zoology in Antwerp, Belgium, and, having been awe-struck by the biodiversity of Ecuador, set up home in Quito, where in recent years he lived with his wife Syama and son Nicolas. He then very rapidly became an authority on the birds of Ecuador, and soon gained an unsurpassed knowledge of bird vocalizations there. He spread his wings further, travelling extensively in much of the Neotropics, and soon became a respected authority in much of the region. Paul’s almost superhuman ability to hear and recognize bird vocalizations was not only envied amongst his fellow birders, but also led to the discovery of at least two new species to science. Paul put his enormous talents to good use. He was a major contributor to the groundbreaking Birds of Ecuador fieldguide, co-published many CDs of Ecuadorian bird sounds, and led more than 70 tours for Birdquest to many parts of the Neotropics, where he was able to share his knowledge and humour with countless other birders. Paul will be sorely missed by all of us that ever knew him. Our thoughts at this time are with his family.
Pete Morris
(Deputy Manger, Birdquest)
Editors note: We were saddened to hear this news at Surfbirds. In addition to meeting Paul, he was also a regular contributor to Surfbirds.
Posted by Surfbirds at 05:56 AM | Comments (0)