We analyse the causes of mortality for the Bearded Vulture in Europe. Shooting (31%), intentional poisoning (26%), collision (18%) and unintentional poisoning (12%) were the most important causes of mortality. No differences were found between sexes or age classes (non-adults and adults) for any of the causes of death. When the four main categories of mortality were grouped in periods of 3 years from 1986 (coinciding with the species' reintroduction to the Alps) to 2006, mortality showed significant temporal variation. The results suggest that while the number of collision/electrocution deaths has remained stable or increased slightly, the number of cases of shooting has declined during the last 6 years, while at the same time intentional and unintentional poisonings have increased. We found substantial differences between causes of mortality recorded for birds located by chance (75% related to shootings and collisions with powerlines) and radio-tagged birds (86% related to intentional and unintentional poisoning), suggesting biases in methodology for monitoring mortality. The results suggest that human persecution continues to be the main factor contributing to unnatural mortality for European Bearded Vultures. Future management actions should concentrate on the creation of protocols for the collection of carcasses and detailed analyses to determine and mitigate anthropogenic sources of mortality.

Central America is a region of great avian diversity, and the highlands of Costa Rica and Panama are particularly rich in endemic bird species. Continuing deforestation has destroyed large parts of the birds' natural habitats in this region. The ability of birds to use non-forest habitats will ultimately determine their vulnerability to further deforestation, and knowledge of their habitat use is therefore essential in planning conservation strategies. We examined the effects of deforestation on the abundance of restricted-range bird species in the southern Costa Rican part of the Talamanca mountain range. We used line-transect distance sampling to obtain densities in forest and non-forest habitats. Most (22/28) restricted-range species were recorded in forest and non-forest. Of 28 restricted-range species, 13 species showed a clear preference for forest and 8 for non-forest, and total numbers were one-and-a-half times higher as high in forest compared with non-forest. Of the 10 most common species, one was more abundant in non-forest and seven were more abundant in forest. We conclude that forest is the primary habitat for the majority of the restricted-range avifauna, and their dependence on forest makes them particularly vulnerable to deforestation. Adequate protection of the forests in these mountains is therefore the best assurance of the long-term survival of these birds.

In addition to protecting species, conservation also includes the maintenance of evolutionary processes, but this aspect is often overlooked. Nesospiza buntings provide a good case study of the need to conserve evolutionary processes. They are endemic to the South Atlantic Tristan da Cunha archipelago, and traditionally have been treated as two species, with each having different subspecies on Nightingale and Inaccessible Islands. Both species are listed as Vulnerable because of their small ranges (<20 km2) and the threat posed by the possible introduction of alien organisms such as mice or rats. The two species differ markedly in size, especially bill size, related to dietary differences. However, recent research suggests that morphological diversity evolved independently on Nightingale and Inaccessible Islands, necessitating a revision of the taxonomy within the genus. I recommend that five taxa be recognized, with two endemic to Nightingale and three to Inaccessible Island. N. wilkinsi and N. questi on Nightingale are well-defined species, but there is considerable hybridization between taxa on Inaccessible Island. These three taxa may be incipient species, but are perhaps best treated as subspecies: N. acunhae acunhae, N. a. dunnei and N. a. fraseri (nom. nov.). All three species qualify as threatened, with N. acunhae and N. questi Vulnerable and N. wilkinsi Endangered. With fewer than 200 individuals, N. wilkinsi has one of the smallest natural populations of any bird. A reassessment of its population size is a conservation priority, following the 2001 storm that damaged many Phylica trees on Nightingale Island. Improved biosecurity quarantine measures are also needed for Nightingale Island. Care should be taken not to disrupt the natural processes occurring among bunting taxa on Inaccessible Island.

Tropical forests are becoming increasingly degraded and fragmented by logging, which can affect the survival of forest bird species in different ways. In this study, we present avifauna data collected from a monitoring programme in west-central Sumatra that set camera traps in three study areas with different habitat types, levels of degradation and protection status. From 5,990 camera trap-nights, 248 independent bird photographs were recorded, comprising four orders and nine species, including three endemic species. The Great Argus Pheasant (Argusianus argus) was recorded in all study areas and most frequently (n=202 photographs), followed by the threatened Salvadori's Pheasant (Lophura inornata). The greatest diversity of bird species (five) and abundance index (1.44 bird photographs/100 trap-nights) was recorded from a primary hill-submontane forest site located inside Kerinci Seblat National Park (KSNP) bordering degraded forest in a former logging concession recently repatriated into KSNP. However, inside a primary-selectively logged hill-submontane forest site spread over KSNP and an ex-logging concession, a Sumatran Ground Cuckoo (Carpococcyx viridis) was photographed. This species is noteworthy because prior to this study it had only been documented once since 1916. It is therefore crucial to use the camera trap results to increase the protection status for the ground cuckoo area. This has already happened in the other two study areas, where camera trap data have been used to reclassify the areas as Core Zones, the highest level of protection inside KSNP. This study illustrates how routine monitoring can have wider benefits through recording, and conserving, threatened and endemic non-target species in unexpected habitats that might not otherwise have been surveyed.

Pink-headed Duck Rhodonessa caryophyllacea is a Critically Endangered species that has not been confirmed in the wild since 1948–1949. Historical records of the species are concentrated in India, although there are also a few from Myanmar. Between 2003 and 2005, BirdLife International and the Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA) conducted a series of field surveys of wetland habitats in the lowlands of Kachin state, an area with a cluster of historical records of the species. These were the first targeted efforts to assess the status of the species in Myanmar. These surveys were complemented by reviews of museum specimens and literature relating to the species in Myanmar. Two specimen records represent very strong evidence that the species occurred in Myanmar historically, although they shed little light on its seasonal status in the country. The surveys conducted by BirdLife International and BANCA were unable to confirm the continued occurrence of Pink-headed Duck in Myanmar. However, they did generate a limited amount of equivocal direct evidence, most notably two possible but unconfirmed sightings. There are several reasons for believing that the species may still persist in the lowlands of Kachin state and, perhaps, elsewhere in Myanmar. Shyness, combined with rarity, possible nocturnal habits and the impenetrability of its habitats, means that the species tended to be under-recorded historically, and may continue to be so currently. Further surveys are required to confirm this.

Realistic population size estimates for waterbirds are crucial for the application of wetland conservation strategies, since the identification of internationally important wetlands is based on local numbers relative to the population size of the respective species. Central Asia is a poorly surveyed region that is situated at the intersection of migration routes that lead waterbirds from Western Siberia to the south-west (South-West Asia, East Africa) and to the south-east (South Asia, India). We calculated waterbird population estimates for the Tengiz–Korgalzhyn region, a large wetland complex in the steppe zone of Central Kazakhstan, based on waterbird surveys conducted between 1999 and 2004. For 20 of 43 species analysed the region supported more than 5% of the relevant flyway populations. Five species occurred with more than 40% of the flyway totals, including the Endangered White-headed Duck Oxyura leucocephala and the Vulnerable Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus. Peak numbers were recorded in summer and autumn and for most species numbers were more than an order of magnitude lower on spring migration compared with autumn migration. We identified 72 individual sites that held more than 20,000 waterbirds or more than 1% of a particular flyway population at least once. These sites are likely to constitute priorities for conservation. The general conservation status of the region is favourable, since many of the important sites are located within a strict nature reserve. However, outside the reserve hunting, fishing and powerline casualties represent conservation issues that should be monitored more carefully in the future.