The rare and threatened Long-wattled Umbrellabird Cephalopterus penduliger inhabits the canopy and mid-storey level of humid to wet foothill and montane forests (150–1,800 m)of the Andean slopes of south-west Colombia and western Ecuador. Here we report on male activity pattern and display behaviour observed at one of two leks recently discovered in the vicinity of Playa de Oro, Rio Santiago, Esmeraldas Province, north-west Ecuador. Courtship behaviour of C. penduliger is compared with the Central American and Amazonian congeners (Bare-necked Umbrellabird C. glabricollis and Amazonian Umbrellabird C. ornatus). The lek of C. penduliger was active during the whole study period (February 1997 to January 1998), but both lek structure and daytime activity pattern changed markedly within the observation period.

The Scaly-sided Merganser Mergus squamatus is a globally ‘Endangered’ species breeding in north-east Asia. Limited by information on the geographic distribution of suitable habitat, the conservation management programme has not been comprehensive or spatially explicit for the breeding population. This study combines potentially important environmental variables with extensive data on species occurrence to create the first species distribution model for the breeding Scaly-sided Merganser, followed by a GAP analysis to highlight the unprotected areas containing suitable habitat. The predictive map showing the most suitable breeding habitat for the Scaly-sided Merganser covered broad-leaved deciduous forest distributed in six provincial regions in south-east Russia, north-east China, and North Korea. The conservation GAP, i.e. 90% (38,813 km2) of highly suitable habitat, is mainly concentrated in the Sikhote-Alin and Changbai mountain ranges. This study suggests that prioritizing conservation of unprotected broad-leaved deciduous riverine forests within the above two mountainous regions should be included in international conservation planning, and the remaining suitable patches need to be preserved to allow range expansion in future. This predictive map improves the expert global assessment of breeding Scaly-sided Merganser distribution and provides a basic reference for establishing conservation areas or implementing conservation actions for the breeding Scaly-sided Merganser in north-east Asia.

Nature reserves focused on the protection of an endangered species are often restricted to the core of the species’ distribution, leaving peripheral populations unprotected due to a lack of specific knowledge. This study describes the factors that potentially contribute to degradation of habitats of a peripheral population of the endangered Cantabrian Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus cantabricus. Using presence/absence data, we compared forest fragmentation, fire risk, and distance from leks to human infrastructure. Forest fragments in which Cantabrian Capercaillie were detected were significantly larger, closer to the nearest occupied fragments, and had a higher proximity index than fragments in which no presence was detected. Eighteen percent of the area of fragments in which Cantabrian Capercaillie presence was detected were placed in the high risk of fire category. Human infrastructure represents a permanent loss of Mediterranean habitat for the Cantabrian Capercaillie. The study area is highly modified by human activities; a priority conservation measure should be inclusion within the Natura 2000 network.

Understanding how birds select breeding sites plays an important role in habitat protection, especially for the conservation of endangered species. With the increase in population size of the endangered Crested Ibis Nipponia nippon, its distribution range has expanded from mountain areas to plains located outside protected areas, representing a new challenge for conservation of the species. Identifying the current nesting habitat requirements is thus needed and can provide valuable information for the planning of new nature reserves. In this research, we surveyed a total of 117 nests across the whole distribution range from 2015 to 2019. We used generalized linear mixed-effects models to assess nesting preferences of the Crested Ibis in the wild. Results showed that in mountain areas, Masson pines Pinus massoniana were preferred (64.6%), whereas elms Ulmus pumila (44.9%) and aspens Populus davidiana (40.6%) were used more frequently lower down, probably because of their higher availability. In both mountain areas and plains the ibises selected tall nesting trees with larger diameter at breast height and preferred nesting rather high above ground, especially in plains where taller trees provided higher suitable nesting positions. The ibises also preferred nesting close to tree trunks, especially in mountain areas, probably for more safety from collapsing. Furthermore, in mountain areas, slope and distance to path had positive effects on nesting occurrence, and understorey coverage was avoided by nesting ibises, while these variables had little impact in plains. Our results indicate that, despite their range expansion, Crested Ibises rely on very specific habitat characteristics for nesting. We suggest relatively tall trees like elms and aspens should be preserved in plains. In addition, we highlight how selection patterns of Crested Ibises may vary, and that such variation should be addressed in conservation planning, especially in future reintroduction.

We investigated how North Island Weka Gallirallus australis greyi could be conserved in situ at East Cape, New Zealand using banded and radiotransmitter-carrying Weka to measure home range size and use, reproduction and mortality. We fitted radiotransmitters to 28 Weka with 75% of the subsequent fixes from 18 birds being obtained at intervals of < 4 days. Home ranges of 10 males had an estimated median size of 10.6 ha, while 5 female home ranges had an estimated median size of 3.5 ha. Home ranges of individuals of both sexes overlapped. Within their home ranges, Weka preferred bush relative to pasture and may have preferred pines to pasture. Weka did not significantly prefer bush to pines. Breeding occurred year-round, with a summer peak, but 11 breeding pairs raised only four chicks to independence in two years. The causes of egg and chick mortality could not be established, but predators killed six adults, motor vehicles killed six and one adult died in a trap. Measurements of body size revealed that a male-biased sex ratio was likely (67:33). We concluded that the recovery of the North Island Weka population in the East Cape region will require improving reproductive success and decreasing predation on adults. We recommend that managers focus on predator removal and habitat creation in future.

Since antiquity, the keeping of finches as pets has been common throughout the Mediterranean countries and it remains a widespread hobby to the present day. Since most finches are sourced from the wild this hobby can have implications for their conservation, especially for already imperilled species. We conducted a survey of 257 households in the city of Guelma, in the north-east of Algeria, and of 70 participants to a European Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis show contest in Algiers, to understand the owners’ motives for keeping cage birds and find solutions to mitigate any negative effects on the trade. Keeping and showing finches in Algeria is a male-dominated hobby, especially for the 30–40 year age bracket. Our surveys indicate that almost 60% of households had a cage bird, with the European Goldfinch being the most popular species. With a mean of 0.75 goldfinches per household we estimate that in Guelma alone some 17,000 are kept in captivity. Between 70% and 90% of the owners indicated that their birds were indeed wild-sourced, and over 85% of them were aware of the protected status of the European Goldfinch in Algeria. Our findings underline the need for strict enforcement of existing laws and better targeted awareness campaigns to influence the behaviour of owners in order to reduce the demand for wild specimens.

Understanding space use of endangered species is critical for conservation planning and management. The advances in technology and data analysis allow us to collect data with unprecedented quality and inform us about the movements and habitat use of individuals and groups. With only about 700 individuals left in the wild, the Northern Bald Ibis Geronticus eremita is currently categorised as ‘Endangered’. However, little is known about the movements of this avian species in relation to breeding and individual differences. Using GPS transmitters we studied the movements of 32 Northern Bald Ibis from a semi-wild free-flying colony at the Konrad Lorenz Research Center in Austria during 1–4 years per individual. We investigated how sex, age class, breeding and non-breeding season affect space use and site fidelity. We found that individuals consistently showed high site fidelity, adults more than juveniles, and space use was highly overlapping between individuals and over successive years. When moving between different areas birds used consistent flyways thereby avoiding direct routes over mountainous areas. Adults had more expansive space use during the breeding season as compared to the non-breeding season, while juveniles only showed a slight decrease during the non-breeding season. We found no sex differences regarding space use or site fidelity. Our results lead to a better understanding of how Northern Bald Ibis move through their environment and how they use foraging areas, roosting sites, and space in general that in turn can help to inform conservation management of extant colonies and reintroduction programmes for new colonies.

A considerable variety of Indonesian avifauna is forced into the domestic and international pet trade, where the majority of individuals are caught in the wild. To monitor the volume and development of the trade and to evaluate the threat status of the traded species, bird market surveys are usually performed. The most commonly used monitoring technique is the “Direct Counting Method – DCM”, i.e. the counting of openly displayed individuals offered for sale. In this study, we evaluate the reliability of the outputs that DCM delivers by conducting regular long-term bird censuses at two of the main animal markets in Medan (Sumatra, Indonesia) involving 10 major local vendors specialising in the Sumatran Laughingthrush (Garrulax bicolor; SL), our target species. Both markets were visited from March to December 2015 with three different survey intervals (one, two and four visits per month). In total, according to DCM, we recorded up to 461 SL individuals offered for sale. However, a comparison of the monthly logs recorded directly by the vendors during the same period revealed that DCM only uncovered a negligible proportion of the total trade. Specifically, we detected only 4.6%, 8.1% and 16.1% of the traded SL individuals in relation to the set survey intervals. While the numbers of recorded SL individuals according to DCM and the three survey intervals were significantly interrelated, none of them correlated with the real numbers of traded birds provided by the vendors. Our results suggest that census-based market data are underestimated, and represent an unknown proportion of true trade volumes, regardless of the intensity of visits. In order to obtain reliable data and prevent the underestimation of the volume of trade, we recommend of undisclosed monitoring of markets and the engagement of trusted individuals with a past personal interest in this field or, if possible, the vendors themselves.

The Amami Thrush, Zoothera dauma major, is an endemic subspecies of the Eurasian Scaly Thrush that is distributed only on Amami-Oshima Island in south-western Japan. This bird was formerly considered to be a distinct species (Z. major) and was listed on the IUCN Red List as ‘Critically Endangered’ based on the small population size estimated in the early 2000s. To re-evaluate the conservation status of this bird, we estimated the number of singing males from song-count surveys conducted by an NPO with public participation from 2007 to 2013. An estimation that applied a distance sampling method revealed the number of singing males to be 945–1,858 up to 2012. A sudden increase in song counts was recorded in 2013, and the estimate increased to 2,512 in 2013. Based on the assumption that the sex ratio does not deviate from 1:1, simply doubling the number was considered to produce the estimated population size (number of males and females that are capable of breeding). The present study also confirmed that the Amami Thrush was more abundant in older forest with less open habitat, suggesting that forest maturity is an important factor for thrush abundance. The relative density of the invasive small Indian mongoose Herpestes auropunctatus probably affected thrush abundance before the early 2010s prior to mongoose eradication efforts. Our results suggest that thrush recovery was likely associated with forest regeneration and mongoose eradication. However, it is important to continue population monitoring approaches including public participation to promote further conservation of the Amami Thrush.

The highland grasslands of central Kenya hold a suite of restricted-range bird species, including several of global conservation concern. These grasslands occur almost entirely on private land with no formal protection, and have received little conservation attention. This paper describes land-use change on the Kinangop Plateau, Kenya, and considers the implications for grassland bird species, especially Sharpe's Longclaw Macronyx sharpei. The Kinangop Plateau is an area of montane grassland east of the Rift Valley, used primarily for dairy farming since human settlement in 1964. However, dairy farming (which retains grassland as pasture) has given way to other forms of land-use, especially cultivation of crops. In March 1996, a questionnaire was administered to 50 landowners to investigate community attitudes towards birds and their conser vation, the extent of present land-use changes and likely future land-use patterns. The mean acreage of landholding was decreasing, and more grassland was rapidly being converted into cultivated land, with 3.2% being ploughed up during the six months from November 1995 to May 1996. Farmers expressed a preference for crop farming (66%) over livestock farming (26%) or other land uses. Thirty-two per cent expressed a positive attitude, and 60% were indifferent, towards birds. Most (76%) were not aware of biodiversity values or conservation. Though 64% were aware of declining bird populations around them, 82% of this group did not realize that their activities might be contributing to this decline. Sixty-eight per cent of landowners planned to convert all or part of their grassland holdings. Although landowners' interests seemed generally incompatible with grassland conservation, a substantial proportion (44%) were prepared to consider opportunities to enhance the area's conservation value. An informal follow-up survey in March 1999 concluded that prospects for the dairy industry and for grassland habitats on Kinangop were not as bleak as the initial survey suggested, but confirmed the delicate conservation status of Sharpe's Longclaw and its habitat. We suggest a variety of actions that might help to secure the future of Sharpe's Longclaw while promoting sustainable agricultural development on Kinangop, and propose several topics where further research is needed. Species such as Sharpe's Longclaw will only survive if we can develop ways of managing their habitats in a manner that is consistent, rather than in conflict, with the needs of the agricultural community.

China is a large country, occupying 9,600,000 km2. It lies between longitudes 73°40′E and 135° 05′E, a distance of some 5,200 km. Mountainous in the west and flat in the east, the land surface of China slopes downward from west to east in a three-step staircase and can be divided into moist, semi-moist, semi-arid and arid regions from the east coast to the inland north-west respectively. From north to south, China covers frigid, temperate, subtropical and tropical zones. All of this variation in geographical and climate conditions combine to give it a high diversity of fauna and flora.

The country is rich in Galliformes. Sixty-one species of two families (Tetraonidae and Phasianidae) are found in the country (Cheng 1994), which is about 22% of the 277 Galliformes species of the world (Sibley and Monroe 1990). In recent decades, as a result of big changes in the environments and the increasing human activities, the ranges of Chinese Galliformes have decreased and the population densities have declined (Zheng and Zhang 1993). The status of the country's Galliformes was assessed in the mid 1990s as part of two global reviews: through the compilation of IUCN/World Pheasant Association (WPA) action plans for pheasants (McGowan and Garson 1995) and partridges (McGowan et al., 1995), and through the revision of BirdLife International's list of threatened bird species (Collar et al. 1994). Both assessments considered that a high proportion of the world's threatened Galliformes occurred in China.

The Eastern Arc Mountains of East Africa are known for an exceptionally rich flora and fauna with very high endemism. For the conservation of rare forest birds these mountains are of the utmost importance in Africa. We provide the first population estimate of the endemic Loveridge's Sunbird Nectarinia loveridgei in the Uluguru Mountains of eastern Tanzania. Our study was conducted between September and December 2000. Capture-recapture using mistnets was used to gather data at eleven study sites between 1,300–2,600 m altitude in four different areas of the Ulugurus. The program CAPTURE was used to estimate the population at each study site. Since the home range of Loveridge's Sunbird is unknown, the density of the potential population was calculated by assuming home ranges ranging from 0 km2 through to 3 km2. When combined with data on the forest area in the Ulugurus and fixing the lower and upper home range sizes for this species at 0.1 km2 and 0.8 km2, we obtain an estimated total population ranging from 21,000 to 166,000 individuals. A median home range of 0.45 km2 estimates the population close to 37,000 individuals. The species does not seem threatened but its long-term survival will depend on the survival of the forest, and in particular on how well the forest reserves on the Ulugurus are managed in the future.

The Amathole forest complex is the breeding stronghold of the endemic and vulnerable Cape Parrot Poicephalus robustus, and is also one of only two forest complexes in South Africa formally harvested for timber. The aim of this study was to determine if formal harvesting of indigenous trees, primarily the two yellowwood species Afrocarpus falcatus and Podocarpus latifolius, in 9 of 16 Amathole forests has had any effect on the presence of Cape Parrots and three primary nest-excavating species, as well as on parrot breeding. The study used logging data from the past 25 years (1997–2021) as well as data collected by acoustic recording units over two breeding seasons from 2019 to 2021. Cape Parrots were present in 15 of 16 forests, but breeding calls were identified in only seven forests: five in logged and two in unlogged forests. Fourteen of the forests harboured all three primary excavators: Knysna Woodpecker Campethera notata, Olive Woodpecker Dendropicos griseocephalus, and Red-fronted Tinkerbird Pogoniulus pusillus. The last two species were absent from the adjacent Mount Thomas and Kologha forests, respectively, in which parrots were present, but no breeding calls were recorded. Logging of yellowwoods was not found to affect parrot breeding. However, due to the overlap between preferred parrot breeding sites and preferred trees for harvesting, we recommend that harvesting in the five harvested forest blocks where parrot breeding occurs be limited to tree falls, with no standing dead, dying, or damaged trees harvested, to ensure that potential nesting trees are not harvested.

The St Helena Wirebird, a sand plover, is the last surviving endemic bird on the South Atlantic island of St Helena. Census work carried out during 1988–1989 located a maximum of 495 individuals. This is thought to be close to the true size of the population and i s more than 50% higher than the most recent previous estimate. Population trends remain unknown, however. Breeding success appears to be low. A maximum survival rate from egg to independence of 19% was estimated. Predation and disturbance of Wirebirds is discussed. Wirebirds occur in grassland and semi-desert. Highest densities are found in relatively dry, flat pastures. Wetter upland pastures hold few Wirebirds, possibly because of more difficult feeding conditions encountered in taller, denser vegetation on steep slopes. Wirebirds prey on a wide range of invertebrates but beetles and caterpillars appear to predominate in the diet. Possible future threats, principally changes in land-use, were assessed and a management strategy for the species is outlined.

We conducted a 16-month country-wide survey to determine the status of the threatened Madagascar (Marsh) Harrier Circus macrosceles from 2005 to 2006. We searched for harriers in varying habitat types, focusing on marshes, grasslands and savannas, secondary forests and the edge of primary forests. We surveyed 68% of the districts of Madagascar which contain 71% of the potential harrier habitat throughout the country. We recorded 80 individuals of this sexually dimorphic raptor; 48 males and 32 females of which 71 were observed during the breeding season (June to December) and nine outside the breeding season (January to May). The Madagascar Harrier has a broad distribution of about 1,000 km north to south (Madagascar is about 1,500 km in length) and east to west, but at extremely low density. Fifty-three (69%) harriers were observed in high elevation marshes and grasslands above 1,100 m in the provinces of Mahajanga and Antananarivo during the breeding season. Three major threats to harriers, all human caused, were identified: the transformation of marshes to rice fields (all nests in lower elevation natural marshes), uncontrolled fires destroying nests (n = 7 nests lost in 2005 to fires), and human persecution by taking young from nests for a food source and killing adults due to their predatory nature. From our surveys in Madagascar and information from Comoro Islands, we estimate the global population to be 250–500 individuals suggesting the current Madagascar Harrier population is heading towards endangerment. The survival of the Madagascar Harrier in Madagascar is critically dependent on protecting the remaining natural marshes, which are an extremely limited and critically endangered habitat in Madagascar, with bordering grasslands.

The Golden-cheeked Warbler Dendroica chrysoparia is a federally endangered Neotropical migrant that inhabits montane pine-oak forests in Mexico and northern Central America during the non-breeding season. Although it is known that Golden-cheeked Warblers are closely associated with ‘encino’ oaks (evergreen or holm oak) such as Quercus sapotifolia, Q. eliptica and Q. elongata, which have shiny, narrow, elliptical, or oblong leaves, quantitative habitat targets are useful for effectively incorporating this information into conservation planning and forest management practices. We analysed data on wintering Golden-cheeked Warblers collected during the non-breeding season in Honduras from 1996 to 1998 to identify quantitative targets for habitat conditions for this species. Data on warbler abundance were collected using line transect surveys located in montane pine-oak forests in a stratified-random fashion. Habitat data were collected at five 0.04 ha plots on these same transects and the averaged values used as predictors of Golden-cheeked Warbler abundance. We found that Golden-cheeked Warblers were strongly associated with the basal area of encino oaks and density of ‘roble’ oaks, such as Q. segoviensis, Q. purulhana and Q. rugosa, which have large, lobed leaves. Density of Golden-cheeked Warblers peaked at ≈ 5.6 m2 ha–1 basal area of encino and ≈7 roble oaks ha–1. These values can be used to identify quantitative habitat targets that can be directly incorporated into forest management practices to ensure that these activities maintain habitat conditions necessary for their use by Golden-cheeked Warblers.

The Japanese Murrelet Synthliboramphus wumizusume is a rare, globally ‘Vulnerable’ seabird, endemic to Japan and South Korea. However, little is known of its at-sea distribution, habitat or threats. We conducted several years of at-sea surveys around Japan to model Japanese Murrelet density in relation to habitat parameters, and make spatial predictions to assess the adequacy of the current Japanese marine Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) network for the species. During a five-year period, 3,485 km of at-sea surveys recorded 3,161 Japanese Murrelets around four breeding locations. Maximum murrelet group size was 90 individuals with a mean group size of 2.9 ± 4.2 individuals. Models of Japanese Murrelet at-sea density around the two largest breeding locations predicted that almost all murrelets occur within 30 km of the breeding colony and most within 10 km. Murrelets were predicted closer to the colony in May than in April and closer to the colony at a neritic colony than at an offshore island colony. Additionally, murrelets breeding on an offshore island colony also commuted to mainland neritic habitat for foraging. The marine habitat used by Japanese Murrelets differed between each of the four surveyed colonies, however oceanographic variables offered little explanatory power in models. Models with colony, month and year generated four foraging radii (9–39 km wide) containing murrelet densities of > 0.5 birds/km2. Using these radii the Japanese marine IBA network was found to capture between 95% and 25% of Japanese Murrelet at-sea habitat while breeding and appears appropriately configured to protect near-colony murrelet distributions. Given the range of marine habitats that breeding murrelets inhabit, our simple models offer an applicable method for predicting to unsampled colonies and generating ecologically-informed seaward extension radii. However, data on colony populations and further at-sea surveys are necessary to refine models and improve predictions.

Land-use change for crop production is one of the key drivers of habitat loss and fragmentation and consequently biodiversity loss and change in tropical regions. This may impact biodiversity-regulated ecosystem services; birds are important to crop health regulating services (e.g. seed dispersal, pest control) and disservices (e.g. seed predation, grain herbivory). However, knowledge is limited on how birds use heterogeneous agricultural landscapes and the consequences for spatial distribution and flow of services and disservices. We studied crop and non-crop–habitat associations of birds in forest–agricultural landscapes of the Kilombero Valley, Tanzania. We focused on dietary preference as a key trait impacting bird responses to land-use change, services, and disservices to crops. We surveyed birds across four main habitat types using repeated point counts, recording a total of 148 species. We found that crop habitats supported higher species richness and larger communities of potentially beneficial species to crop health, whereby 34.5% of invertebrate-feeding species were recorded in cropland. We found that habitat heterogeneity within the landscape supports bird functional diversity and that each habitat type supported unique communities of species. Furthermore, the number of species unique to forest habitats increased with increasing forest canopy closure. Our findings suggest that management strategies for maintaining trees and shrubs, and enhancing tree cover within the crop production landscape, can be effective approaches for maintaining bird diversity and services. However, in-depth studies on trade-offs with disservices need further exploration to mitigate negative impacts of birds on crop yields.

In 2019, a Rodent Eradication Project (REP) was implemented on World Heritage listed Lord Howe Island, Australia. Among the species expected to benefit was a burrow-nesting seabird, the Black-winged Petrel Pterodroma nigripennis. Prior to the REP, we assessed causes of Black-winged Petrel nest failure using surveillance cameras. We also measured breeding success before and after the REP and investigated emerging pressures on breeding success from other native species. In 2017, ship rats Rattus rattus were a major cause of Black-winged Petrel nest failure, and breeding success was as low as 2.5%, compared to 47.5% on rodent-free Phillip Island (Norfolk Island Group). In 2020, in the absence of rodents, breeding success on Lord Howe Island increased dramatically to 67% and remained high (50%) in 2021. This result suggests that reproductive output of small seabirds has been heavily supressed by rodents on Lord Howe Island for decades. A subsequent increase in the population of a predatory endemic rail, the Lord Howe Woodhen Hypotaenida sylvestris, combined with burrow competition from Little Shearwaters Puffinus assimilis, indicated that initial high breeding success may not be sustained. However, the surge in successful breeding of Black-winged Petrels is likely to result in a significant increase in fledgling numbers and the recruitment of hundreds of additional birds each year. Given the important role of petrels in global nutrient cycling, and their positive influence on island biodiversity, their expansion should benefit the ecological restoration of Lord Howe Island.