About Those Birds

I would give credit, but I have no idea where I got this picture. It’s just a great picture.

In 2004, shooting stopped in a swamp in Barbados called Woodbourne. This swamp, deemed St. Phillip Shooting Swamps Important Bird Area, is the first shorebird refuge in Barbados and was created by BirdLife International. The swamp has a total of four hectares, which is quite large. Two hunters of the region were actually very important in getting this region an IBA. Back in May, restoration began and now the swamp is good to go for fall migration.

The swamp is very important to have as an Important Bird Area because so many birds use the island as a stopover while on their way to South America. Thousands upon thousands of shorebirds use the island to rest, even species of concern. However, many of the birds are still shot.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act, BirdLife, and Barbados Wildfowlers Association all work together and funding comes from the USFWS NMBCA. The Woodbourne Refuge was made to really stop the hunting on the island and promote conservation efforts. If people want to continue hunting, they must do so in a sustainable way and there is some resistance to the sustainable hunting efforts.

So far 20 species of shorebird have been sighted and five of them are species of conservation concern. These birds are now doing better due to the heightened cooperation of locals and conservation officials.

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Picture: credit to Richard Roach

A project started 10 years ago is still successful in releasing red kites into Yorkshire. Conservation officials of the project want people to sign a petition to help the continued protection of the species. Red kites have been susceptible to poison and poaching.

In the 4 year span from 1999 – 2003, 69 red kites were set free in the region. The partners that assisted in this reintroduction were the Harewood Estate, RSPB, Natural England, and Yorkshire Water. Even with 50 breeding pairs of red kites, the birds are still at risk of extinction in the area again.

This project has been successful in Yorkshire, but red kite populations are still suffering in other parts of Europe. The species isn’t saved yet. There have been major declines in Spain (40%) and France(30%).

It’s great to know that this bird has been reintroduced successfully in the Yorkshire area, but it’s also sad to know that people still want to kill it through poisoning or shooting.

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Photo: credit to Deb Cloud from National Geographic

Most people have seen a flock of wild turkeys because they are everywhere. We often take them for granted even – like we do some other birds. Well, what if wild turkeys weren’t there anymore? This was the case nearly a century ago when wild turkeys were on the decline due to hunting and habitat loss. The early 1900s saw only about 30,000 wild turkeys. This may seem like a lot, but that number is less than the amount of polar bears left in the world and that’s a species of concern today. However, today wild turkeys have numbers close to 7 million birds. The wild turkey’s road to recovery can give hope to other species facing declining populations in today’s world.

People view wildlife and land as if they own it. That was the problem wild turkeys had with people because hunters would hunt when they wanted, take how much they wanted, and didn’t care for the consequences. Theodore Roosevelt and George Bird Grinnell, both conservationists, set out to change people’s view of the land and its wildlife. They wanted to show people that the land is for everybody to share and it is an investment that we all need to protect. Thus wildlife protection legislation was passed and enforced. Even citizen-conservationists played a role in helping the wild turkey recover. The National Wild Turkey Federation worked with the government to assist in the recovery of the wild turkey populations. There were mistakes and missteps along the road, but overall the wild turkey did recover.

There’s a lesson to be learned with the wild turkey, a bird once on the decline, but now so populous. People take it for granted and never wonder that it once was in trouble. Even species that are so common today, like Canada geese, shouldn’t never be taken for granted. For they too could have had a troubled past.

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Roseate Spoonbill

Photo: credit to a walk on the wild side nature photography from Flickr.

During the last decade endangered birds, like the forty-spotted pardalote and the swift parrot, have lost significant amounts of their populations. This is mainly due to drought, wildfires, development, and logging. Years ago Dennes Hill on Bruny Island held larger populations of 40-spots, but not the area is silent.

Conservations in the area want the Tasmanian Government to stop the logging of important areas and save endangered bird habitat. Currently, drafts are being proposed for better logging practices, but logging continues in important bird habitat.

There have been claims that Forest Tasmania is rushing its logging routine before the drafts are completed. Forest Tasmania denies this claim and they say that logging stopped where birds are breeding. The Forest Practices Authority is working closely with logging companies like Forest Tasmania to have better logging practices and guidelines to help protect endangered bird species.

Let’s just hope that an agreement is made before it’s too late for an endangered species.

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Photo: credit to Flickr user danihernanz.

The largest birds are:

• Heaviest and tallest bird is the African Ostrich at 345 lb and 9 ft
• Heaviest flying bird is the Great Bustard at ~46 lb
• Greatest wingspan is the Wandering Albatross at 11 ft 11 in

Photo credit Paul Nicklen from National Geographic