Understanding the particular nesting ecology of island endemic species represents the first step in identifying suitable micro-habitats and establishing efficient management programmes. This could become even more important when island bird assemblages are prone to invasion by ecologically similar species that may eventually cause niche compression or the extirpation of species already present on the island. In this study we describe the nesting ecology of both native and introduced landbird species of the Juan Fernández Islands and determine the extent to which native species could be negatively affected by alien competitors. A total of 119 nests belonging to the 11 resident landbird species were analysed. Landbirds exhibited a wide range of nesting habitat preferences on the different islands, covering different vegetation types, altitudes and ecosystems. By means of a cluster analysis we determined that competition between alien and endemic species apparently does not represent an important factor affecting resource use by endemic birds. Endemic landbirds preferred sites comparatively higher above the ground, with a greater slope and a larger level of shelter, than alien species. The introduced hummingbird, the Green-backed Firecrown Sephanoides sephaniodes, had different nesting preferences to the endemic Juan Fernandez Firecrown S. fernandensis, whereas the House Sparrow Passer domesticus selected nest sites located in populated areas, suggesting that both alien species may not be competing with endemic passerines for nest sites. However, urgent measures are necessary to reduce the potential predation risk on Juan Fernandez Firecrown nests by the alien Austral Thrush Turdus falcklandii.

Evaluating the ability of anthropogenic habitats to serve as surrogates for natural habitats is an increasingly relevant issue in conservation biology. This issue is especially urgent in tropical coastal wetlands that support large concentrations of migratory shorebird populations and are under pressure from development. Here we evaluated the species composition, abundance, and habitat use of Nearctic migratory shorebirds using recently harvested aquaculture ponds during two non-breeding seasons at shrimp farms surrounding Bahía Santa María (BSM), northwestern Mexico. We also estimated shorebird densities at intertidal units in BSM during and after the harvesting season to explore the connectivity with shrimp farms. Over 25,000 individuals of 25 shorebird species used the surveyed farms (∼13% of shrimp-farm development in BSM; 2014–2015: 10 farms, 994 ha; 2015–2016: 8 farms, 924 ha) during the harvest season. The most abundant species were: Western Sandpiper Calidris mauri, Willet Tringa semipalmata, Marbled Godwit Limosa fedoa, dowitchers Limnodromus spp., Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus and American Avocet Recurvirostra americana. Numbers of birds decreased as the harvest cycle progressed. Most birds (> 70%) were foraging on the ponds, regardless of tidal stage, while numbers increased during high tide for the most abundant species. At surveyed intertidal areas, shorebird densities were overall similar within and between non-breeding seasons. These results indicate that shrimp farms offer ephemeral but consistent foraging habitats used by non-breeding shorebirds, even in vast coastal wetlands offering a high availability of natural intertidal mudflats. Assuming a similar shorebird use in other shrimp ponds not surveyed within BSM, a significant proportion (> 1% of the biogeographic population) of Willet, Marbled Godwit, and Western Sandpiper, as well as imperilled Red Knot Calidris canutus, might use shrimp farms throughout the harvesting season. Before including current semi-intensive shrimp farms within management plans of BSM, further research is mandatory to assess their utility as alternative foraging habitats for shorebird conservation at tropical areas.

A study of Thuong Da Nhim and Chu Yang Sin Nature Reserves - identified as priority sites because located within the Da Lat Plateau Endemic Bird Area (EBA) in Vietnam -was conducted between 10 November 1993 and 1 February 1994. A total of 212 bird species, of which 11 are considered globally threatened (including the rediscovered Grey-crowned Crocias Crocias langbianis), were recorded in the reserves. Eight restricted-range species were recorded, including the four species confined to the EBA. These two reserves are of international importance because they jointly support bird communities representative of the EBA. They are also of great economic importance, being within watersheds. Their extent is believed adequate but it is not known if they encompass all representative habitats over the full altitudinal range. Local tribal communities traditionally practise shifting cultivation, which has greatly modified the extent, composition and quality of evergreen forest and is causing its increasing fragmentation. Deliberate fires are preventing the regeneration of evergreen forest and promoting the growth of a climax dominated by Pinus kesiya. This reduces bird diversity and compromises the future of the endemic bird taxa. Other threats include recent logging activities, human immigration, the urban expansion of Da Lat and consequent increasing demand for charcoal and fuelwood. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development should urgently proceed with the production of management plans for these areas, aiming to create a single, enlarged protected area. The primary land-use management strategy should be to conserve remaining areas of evergreen forest and to increase their extent by boundary realignment, elimination of shifting cultivation and fire, and the introduction of sympathetic forestry practices.

This short communication reports on the first record of Audouin's Gulls Larus audouinii breeding in captivity and on the behaviour of some individuals released as fledglings. During the period 1995–2000 a hand-reared male returned to its natal site and responded, year after year, to the translocation of a captive group of Audouin's Gulls for nesting site selection. The potential role of philopatry and conspecific attraction as conservation tools for this vulnerable seabird after an eight year experiment are discussed.

The Chinese Crested Tern Thalasseus bernsteini is a Critically Endangered species and very little is known about its breeding biology and behaviour. Only two small breeding colonies have been recorded on the eastern coast of China. Between 2004 and 2009, their breeding biology was studied in two mixed species colonies on the Jiushan and Wuzhishan archipelagos in Zhejiang province. Chinese Crested Terns started breeding in late May and departed in late August, and nests were generally found within large colonies of Greater Crested Terns T. bergii. The nesting grounds of the mixed colony included grass, rock and interlaced zones on small, uninhabited islets. A total of six Chinese Crested Tern nests were identified, four of which were monitored. In these, the average clutch size was one, with an incubation period of 22–28 days and a fledging period of 31–35 days. The chicks subsequently joined chicks of the Greater Crested Tern, forming the same crèche. Adult Chinese Crested Terns foraged within approximately 5 km of the breeding islets and fed their chicks mainly with small and/or young shoaling fishes. The breeding success of Chinese Crested Tern was 100% in both 2008 and 2009. In addition to mixed nesting, other traits of breeding biology, such as breeding site shifts and re-nesting, provide valuable information for surveying, monitoring and conservation of the Chinese Crested Tern.

The Critically Endangered Himalayan Quail Ophrysia superciliosa has not been reliably recorded since 1876. Recent searches of historical sites have failed to detect the species, but we estimate an extinction year of 2023 giving us reason to believe that the species may still be extant. Species distribution models can act as a guide for survey efforts, but the current land cover in the historical specimen record locations is unlikely to reflect Himalayan Quail habitat preferences due to extensive modifications. Thus, we investigate the use of two proxy species: Cheer Pheasant Catreus wallechi and Himalayan Monal Lophophorus impejanus that taken together are thought to have macro-habitat requirements that encapsulate those of the Himalayan Quail. After modelling climate and topography space for the Himalayan Quail and these proxy species we find the models for the proxy species have moderate overlap with that of the Himalayan Quail. Models improved with the incorporation of land cover data and when these were overlaid with the Himalayan Quail climate model, we were able to identify suitable areas to target surveys. Using a measure of search effort from recent observations of other galliformes, we identify 923 km2 of suitable habitat surrounding Mussoorie in Northern India that requires further surveys. We conclude with a list of five priority survey sites as a starting point.

I analyse recent trends in the status and distribution of breeding birds of prey in the Canary Islands (Spain). Populations of Barbary Falcon Falco peregrinus pelegrinoides, Eleonora's Falcon Falco eleonorae, Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus granti, Buzzard Buteo buteo insularum and Osprey Pandion haliaetus recovered throughout the 1990s. Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus majorensis continues to be seriously threatened, with a total population of only around 130 birds. There is a lack of information on status of nocturnal birds of prey, especially of the Canary subspecies of Barn Owl Tyto alba gracilirostris, whose numbers seem to have decreased. Genetic studies should be carried out to clarify the taxonomic status of the birds of prey of the Canary Islands.

Surveys of river birds were made in north-west Argentina in October 1993 and in southern Bolivia in December 1994. Data were collected on foraging behaviour, breeding biology and breeding abundances of the Rufous-throated Dipper Cinclus schulzi (a threatened species) on three river systems in Tucumán and Jujuy provinces in Argentina and on two river systems in Tarija department in Bolivia. Rufous-throated Dippers foraged from wetted rocks and when standing in water in riffles and on the edges of cascades and waterfalls; swimming or diving was not observed. Five nests were found in Argentina, two of which were incomplete. One had a clutch of two eggs and another contained two well-grown, feathered nestlings; the fifth was inaccessible. These records indicate that breeding starts early in the Argentinian spring. Nests of adjacent pairs of Rufous-throated Dippers were from c.650–1,200 m apart. Juvenile plumage resembles that of the adult. Some information is provided on the biometrics of seven birds caught in mist-nets, and on vocalizations and on the relative abundance of dippers, Torrent Ducks Merganetta armata and two species of Cinclodes. Possible threats to rivers within the range of the Rufous-throated Dipper include reservoir construction, hydroelectric and irrigation schemes, eutrophication, deforestation and stock-grazing. Pollution, reduced flows and river channel modification are more prevalent at lower altitudes below the breeding range of the Rufous-throated Dipper.

Seabird populations suffer from a variety of natural and human-induced sources of mortality and loss of lifetime reproductive output. On the outer coast of Washington State, Common Murre Uria aalge populations have been in decline for approximately the last decade and are currently reproductively active only at Tatoosh Island. These murres nest in two basic habitat types: crevices (25% of the population) and larger cliff-top subcolonies (75%). Murres in cliff-top subcolonies have suffered dramatic reductions in reproductive success in recent years relative to conspecifics nesting in the crevices, primarily due to egg predation by Glaucous-winged Gulls Larus glaucescens and Northwestern Crows Corvus caurinus, facilitated by the presence of Bald Eagles Haliaeetus leucocephalus. Because predator removal is not feasible and creation of additional crevice habitat is difficult, expensive and potentially ineffective, we have designed a temporary habitat modification (the “silk forest”) which replaces the natural vegetation cover and modifies the interaction between murres and eagles. Within the test subcolony, murres nesting under and immediately adjacent to the silk forest produced nearly twice as many eggs per square metre as their conspecifics nesting in adjacent exposed-ground areas.

Originally described last century from New Mexico, U.S.A., Worthen's Sparrow Spizella wortheni has subsequently been recorded from just eight states in Mexico centred on the interior of the north-east of the country. Records during the last 30 years originate from just Coahuila and Nuevo León, with those during the last 10 years exclusively from two small areas in south-eastern Coahuila and western Nuevo León: it appears that this poorly known species has been suffering a range contraction owing to the widespread destruction of its shrubby (mesquite or yucca-juniper) grassland habitat. Little detail is known of its specific requirements, local movements, or even its distribution, and it is proposed that Worthen's Sparrow be formally recognized as a threatened species.

Originalmente descrito el siglo pasado a partir de ejemplares procedentes de Nuevo Méjico, U.S.A., Spizella wortheni ha sido posteriormente citado en ocho estados mejicanos, todos en el interior del noreste del país. Durante los últimos 30 años, todas las citas provienen de Coahuila y Nuevo León, y durante los últimos 10 exclusivamente de dos pequeñas áreas del sureste de Coahuila y del oeste de Nuevo León: parece que el área de distribution de esta escasamente conocida especie ha ido reduciéndose debido a una generalizada destructión de su hábitat de matorral (mescal o yuca-enebro) pastizal. Se conoce muy poco de sus requerimientos específicos, movimientos locales, o incluso su distributión, y se propone que Spizella wortheni sea formalmente reconocido como una especie amenazada.

The Grey-necked Picathartes Picathartes oreas was found in various forested areas of south-eastern Nigeria in February 1987, an event followed in September-October that year by the discovery of 91 breeding sites, reflecting a total population in the order of 500–1,000 birds. Since then a further three breeding sites have been added. Forest destruction was a major threat to this population, but killing of birds was also a problem. Conservation education, the guarding of some sites, and the development of a national park in the area, were recommended protective measures, and now good progress is being made in their implementation. More extensive surveys are needed. The Ibadan Malimbe Malimbus ibadanensis, endemic to south-west Nigeria, had not been seen since 1980; in October- November 1987 a survey produced observations of at least three in secondary woodland at a research farm, and subsequently the species was found nearby. A more concerted survey to clarify the species's status and ecology is needed, followed by protective recommendations and appropriate remedial action.

The endemic Galapagos Martin Progne modesta is a rare species. Population sizes in the past are unknown, but the few reports available suggest that it has become rarer in some sites. To obtain a better understanding of its population status, a simultaneous survey was conducted in 2017 around the coastline of 14 islands and 23 islets resulting in sightings of only 26 individuals. A simultaneous survey on Sierra Negra volcano on Isabela Island added five more individuals. However, observations from early expeditions and expeditions since 2015 have shown that the volcanoes of Isabela Island are important feeding areas and probable breeding areas for the Galapagos Martin, but these were largely excluded from the survey in 2017 due to logistical reasons. Historical and recent nesting sites include Tagus Cove on Isabela Island and Daphne Major Island. During our 2017 count, three possible new nesting sites were discovered: Daphne Minor, Santiago and a small crater on Punta Cristóbal on southwestern Isabela Island. From 2015 to 2018, 15 nests were also observed on the cliff in Tagus Cove. Two accessible nests were collected and revealed the first records of Philornis downsi in Galapagos Martin nests. The impact of parasitism by P. downsi is unknown but potentially severe. Given the lack of general knowledge about the biology of this species and its apparent low population sizes, further studies are urgently needed.

Siberian Crane Grus leucogeranus occurs only in Asia, and is Critically Endangered. The western population of the species has been almost extirpated, wintering at just two known sites, in Iran and India. To help conserve species that migrate long distances it is essential to have a comprehensive conservation plan that includes identification of migration routes and key resting areas. One Siberian Crane was satellite-tracked from the south Caspian Sea to its breeding grounds in Russia during the spring of 1996. The crane began migration on 6 March, and completed its migration on 1 May. This destination was formerly unknown as a breeding area for the species. During migration, the crane rested primarily at the eastern end of the Volga River delta. This suggests that the delta may be an important resting site for Siberian Crane.

Over the last 25 years subspecies have become an important unit of bird conservation in Australia. Some have evocative common English names which have allowed the subspecies to be vested with meaning among conservation advocates, evoking feelings of concern, loyalty and affection. This suggests that providing subspecies with stable English names can allow development of a ‘brand’ among those in need of conservation action. Also, since scientific names often change with knowledge of taxonomic relationships among birds, a stable list of standardised English names for all species and subspecies can minimise confusion and ambiguity among the public and in legislation. Here we present the arguments for creating a standardised list of English names for Australian bird subspecies and set out principles for formulating subspecies names, along with a list of the names themselves, with the aim of building the general public’s attachment to subspecies, increasing interest in their conservation and as subjects of research.

Distance sampling, line transects and radio-tracking have been used previously to estimate population abundances and movements of hornbills. We used a large dataset of audio recordings made over 10 years to estimate seasonal variation in abundance of three species: Black-casqued Hornbill Ceratogymna atrata, Yellow-casqued Hornbill C. elata and Brown-cheeked Hornbill Bycanistes cylindricus, in Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire. The latter two species are Near Threatened. Recordings of hornbill wing-beats were used to control for potential seasonal variation in call production. Yellow- and Black-casqued Hornbill calls were 10 times as abundant from July to February as they were from March to June. Brown-cheeked Hornbills showed a similar trend, but less pronounced. From these data we concluded that large numbers of Yellow- and Black-casqued Hornbills had left the Taï National Park during this period. The significance of these findings is discussed in relation to the fragmentation and regeneration of the Upper Guinea forests and the relatively small size of the remaining forest habitat in the region.

Les taux d'abondance et de mouvement des populations de calaos étaient auparavant estimés par un échantillonnage et des analyses sur le logiciel Distance, des transects linéaires et des repérages télémétriques. Nous avons eu recours è un grand ensemble d'enregistrements audio effectués sur plus de 10 ans afin d'estimer la variation saisonniàre de l'abondance de trois espàces rencontrées dans le Parc National de Taï, en Côte d'Ivoire : le Grand Calao è Casque Noir Ceratogymna atrata, le Grand Calao è Casque Jaune Ceratogymna elata et le Calao è Joues Brunes Bycanistes cylindricus. Ces deux derniàres espàces sont aujourd'hui considérées comme presque menacées. Nous avons procédé è des enregistrements de battements d'ailes pour tester une potentielle variation saisonniàre de la production des cris. Les cris des Grands Calaos è Casque Jaune et è Casque Noir étaient dix fois plus abondants entre juillet et février qu'entre mars et juin. En revanche, les Calaos è Joues Brunes n'ont présenté qu'une petite variation du taux d'abondance entre ces deux périodes. D'apràs ces données, nous avons conclu qu'un grand nombre de Calaos è Casque Jaune et è Casque Noir quittent le Parc National de Taï entre mars et juin. La signification de ces découvertes est discutée en tenant compte de la fragmentation et de la régénération des forêts de Haute Guinée ainsi que de la dimension relativement petite de l'habitat forestier subsistant dans cette région.

Reliable population size estimates are imperative for effective conservation and management of globally threatened birds like the ‘Critically Endangered’ Blue-throated Macaw Ara glaucogularis. Endemic to one of South America’s largest grassland floodplains, the Llanos de Moxos in northern Bolivia, the species’ global population size is uncertain. The region’s inaccessibility renders the application of traditional methods for obtaining bird population estimates impracticable or cost prohibitive. We developed a simultaneous, multilocality, double-sampling approach combined with quantitative habitat availability analyses to obtain the first rigorous population size estimate for the Blue-throated Macaw. We established 11 survey areas across its three subpopulations that were visited twice by one team in each subpopulation over a 23-day period in the 2015 dry season and obtained additional count data from two roost sites. We classified suitable habitat (palm forest islands) using Landsat 8 images and CLASlite forest monitoring software. We extrapolated the number of macaws detected (conservative estimate of the total number of macaws [CETN], highest single count [HSC]) per 100 ha of suitable habitat in each survey area to the entire area of suitable habitat in all subpopulations combined, corrected for the species’ range occupancy of 34.3%. The total number of Blue-throated Macaws detected by survey (CETN) and roost site counts was 137. Across all survey areas, the number of macaws per 100 ha of suitable habitat was 4.7 for the first and 4.4 for the second period for CETN and 3.2 and 3.4, respectively, for HSC data. Corresponding global population estimates were 426–455 (CETN) and 312–329 (HSC) individuals. Other recent research and anecdotal data support these estimates. Although it would be premature to propose downlisting the species to ‘Endangered’, our findings indicate that it has a larger population and slightly larger range than previously thought, and that the positive effects of conservation actions are now becoming apparent.

No published information is available on the foraging ecology and choice of feeding habitat of New Zealand’s rarest breeding bird: the New Zealand Fairy Tern (NZFT) Sternula nereis davisae. To address this gap, we conducted an assessment of the largest remaining breeding population at Mangawhai Harbour, Northland, New Zealand, during the chick-rearing period of the 2010/2011 breeding season. We combined visual tracking of birds with prey surveys and stable isotope analyses, and we present the first quantitative assessment of NZFT foraging. We recorded 405 foraging dives that show NZFT foraging habitat includes the water edges, shallow channels, and pools on the tidal flats of mangrove-lined (Avicennia marina var. resinifera) parts of the estuary; tidal pools on mud- and sandflats in the mid-estuary and lower harbour; the shallow margins of the dredged main channel in the lower harbour; the oxbow lagoons on the sand spit; and coastal shallows. Our study identifies the mangrove-lined highly tidal and shallow mid-estuary and the lagoon on the sand spit as foraging hotspots for the Mangawhai breeding population of the NZFT. The prey survey employed a seine-net sampling method at identified NZFT foraging sites and yielded 4,367 prey-sized fish of 11 species, two of which had not previously been reported in Mangawhai Harbour, as well as numerous shrimps. The most abundant fish were gobies of the genus Favonigobius. Our stable isotope results highlight gobies as the most important prey for NZFT chick rearing, also indicating that flounder Rhombosolea sp. contribute to NZFT diet. We raise the possibility that shrimps may also constitute a substantial diet component for NZFT, potentially providing up to 21% of diet mass for adult birds. While our results provide a first basis to understanding the feeding ecology of NZFT during their breeding season in order to facilitate conservation planning, further research is required to address inter-annual variation and to identify key foraging grounds for this Critically Endangered bird at other breeding sites.

Three different methods (visual detection on transects, call-playback and territory mapping) were used to estimate the densities of the White-breasted Mesite Mesitornis variegata in western Malagasy deciduous forest. The species is threatened and belongs o t an endemic family of uncertain affinities. The population in the Menabe region, central-west Madagascar, surveyed using call-playback (the most efficient survey method), is estimated at 3,000-19,000 individuals; that of Ankarafantsika, north-west Madagascar, 6,000-26,000 individuals. Other western populations may be relicts. The White-breasted Mesite occurs at highest densities and with highest productivity in logged forest near rivers in the south of its range and in undisturbed sand-forest in the north, and is present at low density or absent from some areas of apparently suitable habitat, as well as forest that is secondary or has been severely damaged by burning. It is probably not immediately at risk from rats, dogs or selective exploitation, but hunting and forest burning through accidental bushfires or clearance for agriculture are locally important threats.

Trois méthodes différentes (détection visuelle sur transect, réémission de chant, et délimitation du territoire) ont été utilisées pour faire des estimations de la densité de la Mésite Variée Mesitornis variegata dans la forêt sèche de l'ouest de Madagascar. L'espèce est considérée comme menacée et appartient à une famille endémique de relations obscures. La population dans la region du Menabe, centre-ouest Madagascar, estime avec la réémission de chant (la méthode la plus efficace) est entre 3,000-19,000; celle de l'Ankarafantsika, nord-ouest Madagascar, est entre 6,000-26,000. Les autres populations occidentales sont probablement des vestiges. L'habitat ou l'espece se trouve le plus commune est à côté des rivières dans la foret exploitée, dans la partie méridionale de son aire de distribution, et dans forêt intacte sur sable dans le partie septentrionale. L'espece parait etre absente dans d'autres régions, meme où l'habitat est similaire. Elle existe rarement ou pas du tout dans les forêts sécondaires ou brulees. Les rongeurs introduits et Sexploitation forestiere selective ne posent pas probablement un grand problème pour l'espece, mais la chasse et le defrîchement pour l'agriculture sont localement importante.

The Sierra Madre Sparrow (Xenospiza baileyi) is a highly endangered and endemic species of the highlands of south-central Mexico, where it is resident in bunchgrass (Gramineae) and adjacent marshy habitats in the southern Sierra Madre Occidental (Jalisco and Durango states) and in the mountains around the Valley of Mexico (Distrito Federal and the states of Morelos and Mexico). This species was first collected in the southern part of this range on 23 April 1945 at La Cima, D.F., where its persistence has been documented essentially continuously since 1951. The first specimens of the taxon were collected in the Sierra de Bolaños of extreme northern Jalisco on 3–10 March 1889, including the type from which the genus and species were described in 1931. Two populations have been found in southern Durango: one 30 miles (48 km) south-west of the City of Durango on 22 March 1931, and the other 5 miles (8 km) west of El Salto on 16–17 June 1951. The Sierra Madre Sparrow has not been otherwise confirmed in the northern part of its range, which in July 2004 led us to conduct an extensive search for it in these areas of Durango and Jalisco as well as south-western Zacatecas. Here we present the findings from that search, during which several sites were intensively surveyed and a single population of this sparrow was located – a new one between the city of Durango and El Salto, Durango. This rediscovery increases possibilities for understanding the biogeography, ecology and basic requirements of the Sierra Madre Sparrow, information of fundamental importance for proposing measures that promote its conservation in any of its remaining populations.

The Bristle-thighed Curlew Numenius tahitiensis is a rare shorebird that breeds in western Alaska and winters on oceanic islands in the tropical and subtropical Pacific Ocean. Before human colonization, the islands on which curlews winter were devoid of terrestrial predators, allowing curlews to evolve a rapid moult during which about 50% of adults become flightless. Especially when flightless, these birds are vulnerable to harvest by humans and to predation by introduced mammals such as dogs and cats. On atolls where they are harvested by humans, curlews tend to occur only on uninhabited islets. Consequently, human encroachment in Oceania has probably reduced Bristle-thighed Curlew numbers and altered winter distribution of the species. Future studies should (1) identify concentrations of wintering curlews, focusing in the Tuamotu Archipelago; (2) determine whether migratory stopover sites exist in the central Pacific between Hawaii and the southern end of the wintering grounds; and (3) establish a monitoring programme to assess population trends in several parts of the winter range. A comprehensive plan is needed to provide for the existence of predator-free islands throughout key portions of the winter range.