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By Nelson Gomez, ODZH Project team

In recent times, the whole of West Africa has seen a drastic decline in vulture populations, mainly driven by belief-based use. Since the discovery of a mass killing of vultures in 2020, where more than 2000 Hooded Vultures Necrosyrtes monachus (Critically Endangered) were found poisoned, BirdLife International, together with other stakeholders, has been supporting ODZH to investigate these deaths and the vulture trade in Guinea-Bissau. Through this support, ODZH and local partners have been actively conducting market investigations, threat surveys, community engagement and capacity-building workshops since 2020, in addition to other vulture conservation efforts as part of the IUCN Save Our Species project.

The investigation that led to these arrests started on February 3rd, 2022 when ODZH learned how traders were selling vulture parts hidden in the horns of other animals. They discovered that heads were being sold for 15,000 XOF (25 US Dollars) and feet for 10,000 XOF (17 US Dollars).

Executive Director of ODZH, Francisco Wambar, stumbled upon this trade in Bandim market when he found a vulture wing for sale at a stall. “I was taken aback when the lady brazenly shared with me that the animal part I was pointing to was indeed the wing of a vulture, as I had suspected,” stated Wambar.

Wambar realized that the illegal trade in vulture parts could be rife in the market, and he immediately reported the incident to the local judicial police, who quickly swung into action. Together with the judicial police officer trained at one of the capacity building courses carried out by ODZH and IBAP (Institute of Biodiversity and Protected Areas), they visited the site pretending to be buyers interested in wildlife parts. During this undercover operation, they found more vulture parts on the tables near the previous one. As they talked to the traders, they were provided with the pricing, and this helped the police kick-start the investigation that resulted in the seizures and arrest of the two traders.

This event marks an important and significant breakthrough in vulture conservation in the country, and ODZH is following up with the police closely to see what further assistance they could provide. Mr I.Q. Turere from the police force was keen to pursue a conviction, stating: “We are hoping that we can follow through on these arrests with a fair trial and conviction based on the laws of the land in order to set a precedent that will act as deterrent for other traders of wildlife parts.”

Head of a White-backed Vulture offered for sale at a market in Nigeria © J. Onoja
The Bandim Market in Guinea-Bissau, where the two traders who were arrested clandestinely selling  vultures’ body parts © Shutterstock

“These arrests would not have been possible without the collaboration of stakeholders on the ground, including the judicial police, Dr. Alfredo Simão Da Silva from IBAP, and the GPC (Office of Coastal Planning),” noted Wambar. He further thanked BirdLife International and The Rufford Foundation, whose financial and technical support has been key to this work.

BirdLife International is keenly following the outcome of these investigations and looks forward to continuing supporting ODZH’s efforts in furthering vulture conservation efforts in Guinea-Bissau and within the region. Salisha Chandra, Vulture Conservation Manager for Africa at BirdLife International, also feels that a conviction could prove to be a turning point for vulture conservation in the region, bringing much-needed awareness and emphasis to the role and value of vultures. “The dedication and diligence of Wambar and his team, together with other key stakeholders, has been exemplary. They have been working against the odds, and it is efforts such as these that will help to start turning the tide for vultures in Africa,” she concluded.


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Every year, species are shuttled up and down the scale, with some being ‘uplisted’ to higher threat categories – a cause for concern – and others successfully ‘downlisted’ to lower threat categories. Knowing where a species stands on the road to extinction can help us to focus our action where it is most needed – or, conversely, to learn which conservation measures are working well.

In this most recent update, Asia’s big forest birds made the headlines, driven ever closer towards extinction by hunting and habitat loss. But there were plenty of other stories – both positive and negative – that flew under the radar. Here are just a few.

Conservation challenges: species moved to higher threat categories

© Ondrej Prosicky / Shutterstock

Yellow-naped Amazon: Endangered > Critically Endangered

This beautiful parrot, native to the Pacific coast of southern Mexico and Central America, was uplisted from Endangered to Critically Endangered this year. Recently, population declines have been accelerating due to habitat destruction and excessive trapping for the pet trade. The species is prized for its ability to mimic speech, and chicks are often stolen straight out of the nest.

© Monkey Boy / Flickr

Maccoa Duck: Vulnerable > Endangered

Found across Eastern and Southern Africa, this glossy diving duck was uplisted from Vulnerable to Endangered this year. Because the species feeds on invertebrates at the bottom of rivers and lakes, it is particularly susceptible to water pollution, which builds up in the food chain, reaching toxic levels. Other threats include entanglement in fishing nets and drainage of wetlands for agriculture.

© Andy Morffew

Red-footed Falcon: Near Threatened > Vulnerable

In recent years, this majestic raptor’s European and Central Asian breeding grounds have been gradually destroyed by intensive farming. With natural habitats converted to agricultural fields, pesticides poisoning the food chain and grasslands badly managed, the number of suitable feeding and breeding sites are dwindling. This year, it was uplisted from Near Threatened to Vulnerable.

© curatok77 / Flickr

Harpy Eagle: Near Threatened > Vulnerable

Renowned for its enormous size and startling appearance, including an impressive double crest, this famous bird of prey is now classed as Vulnerable to extinction. Tragically, it is a victim of hunting and persecution across Central and South America due to extremely infrequent attacks on livestock. Deforestation and logging are also destroying the large trees that it requires to nest.

Conservation successes: species moved to lower threat categories

© Brian Gratwicke

South Georgia Pipit: Near Threatened > Least Concern

This sparrow-sized songbird, found only on the South Georgia archipelago in the South Atlantic, is bouncing back thanks to concerted efforts to remove invasive rats and mice from the islands. The species is now recolonising areas previously rendered inaccessible by the rodents, which prey on eggs and chicks. This year, the pipit was downlisted from Near Threatened to Least Concern.

© Xelgen

Armenian Gull: Near Threatened > Least Concern

This large seabird nests every year beside mountain lakes in Georgia, Armenia, Turkey and western Iran, and in 2018 the first breeding colonies were found in Azerbaijan. For many years it suffered a steady decline driven by water extraction, pollution, egg collection and disturbance at these vital breeding grounds. Fortunately, its population has more than doubled between 2007 and 2018 thanks to pollution control and the protection of water bodies. In Armenia, the species started recovering when Lake Arpi National Park was created to protect the country’s largest colony, and the Government started raising the water level of Lake Sevan – another major breeding ground.

© Eric Gropp

Spotted Ground-thrush: Endangered > Vulnerable

Changing a species’ Red List category due to improved information can be just as important as reporting a genuine alteration in its fates. This year, the Spotted Ground-thrush was moved from Endangered to Vulnerable, as it was found to be more numerous than previously thought. However, it is still suffering from deforestation across Africa, and BirdLife Partners have developed an action plan to protect it – but reclassifications like these allow us to prioritise our work and get a better idea of the exact needs of each species.


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The known history of the Hooded Grebe starts in 1974 when, almost by accident, renowned Argentinian naturalist Mauricio Rumboll discovered it at Los Escarchados Lake in the south-west corner of Santa Cruz Province, Patagonia. Rumboll found the new species to be one of the most colourful and striking grebes in the world, with a spectacular courtship display to rival that of its more famous cousin, Great Crested Grebe. Today, Hooded Grebe has become a symbol for conservation in Patagonia thanks to the hard work of dozens of researchers and conservationists, along with several institutions.

When it was first discovered, numerous studies were launched, and by the end of the 1980s its breeding range was well known and its population estimated to be between 3,000 and 5,000 fertile adults – not bad for a species that, only a few years earlier, had been described as doomed to a ‘natural’ extinction. Based on the knowledge generated during that period, by the beginning of the 1990s it was categorised as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. In 1997, an IUCN report concluded: “No major actions need to be taken to protect the Hooded Grebe, as its remote and hostile environment naturally protects it, and there is no risk of humans reaching the area to harm it.”

Decline and fall

Sadly, human impact reached farther than expected. During the early 2000s, concerns about the species started to increase. Naturalists and birders had more and more trouble finding it, both at its breeding and wintering sites. In 2003, the first potentially negative factor affecting its habitat was detected: trout production in its breeding lakes at Strobel Plateau. In 2009, local conservation groups Aves Argentinas and Ambiente Sur started to turn their focus towards the grebe. In 2011 they created the Hooded Grebe Project with the support of the National Science and Technology Council, the Neotropical Bird Club and BirdLife International.

Since 2010, the Hooded Grebe Project has been tirelessly monitoring the species, making records of its distribution, population trends and threats. The most shocking result is that the species’ population currently numbers just 750 breeding adults – an 80% plummet since the 1980s. Many questions arise, but the most important one is: what caused such a massive population collapse in only a few decades?

One of the greatest threats is something that affects all of the planet’s biodiversity, along with humanity itself: climate change. Its impacts can be seen in the incredibly fast reduction in the number of lakes available for the grebes to breed in. Aided and abetted by climate change, three invasive species have also arrived in Hooded Grebe habitat, each one directly impacting the grebe at a different point in its life cycle.

By Kini Roesler, Co-ordinator of the Patagonia Programme, Aves Argentinas

Above: in 2017, a video of Hooded Grebe’s otherworldly courtship display went viral on social media, raising awareness and funds. Photo © Ignazi Gonzalo

Hooded Grebes nest on large mats of aquatic plants called ‘milfoil’ © Darío Podestá

Freshwater fish such as salmon and trout are a major draw for recreational fishers, and generate significant tourism revenue for the local community. This isn’t necessarily a problem, as recreational fishers are mostly on the lookout for large lakes and rivers, where Hooded Grebe does not breed. Unfortunately, due to a combination of bad management and lack of knowledge, these fish have also been stocked into smaller lakes of huge importance to the grebes.

Rainbow trout, the most common intruder, has an enormous impact at the environmental level. This fish changes the entire food chain, eating up freshwater invertebrates that the grebe usually feeds on, and probably affecting water conditions, preventing the growth of Milfoil. This is the only aquatic plant in these lakes, and is an essential material for the Hooded Grebe to build its floating nests.

Although native to Patagonia, Kelp Gull has only recently arrived at the highland plateaus, enabled by debris left behind by human activity, such as animal carcasses, landfill sites and discards from fisheries. This is why it is considered to be ‘neo-native’, or a native invasive species. But while its invasive status is nuanced, its impact is concrete: it preys on colonies during the egg-laying phase, a critical moment in the life cycle of any species. A single gull has been recorded destroying a colony of 30+ nests in less than 45 minutes, devouring dozens of eggs and chicks in a single gluttonous session.

Unwelcome guest

The final, but perhaps most acute, of all threats is American Mink. Mink are an invasive species brought in from North America in the early 20th century for fur production, in an attempt to boost Patagonia’s economic development. This predator can attack grebes at any stage in their life cycle, even as adults. This represents a huge problem, since Hooded Grebe has a ‘live slow, die old’ evolutionary strategy. Adults produce young slowly over a long stretch of years, usually raising just one chick at a time, and sometimes skipping years altogether when conditions are not perfect. As a result, losing a single fertile adult has a devastating impact on future numbers.

To make matters worse, in its natural environment Hooded Grebe’s only predators are birds of prey such as Peregrine Falcon and Cinereous Harrier. It has never before encountered swimming mammal predators, and therefore has no instinct to avoid mink. We have registered several cases in which more than 20 individuals were attacked by just one mink. Our most tragic record is 33 individuals killed in just one night, in an area which is now part of Patagonia National Park.

Since 2012, the Hooded Grebe Project has been taking action to tackle all of these threats. Highlights include controlling American Mink and gulls at key colonies, removing trout from important breeding lakes, and trials with windbreaks and artificial nesting platforms to reduce the impact of strong winds. As an insurance measure, we have also started to implement a captive rearing program to recover eggs that have been abandoned by their parents or left behind after a colony has been destroyed. Hooded Grebe parents tend to lay two eggs, but ignore one of them when the first chick hatches, meaning there is a ready supply of ‘spare’ eggs. Releasing captive-reared fledglings is very much a last resort, but they may be useful for strengthening wild populations once the main threats have been addressed.

Encouragingly, the loss of adults – one of the most worrying factors – has been substantially reduced and we have even managed to increase the colonies’ reproductive success, almost doubling it, thanks to the hard work of ‘Colony Guardians’ – trained technicians who watch over the nests and intervene in the event of mink and gull attacks. This has not only stabilised the overall population, but slightly increased it. However, in conservation, the rule is always to stay alert: for three years from 2018–2020, there were no breeding events whatsoever due to changes in climate conditions, which prevented the blooming of milfoil and blew away any nests that the grebes did attempt to make.

“Our most tragic record is 33 Hooded Grebes killed by American Mink in one night.”

Kini Roesler, Co-ordinator of the Patagonia Programme, Aves Argentinas

‘Colony Guardians’ camp out in extreme conditions to protect nests from predator attacks © Nadia Nahir Sotelo

Fortunately, in 2021 the team installed 20 floating platforms at a key breeding lake, Estancia Lago Strobel. These platforms are anchored to the bottom of the lakes to avoid them being carried away by the wind and have been covered with natural milfoil for grebes to build their nests on. Grebes quickly accepted the platforms and started behaving as they would in a natural breeding colony: climbing on to the platforms, courting around them, mating and adding further milfoil to them. All these busy activities give hope that we will soon to see grebes laying and incubating eggs on these artificial platforms.

Elsewhere, the adult population is stable and simply waiting for better weather conditions to raise its young. This makes it even more important to carry on removing invasive species, so that the habitat is as perfect as possible when the birds decide to breed again.

The show must go on

The future of Hooded Grebe is full of new challenges, some of them bigger than ever. A pair of giant hydroelectric dams currently under construction on the Santa Cruz River presents an unknown threat, as their impact on the species and its winter habitat has not yet been discovered. This is why are we are currently analysing potential risks and how they could be tackled.

Nonetheless, conservation efforts certainly seem to be having positive impacts on Hooded Grebe’s populations, so this is no time to give up the fight. Now that we are beginning to make an impact, we need to forge on harder than ever.

But something even more positive has resulted from this project. Even though the species is not yet as famous as the Giant Panda, its image has become well known and today – locally, regionally and internationally – it is a flagship species for the conservation of Patagonia’s biodiversity. In this way, it works as an umbrella species: by protecting Hooded Grebe habitat, we also protect the homes of other threatened or declining species such as Austral Rail (Vulnerable) or Torrent Duck, and even mammals such as Wolffsohn´s Vizcacha – a rabbit-like rodent in the chinchilla family – or Southern River Otter.

Hooded Grebe is also responsible for the creation of Patagonia National Park and the establishment of the Juan Mazar Barnett Biological Station. In this way, this resplendent bird has become the true guardian of Patagonia’s steppes.


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A prized collaboration by the artist Tawaraya Sōtatsu and calligrapher Hon’ami Kōetsu, Anthology with Cranes, is held in the Kyoto Museum of Art. A scroll, the work is almost 14 m in length, and the cranes – beautifully rendered in gold and silver – stand and fly, alone and in flocks. Dating from the 17th century, the piece is revered as a celebration of Sōtatsu and Kōetsu’s friendship, and because of the core role cranes play in Japanese and wider Asian culture. With simple elegant lines Sōtatsu fills the space with the effervescent energy cranes always seem to express.

Taken more than 400 years later, David Tipling’s wonderful image of Red-crowned Cranes Grus japonensis dancing and bugling, their breath catching the sun and condensing in the chill air of Hokkaido island, captures an ageless scene. Only the sound is missing, of course, though listening to recordings on the Xeno-canto website allow a sense of how the sight, calls and movements of these remarkable birds has flooded people’s imaginations for as long as we have shared common ground.

Although Red-crowned Cranes remain Vulnerable to extinction, the story of their recovery on Hokkaido and the development of the marshes at Kushiro as a national park has been a major success. Fewer than 20 resident birds were present in the 1920s, but numbers have now grown to an average annual population of over 1,500. The Wild Bird Society of Japan (BirdLife Partner) has played a key role in supporting action for the cranes and opened a visitor centre at the Tsurui-Ito Tancho Sanctuary in 1987 – an Important Bird & Biodiversity Area and popular site with ecotourists. The close interweave of natural and cultural values in Japan has played a key role in creating momentum.

Above: An extract from Anthology with Cranes, 17th century, by painter Tawaraya Sōtatsu and calligrapher Hon’ami Kōetsu

Breath-taking: Red-crowned Cranes calling in Hokkaido, Japan © David Tipling

Few of us who have held paper have not, at some stage, folded a bird, or some bird-form, a pair of wings, and flown them, literally, or with arms whirling to create the magic of flight. Cranes are core to origami, and the tradition of folding a 1,000, or senzaburu, dates back to a Confucian belief that they could live to be 1,000 years old. To fold so many is to conjure up the long-standing association between these remarkable birds, longevity, happiness and good fortune.

Cranes are also closely associated with peace in Japan. In 1955, a schoolgirl named Sadako Sasaki, who had miraculously survived the atomic bomb which had devasted Hiroshima a decade earlier, fell ill with leukaemia. When a school friend visited her hospital bed bearing a gift of origami paper, she also told Sadako of senzaburu and its association with good fortune. Determined to recover, Sadako began to fold cranes, and reputedly reached 644 before succumbing to the relentless radiation cancer.

Her story soon spread, and schoolchildren from all around Japan and overseas gave money to build a monument in her memory at the Hiroshima Peace Park. A small bell hangs there, donated by the first Japanese Nobel Laureate, Hideki Yukawa. People still hang paper cranes below the bell, both to celebrate Sadako’s life, and the enduring association between cranes and peace.

Folded paper cranes at the Children’s Peace Monument, Hiroshima © Matremors/Shutterstock

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The Bedside Book of Birds was first published in 2005 but such is its enduring appeal that The Bedside Book of Birds lives on in new editions beyond the author’s passing. In the introduction, Graeme Gibson says he came late to birds. You would not know it. Perhaps making up for lost years, he invested much effort, imagination and time assembling material for this unique volume. The result is an enriching collection arranged over nine chapters under such broad themes as birds observed and recorded (Oh, The Birds …), folk tales and parables (Death Comes as a Rooster), birds we exploit (A Bird In The Hand) and birds and the nostalgic human soul (Some Blessed Hope).

From Pliny the Elder to Peter Matthiessen via Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, Franz Kafka and Patrick Leigh Fermor, and peppered with the author’s own material, there is writing to stimulate every mind – discovery, exploration, contemplation, philosophy, poetry, humour, religion and yet more. Unsurprisingly because of their cultural associations, some birds – albatrosses, raptors and crows, for example – feature more prominently than others, and many are also depicted in reproductions of avian art or artefacts, ranging from the paintings of Audubon and Keulemans to images of Aztec ceramics, Maori kites and Ghanaian sculpture.

The latest edition of this eclectic collection has a new foreword by Margaret Atwood, the author’s partner for more than 45 years. In it she reveals that he was surprised by the book’s success, but promptly gave away the profits: “birds had been a gift to him, and gifts must be reciprocated.” Both are well-known supporters of conservation, championing BirdLife’s work at home in Canada and internationally, and among other things serving as joint Presidents of the Rare Bird Club.

It seems fitting that this latest edition is published ahead of BirdLife’s launch in 2021-22 of the Graeme Gibson Fellowship. As well as honouring his love for birds and conservation, this new initiative is designed to empower a diversity of new leaders across the charity’s expanding network to rise to the challenges of a changing and precarious world – something of which Graeme Gibson, who confessed to having “the zeal of a convert,” would surely have approved.

Reviewed by Dominic Mitchell


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Roger Benson’s latest paper features a feathered, chicken-sized, bird-like dinosaur revealed to have the hearing ability to rival a barn owl – a specialised nocturnal predator. Combined with short, muscular arms ending in a single giant claw for digging, Shuvuuia deserti (meaning ‘desert bird’) is not what you might classically expect from a dinosaur. Such are the revelations from fossil discoveries in recent decades that are changing how we see birds today. Professor of Palaeobiology at the University of Oxford, Roger researches the evolution of dinosaurs – including bird origins – and large-scale evolutionary patterns. He explains why ‘dinosaur’ is more ‘incredible bird’ than ‘terrible lizard’…

Are birds really dinosaurs? Is it disputed?

There’s no longer really any doubt that birds are a type of dinosaur. These days, the debate is about details. The strong evidence doesn’t just come from fossilised bones and similarities found across the skeleton, but from fossilised soft tissue – especially feathers. Many dinosaurs had not just some kind of body covering, but distinctive bird-like feathers. Rare fossils also give us glimpses of the behaviour of bird-like dinosaurs, such as Mei long, a small, duck-sized bipedal dinosaur from the Cretaceous era. It was found preserved in volcanic ash falls – a bit like Pompeii – captured curled up in a sleeping position very similar to how a lot of birds roost today.

If feathers evolved in dinosaurs, what is the origin of birds?

Birds belong to the theropod group of dinosaurs that included T. rex. Theropods are all bipedal and some of them share more bird-like features than others. Archaeopteryx, discovered in 1861, was for a long time the only truly bird-like dinosaur – it’s from the Late Jurassic era (150 million years ago). Others closely related to birds, like Velociraptor, can be from the Late Cretaceous (100-66 million years ago), so they’d also had a lot of time to evolve independently. It’s the Late Jurassic where we start finding really interesting, distinctive, bird-like dinosaurs – especially with recent fossils from China preserved in fine-grain sediments from lake beds.

Such as?

Anchiornis is a Late Jurassic winged dinosaur, with large feather arrays on its legs. Fossils like this suggest the intriguing possibility that birds evolved from a gliding ancestor that had effectively four wings. That is cool. Also, Yi qi was discovered in the last couple of years. Its fossil has preserved soft tissue with a bat-like wing membrane.

Could they fly?

Not all of the dinosaurian close relatives of birds could fly. But those that could, flew in a range of different ways – suggesting early evolutionary experiments of flight, with birds being the most successful of those experiments, and persisting to the present.

Were the Velociraptors in Jurassic Park covered in feathers?

We can confidently think of Velociraptor as having a bird-like feather covering, even though its fossils only preserve the bones. The skeleton has quill knobs on the ulna (wing bone – also found on today’s birds). Close relatives are better-preserved and show a complete body covering, ranging from down to quill feathers. They couldn’t fly, so the feathers could be to do with display. Reconstructions have moved on a bit since Jurassic Park… Artists have only recently let go of scaly, reptilian-like depictions. We can think of dinosaurs as more bird-like than reptile-like.

Above: an artist’s interpretation of Shuvuuia deserti, which means ‘desert bird’
© Viktor Radermacher

The Velociraptors in Jurassic Park were actually covered in feathers, with quill knobs on their arm bones like those of modern birds

Were they warm-blooded?

For dinosaurs closest to birds – or, in fact, dinosaurs in general – we have so much evidence that suggests they were warm-blooded, short of actually sticking a thermometer in one. Growth rates and insulation are the smoking gun. They grow fast – we know from cutting up bones – faster than reptiles (including those from the same period), but not quite as fast as modern birds or mammals. For theropods where we can see soft tissue, we can see insulating feathers. All dinosaurs were on the road to becoming warm-blooded, with steps towards faster metabolic rates and very high body temperatures somewhat after the origin of birds. There wouldn’t have been a sluggish T. rex waiting for prey to walk by; we should think of them as active, curious animals.

What would you say to people that would say birds aren’t dinosaurs?

If birds aren’t dinosaurs, then we have no idea what they are. Birds share so many features with theropods and there are no other candidate fossil groups. When you understand that birds are a type of dinosaur, that the evidence has stacked up, everything starts to make more sense. Birds inherit their bipedalism from theropods, explaining why they evolved flight using just their forelimbs, unlike bats or pterosaurs. If that hypothesis was wrong, we’d expect to be just as uncertain about bird origins today as 30 years ago.

But didn’t Triceratops, from a completely distant group of dinosaurs, have a beak?

Many groups have lost teeth and evolved a beak. Triceratops had a beak at the front of the mouth. Sheep also lack teeth at the front in their upper jaw. That’s for grabbing vegetation, and evolves frequently.

Is flight the key to the origin of birds, then?

Palaeontologists ask ‘what makes Archaeopteryx a fossil bird rather than another bird-like dinosaur?’, and it’s the capability of powered flight. The wing feather arrangement is much more similar to modern birds. But the more we know about bird-like dinosaurs, the more we find that specific features of birds have an older origin. Walking on two legs, having feathers, laying eggs, warm bloodedness – they’re just inherited features from dinosaurs.

How did powered flight begin in bird-like dinosaurs?

Not everyone agrees, but many think they were tree-climbing animals that glided. I think they evolved flight from the trees down. From an aerodynamic perspective it’s easier to see how that would work. To evolve flight from the ground up, evolution would need to master a number of different things about flight control and power quickly. That’s more difficult. When did they learn to climb trees? We would like to know!

“There wouldn’t have been a sluggish T. rex waiting for prey to walk by; we should think of them as active, curious animals.”

Professor Roger Benson

Archaeopteryx is considered a transitional species closest to the origin of birds

Why were birds the only dinosaurs that survived the mass extinction at the end of Cretaceous?

We know from the fossil record that large-bodied land animals were hit hard. Only the tiny survived. The smallest dinosaurs weighed about 500 g, but to survive as a land mammal you needed to weigh less than 50 g, and even then the chances were very slim. Lots of bird groups also went extinct. All sorts of reasons have been suggested – such as being a seed-eater or fish-eater (after the 10-km diameter meteor struck, there was a lack of sunlight due to dust, and freshwater ecosystems were a refuge). Some places would have been less terrible than others – clearly proximity to the impact zone in Mexico would have been terrible – but there were global effects.

Will only small animals survive the current sixth mass extinction and the bird declines BirdLife scientists are monitoring today?

We know from the fossil record that mass extinctions happen, but each one has a different cause and pattern. So we can’t predict what will happen next based on past mass extinctions. It’s much better to look at what’s happening to birds and other animals right now. The extinction of the dinosaurs is the most abrupt – it could have happened in a single year. The current mass extinction seems a lot faster than some of the other mass extinction events, though, in terms of rate of decline of abundance and rate of species loss. It’s terrifying, but only if it continues. And we have some control of this if people take action.

The other lesson from mass extinctions is that the biosphere will recover. But not in our lifetimes – only on timescales that aren’t useful for human society. Some of our best fossil record studies monitor extinctions with data points every 100,000 years … So today, monitoring birds is one of the most important things we can do to catch species before they’re unknowingly lost.

Favourite bird?

I really like the Inaccessible Island Rail, the smallest flightless bird, living precariously on a tiny island. How can it be so small? It’s got something to tell us about evolution. No dinosaur had ever been that small. Islands are fascinating for an evolutionary biologist and we can’t risk losing this information from science, the sum of human knowledge. That’s just one reason why BirdLife’s work to protect island birds from introduced species is so important.

Given your expertise, how do you feel when you look at birds today?

I like watching them because I like animals and birds are some of the most visible. You can say that a pigeon’s foot is similar to a dinosaur’s – birds have inherited so much from dinosaurs but are also so distinctive in their own right. I respect that and see them doing something fundamentally different to what most dinosaurs would have done. They use resources in a way that ground-walking animals can’t. At any one time there were probably only about 1,000 species of dinosaur on earth, whereas birds have taken what they’ve inherited from dinosaurs and done a lot more with it, giving rise to an enormous diversity of 11,000 species. People love dinosaurs and people love birds. What could be more interesting?


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Whether it’s an increasing concern for the planet, an accompanying awareness of the importance of nature in supporting our children’s future, or purely a love of birds and birdwatching, more people are looking at leaving a legacy to environmental conservation.

By supporting BirdLife, you are already making efforts to protect the future of life on Earth. As a reader of this magazine you probably love birds, and as such are worried about their prospects. Globally, many bird species continue to decline and face a greater threat of being lost, with dire consequences for entire ecosystems.

At least 40% of bird species worldwide have declining populations, with over 200 species categorised as Critically Endangered, meaning they face an extremely high risk of extinction. Like you, we at BirdLife want to stop this. We are widely recognised as the world leader in bird conservation and our actions provide practical and sustainable solutions that significantly benefit nature and people.

It is because of BirdLife’s proven history of providing effective conservation that Hans Swegen chose to leave a legacy to BirdLife – one of the most powerful ways you can join us in our mission to protect birds and their habitats.

A legacy to protect threatened forest

Hans wanted to see for himself the positive effects his donation could have for conservation, so he donated a sum of money to help BirdLife purchase and protect forest land – the now-called Swegen Forest of the Tekoha Guasu in Paraguay and Bosque Swegen in the Dominican Republic.  

With support from Hans Swegen and other donors, Guyra Paraguay (BirdLife Partner) was able to secure ownership of 6,900 hectares of pristine Atlantic Forest and Pampas habitat, transformed into the Guyra Reta Reserve Complex for conservation in perpetuity. The Reserve acts as a core conservation area for protecting biodiversity, as well as a base for a wide range of initiatives.

Over the past five years, Guyra Paraguay has developed a sustainable yerba mate initiative based at the reserve, together with members of the local community, which have achieved Fair Trade and USDA Organic certification. By selling the crop to a premium sustainable market, the programme provides a more forest-friendly economic option to the region. This support created the foundation for a greener future for San Rafael’s people, as well as its nature.

His wife, Jacky Swegen, told us: “My husband, Hans, was fascinated by wildlife from an early age, and as a young adult he became passionate about conservation. This led in later years to a desire to take action against the destruction of the forests that are so vital to the life of the planet. He began to research the possibility of buying threatened areas of forest land. Thanks to BirdLife, his efforts culminated in the purchase of precious areas of forest. The achievement of these long-pursued goals made him very happy.”

After building a fruitful relationship with BirdLife and seeing the impressive results of his donation, Hans decided to leave a further gift in his will – an amazing way to leave a mark on a cause he cared about. Any gift left to BirdLife in your will, no matter how large or small, will support our work where it is most needed.

“With a gift in your will to BirdLife, you can leave a legacy that helps to secure the future of birds and their habitats across the world, We will use your gift where it is most urgently needed.”

Richard Grimmett, Director of Conservation, BirdLife International

Wandering Albatrosses breed on sub-Antarctic islands and usually mate for life © MZPHOTO.CZ / Shutterstock

A legacy to save the albatross

BirdLife works in over 120 countries worldwide, and it was because of the intrepid travels of the late Lady Jean Gilbert and her husband, the late Lord John Gilbert, that they made the decision to leave a gift to BirdLife in their will. Both passionate supporters of conservation, they were especially committed to the protection of endangered species, having seen first-hand the threats in Antarctica.

The plight of the albatross was of particular concern and they decided that they should leave a major legacy to BirdLife and its work to save the albatross. The friends and family of Lady Gilbert, who died in 2019, know they would be proud that this legacy will make a significant difference to the future of the albatross and other marine life.

Here at BirdLife we understand that writing your will is an important thing to do to ensure that the people and causes close to your heart are provided for after you are gone. Leaving a gift in your will is something that does not have to cost you anything now but will protect what you care about in the future. What will you be remembered for?

There are many ways you can choose to leave a legacy to BirdLife. For more information, contact us or read our legacies brochure here.


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Which factors make some locations higher priority than others?

The benefits and costs of restoration vary substantially across the world. The amount of carbon that would be captured by restoring a site differs depending on habitat and location, and the biodiversity value of locations also varies. Added to this, habitat restoration is much cheaper in some locations than others.

How did you explore these trade-offs?

We collaborated with scientists at the International Institute for Sustainability in Brazil – along with other institutions – to use an approach called ‘linear programming’. Through this method, we calculated the optimal distribution of restored sites under three criteria (minimising extinctions, mitigating climate change and minimising costs) under 1,200 different scenarios.

What were the key findings?

Priority areas for restoration varied wildly depending on which of the criteria we focused on. Overall, we found that restoring 15% of converted lands in priority areas could avoid 60% of expected extinctions while capturing 299 gigatonnes of CO2 – 30% of the total CO2 increase in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution. Importantly, we found that it is much more cost-effective to optimise across multiple criteria simultaneously. This highlights the importance of spatial planning and pursuing climate and biodiversity goals simultaneously rather than separately.

Which kinds of habitat are important for restoration?

All biomes have an important role, but priority areas tended to be concentrated in wetlands and tropical and subtropical forests. These sites typically had high carbon stocks, high species diversity and considerable loss of natural habitat.

What were the limitations of the study?

We focused exclusively on areas that had been converted to other uses, since the costs and benefits of restoring degraded ecosystems are less well known. We also did not consider the way climate change is affecting the distributions of species, biomass and agricultural production. Finally, at local and national scales it is critical to consider socio-economic issues such as social equity and land tenure.

How can we turn information into action?

Governments have made bold commitments to restore ecosystems, including in relation to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), Bonn Challenge, New York Declaration on Forests and the Paris Climate Accord. Our methods and results can help nations to develop efficient spatial plans that ensure such restoration delivers maximum benefit for biodiversity and climate change, while minimising costs.

Global priority areas for ecosystem restoration is published in Nature.

“Priority areas tended to be concentrated in wetlands and tropical and subtropical forests. These sites typically had high carbon stocks, high species diversity and considerable loss of natural habitat.”

Stuart Butchart, BirdLife Chief Scientist and co-author of the paper


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After the storm: can West Indian Woodpeckers recover?

Hurricanes have occurred throughout the earth’s history, and wildlife – especially on islands – has evolved to be able to recover from them. So why are they a conservation issue? Unfortunately, extreme weather events are increasing in severity and intensity due to climate change, and this trend is set to accelerate. That’s why scientists set out to measure the resilience of the rare West Indian Woodpecker subspecies Melanerpes superciliaris nyeanus on San Salvador in the Bahamas. Researchers tracked population cycles over two decades, finding that population densities dropped by 60-65% following hurricanes, but usually returned to normal within 2-3 years.

However, for a species with such low numbers – around 240 individuals – having insufficient time to rebound between hurricanes could prove disastrous. This is especially worrying when the surviving birds are made even more vulnerable by human-driven habitat loss. Researchers are therefore calling for increased protection of the forest in the north of the island, to ensure a safe haven for the species.

Micronesian Scrubfowl © Island Conservation

Rats or tourists? The true threats to Micronesian Scrubfowl

Many island birds evolved without natural predators, leaving them defenceless against invasive rats. It has long been assumed that rats are a major threat to Micronesian Scrubfowl Megapodius laperouse (Endangered). But if we want the full story, we may need to consider another creature that swarms on tropical islands: the tourist.

Researchers compared five tourist-visited islands with five tourist-free islands in Palau, and found that tourists seem more likely to have a negative impact on the scrubfowl than rats do. This may be because the scrubfowl buries its eggs up to a metre underground, out of sight of hungry rodents – whereas tourists may startle the bird and disrupt its movements. Tourists probably also bring additional rats on their boats, threatening other bird species that have more exposed nests.

Also known as the “incubator bird”, the Micronesian Scrubfowl often buries its eggs in warm volcanic cinder fields. Its chicks resemble miniature adults and can fly on the first day of hatching.

MAIN IMAGE: Inaccessible Island © Rob Van Oers INSET: Its endemic rail © Brian Gratwicke / Flickr

Accessing the world’s smallest flightless bird

If you’re studying the world’s smallest flightless bird in a place called Inaccessible Island, you know it’s going to be a challenge. The Inaccessible Rail Laterallus rogersi is part of a group of birds that are notoriously hard to survey due to their secretive behaviour and preference for dense vegetation. The rugged terrain of Inaccessible Island – part of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago in the South Atlantic – makes conventional survey methods challenging, and information about this bird is therefore scarce.

Fortunately, the species is very vocal, meaning researchers were able to play recordings of the bird’s call and measure the number of responses. Using this method, the team estimated that 10,300 rails lived on the island, and that the species’ current conservation status of Vulnerable is accurate. The risk of invasive rats or mice arriving from neighbouring Tristan da Cunha Island is the biggest threat.

These discoveries are published in Bird Conservation International, BirdLife’s quarterly peer-reviewed journal. Get updates straight to your inbox at: www.cambridge.org/BCI/Subscribe

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