The hunting of migratory birds in Europe: a ringing recovery analysis

The hunting of 20 species of migratory birds in Europe and countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea was investigated using ringing recovery data. The intensity of the hunting of birds in each country was measured by the calculation of an index which controls for ringing effort and reporting rates. The hunting of birds was shown to be consistently high in western Mediterranean countries, particularly in southern France, northern and southwestern Iberia, northern Italy and in northwest Africa. Geographical patterns in the relative magnitude of hunting indices for different breeding populations were species-specific. In Europe most birds are taken during autumn and winter but in North Africa hunting is almost equally prevalent in spring. All species investigated, other than those that remain legitimate quarry species, showed a general reduction in index values after 1980. Analysis of long-term trends in index values since 1950 indicated a statistically significant overall decrease in the hunting of the majority of species. These changes are thought to be at least partly attributable to a real decline in the taking of birds but they may also reflect changed attitudes to reporting the hunting of species which are now protected. This analysis provides the first quantitative Europe-wide assessment of geographical and temporal trends in the hunting of migratory birds.     

The effects of raptor predation on wintering wader populations at the Tyningharne estuary, southeast Scotland

Raptor predation on waders was studied by direct observation of raptors hunting a known wader population and subsequent recovery of dead waders. In each of three winters, raptor predation was shown to be the most significant cause of mortality in most small wader species, Sparrowhawks Accipiter nisus , Merlins Falco columbarius and Peregrines F. pere-grinus attacked waders with a success rate of 11.6%. 8.8% and 6.8%, respectively. Most waders attacked or found dead were Redshank Tringa totanus and Dunlin Calidris alpina; most were killed by Sparrowhawks. Kleptoparasitism of raptors carrying prey by Carrion Crows Corvus corone significantly increased the winter mortality of some waders. Redshank populations were most affected by raptor predation: over 50% of the total population (which was found to be closed during most of the winter) and over 90% of the juvenile population were taken in two winters: juvenites were more likely to be killed by raptors.     

Bias in ring‐recovery studies: causes of mortality of little owls Athene noctua and implications for population assessment

Recoveries of marked animals hold long‐term, large‐scale information on survival and causes of mortality, but are prone to bias towards dead recoveries and casualties in the range of presence of potential finders. Thus, accounting for circumstance‐related recovery probabilities is crucial in statistical approaches. For the little owl, a species of conservation concern in central Europe, raw ring recoveries suggested a strong human‐related impact on survival. We analysed the proportions of the main causes of death using a large sample of radio‐tracked birds as a reference. We compared ring recoveries in southern Germany collected 1950–2012 (n = 465 dead recoveries of 2007 recoveries of 30 623 ringed birds) with data from a radio‐tracking study in the same region 2009–2012 (n = 177 dead recoveries of 377 tagged individuals). Two assumptions of multi‐state ring recovery modelling were unrealistic. First, not all dispatched rings remained available to potential finders. Instead, 34% of tracked birds were displaced to sites where rings were irretrievable, resulting in biased estimates of recovery probability. Second, the proportions of irretrievable rings were disproportional, with 48% in predated birds and 5% in human‐induced mortality. Consequently, the sample of rings from which recoveries were drawn differed from the sample of dispatched rings. Accounting for these biases in a multi‐state model, we estimated the frequencies of main causes of mortality to 45% for predation, 20% for casualties due to traffic and at buildings and 34% for all other causes. In radio‐tracked birds, predation was even more dominant (76%). Integrating mark–recapture data and telemetry observations allowed detecting and quantifying so far unknown recovery bias and resulted in improved estimates of key population parameters. The demography of little owls likely depends mainly on predator–prey relationships rather than on human‐induced deaths.     

环渤海滨海湿地鸻鹬类水鸟多样性及其环境影响因子

环渤海湿地是水鸟南北迁徙的重要驿站,尤其对于该线路上的鸻鹬鸟类具有非常重要的意义。以环渤海地区12处典型滨海湿地为研究对象,于2016-2020年每年春季开展水鸟调查,明确了鸻鹬类水鸟群落组成及其时空变化,采用结构方程模型 （Structural Equation Modeling,SEM）分析了鸻鹬类水鸟多样性与环境因子的响应关系,评估了各环境因子的影响强度。结果表明：（1）共记录到鸻鹬类水鸟7科51种,几乎全部为旅鸟。全球极危物种1种,濒危物种3种,近危物种9种。国家一级保护鸟类2种,国家二级保护鸟类8种。黑腹滨鹬（Calidris alpina）、大滨鹬（Calidris tenuirostris）、黑尾塍鹬（Limosa limosa）、灰鸻（Pluvialis squatarola）、斑尾塍鹬（Limosa lapponica）个体数量最多。（2）山东黄河三角洲、辽宁辽河口、天津北大港等河口湿地,水鸟种类多,单位面积水鸟数量较少。（3）河北沧州沿海、山东滨州贝壳堤岛及其周边区域为环渤海地区湿地集中区,水鸟种类较多。（4）综合影响强度为保护强度>食物>气候,建立自然保护地是保护水鸟多样性的最有效措施。（5）建议将河北南大港湿地和鸟类省级自然保护区提升至国家级,扩大滨州贝壳堤岛与湿地国家级自然保护区面积,对山东黄河三角洲、辽宁辽河口覆盖的各级各类自然保护地进行优化整合。研究结果能为环渤海地区鸻鹬类水鸟保护策略的制定提供相关依据。     

Water bird communities in the Lower Zeeschelde: long-term changes near an expanding harbour

The Schelde estuary is an important wintering area and stop-over place for waders and waterfowl using the East Atlantic fly-way. The port of Antwerp is situated in the Lower Zeeschelde, the transition area between the brackish- and freshwater tidal part. Three intertidal areas in this zone (Groot Buitenschoor, Galgenschoor and Schor Ouden Doel) are protected under several international and national legislations. In this study long-term datasets (1982–1998) on water birds in these intertidal areas were analysed and attempts were made to assess the impact of two container terminals, constructed during the covered period. Overall abundance of water birds in the study area did not show any significant trends. Looking at individual areas, maxima and winter means on the Galgenschoor and Groot Buitenschoor were very variable but the peak seasons levelled out with time. On the Schor Ouden Doel, where hunting was banned, maximal numbers increased by a factor of four between 1985 and 1990, mainly due to an increase in Greylag Goose numbers. The trophic composition of the bird populations showed major shifts. Initially, species compositions in winter differed considerably between the three areas, but they became more similar during the study period. The results suggest that the area became more important as wintering and resting place for herbivores such as Greylag Goose and Wigeon while its function as feeding ground and stop-over site for migrating benthivorous birds became relatively less important, especially on the right bank. The water bird populations in the study area varied greatly with the geographic and regional trends for the different species and were influenced by winter severity but no direct proof of impacts from the container terminals could be established. Nearly every season the international 1 level was exceeded by one or more species, but the species of international importance changed with time. National and international protection measures are valuable but insufficient tools for the conservation of these estuarine habitats. A more comprehensive conservation strategy is proposed.     

Origin and migration of woodcock Scolopax rusticola wintering in Spain

Woodcock Scolopax rusticola is an important game species in Northern Spain, where it is mainly a wintering species. Knowledge about the migration and origin of the woodcock wintering in Spain is relatively sparse, existing to date only qualitative analyses dating more than a decade. From the analyses of ringing recoveries of woodcock wintering in Spain, we evaluate the relative importance of various countries or regions as sources of the woodcock wintering in Spain, an estimate of their migratory route. Our analyses show the Circum-Baltic Region to be the most important breeding area of the woodcock wintering in Spain. Within that area, both Sweden and Western Russia appear to be particularly important. Analyses of the ringing locations of woodcock ringed during migration and recovered in Spain in winter suggest that woodcock wintering in Spain migrate primarily through the South of the Baltic Sea, Germany and France. The proportion of woodcock ringed in different French regions during the postnuptial migration months (October and November) that was subsequently recovered in Spain (mainly through hunting) declined with the proportion of those birds that was recovered in France (also mainly through hunting). We discuss the management implications of these results.     

福建沿海湿地鸻鹬类资源调查

1997年1月～2003年4月,采用直接计数法与航线调查法相结合的方法对福建省海岸湿地的涉禽进行了调查,共发现鸻鹬类43种及亚种计56386只。结合以往的调查记录,得知福建沿海鸻鹬类共53种及亚种,占全国该类群总种数的62％。冬候鸟和旅鸟是本地鸻鹬类中占优势的生态类群。目前沿海滩涂的围垦和鸟类食物的减少,是鸻鹬类所面临的主要威胁。尽快制定湿地保护与合理利用的规划,对福建沿海湿地鸟类的保护至关重要。闽江口湿地不仅是鸻鹬类集中分布的区域,同时也是世界珍禽黑脸琵鹭(Platalea minor)重要的停歇地,应尽快建立闽江口湿地自然保护区。     

Synergies between site protection and agri‐environment schemes for the conservation of waders on lowland wet grasslands

Two conservation strategies have been put in place in Europe to address precipitous population declines of wading birds that breed on lowland wet grasslands. These are site protection and agri‐environment schemes (AESs) and the two are rarely compared, or their synergy assessed. Increasingly, efforts to recover populations of previously widespread species follow a landscape‐scale approach whereby habitat improvement takes place at key sites through partially overlapping protected area management and AESs. To investigate whether site protection and AESs improve the conservation status of breeding waders and how these interact, we partially repeated a 2002 survey of breeding waders on protected areas (nature reserves and Sites of Special Scientific Interest) and sites with wader‐specific AES options in England in 2009 and 2010. We then assessed the individual and combined effects of these delivery mechanisms on field occupancy, breeding density and population change of four species of declining wader (Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus, Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago, Eurasian Curlew Arquata numenius and Common Redshank Tringa totanus). Although results for Curlew differed from the other species, in general field occupancy was positively influenced by conservation delivery mechanisms, with the highest occupancy and breeding densities on land where site protection was combined with wader‐specific AES options. Field occupancy varied between different types of AES, with higher occupancy associated with higher‐level options in fields, particularly those on nature reserves. Outside nature reserves, the history of AES management did not influence wader populations, but within nature reserves and on fields that gained AES management between 2002 and 2009–2010, populations of Curlew and Snipe were more likely to have persisted and population change in Snipe and Lapwing was more positive. We conclude that the conservation of breeding waders will be most effective when site protection and AES management are combined on the same land. Using limited AES money to support management for breeding waders on, around and between the existing network of protected sites will protect remaining populations while presenting opportunities for population expansion in future.     

Effects of hunting on guianan forest game birds

To assess the effect of on-going and of previous or near by hunting pressure on game birds in a neotropical rain forest (French Guiana), I compared species abundances between six hunted and disturbed areas, seven non-hunted and pristine areas and eight intermediate areas, undisturbed and not currently hunted, but formerly hunted or close to current hunting areas. I recorded all birds detected within 100 m-wide strip transects, walked at random through every forest type all day long. The frequency of records per 10 h and flock sizes on each transect were averaged over all surveys in each study site (N = 3025 h). Censused groups included terrestrial (tinamous, woodquails, curassow and trumpeter) and arboreal species (guans, macaws, parrots, toucans), but not waterbirds. The abundance of all game birds was higher in non-hunted than in hunted areas, though not always significantly for secretive understorey species (tinamous, guans, wood-quail) or canopy frugivores (parrots, macaws, toucans). The Black Curassow and Gray-winged Trumpeter exhibited the highest and most consistent increases (7–10-fold) and more so between intermediate and non-hunted sites than between hunted and intermediate sites. The mean flock size also increased along the hunting gradient, especially in flocking species (macaws, parrots, trumpeter). Low reproductive rates and/or seasonal movements may explain that hunting pressure could still be felt after hunting has ceased or when it persists only away from a given area. Such a persistent effect would affect some populations in small protected areas.     

REMARKS ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF BIRDS COLLECTED IN MASHONALAND AND EASTERN SOUTHERN RHODESIA (Part I)

Oatley, T. B. 1983. Twenty-third ringing report for southern Africa. Ostrich. 54:141-149.

Bird ringing activities in southern Africa are summarized for a two-year period from July 1979 to June 1981. A total of 42 374 birds were ringed. Much ringing effort was devoted to marine buds. Palaearctic migrants comprised nearly 12% of the birds ringed, with waders, swallows and warblers being the most frequently ringed families. There were 747 recoveries or recaptures reported during the reviey period, of which 73 were foreign-ringed birds. The remainder involved 103 species of birds, only nine of which contributed 10 or more recoveries to the total. Five of the nine are marine birds and collectively account for 55% of all recoveries and recaptures. A selected list of recoveries and recaptures of southern African-ringed birds is given.     

Incidence of embedded shotgun pellets and inferred hunting kill amongst Russian/Baltic barnacle geese Branta leucopsis

X-rays of wild caught barnacle geese from the Russian/Baltic population were taken in Denmark in the springs of 2009 and 2011 to determine the incidence of embedded shotgun pellets and to estimate the annual hunting kill. On average, 13 % of adult geese (n?=?212) and 6 % of first year geese (n?=?35) examined contained pellets in their tissue. Assuming that these birds represented a random sample, extrapolation to the entire population of c. 770,000 individuals indicates that 96,000 barnacle geese carry embedded pellets. Based on the assumption that the ratio between the number of birds with embedded shot and the total number of birds harvested per season is similar to that found in pink-footed geese Anser brachyrhynchus (recorded as 3.6:1 during 1990–1996 and 1.7:1 during 2009–2011), the annual kill of barnacle geese was estimated at 26,300–58,300 birds. The Russian/Baltic barnacle geese are protected from hunting on their winter quarters (The Netherlands, Germany and Denmark), but are quarry in Russia and are shot under license to protect agricultural crops in Estonia, Germany, Sweden and Denmark (amounting to a total of c. 1,800–3,000 geese shots per year). Barnacle geese are known to be shot illegally (accidentally and deliberately) along the migration route, but in the absence of Russian bag statistics, the contribution of illegal hunting to the overall harvest cannot be substantiated. Although the population is currently increasing at an annual rate of 8 %, the indirectly estimated hunting pressure (3–7 %) is not insubstantial and should be taken into account in future population management models.     

Relationship Between Small-game Hunting and Carnivore Diversity in Central Spain

Small-game hunting plays an important economic role in central Spain and some game species are key food resources for threatened predators. Small carnivores may reduce numbers of important game species. To alleviate predation pressure on game populations, management is often focused on predator control. Control methods can be non-selective, and so could potentially have a negative impact on non-target carnivore species, affecting carnivore guild composition and diversity. Using data on carnivore diversity in 70 quadrants (5 × 5 km) in a large area of central Spain with two main land uses (small-game hunting and a mixture of big-game hunting and forestry), we assessed how game management was related to carnivore diversity. Carnivore species richness was significantly lower in those areas managed for small-game hunting than in areas where other land uses predominated. The apparently least affected species by predator control was the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), the main target species of predator control. Results suggested that low carnivore species richness was linked to small-game hunting activities, which was probably associated with non-selective predator control practices. Therefore, in order to reconcile carnivore conservation and economic goals it is imperative to develop and to evaluate selective predator control techniques.     

The Current Status of Bird Diversity in Yunnan Province

1IntroductionYunnanProvince,whichislocatedinsouthwestofChina(21?8'-29?8'N,97?1'-106?2'E),isgeographicallythemainpartofYunnan-GuizhouPlateau.Itstotalareaisabout383000squarekilometers.About94%ofthetotalareaaremountainousareas.Itslopesdownwardfromnorthwesttosoutheast.ThehighestpointisKageboPeakofMeliSnowMountain,atanelevationof6740m,inthenorthwestofYunnan.Thelowestpointis76.4mabovesealevelinYunjiang(RedRiver)outletofsoutheastofYunnan.YunnanProvinceiswithinthezoneofmonsoonclimateintropics…     

Retraction: ‘Are European birds leaving traditional wintering grounds in the Mediterranean?’, by José Luis Tellería, Álvaro Ramírez and José Ignacio Aguirre

The above article, published online on 20 January 2015 in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ), has been retracted by agreement between the authors, the journal Editors in Chief, Thomas Alerstam and Jan‐Åke Nilsson, the Nordic Society Oikos and John Wiley and Sons Ltd. The aim of this study was to answer the question, ‘Are European birds leaving traditional wintering grounds in the Mediterranean?’ Due to an analytical error the study only analysed EURING circumstance 20 ring records (see the EURING exchange code) which excludes birds hunted by shot and other ways, but not all hunted individuals. As a result, the effect of illegal hunting on ring recoveries was not controlled for in the analyses. This means that the data is affected by ring records from birds other than ‘alive and probably healthy and released by ringer’ (condition 8 in the EURING exchange code). The authors' intention always was to include both condition 8 and circumstance 20, but unfortunately this was not the case. When the data was reanalysed including both condition 8 and circumstance 20 recoveries, there is no longer any support for the main conclusion of the paper and the authors can only conclude that winter ring recoveries in Spain of some common passerines (robin, chiffchaff and blackcap) do not decrease. The authors apologise for this mistake and hope that the retraction will serve to prevent the spread of the unsound conclusions derived from this paper.     

The importance of hunting pressure, habitat preference and life history for population trends of breeding waterbirds in Finland

Populations of migratory species have undergone dramatic changes in recent decades, but little is known about the factors actually driving those changes. Of particular concern are quarry species such as migratory ducks (Anatidae), many of which have an unfavourable conservation status in Europe. By including both quarry and non-quarry species, as well as habitat preference and life history characteristics of the species, we investigated the relative importance of hunting pressure, both in Finland and at the European level, in explaining population changes of 16 species of migratory waterbirds in Finland during 1986–2011. Ban of lead shot in 1996 resulted in considerably lower annual hunting bags in Finland thereafter. Species which had the highest hunting pressure had the most negative slopes in population trends from 1986 up to 1997, suggesting that hunting probably limited those populations. However, in general population trends of the species were not strongly associated with hunting pressure in Finland or in Europe. Nor were basic life history characteristics (body mass and clutch size) associated with population trends of the species. In contrast, recent population declines were associated with habitat preferences of the species: those breeding mainly in eutrophic lakes had more negative population trends than those breeding in oligotrophic lakes or generalist species. Reasons for the relatively poor status of species preferring eutrophic lakes probably include over-eutrophication of nutrient-rich lakes, resulting in less abundant food resources, and increased nest depredation.     

The effects of mowing and agricultural landscape management on population movements of the common quail

Aim Information on the movements of bird populations in extensive landscapes is needed to assess environmental effects and conservation strategies over appropriate temporal and spatial scales. The common quail (Coturnix coturnix) is a game bird that breeds mainly in dense cereal crops. These crops cover huge areas of the Iberian Peninsula. The aim of this work is to relate cereal mowing, which causes rapid and massive habitat loss for the common quail, to population movements of the species during its breeding season. Location Spain, southern Europe. Methods We used ring recoveries to analyse, using circular statistics, the orientation of movements by male common quails in the northern half of Spain. Forward stepwise multiple regressions were applied to correlate (1) the Julian day of cereal harvesting at 770 locations with the respective latitude, longitude and elevation, and (2) the number of hunted birds with hunting pressure, breeding densities and mean mowing date by province. Finally, data concerning the number of quails hunted at the end of the breeding season were compared by province and year using two‐way ANOVA. Results Our results show that during the breeding season in the northern half of Spain, male quails orient their movements towards higher areas, and mainly to the northern Castilian Plateau. These are the areas of Spain where cereals are harvested latest. Moreover, records show that the number of quails hunted is significantly higher in these areas than in other areas of the country, independently of hunting pressure and breeding densities, and it is extremely high in the northern Castilian Plateau. Main conclusions Cereal mowing combined with some Spanish geographical characteristics acts as a funnel, forcing quail populations to concentrate in certain areas of Spain at the end of the breeding season. This implies that the number of quails hunted in these areas may be high, and that they therefore constitute priority conservation areas.     

The impact of tourist hunting on large mammals in Tanzania: an initial assessment

In Tanzania, where tourist hunting is employed as a conservation tool for habitat protection, information on population sizes and hunting offtake was used to assess the impact of tourist hunting on mammal densities. In general, tourist hunting pressure was unrelated to local population sizes, but for most species, animals were removed at a level of less than 10% of the local population size, suggesting that over-exploitation was unlikely. Eland, however, and perhaps small antelope, bushbuck, kudu and reedbuck were hunted at levels which may be unsustainable in the long term. Analyses also identified areas of Tanzania with high levels of tourist hunting pressure, showed that, in certain areas, species with small population sizes such as eland could be declining as a result of tourist hunting, and suggested that current levels of lion and leopard offtake are too high. These findings, although preliminary, allow recommendations to be put forward for changing hunting quotas for certain species in particular areas of Tanzania.     

Does illegal hunting affect density and behaviour of African grassland birds? A case study on ostrich (Struthio camelus)

Widespread bushmeat hunting represents one of the major threats to many mammals and birds in Africa. We studied the influence of illegal bushmeat hunting on large grassland birds in the Serengeti National Park (SNP) and adjoining protected areas, by using the ostrich (Struthio camelus) as a case study. First, we documented illegal hunting of both small and large birds by using a questionnaire in the villages on the western and eastern side of the SNP. Second, we studied the effect of illegal hunting on density by driving 4,659 km of transects inside SNP and on the adjacent protected areas, where the data were analysed by DISTANCE sampling. Last, we used flight initiation distance (FID, i.e. the distance between an approaching predator (human) and prey when flight is started), to assess possible impacts on behaviour from illegal hunting. We found that people from the western side of the SNP admitted to hunting both small and large grassland birds, and collect ostrich feathers and eggs. Although the Maasai also hunted small birds, only ostrich feathers and eggs of the large grassland birds were used. Surprisingly, we found no significant differences in densities between the SNP and adjoining partially protected areas, but ostriches had longer FID to an approaching human outside the SNP. Currently illegal hunting does not appear to affect the ostrich population, but given the extensive use of birds for consumption more awareness educational programs accompanied by provision of agricultural incentives within the protected areas are needed.     

广东顺德生态乐园夏季鸟类资源和保护

报道了顺德生态乐园夏季鸟类资源的调查 ,记录了该乐园鸟类有 55种 ,隶属 6目2 0科 ,其中属国家二级重点保护鸟类 9种。对鸟类的生态作用、种类和组成作了讨论 ,并提出了保护鸟类的重要性和保护措施。     

鸟市贸易威胁野生鸟类生存——以哈尔滨道外花鸟鱼市场为例

为探讨鸟市贸易对野生鸟类的威胁与影响,给当地野生动物保护部门实施监管提供科学依据,于2016年11月—2017年11月对黑龙江省哈尔滨市最大鸟市——道外花鸟鱼市场进行调查。结果发现:(1)共记录6目34科83属117种18 729只鸟类,其中野生鸟类5目32科77属108种11 662只。有出售国家保护鸟种黄胸鹀 Emberiza aureola、猛禽及非法捕猎工具的现象。(2)所有被贩卖的野生鸟类中,在黑龙江省有分布的共69种,数量达9 707只。相关分析结果表明,黑龙江省有分布的野生鸟类是鸟市非法捕捉及贩卖的主要对象。(3)贩卖量为春、秋季多,夏、冬季少,7—10月鸟类迁徙季节时最多,占总贩卖量的45.2%,说明鸟类秋季迁徙是非法猎捕的高峰期。(4)调查中发现较多的南方鸟种(32.4%)也一定程度上说明野生鸟类非法运输的严重性。建议当地林业和草原局及时加强对道外花鸟鱼市场的监管,在鸟类迁徙季节从非法捕捉和运输环节实施严厉打击。