Professional Ornithologists Research Articles

Implementing a citizen science bird monitoring project in the Grampians/Gariwerd National Park, Victoria, Australia

ABSTRACT Global bird populations are threatened by ongoing habitat loss and climate change. Inconsistent and short-term funding of faunal surveys in Australia makes population and distribution changes difficult to detect. To meet this challenge, alternative methods of supplementing regular surveys by professional ornithologists have been proffered, including surveys by trained citizen scientists. Here we outline the development, implementation and assessment of the Great Gariwerd Bird Survey (GGBS), a citizen science (CS) monitoring project designed to address long-term management questions in vulnerable Stringybark Heathy Woodland in Grampians/Gariwerd National Park. Forty volunteers that met appropriate criteria were selected and trained in practical 10-week/40-h courses. We assessed data from 288 2-ha/20-min surveys undertaken in autumn and spring 2021 at 36 sites, ran workshops to improve surveyor skills and data quality and assessed trainee experiences and program content through online anonymous surveys. Concurrent professional field ornithologist surveys enabled cross validation of CS surveys. Overlapping species accumulation curves for professional and citizen scientist surveys reflected very high correlations for site species diversity (r = 0.836) and abundances (r = 0.768). In autumn, the professional surveyor recorded significantly more species and birds than CS surveyors. Additional training in the identification of cryptic birds and challenging calls partially addressed the numerical differences in the following spring survey. This project demonstrates the potential for valuable long-term ecological data collection by well-trained citizen scientists with benefits to community environmental knowledge and participation despite some manageable obstacles. Participant surveys showed highly positive program perceptions, reflected by ongoing involvement in the GGBS.

Тринадцать лет наблюдений за миграцией хищных птиц в Батуми: наблюдения и их значение для охраны пернатых хищников России

One of the most important autumn migration bottlenecks for birds of prey in the Western Palearctic is situated in South-Western Georgia, between the east coast of the Black Sea and the range of Lesser Caucasus. Every year from mid-August till October at least 1% of the world’s population of 10 raptor species passes through this corridor. Specifically, over one million raptors are recorded annually, including on average 528467 Honey Buzzards (Pernis apivorus), on average 163985 Black Kites (Milvus migrans), 304819 Steppe Buzzards (Buteo buteo vulpinus), and around 8000 Lesser Spotted Eagles (Aquila [Clanga] pomarina). The specifics of the landscape and relief makes the foothills of the Lesser Caucasus to the north of Batumi an ideal spot for counting raptor migration, and since 2008, an international team of volunteers, the Batumi Raptor Count, has monitored autumn raptor migration from two strategic vantage points. The count effort is focused on 7 priority species, including Honey Buzzard, Black Kite, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Booted Eagle (Hieraaetus pennatus), Marsh, Montagu’s and Pallid Harriers (Circus aeruginosus, C. pygargus, C. macrourus, respectively). In addition, 13 other diurnal raptor species and 10 non-raptor bird species are monitored at the BRC. Using the trektellen-app, BRC is able to record all data digitally in the field, and to provide daily updates of migration counts on its website. At the end of each season, the data is cleaned and made available through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Protocols were developed to standardize count effort across years, thus allowing an accurate assessment of population trends in the priority species. Importantly, the BRC systematically records data on the age and sex of raptors, allowing to infer trends separately for different demographic groups. The standardized data collected from 2011 till 2019 revealed rather stable numbers for most priority species, but also a significant annual decrease in numbers of juvenile Montagu’s Harriers; a strong ongoing increase in numbers of both juvenile and adult Black Kites; and increase in numbers of adult Booted Eagles accompanied by a decrease in juvenile birds of this species. Based on GPS-tracking studies on a variety of species, it appears that the western border of the breeding area for the populations counted by BRC is most probably not too far away from the western border of Russia. At least in case of Spotted Eagles, individuals breeding in the Baltic States, Finland, and Germany tend to use the migration routes to the West from the Black Sea, and this is also the case for birds from Western Ukraine and Belarus. There is insufficient data available to define the eastern border for the populations migrating through Batumi. We do know that raptors tracked from the south of Siberia tend to migrate to the east from the Caspian Sea, although some Pallid Harriers tracked from Russia and Kazakhstan do migrate over the Caucasus. All considered, we assume that the vast majority of raptors observed in Batumi during autumn migration breed in Central European Russia up to the Ural Mountains. A comparison of Batumi counts with the breeding population size estimates in Russia and neighbouring countries suggests that a significant proportion of the Russian population of the Lesser Spotted Eagle and Honey Buzzard is passing through the Batumi bottleneck on migration. Trends in migration counts at Batumi are probably representative of changes in raptor breeding populations from European Russia and Western Kazakhstan. In addition to collecting the data on migration, the BRC supports the development of ecotourism in the area and combats the widespread poaching of migrating raptors in Georgia by implementing various educational programs in schools and higher education institutions in Georgia. The BRC would like to build stronger links with professional ornithologists and amateur birdwatchers from the breeding areas of the raptors that pass through Batumi each year, and cordially invites everyone to participate in its migration counts.

Анализ структурной организации сообщества крупных хищных птиц Ремдовского заказника

Анализ структурной организации сообщества крупных хищных птиц Ремдовского заказника

Are Lay People Able to Estimate Breeding Bird Diversity?

Studies about biodiversity and well-being used different approaches to assess biodiversity, e.g., scientific counts and censuses or perceived biodiversity estimated by the respondents. Here, we assessed whether laypeople could estimate the breeding bird diversity or species richness at specific places. For comparison, we carried out bird censuses with standard methods of professional ornithologists and used citizen science data from the internet platform Ornitho (Germany). Lay people from the public (1184 respondents) were surveyed between May and July 2022 at 40 different places in southwest Germany between Rottenburg/Tübingen and Stuttgart following the catchment of the river Neckar (30 people surveyed per place). People were asked to estimate the bird species richness/diversity at this current place. Here, we show that the data from the citizen science platform does not correlate with the professional census counts nor with the perceived species richness of laypeople. Laypeople have a generally good assessment of the bird species richness, correlating with the data of professionals (r = 0.325, p = 0.041). On average, the number of species assessed by laypeople lies in between the values of the professional morning and afternoon census. People were most often surveyed in the afternoon; therefore, their assessment must be done on other factors than actual birds present. This result is valuable for future studies on the connection between biodiversity and well-being.

Knowledge of Tropical Birds through Citizen Science Data: Trophic Habit of the Roadside Hawk (Rupornis magnirostris) (Aves, accipitridae) in the Caatinga And Atlantic Forest, Brazil

Professional ornithologists have been using citizen science data to investigate aspects of the biology of birds around the world. This approach is improving the knowledge of birds in Brazil, including aspects of their feeding ecology. The Roadside Hawk Rupornis magnirostris is widely distributed in the Neotropical region, where it is commonly found in numerous landscapes. Despite this, detailed information on its trophic habit remains scarce and restrict to a few localities. The objective of this study was to examine the trophic habit of the Roadside Hawk in the Caatinga and Atlantic Forest through the use of citizen science data. Searches for photographic records with evidence of feeding activities were done in early 2021 in the WikiAves, the major citizen science project regarding Brazilian birds. Records of Roadside Haws with prey [n = 143] were obtained by citizen scientists along 11 years, and included in this study. Records obtained in the Atlantic Forest [n = 111] were more numerous than those obtained in the Caatinga [n = 32]. Vertebrate prey included animals of four classes: Mammalia, Aves, Reptilia and Amphibia. Invertebrate prey included three classes: Insecta, Arachnida and Clitellata. In both biomes, the number of vertebrate prey was substantially higher than that of invertebrate prey, throughout the year. In the Atlantic Forest, preyed birds and reptiles were significantly more numerous than mammals and amphibians, and invertebrates, in the dry period. A similar pattern was observed in the rainy period, but differences were not significant. In the Caatinga, prey of the classes Aves and Reptilia were the most frequent, followed by those of the classes Amphibia and Mammalia. Invertebrates were uncommon. Therefore, Roadside Hawks feed on similar prey in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and Caatinga, with a preference for vertebrates, especially birds and reptiles.

Citizen Science for the Knowledge of Brazilian Birds: Breeding Aspects of the Horned Sungem (Heliactin bilophus) (Aves, Trochilidae) in the Brazilian Cerrado

Photographic records produced by citizen scientists have been used by professional ornithologists to study tropical birds. Near 90 species of hummingbirds occur in Brazil, and few of them have had aspects of their breeding investigated in detail. The Horned Sungem Heliactin bilophus is a small hummingbird commonly found in central Brazil, and remains poorly known. This study aimed to investigate breeding aspects of H. bilophus in the Brazilian Cerrado through the use of citizen science data. Searches for photographic records were conducted in three online databases in April 2022. Records with evidences of breeding activities (n = 35) were obtained by citizens along 15 years, and included in this study. Most of them (89%) were obtained in the WikiAves database. They were obtained mainly in central and southeastern Cerrado. Nests were cup-shaped, and fixed to forking branches of shrubs. Most records involved nests, while a minor portion referred to young photographed outside nests. Only female adults were associated with nests or young. Clutch size was always two eggs (n = 6). One or two young were found per nest (n = 10). Most records (66%) occurred in the dry season, and fewer of them (34%) were obtained in the rainy season. They were concentrated during the whole dry season, and the late rainy season, having occurred scarcely in other periods of the year. Each phase of the breeding season (nest building, nests with eggs, downy young, greenish young in nests, and fledged young) lasted for 5-7 months. The breeding season of the Horned Sungem in the Brazilian Cerrado comprises at least 10 months, a period much longer than that considered in previous literature. This study suggests that photographic records available in citizen science databases can improve the knowledge of breeding aspects of hummingbird species found in Brazil.

Ru-Birds.RU, bird observations from Russia and neighbouring regions: an occurrence dataset.

BackgroundThe dataset covers bird observation occurrences in Russia and neighbouring regions (ex-USSR countries and some other countries of Eastern and Western Europe) from 2001–2021. It is based on the internet platform “Online bird observation diaries” (ru-birds.ru), which allows professional ornithologists and amateur bird lovers to exchange their results and to jointly build a common collection of data. The taxonomic backbone of the occurrence dataset follows the standardised GBIF checklist dataset to ensure correct cross-linking of the names.Currently, the database contains 541,900 records of occurrences of 713 bird species, which makes it the largest dataset on birds of Russia and neighbouring regions published in GBIF.New informationThe occurrence dataset contributes to filling gaps in the bird distribution in Russia and Eastern Europe. It can be used for a deeper look at their populations, phenology and migrations over this area. The availability of special tools for verification of the entered information makes the database a valuable tool for analysing occurrences of non-native species, studying vagrancy, immigration, invasions and range dynamics.The dataset is regularly updated. Over the 11 months of 2021, it has increased by 98,165 occurrences.

BENCHMARKING THE AVIAN DIVERSITY OF OREGON IN AN ERA OF RAPID CHANGE

Human activities are influencing Earth's systems. Combine our effects with the natural dynamism of climate and ever-changing habitat structures and we have an important opportunity to quantify, evaluate, and predict how biodiversity responds to change. Birds react quickly to modifications in habitat availability and characteristics, so quantifying their distributions and abundances can be especially informative. Here, we provide an overview of our strategies and efforts to create an exactly repeatable benchmark of the distribution and abundance of birds in Oregon early in the twenty-first century. The effort was designed to provide future society with an opportunity to understand more clearly how birds respond to change by leaving a legacy of high-quality, accurately geo-referenced bird-count data. By implementing a simple, yet elegant, sampling design, involving more than a thousand citizen scientists and a few professional ornithologists, we established an unprecedented opportunity for before-after comparisons of population sizes and geographic distributions. Our approach offers future researchers the opportunity to replicate our work using exactly the same methods and look back with 20/20 hindsight to understand responses of birds to change over time and space. Hence, the project is named Oregon 20/20 Birds. Launched in 2011, the decade-long data-collection effort produced counts from more than 20,000 locations by professionals using methods that allow statistical adjustments for detectability and availability of birds, plus more than 50,000 locations where stationary counts were conducted at accurately georeferenced sites by professionals and citizen scientists. Here we summarize information on the project design, approaches for involving citizen scientists (birders using eBird), decision processes for selecting and comparing eBird data with professionally gathered data, and project goals. Results will be reported in future journal articles and books. In addition to providing legacy data for comparison with future repeat surveys, the project also provides a unique resource for addressing current questions in ecological, biogeographical, and evolutionary fields of study, as well issues involving conservation and management of Oregon's birds.

Public monitoring in the assessment of bird biodiversity in Veliky Novgorod

Veliky Novgorod has considerable potential for birdwatching development due to its rich bird biodiversity and possibility of combining cultural and eco-tourism, as more and more people are interested in the quality of the urban environment. Reporting of bird sightings by members of the public provides an opportunity to collect data continuously over wider geographical areas, increase detectability of species. Modern technologies greatly facilitate what was previously available only to professionals: photo and video recording of sightings, definition of species. This potential is not fully realized, which is clearly demonstrated by the fact that the all-Russian platform Online Diaries of Bird Observation does not provide data for the Novgorod region at all. The research methods were: observation, survey of students, teachers, and employees of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, analysis of cartographic data for 2016-2020. The community of amateurs is concentrated around enthusiasts of professional ornithologists, as in the community of Birds of Novgorod Region. Since 2016, Veliky Novgorod has been providing data on the Nightingale evenings platform, after an increase in 2017, the number of respondents remained the same. Since only a part of respondents are permanent, and there are no regular routes for shift ones, the coverage of districts is uneven. Each year information is provided by 16-28 people, sightings vary from 84 to 116. To attract birdwatching volunteers to monitor birds in Novgorod region, one needs to develop a special project, including through NovSU project activities.

Morphology of Zulu bird names: Old and new

This paper examines the various morphological mechanical processes in a list of Zulu bird names, which was compiled as a result of five bird name workshops conducted from 2013 to 2017. The final list comprised a number of old names compiled from scouring old Zulu dictionaries as well as previous copies of Roberts Birds, together with archived lists of professional and amateur ornithologists dating back to the nineteenth century, as well as newly coined Zulu bird names. All these names were considered at the five workshops by a panel of expert Zulu-speaking bird guides together with two African language professors, who compiled a comprehensive list of all Zulu bird names specifically for the region of KwaZulu-Natal over five years through specific morphological processes. The purpose of this paper is to investigate in depth the creativity behind the processes of coinage by analysing the morphology of these names, both old and new.

A Content Management System and underlying models for avian taxonomic monographs

Taxonomic monographs are a series of publications covering a higher taxonomic group with each monograph focusing on an individual species. They are a compendium of the current state of research and knowledge detailing many aspects of the species and are extensively used by researchers, ornithologists and conservationists to learn what is ‘currently’ known about a species. Birds, being one of the more easily seen and studied taxa, have a number of specialized taxonomic monographs where data from a wide variety of disciplines are combined into a single place and utilized for research and conservation management. Many of the existing avian monographs have regional or subdomain focus such as “Birds of the Western Palearctic” or “Catalan Breeding Bird Atlas 1999-2002” and monographs are sometimes focused on different user communities, ranging from those with casual interest to professional ornithologists and researchers. The Lab of Ornithology maintains several monograph series. Merlin and All About Birds include simplified information that is of interest to the casual observer and Birds of North America and Neotropical Birds Online are monographs with complete, detailed life histories, prepared for ornithologists and active researchers. These monograph projects were originally supported using different Content Management Systems which became very difficult to maintain, difficult to keep content current and provided no capacity for organizing and sharing of content across monograph projects. Bird taxonomies change annually and the previous systems had no capacity to intelligently manage taxonomic changes. To solve these issues, we created a new Content Management System with Taxonomic Concepts at its core. Reviewing a number of existing monograph projects led us to create an underlying content structure that is very analogous to Plinian Core. The initial requirement to support multiple monograph series, some focused on the professional community and others focused on budding amateurs, presented challenges to creating a ‘one size fits all’ model for structuring content that includes authoritative articles covering most aspects of a species life history, traditional range maps, dynamic observation maps, relative abundance models, photos, images, video and a bibliography. In this talk I’ll present in detail the Content Management System and the underlying models we have developed. Four of these five models are tied to the underlying taxonomic concept while the fifth is tied to the taxonomic names. Articles, multimedia (including traditional range maps), taxonomic description and bibliography have long existed in print monographs and having these authored and displayed via the web makes it much simpler to incorporate new information and, keep the information current and publish the information to an existing standard. The incorporation of dynamic content has only been possible with the advent of the web and standards for the underlying Taxonomic Concepts. With four monographs currently in production and several more in development, we’ve encountered both advantages and disadvantages in using these models for managing and serving monograph series. I will discuss these in detail and compare the models with Plinian Core to highlight both fundamental differences as well as common ground.

Don't be afraid to say ‘I study birds'

Whenever I’m involved with outreach programs with birds I’m reminded of something we ornithologists take for granted: Almost everyone likes birds. Even to people who pay minimal attention, birds are beautiful, familiar, tangible connections to the natural world. Andmany people paymore than minimal attention, as revealed by the market for birdfeeders and the success of citizen science with birds.This connection between humans and birds puts ornithologists, and journals likeThe Condor: Ornithological Applications, in a unique position compared with other fields. In particular, we have amuch easier timemaking a relevant connection from our work with birds to something affecting human well-being. In many cases, such as with particularly charismatic species like California Condors or Whooping Cranes or Bald Eagles or Wild Turkeys, the birds themselves are part of our cultural heritage. People care about them very directly. In other cases, bird species become emblematic of a unique setting, such as Golden-cheeked Warblers and the Texas Hill Country. Or birds can make us uncomfortable because they remind us of the consequences of modern life, as with the widely disseminated images of oiled Brown Pelicans following the Deepwater Horizon blowout. Those images resonated because putting a face—a bird’s face—on the tragedy made it more real. Sorry malacologists and cryptogamists, but you couldn’t do it with clams and algae. Because people care about birds, they will understand you, and they will pay attention, when you say ‘I study birds.’ This statement will start a conversation, and in the proper context will give you the opportunity to share something important about birds. That conversation might go in a different direction if it is with your neighbor than if it is with a policymaker, but birds are your foot in the door. What does any of this have to do with the journals where we publish our science? Bird journals have a unique place because they reach a broad swath of people interested in birds, from relatively few casual birders to a larger number of serious amateur ornithologists to most professional ornithologists. If you want your work to be read by people who know and care about birds, publish it in a bird journal.We’ve all seen papers in general journals that claim to say something about birds but obviously weren’t written or evaluated by anyone who really knew birds.On the other hand, if you want the world to know that your paper was vetted by ornithologists, publish it in a bird journal. Your paper in The Condor: Ornithological Applications is not destined for obscurity; the journal reaches professionals who make decisions aboutmanaging birds. Science appearing inCondor becomes part of a growing body of important work relevant for bird conservation and management. Just as you get direct engagement in conversationwhen you say ‘I study birds,’ your paper in Condor also engages you directly with the people who are most likely to care about your results. As we move into 2015, we at Condor are enhancing our effort to disseminate the science we publish. We have new outreach staff handling press releases and social media, targeting ornithologists, scientists in general, and the public. In 2014 we promoted several papers that brought important issues to the public’s attention, hopefully to the benefit of birds (e.g., Haig et al. 2014, Loss et al. 2014). For 2015 we have more resources to put to this task. Some of our papers will undoubtedly be influential in policy decisions (although the journal does not take advocacy positions—see Walters et al. 2014). We also have the capability of moving important papers to immediate open access to enhance their dissemination outside of academic libraries. We’ve opened access to papers on work outside North America to reach more ornithologists who lack access to academic libraries (e.g., Dias et al. 2014). We also opened access to North American work with highly viewed abstracts (e.g., Robertson et al. 2012). We are doing everything we can to build upon the journal’s 115-year history to establish our position as the leading journal for applied ornithology. We have the great privilege of working with birds. Let’s take advantage of our unique position by saying ‘I study birds’ and by disseminating our science through ornithological journals.

The role of conservation partnerships between scientists and nonprofit agencies in freshwater science and management

The role of conservation partnerships between scientists and nonprofit agencies in freshwater science and management

A Nation-Wide Standardized Bird Survey Scheme for Venezuela

Abstract We developed a field survey protocol based on the North American Breeding Bird Survey to evaluate the efficiency and reliability of a bird monitoring scheme in the Neotropics, known as NeoMaps. A team of 21 amateur and professional ornithologists conducted bird counts at 27 locations distributed throughout Venezuela between March and April 2010. Locations selected followed a stratified spatial sampling design derived from environmental and biogeographical variables. Two complementary survey protocols were implemented in consecutive days along 40-km-long roadside transects. Three-minute point counts were performed at 50 stops, 800 m from each other on day 1. Cumulative species lists were recorded at a selection of 10 stops sampled for 9 min each, divided into three consecutive 3-min periods on day 2. We recorded 593 species at the 27 sites combined, representing 57% of the 1,033 potential species, or 43% of all known Venezuelan species. An additional 83 species were recorded outside of the formal ...

The role of citizen science in ornithology

ORNITHOLOGY AND CITIZEN SCIENCE For many reasons, the study of wild birds has played a pioneering role in the development of modern biology. Although birds were included as examples in the major syntheses before the 20th century (including the theory of natural selection), their special position strengthened along with the broad change of biology from describing patterns towards explaining processes. In the first half of the 20th century, it was recognized that the bird is a well-suited subject for studies into the problems of functional morphology, physiology, behaviour, and orientation of animals (Haffer, 2007). Since then, birds have provided some of the most significant model systems for testing general hypotheses regarding speciation and in the diverse fields of ecology, including population and community ecology, evolutionary and behavioural ecology (Gill, 2007). Another distinct feature of ornithology is that, because of the attractiveness of birds, amateurs have always assisted (and outnumbered) professional ornithologists (Greenwood, 2007). In the modern world, such 'citizen science' (the involvement of volunteers in research) provides two great opportunities. First, it enables to widen both the spatial and the temporal scale of field studies beyond the limited reach of individual researchers and short-term project funding. A respectable part of current ornithology--bird surveys involving broad public participation--thus provides pivotal data for developing conservation science and macroecology, and for detecting long-term changes in wild populations, communities, and the wider environment (Greenwood, 2007; Dickinson et al., 2010; Magurran et al., 2010). Secondly, public participation and direct contact with researchers serve as an educational tool for raising awareness about environmental issues and the scientific method (Brossard et al., 2005; Bonney et al., 2009; Devictor et al., 2010). By that, and by increasing public support, the citizen-science part of ornithology is useful for clever applications of ecological knowledge, particularly in conflict situations of biodiversity conservation. THE ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES Together with its opportunities, a reliable and self-sustaining citizen-science system presents special challenges. One is that managing the contact with the public requires administering capacity and special skills, such as extensive communication and the development of online data storage systems (Bell et al., 2008). Other challenges are methodological: a prerequisite for the inclusion of a large number of volunteers is a clear and simple protocol of data recording, while the data collected will nevertheless be heterogeneous and probably biased for several reasons. Therefore, proper management and analysis of volunteer-collected data typically require professional statisticians to handle the complex sampling designs, error sources, and data structure (Dickinson et al., 2010). These challenges are best addressed by large non-governmental organizations governed by their (amateur) members but employing professional staff to organize the work; and there are many advantages to having a single national organization at least in the case of ornithology (Greenwood, 2007). As exemplified by the European experience, organized citizen-science approaches can greatly increase study effort and reduce the costs of biodiversity monitoring projects (Schmeller et al., 2009). In Estonia, citizen ornithology started to organize on 1 May 1921, when 15 persons, led by Professors Johannes Piiper and Henrik Koppel (Rector of the University of Tartu), formed the Estonian Ornithological Society (EOS). Despite being re-organized several times, the society soon became the centre of volunteer-assisted ornithological projects in Estonia with distinct peaks of its activity in the 1930s, 1950s, and 1970s (Kumari, 1976; Mand, 1992; Leibak et al., 1994). The two last peaks are largely related to the activity of Professor Eerik Kumari, who organized professional teams, published the first field identification guides in Estonian and, in particular, prepared a so far unsurpassed textbook for amateur researchers (Kumari, 1963). …

Population trends of common birds in Estonia in 1983–2010

The paper presents the set-up and development of a common bird monitoring scheme in Estonia in 1983-2010. The point-count survey of widespread terrestrial bird species was undertaken to measure long-term population changes and to produce indicators of the condition of habitat types and the wider environment. The scheme has been mostly run by skilled volunteers of the Estonian Ornithological Society. The method applied is point counting on free- choice routes and without limiting recording distance. In the Estonian scheme, each count route consists of 20 points, with 5-minute stops at least 200 m apart. In total, 143 point count routes have been in use by 89 active birdwatchers and professional ornithologists in the course of 28 years. Yearly abundance indices for 87 bird species were calculated using TRIM software. The most evident changes in bird numbers were the declines detected in 1992-1996 among farmland species, and in 2007-2010 among farmland and woodland species. The long-term population trends (1975-2010) in four countries around the Baltic Sea depend on the migratory strategy of bird species. Among trans-Saharan migrants the proportion of declining species was much higher in comparison with short-distance migrants and sedentary species. A marked difference between these countries was found among sedentary bird species - with up to 2/3 of species with increasing trends in Finland and less than 1/3 in Denmark, Sweden, and Estonia. There is a growing interest in using the results of the scheme both at the national and the international scale (PECBMS).

Making the most of science during the new environmental fervor

Villard, M., and T. D. Nudds 2007. Making the most of science during the new environmental fervor. Avian Conservation and Ecology - Écologie et conservation des oiseaux 2(1): 8.http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ACE-00158-020108

IN MEMORIAM: JAMES DAVID MACDONALD, 1908–2002

Roberts, encouraged him in his natural history interests and took an active role in his wildlife filming adventures. With her assistance and guidance, Ed filmed other bird and mammal species, selling stock footage to the major Hollywood studios in the pre-Disney days; the team was among the premier wildlife filmmakers in the 1940s and 1950s. Ed joined the Cooper Ornithological Society (COS) in 1931 and became an Honorary Member in 1960. At the time of his death, only one other had belonged for a longer time. Starting in the 1940s, he held a number of offices and was eventually elected president after a successful proxy battle with Alden Miller and several of his influential former students. That led to a bitter feud between the professional ornithologists in the society and the still large amateur contingent, including Ed, who wanted to retain and broaden the popular appeal of Condor, albeit at the inevitable expense of its scientific stature. Unlike most of his principal supporters in that unusual but ultimately unsuccessful venture, Ed remained faithfully active in the COS for many years after. Museums were Ed's real business. He had a particular passion for serving on museum boards, including the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, San Diego Natural History Museum, and Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, where he stoutly defended the interests of the respective scientific staffs to less-sophisticated or indifferent fellow board members. His vision and persistent efforts behind the scenes were largely responsible for the creation of the well-regarded Page Museum at the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. He founded the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology in 1956, initially as a strategy to maintain his scientific collecting privileges (and to keep his private collections), but also to serve as a depository for orphaned egg collections. The foundation, located in Camarillo, California, now houses the largest bird egg and nest collections in the world, a study skin collection containing over 50,000 specimens, and one of the largest ornithological libraries in the world. He also initiated several technical publication series at the Western Foundation, including the respected Proceedings series. Ed was an old-fashioned philanthropist with both his time and money. He helped many struggling organizations and starving biologists, usually with scant publicity and often at greater personal sacrifice than was generally realized. Although he lacked a formal education, his can-do attitude and unusual enthusiasm for life conveyed an irresistible charisma and confident air that opened many doors for him among California's socially and scholarly elite. Ed was the last of the Victorian-style natural history collectors in America.

THE BIRD ALMANAC: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO ESSENTIAL FACTS AND FIGURES OF THE WORLD'S BIRDS

THE BIRD ALMANAC: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO ESSENTIAL FACTS AND FIGURES OF THE WORLD’S BIRDS. By David M. Bird. Firefly Books, Buffalo, New York. 1999: 460 pp., 17 unnumbered black and white illustrations, numerous unnumbered tables. $19.95 (paper), $65.00 (cloth).—In a single volume, David Bird has compiled many of the facts and figures about birds and provided resources for those who study birds. The book is divided into sections that will be useful to professional ornithologists, including anatomy, physiology, reproduction, mortality, threatened and endangered species, resources for professional ornithologists, and a world checklist of birds. Additional sections will have appeal to bird enthusiasts, including American and British equivalencies for names of birds, mascot birds, bird-watching, attracting birds to the backyard, who’s who in ornithology and conservation, resources for bird lovers, and record holders. Each section has a surprising amount of information. For example, the section on reproduction includes tables of territory sizes, song repertoire sizes, time of initiation of singing, number of sperm storage tubules, duration of sperm storage, clutch size, incubation period, incubation times, and sex ratios; descriptions of nest types and patterns of development; and illustrations of gametes, eggs, and embryonic development. Anyone teaching classes about birds will have a variety of interesting facts and useful illustrations to use in the classroom. Bird has included extensive citations for the information he presents, allowing anyone interested in learning more about a particular topic to read the original source for additional details. The resources included in the book for bird watchers and ornithologists are equally impressive. Bird has compiled traditional resources like contact information for bird-related societies, contact information for scientific journals and bird magazines, addresses for bird banding organizations, rare bird alert numbers (and web addresses), annotated lists of CD-ROMs and software, and lists of bird videos and sound recordings. Ornithologists will find contact information for sources of optical equipment, sound-recording equipment, telemetry gear, banding supplies and equipment, organizations that provide DNA sexing, and specialized video equipment. There are also extensive on-line references like internet links to world-wide birding web sites, addresses of bird-watching and ornithological discussion groups, and subscription information for bird related e-mail lists. As with any volume of this magnitude, there are inaccuracies and oversights. For example, the illustration of the bird skeleton has labeled the tarsometatarsus as the tarsus, and it does not label the sternum but does label the keel. In a number of the tables, only the common name is given, even when numerous species have the same general name (e.g., crow, blackbird, or magpie). With the wealth of information packed into this book, it will provide a wonderful resource for both professionals and amateurs. Ornithologists and bird enthusiasts should both consider this book for their libraries.—SARA R. MORRIS.

Training Kenyan bird ringers

Jackson, J. 2000. Training Kenyan bird ringers. Ostrich 71 (1 & 2): 342. Capturing and ringing birds is a fundamental ornithological field technique, and one that underlies much bird conservation research. In several countries, particularly in Britain and parts of western Europe, ringing is largely an amateur activity. Enthusiasts ring birds in their free time and take part in national surveys, enabling the effective monitoring of bird populations and movements. Until recently ringing in Kenya has been undertaken almost entirely by a handful of expatriate researchers and enthusiasts. Over the last 1CL15 years, it has also been largely confined to one site: Ngulia in Tsavo West National Park. Ringing effort has targeted Palaearctic migrants, mainly ignoring Afrotropical birds. The number of amateur and professional Kenyan ornithologists is fast increasing, but only a handful have any ringing experience. The remainder lack the resources to obtain the necessary equipment or the opportunity to undergo the long training required to become a qualified ringer. In June 1994, the, Nairobi Ringing Group was formed, based at the Department of Ornithology, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi. The Group provides an opportunity for interested Kenyans to train as amateur ringers to a high standard, using departmental equipment and expertise. Ringing takes place twice weekly at the Nairobi Museum grounds and monthly at a constant effort site in a forest near Nairobi. Excursions have been made to other sites including Lake Magadi, for training in ringing waders, and Ngulia. The Group has a core of seven to ten members and a further 30 have taken part to varying degrees. Over 2 500 birds have been ringed so far and much learned about the identification, ageing and moult of the commoner species.