Study conclusion mirrors shocking losses previously shown in North America Staggering declines in bird populations are taking place around the world. So concludes a study from scientists at multiple institutions, published in the journal Annual Review of Environment and Resources. Loss and degradation of natural habitats and direct overexploitation of many species are cited as the key threats to avian biodiversity. Climate change is identified as an emerging driver of bird population declines. "We are now witnessing the first signs of a new wave of extinctions of continentally distributed bird species," says lead author Alexander Lees, senior lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom and also a research associate at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. "Avian d...
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Global warming is turning wildlife habits upside down The early bird is getting even earlier. With climate change spurring earlier springs across much of North America, many birds are laying their eggs earlier in the year, according to a new study – adding to mounting evidence that global warming is turning wildlife habits upside down. Of 72 bird species examined around Chicago, roughly a third lay their eggs about 25 days earlier than they did a century ago, researchers report in the paper published on Friday in the Journal of Animal Ecology. FILE PHOTO: A flock of blackbirds search for trees to perch on in the town on Hopkinsville, Kentucky. REUTERS/Harrison McClary Those affected include the mourning dove, American kestrel and Cooper's hawk. The scientists so far have...
Read MoreStudy suggests many isolated bird populations merit species status Study of a perky little bird suggests there may be far more avian species in the tropics than those identified so far. After a genetic study of the White-crowned Manakin, scientists say it's not just one species and one of the main drivers of its diversity is the South American landscape and its history of change. These results are published in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. Over a few million years, ancestors of the White-crowned Manakin expanded from the Andes Mountains into a wide variety of other habitats and became isolated by landscape features. Map markers indicate the locations and number of genetic samples used in the study. Reproduced with permission from the Handbook of the ...
Read MoreCanaries, parakeets and zebra finches will no longer chirp from small cages in the shadow of Notre Dame cathedral, after Paris voted to close its 19th-century bird market, deeming it inappropriate for this day and age. Held on Sundays, the market on the Ile de la Cite island in the Seine river has been a magnet for tourists and Parisians with children for decades, but an animal rights group’s campaign against it and plans to renovate the site led to a city council decision to close it. “The market had become the epicentre of bird trafficking in the Paris region, including of endangered birds,” Paris deputy mayor Christophe Najdovksi told Reuters. “A second reason for closing it is that the conditions in which the birds are presented are no longer acceptable,” he said. ...
Read MoreAltogether 93,491 birds of 112 species were recorded during the two-day annual waterfowl census in the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve in Assam, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Amit Sahai, said on Tuesday. The total number of birds has increased from 34,284 in 2020 to 93,491 in 2021, implying a rise of 175 per cent, Sahai said. This rise in the number of birds visiting Kaziranga can be attributed to improved habitat management and water conservation measures carried out by the Kaziranga Tiger Reserve authority. The third annual census was conducted to record and estimate waterfowl and winter migratory birds, and to monitor and assess the health of wetlands, he told reporters. !function(e,t,c,a){if(!e.fwn&&(a="fwn_script",n=e.fwn=func...
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