Bird Banter

New Zealand Prime Minister and Timaru Bird Club

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

From Left to Right: Audrey Rule, Pat Rule (Vice-President of Timaru Bird Club), New Zealand Prime Minister Mr John Key, Joy Agnew (President of Timaru Bird Club), Fred Wederell.

Timaru Bird Club welcomed Prime Minister Mr John Key to view their new aviary on 3rd July 2009.

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Rare Birds Confiscated in Russia

Friday, July 03, 2009

Authorities have seized six Russian Gyrfalcons worth up to $861,500 that they found packed in a cupboard box at a military airport near Moscow.

The endangered birds have been handed over to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Moscow's Wild Animal Rescue Centre for release back into the wild.

But right now most of the birds are battling to survive. All are under veterinary care. Only one of the birds is eating on its own, while the rest are surviving on force-feeds.

Gryfalcons are prized by falconers and can fetch between $14,360 and $143,600 on the black market - which has led to a big illegal smuggling boom.

'Although the capture of this species in Russia is illegal, dozens of these wild birds are seized by customs, police or special service in Moscow airports annually,' IFAW's Grigory Tsidulko said.

Less than 2000 Gyrfalcons remain in the wild in Russia. They are critically endangered and banned for export under the Convention on the International Trade of Threated Species (CITES).

Smugglers black market efforts are threatening the population, which generally prefers habitat above the Polar Circle from Kola Peninsula to Chukotka.

If these birds are worth so much, let's hope the penalties for smuggling them are just as high.

Photos taken by (c) IFAW / G. Tsidulko

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New Book Discusses Climate Change and Effects on Australian Desert Birds

Thursday, July 02, 2009

The CSIRO has painted a positive picture for the future of Australian desert birds in a new book that explores the evolutionary talents of our key bird species.
In ‘Boom and Bust: Bird stories for a dry country’ the organisation demonstrates how key bird species have been shaped by evolutionary and environmental changes for centuries.
It sheds light on how desert birds survive climatic, economic and ecological change and provides some positive news for the future as climate extremes worsen.

Co-author and editor, Leo Joseph, director of the Australian Wildlife Collection at CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, said the evolutionary footprint in DNA sequences reveals how species evolve through boom and bust cycles.
‘Masked and White-browed Woodswallows appear to have undergone major population expansions in their history, probably driven by the effects of glaciation on the Australian environment,’ Dr Joseph said.

‘Boom cycles provide a bigger pool of individuals from which to select the next generation and when the bust sets in many of those individuals and their genes are eliminated through natural selection.’
The book includes 10 stories and case studies from various experts to help readers understand global change.
‘They illustrate how natural systems play out under human-induced change and how humans have responded,’ co-author Dr Libby Robin said.

‘Australia has among the world’s most variable climate and greatest rainfall uncertainty. Many birds like the pelican have built up resilience to cycles of boom and bust and live for long periods on very little, waiting for resources to arrive and seizing opportunities to breed.’

Steve Morton, animal ecologist and CSIRO group executive of manufacturing, materials and minerals, said the Zebra Finch was a ‘little Aussie battler’ able to thrive in Australia’s harshest conditions.
The book is available through CSIRO Publishing at http://www.publish.csiro.au
CSIRO Media Release