Summit for Europe's Rarest Songbird
Photo:
Alexander Kozulin
Courtesy of BirdLife International
26
June 2006, BirdLife International - Nations from across
Europe and Africa met this week in Germany to discuss the future of
mainland Europe’s rarest songbird, the Aquatic Warbler. The current
world breeding population of the Aquatic Warbler has plummeted, since
the beginning of the last century by 95 percent to only 16,000 males in
just 7 countries. The species nests in the fen mires and wet meadows of
eastern central Europe and migrates over 5000 kilometres to winter in
Africa.
Robert Hepworth, Executive Secretary of
the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), said: "The Aquatic Warbler is
the only songbird of mainland Europe which is facing global extinction.
Bringing together scientists and government decision makers from the
species’ 13 range countries in Europe and Africa, and coordinating their
work, is essential to ensure its survival."
The meeting concluded that the main
success of the joint efforts of governments, BirdLife International, and
CMS over the past years is the stabilization of the core breeding
population of the species in its largest breeding sites. Work now needs
to intensify in key countries of West Africa, like Senegal, to find the
elusive wintering sites of the species, as this is critical for its
effective future protection. "This bird could have a bright future in
Europe and Africa if the right decisions are taken to conserve it. The
CMS Memorandum will provide the basis for governments, other
organizations such as BirdLife International, and scientists to work
together to save the Aquatic Warbler and its unique habitats," Robert
Hepworth added.
Since 1998, the BirdLife International
Aquatic Warbler Conservation Team has been searching for the remaining
breeding populations of the bird, and devising ways to stabilize and
improve them. More information about the Aquatic
Warbler can be obtained from
BirdLife International's website.
Europe Takes
Action Against Malta’s Spring Hunt
26
June 2006, BirdLife International – The European
Commission has opened a legal infringement procedure against the Maltese
government for allowing the spring hunting of European Turtle-doves and
Common Quails.
During their exhausting return journey
from Africa to their European breeding grounds, many migratory birds use
Malta as an important resting place and stepping-stone as they cross the
Mediterranean. Despite special protection under EU law during this
sensitive period, Maltese hunters are reported to kill–with the blessing
of their government–thousands of quails and doves every spring. This
spring hunting season not only breaches EU law, but also opens a
loophole for the illegal hunting of many other, often threatened,
species such as herons and birds of prey.
"BirdLife welcomes that the European
Commission won’t tolerate this any longer and that it is committed to
take legal action should Malta not end spring hunting," said Konstantin
Kreiser, Policy Officer at BirdLife in Brussels. The Maltese government
will now have to ensure that no spring hunting takes place from 2007
onwards, otherwise it will be taken to the European Court of Justice.
Fossils Suggest
Birds Took Wing from Water
16
June 2006 - The family tree of modern birds probably has its
roots in water. Multiple fossils uncovered in Changma, China of an
animal called Gansus yumenensis, which looked like a loon or duck
with teeth, indicate that modern birds evolved from ancient waterfowl,
according to paleontologist Matt Lamanna of the Carnegie Museum of
Natural History in Pittsburgh, PA.
Scientists say Gansus is the oldest
known member of the group that includes modern birds. They believe this
makes its story a critical one in understanding the evolution of avian
species. "All living birds, from a pelican to a hummingbird, shared a
common ancestor that evolved somewhere in the Cretaceous period,"
explained co-author Luis Chiappe, director of the Dinosaur Institute at
the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. "Gansus is closely related to
that ancestor. For a 110 million-year-old, Gansus is remarkably
evolutionarily advanced. The detail in their preservation, such as the
bone structure and even foot webbing, indicates they were well adapted
to an aquatic existence. The analysis implies that the line that would
become modern birds left the land and became adapted to life on the
water and then, at a later date, came back onto land. The new findings
give scientists an almost complete view of the animal. All they lack now
is an example of the skull.
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