Woodland birds

When Ashtabula County Master Gardeners speak to local groups about creating bird-friendly landscapes, the volunteers are often asked why certain bird species are disappearing from backyard feeders. At times the answer is simply that some birds, like goldfinches (Carduelis carduelis), move from place to place within their territory to ensure a food source isn’t depleted. Another reason is not quite so benign. Many native bird populations are in serious decline because of the loss of habitat and subsequent food sources.

It is the epitome of spring’s awakening but this year the sound of the cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) has become increasingly rare. The bird has declined by two thirds in twenty years. Reasons for its scarcity are unclear but one possibility is associated with its overwintering grounds in Africa. Another factor may be related to the cuckoo’s diet which consists of hairy caterpillars and the larvae of the garden tiger moth that has suffered a massive decline, along with moths in general. Pesticide spraying and grubbing out of hedgerows are probably to blame too.

In Niedersachsen gibt es nur noch rund 200 der in ganz Deutschland extrem selten gewordenen Birkhühner (Lyrurus tetrix, Syn.: Tetrao tetrix). Diese Restpopulation in der Lüneburger Heide sei eines der letzten ursprünglichen Vorkommen in Mitteleuropa, teilte die Landesjägerschaft in Hannover mit. Bei einem bundesweiten Bestand von nur noch rund 1200 Exemplaren komme dem Vorkommen eine besondere Bedeutung zu. „Das Birkwild war bis zur Mitte des 20. Jahrhundert ein Charaktervogel der norddeutschen Moore und Heiden“, sagte Egbert Strauß, Wildbiologe der Landesjägerschaft.

The population of lesser spotted woodpeckers (Dryobates minor synon. Dendrocopos minor) has almost halved since 2009 because dead trees are being quickly removed from parks and woods, the British Trust for Ornithology said. The sparrow-sized birds have been declining since about 1980 and only about 2000 remain. The birds tend to nest in decaying wood because it is softer and therefore easier for them to peck when carving a nesting hole.

Populations of farmland, woodland and marine birds have all fallen dramatically over the past 50 years, according to new government figures. In all bird species, populations have declined by six per cent since 1970, but some species saw stunning declines over the past five decades, as pesticides, the intensification of farming and the removal of hedgerows wreaked havoc. Bird populations are seen as a key indicator of the health of the natural world as they tend to feed on small insects that are the basis of the food chain.

To assess the Rustic Bunting’s global conservation status we compiled, for the first time, population data across its breeding and wintering ranges. The analysis reveals a 75–87% decline in overall population size over the last 30 years and a 32–91% decline over the last 10 years. The trend estimates indicate that the long-term (30-year) range-wide population decline in the Rustic Bunting (Emberiza rustica) is of similar magnitude to two well-known examples of declining species within the same genus, the Yellow-breasted Bunting Emberiza aureola and the Ortolan Bunting E. hortulana.

The Storm's stork (Ciconia stormi) is a medium-sized stork species that occurs primarily in lowland tropical forests of Indonesia, Malaysia and southern Thailand. A recent survey conducted along the coastal areas of Kubu, West Kalimantan, shows an alarming rate of population decline among this local bird, raising concerns about the condition of the local mangrove forest ecosystem. The bird, found throughout Borneo, was classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 1994.