Swallows

Trauerspiel um Trauerseeschwalbe - Nur zwölf Küken der bedrohten Art wurden in diesem Jahr auf Eiderstedt flügge

Es werden einfach nicht mehr Trauerseeschwalben (Chlidonias niger) auf Eiderstedt, auch nicht im EU-Vogelschutzgebiet. In diesem Jahr zählte Experte Claus Ivens 20 Brutpaare und zwölf flügge Küken, im vergangenen Jahr waren es 21 Paare und 21 Küken. Damit setzt sich der Negativ-Trend fort. So waren es 2003 noch 58 Brutpaare und 103 flügge Küken. Einen großen Einbruch verzeichnete Ivens 2009: 36 Paare zogen acht Jungvögel auf. 2008 waren es noch 51 Paare, allerdings wurden nur zwei Küken flügge. Der ehemalige Landwirt aus Kotzenbüll ist seit seiner Jugend fasziniert von dem zierlichen Vogel und kümmert sich seit Jahrzehnten um den Schutz dieser vom Aussterben bedrohten Art, die auf künstlichen Nistflößen auf Tränkekuhlen in den Weiden der Halbinsel brütet. Die legen Ivens und ein Team des Naturschutzbunds Kiel in jedem Frühjahr aus. 121 sind es im EU-Vogelschutzgebiet, 29 im Oldensworter Vorland.

The steep decline of insectivores in Ontario is telling us they're running out of insect food

Birds that eat flying insects are in a shocking and mysterious decline, says the co-editor of the new Atlas of Breeding Birds in Ontario. “It is an alarm bell,” Gregor Beck, a wildlife biologist and the book’s co-editor, said. The atlas, created after five years of research and employing 1.2 million individual bird records from Pelee Island to Hudson Bay, found most of the birds that eat flying insects declined 30 to 50 per cent in the last 20 years. The birds include some swallows, the common nighthawk (Chordeiles minor), the whip-poor-will (Caprimulgus vociferus) and the chimney swift (Chaetura pelagica). The decline was the biggest shock that came from the research, Beck said. We need to be very concerned, he said. Other insectivores are in steep decline as well. Reptile populations have declined drastically in Ontario over the past century. The Ontario Endangered Species Act, 2007 considers 18 of the province’s 24 reptile species (75%!) to be at risk. Fewer amphibian species are considered to be at risk, although amphibian populations are declining in parts of the province. Three species – timber rattlesnake, spring salamander and tiger salamander – have been extirpated.

Nonstick Chemicals May Be Affecting Tree Swallows Along Mississippi River

A new U.S. Geological Study report suggests that chemicals found in nonstick cookware and water repellents could be affecting tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) living along the upper Mississippi River. It's been known that the Mississippi River around and south of the Twin Cities is contaminated with perfluoroalkoxy (PFA), a chemical found in many household products. The report says wastewater discharges and contaminated groundwater from manufacturer 3M's facilities have created hotspots for PFAs, even though it's been more than a decade since the company stopped producing them. USGS researchers studying tree swallows in Wisconsin and Minnesota found that birds with high concentrations of PFAs are less likely to hatch.

A Canadian farmer concerned about declining bird populations has reason to be worrisome, officials say

Dave Jamieson says he's noticed fewer birds and bird species at his Bright's Grove dairy farm in recent years, and wants to know why. “They're just not around at all... I can go out all day and I'm lucky to see one,” he said, pointing to the disappearance of barn swallows (Hirundo rustica), chimney swifts (Chaetura pelagica) and other birds. “How come nobody notices these birds aren't around?” Jamieson, who has lived on the property all his life, said he used to see more than a dozen barn swallow nests at one time. “In the last three years, there's only been about four; and this is the first year they've never had babies,” he said. “Even when you drive along the road, and look at the hydro lines – where birds used to sit all the time – they're not there anymore.” Jamieson said he's so concerned, he's contacted Sarnia City Hall and the Ministry of Natural Resources office in Chatham, but hasn't received a response. But a biologist with Bird Studies Canada said Jamieson's concerns reflect new and alarming trends among Canada's bird populations. “There's a real dramatic change in the bird landscape going on in Canada,” said Jody Allair, biologist and science educator, pointing to a ground-breaking report released last year called The State of Canada's Birds.

A sad farewell to the darling birds of May

It’s always harder to take account of an absence, than it is of a presence. I say that because an absence has just made itself manifest in the natural world, which will have passed many millions of people by, but which will nonetheless have been noticed keenly by those who are attuned to it, and there are some. It is this: the swifts have gone. At least, they have from my part of the world, the south-west corner of London, and soon they will be gone from all of Britain. Swifts (Apus apus) are among the most exciting of our birds because they are the most aerial – almost their whole lives are lived on the wing, and when a young swift leaves the nest it may spend the next three years entirely in the sky, eating, drinking, sleeping and even, eventually, mating (something first observed by the parson-naturalist Gilbert White of Selborne in the 18th century).

The Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) shows that the numbers of Swifts and Linnets were halved in Scotland between 2011 and 2012

BBS population trends are published annually for 61 bird species in Scotland, and the latest results show that 2012 was a particularly bad year for a number of migrant birds, including Whitethroat (Sylvia communis) and Swift (Apus apus). The latest figures from the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) show that numbers of Swifts fell by 42% in Scotland between 2011 and 2012. For Swifts, the latest drop in numbers is the third annual decline in a row, and follows a 57% decline in Scotland since the mid-1990s. Linnets (Carduelis cannabina), which live on farmland, also did badly in 2012, with the population declining by nearly 50% between 2011 and 2012, taking the numbers of this small finch to their lowest level in Scotland since the survey began in 1994.

Mauersegler weiter im Abwind

Bei der Stunde der Gartenvögel 2013 wurden in Hessen knapp 65.000 Vögel in über 1750 Gärten beobachtet. Insgesamt beteiligten sich über 2.700 hessische Vogelfreunde an der großen Zählaktion des NABU und übertrafen das Vorjahres-Ergebnis um 5000 Vögel. Besorgniserregend ist der weitere Rückgang der Mauersegler (Apus apus): In den letzten fünf Jahren nahmen die Mauersegler-Sichtungen kontinuierlich von durchschnittlich 2,62 auf 1,64 Vögel pro Garten ab.

Den Schwalben gehen die Insekten aus

Das zwitschernde Quartett an der Spitze ist unverändert geblieben: Spatz (offizieller Name: Haussperling), Amsel, Kohl- und Blaumeise sind in NRW die hinterm Haus am häufigsten anzutreffenden Vögel. Das ist das vorläufige Endergebnis der „Stunde der Gartenvögel“, einer Zählaktion, zu der in diesem Frühjahr wieder der Naturschutzbund Deutschland (Nabu) und der bayerische Landesbund für Vogelschutz (LBV) aufgerufen hatten. Mit beeindruckendem Ergebnis: Bis zum Ende der Aktion am 21. Mai hatten in NRW insgesamt 7363 Vogelfreunde in 5066 Gärten 177 928 Vögel gezählt. Auf der Verliererseite verzeichneten vor allem Rauchschwalben Hirundo rustica (minus 24 Prozent) und Mauersegler Apus apus (minus 25 Prozent) dramatische Einbrüche. Auch die Mehlschwalbe (Delichon urbicum) musste mit einem Minus von 14 Prozent deutliche Verluste hinnehmen.

Was ist passiert mit unseren Schwalben?

Wo bleiben die Mehlschwalben (Delichon urbicum)? Warum werden die Nester, die seit vielen Jahren stets voll belegt waren, dieses Jahr nicht genutzt? Was ist passiert mit unseren Schwalben? Diese und ähnliche Fragen besorgter Bürger werden dem NABU seit einigen Wochen häufiger gestellt. Denn viele Nester sind in diesem Frühjahr leer geblieben oder es sind mancherorts gar keine Schwalben mehr eingetroffen. „Wir nehmen diese Meldungen sehr ernst, denn leider bestätigen sie die Beobachtungen von Vogelkundlern in ganz Nordrhein-Westfalen, dass die Schwalbenbestände bereits seit Jahren stark rückläufig sind,“ sagt Bernd Jellinghaus, Sprecher des Landesfachausschusses für Ornithologie und Vogelschutz im NABU NRW. „Eine Schwalbe macht noch keinen Sommer“ warnt ein bekanntes Sprichwort. Die Sommerboten steuern in einigen Gegenden Nordrhein-Westfalens auf einem dramatischen Kurs. Mehl- und auch Rauchschwalbe (Hirundo rustica), die einst so typischen Begleiter des Menschen, wurden mit ihren Beständen für NRW in der aktuellen Roten Liste als gefährdet eingestuft.

Steep decline of the chimney swift in the Maritimes

A biologist with Bird Studies Canada in Sackville is warning people that the chimney swift (Chaetura pelagica) is disappearing in New Brunswick. Allison Manthorne, co-ordinator of Maritimes SwiftWatch, says the population of chimney swifts has declined by 95 per cent in Canada since 1968, with a close to 50 per cent range shrinkage in the Maritimes. "The chimney swift historically lived in hollow trees, the kind of tree that you find in an old growth forest and our landscape has changed so much that nesting and roosting spaces don't really exist anymore," she said. And while the birds adapted to using the chimneys of schools, churches, houses and industrial buildings, many chimneys are now being capped, steel-lined or torn down, further reducing their nesting options. Insect decline is another problem, said Manthorne. Flying insects, such as mosquitoes, are the major food source for chimney swifts, she said. Chimney swifts are small grey-brown birds with long, pointed wings and short, tapered bodies. They are often mistaken for swallows due to their shape and size. They spend the winter months in the upper Amazon basin of South America including Peru, northwestern Brazil and northern Chile and breed in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.