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Carnaby's black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris), also known as Carnaby's cockatoo or short-billed black cockatoo,is a large black cockatoo endemic to south-western Australia. It was described in 1948 by naturalist Ivan Carnaby. The cockatoo feeds primarily on seeds of proteaceous plants such as Banksia, Hakea and Grevillea, and secondarily on seeds from myrtaceous plants such as Eucalyptus and Corymbia. Over fifty native plant species are commonly used for food, either as seed or flowers, and this includes western sheoak, orange wattle, and balga. Invertebrates such as the larvae of wood-boring moths are also eaten. The cockatoos also feed on the seeds of Pinus spp. in the Gnangara pine plantations north of Perth. The sound of a Black Cockatoo's call ringing out before the rain arrives is one of the most evocative and magical sounds of the Australian bush, but sadly, with their number in decline, it's a sound that we are hearing less.

The Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) is in deep trouble, and nearing the end of its days. Today its population, in just three Indian states and a handful in Pakistan, is estimated at about 200 to 300. Experts put the number lower, at around 150. This makes the GIB, as it is sometimes referred to, one of the rarest birds in the world. "Population estimates... suggest that the species has undergone a decline equivalent to around 82 per cent over 47 years," says BirdLife International, a non-profit group. The great Indian bustard is omnivorous. Apparently, insects, consisting mainly of Orthoptera, but also beetles, particularly Mylabris sp. are preferred in the diet. Alternatively, they will take grass seeds, berries (largely of the genera Ziziphus and Eruca), rodents and reptiles (in Rajasthan they are known to take Uromastyx hardwickii. In cultivated areas, they feed on crops such as exposed groundnut, millets and pods of legumes.

The Kharmore or lesser florican (Sypheotides indicus) population in the Sonkhaliya grasslands of Ajmer are drastically declining, conservationists have warned. Over the past three years the number of the bustard sightings has come down from 400 to 100 in Rajasthan alone, indicating long-term population decline. According to the forest department records, the highest Kharmore count was recorded in 2012 (around 400), but their numbers of started falling steadily thereafter. Over 300 Kharmores were spotted in 2013, while over 200 were sighted in 2014. This year around 100 have been sighted post the breeding season. Lesser florican, endemic to India and some parts of Pakistan and Nepal, is listed as an endangered species in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, 2011, and under the Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Lesser floricans feed on a wide variety of small vertebrates and invertebrates which include worms, centipedes, lizards, frogs and insects such as locusts, flying ants and hairy caterpillars. They are also known to feed on shoots and seeds, herbs and berries.

The prevalence of several well-known Danish plants and animal species has decreased, reports the national monitoring program Novana. According to the Environment and Food Ministry, wading birds such as the meadow bird and the ruff are among the most threatened bird species in Denmark, and the golden plover has almost completely disappeared. “Approximately 28 percent of the known Danish species are endangered and placed on the red list,” stated Eva Kjer Hansen, the environment and food minister.

There has been widespread concern that neonicotinoid pesticides may be adversely impacting wild and managed bees for some years, but recently attention has shifted to examining broader effects they may be having on biodiversity. For example in the Netherlands, declines in insectivorous birds are positively associated with levels of neonicotinoid pollution in surface water. In England, the total abundance of widespread butterfly species declined by 58% on farmed land between 2000 and 2009 despite both a doubling in conservation spending in the UK, and predictions that climate change should benefit most species. Here we build models of the UK population indices from 1985 to 2012 for 17 widespread butterfly species that commonly occur at farmland sites. Of the factors we tested, three correlated significantly with butterfly populations. Summer temperature and the index for a species the previous year are both positively associated with butterfly indices.

The first-ever study of pesticide residues on field-caught bees in the USA, finds native wild bees are being exposed to neonicotinoid insecticides and other pesticides. The research, conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, focused on native bees, because there is limited information on their exposure to pesticides. It did not look at pesticide exposure to honey bees. The researchers say little is known about how toxic these pesticides are to native bee species at the levels detected in the environment. “We found that the presence and proximity of nearby agricultural fields was an important factor resulting in the exposure of native bees to pesticides,” said USGS scientist Michelle Hladik, the report’s lead author. “Pesticides were detected in the bees caught in grasslands with no known direct pesticide applications.”

The EPA document attached shows how Monsanto tried to convince the EPA to ‘disappear’ toxicology data, which confirmed that 18 out of 100 test-mice developed a rare form of kidney tumour when fed glyphosate. EPA scientists were concerned that when 18% of mice developed ‘rare’ kidney tumours when fed glyphosate; moreover, this was not a case of ‘false positives’ as Monsanto was claiming. The tumors in question were real and also rare. The EPA refused to allow Monsanto to argue that ‘false positives’ argument should be used to ‘dilute’ the findings. The EPA regulators in question fought back - to protect the Public Health; evidently the EPA still had a sense of ethics and public service at that time. Since glyphosate is the most widely used pesticide in the world today it is clear that Monsanto ‘persuaded’ the EPA to suppress its concerns and give Glyphosate an unconditional license. Glyphosate was found in Warburtons Bread and Jordans Muesli in the UK in 2014.

A team from Sussex University in the UK found that the pollen of wildflowers, such as hogweed and poppies, within one to two metres of an oilseed rape crop, contained neonicotinoid concentrations up to 86 parts per billion (ppb) in pollen. The maximum pesticide residue recorded in crop pollen was 11.1 ppb. The use of neonicotinoids has become controversial in recent years and has been blamed for a decline in pollinators and contributing to honeybee colony losses. In 2013, the European Union restricted the use of these insecticides. ‘The hogweed [pollen] was 86 ppb, which is over 10 times what is normally found in the crop, so it may be that different plant species differ in their propensity to suck up neonicotinoids from the soil,’ says senior study author Dave Goulson. ‘The concentrations in the wildflowers were very variable, much higher than in the crop.’ Neonicotinoids were consistently found in the soil at field margins and this was deemed the most likely source of wildflower contamination. They are persistent in soil, says Goulson, and soil samples commonly came up positive for imidacloprid, even when farmers had not used them for at least three years.

The red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) is a “WOW” bird. True to its name, the entire head is fire-engine red from crown to throat. The showy dome contrasts with a black back and tail, black wings with large white patches and a white belly. These woodpeckers are omnivorous, eating a wide variety of insects, fruit and seeds. Occasionally, they grab mice, raid nests for eggs and chicks, and pounce on smaller birds. They often act like flycatchers, flying out from a perch to grab a bug and then returning. During winter, when the insect supply is limited, they turn to acorns, beechnuts and pecans. Unfortunately, the red-headed woodpecker population has declined by an estimated 70 percent in the last 50 years. Once common throughout the eastern United States, in the Triad it has become a rare treat seen occasionally during non-breeding season and almost never in summer.