Birds of prey

Throughout the 1900s, North America’s littlest falcon was also described as the continent’s most common and widespread. Small but fierce and marked with bright plumage rare in the raptor world, the American kestrel (Falco sparverius) could be seen throughout the continent, diving and swooping in fallow fields or under the stadium lights at baseball games, hunting for plump moths or small mice. In the Montreal area, they lived in the suburbs, in places like Vaudreuil-Dorion and Île-Perrot, drawn by unused fields and abundant food.

Grim news for the world's raptors—an iconic group of birds consisting of hawks, falcons, kites, eagles, vultures and owls. After analyzing the status of all 557 raptor species, biologists discovered that 18 percent of these birds are threatened with extinction and 52 percent have declining global populations, making them more threatened than all birds as a whole. Comparatively, 40 percent of the world's 11,000 bird species are in decline, according to an April report from BirdLife International.

Recognisable by its black plumage and striking red beak, the Black Stork (Ciconia nigra) is found in low numbers all over the planet. European populations migrate to Sub-Saharan Africa in the winter and during the summer an estimated 470 pairs can be found in Spain, a large proportion of which are found in the north of Extremadura. They are threatened.

A two year project to repeat a famous bird survey by driving over 20, 000km in a 4x4 across Botswana has confirmed researchers' fears: many birds of prey are fast disappearing from one of Africa's last great wilderness areas. Reported sightings of iconic species of eagle and vulture declined by as much as 80% compared with the previous survey, while some migrant species recorded last time have vanished, according to the study published this week in the international scientific journal Biological Conservation.

We present results on the presence of neonicotinoid residues in blood samples of a long-distant migratory food-specialist raptor, the European honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus). Further, we investigate the spatial relationship between neonicotinoid residue prevalence in honey buzzards with that of crop fields where neonicotinoids are typically used. A majority of all blood samples contained neonicotinoids, thiacloprid accounting for most of the prevalence.

Im Herbst zieht er in den Süden und überwintert in Spanien, in Südfrankreich und Portugal. Wenn er wieder in hiesigen Gefilden ist, bietet der rostrote, im Flug spielerisch wirkende Greifvogel mit den schwarzen und weißen Federn auf der Unterseite und dem weißen Kopf mit seiner unverwechselbaren Silhouette einen beeindruckenden Anblick. Dann, von Mitte März bis Ende Juli, ist Peter Solluntsch häufig auf Muldewiesen rund um Eilenburg, Püchau, Zschepplin, Bad Düben und anderen Ecken unterwegs, beobachtet den majestätisch schwebenden Greifvogel, erfasst die Brutbestände.

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, South Asia’s vulture populations underwent catastrophic declines, the vultures dying while performing their most essential and valued ecosystem service to humans: disposing of cattle carcasses. These remains would otherwise be left to feed and boost the populations of problem scavengers like feral dogs, or cost the government untold sums to clean up. The main reason for these devastating deaths was a veterinary drug called diclofenac: a painkiller for cattle, but a poison to vultures.

The fifth UK and Isle of Man hen harrier (Circus cyaneus) survey was conducted in 2016, with the number of territorial pairs estimated at 575: a 13% decline since the previous survey in 2010. Comparison with the estimate from the 2004 survey, demonstrates a significant decline of 27% over the past 12 years. In Scotland, the population was estimated at 460 territorial pairs, this being 80% of all UK and Isle of Man pairs in 2016.