Sunday 20 November 2011

Spoon-billed Sandpipers

It has been an interesting few months for bird conservation. The first ever ex-situ breeding programme for the Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper Eurynorhynchus pygmeus has begun here in the UK.


Dead Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Saemangeum, South Korea (Nial Moores)

The Spoon-billed Sandpiper breeds in the tundra of north-eastern Russia and winters in China and South East Asia. Its population has thought to have decreased by 88% since 2002 equating to a decline by 26% every year. The breeding population has been estimated at 120-200 pairs though this could well be optimistic. The problem is that the Sandpipers are plagued by problems from all areas. Stray dogs are a real threat on their breeding grounds and the loss of habitat and hunting pressure both in their wintering gounds and along stop-off routes through Korea and China.

As a result the first ever captive breeding programme has been set up by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and Birds Russia at Silmbridge in the UK. The first 13 birds have been transported to the UK from Moscow Zoo where they have been raised for the past few months. 




These will be the first of several and their descendants will hopefully one day be returned to the wild. Before this can happen though the problems in the wild need to be sorted out.



Just about the cutest baby ever! Elena Lappo


 

Monday 14 November 2011

Imperial Woodpecker- Lest we forget

The Imperial Woodpecker Campephilus imperialis is (or was!) the largest known species of Woodpecker at a whopping 56-60cm. It is (or was!) endemic to the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains in northern Mexico. It is however now classed at Critically Endangered (possibly extinct) as there hasn't been a confirmed sighting since 1956.

It's an impressive bird with a jet black body, white wings and a white 'V' on the back and a call that apparently sounds like a toy trumpet. Both sexes are crested with the males' being blood red and the females' black. It's a close relative of the also ill fated Ivory-billed Woodpecker of the USA and Cuba.



Recently the Cornell Lab of Ornithology released the only known footage of Imperial Woodpeckers in a remote area of the Sierra Madre recorded by Dr William L. Rhein in the 50's.



Apparently it hasn't come to light before now as Rhein was embarrassed by the video quality! It's rather sobering to think that this may be the only footage ever taken of this amazing bird and that there may not be another opportunity ever again.

The thoughts of William Beebe spring to mind:

"The beauty and genius of a work of art may be reconceived, though its first material expression be destroyed; a vanished harmony may yet again inspire the composer; but when the last individual of a race of living beings breathes no more, another heaven and another Earth must pass before such a one can be again."

Sunday 13 November 2011

Polyandry and Alternative Mating Tactics- Meet the Jacanas.

For my inaugural post I'd like to talk about Jacanas.

Jacanas are Charadiiformes and are therefore related to birds such as Sandpipers, Gulls and Plovers rather than Moorhens, which they superficially resemble in appearance and habits. There are 8 species spread around tropical and sub-tropical regions: Two in the Americas (Northern and Wattled); Three in Africa (African, Lesser and Madagascan); Two in Asia (Pheasant-tailed and Bronze-winged) and one in Australasia (Comb-crested). All species are found in wetland habitats, particularly those with floating vegetation where they can be seen walking on the lilypads feeding on small invertebrates whilst spreading their weight with their hugely elongated toes. These traits have earned them the colloquial name of Lily Trotters. 7 of the 8 are ornamented to certain degrees with combs, wattles or bright plumage, Sexes are similar however the female is always more brightly coloured and larger than the male. The one exception to this is the Lesser Jacana where the sexes are identical.

A Comb-crested Jacana taken by Hans & Judy Beste; Queensland, Australia.

Larger, more brightly coloured females are an unusual trait in nature, though there are several examples in a range of taxa from Phalarope to Pipefish. This trait is usually linked to male parental care and in the case of Jacanas it is the male that single-handedly incubates the eggs and raises the young, leaving the females to fight it out over the males. This has lead to polyandry being documented in several species such as the Northern Jacana. Polyandry is a breeding adaption in which females mate with more than one male and is analogous to the more usual polygyny where males mate with more than one female. While polyandry is much more common than previously thought in birds it is usually accompanied by social monogamy it is rare to find a system where the male takes complete control of the young.

This has given rise to the possibility of infanticide being carried out by female Jacanas. Observations described in a 1982 paper in Animal Behaviour seem to suggest just this going on in the Northern Jacana. A female was witnessed attacking a resident female's territory and driving her out followed by agitated distraction behaviour being employed by the male. Within one day the male's clutch had been destroyed, leaving the male free to remate again. Though it is important to point out that the destruction of the nest was not witnessed, however the paper does present strong evidence for infanticide.

Some great photos of Bronze-winged and Pheasant-tailed Jacanas can be seen here: http://www.pbase.com/peterericsson/jacanas

Emlen S. T. & Wrege P. H. (2004) Division of labour in parental care behaviour of a sex-role-reversed shorebird, the wattled jacana. Animal Behaviour 68: 847-855.

Stephens M. L. (1982) Mate takeover and possible infanticide by a female Northern jacana (Jacana spinosa) Animal Behaviour 30: 1253-1254.

Welcome

Hi Folks,

I've decided to delve into the murky world of blogging. I hope to cover a range of topics from recent (and not so recent) developments in Zoology, Ecology, Evolution and Conservation as well as Natural History and a bit of birding!

Enjoy!