Wetland birds

The black-faced spoonbill (Platalea minor) has the most restricted distribution of all spoonbills, and it is the only one regarded as endangered. There remain only about 3,300 spoonbills, and the species spends the mating season on small islands along the west coast of the Korean Peninsula and in China’s Liaoning province, the WWF says. “With such a small global population, the black-faced spoonbill is inherently vulnerable to extinction,” it says.

The Numeniini — a tribe of large waders including curlews and godwits — is one of the most threatened bird groups on the planet. The once-abundant Eskimo Curlew Numenius borealis of the Americas is now considered Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct), having last been spotted with certainty in the 1960s. Like the Eskimo Curlew, the possibility of the extinction of the Slender-billed Curlew (Numenius tenuirostris) cannot be confirmed for sure until we have scoured the entirety of its known breeding grounds in the Siberian wilderness for a remnant population.

Argentina is the birthplace of tango, an iconic dance style dating back to the 1880s. Long before the first tango steps were taken, however, another dance was already in full swing across parts of Patagonia: the hypnotic grooves of the hooded grebe (Podiceps gallardoi). That dance is still going on today, as you can see in "Tango in the Wind," a new documentary about hooded grebes. Yet despite their impressive moves, the hooded grebes' dance is increasingly in danger of disappearing.

Results from long-term monitoring efforts show that Black Tern (Chlidonias niger) population declines in the Klamath Basin are higher than declines previously documented for continental and regional populations. Results from a 10 year study conducted by Klamath Bird Observatory show a steady, sharp decline in numbers of Black Terns in the wetlands and open waters of Agency Lake and Upper Klamath Lake. According to a Black Tern conservation plan created in 2006, the desired population objective within the Great Basin — which includes the Klamath Basin — is 10,000 individuals.

Die Fischbestände im Neckar und am Max-Eyth-See sind nach wie vor rückläufig. Wissenschaftler, die im Auftrag der Landesregierung darüber geforscht haben, sehen als einen wichtigen Grund den fischfressenden Kormoran. Die Fischereiforschungsstelle in Langenargen hat vor einigen Jahren im Auftrag der Landesregierung die Untersuchungen zur Wasserrahmenrichtlinie des Fischbestandes erstellt. Diese Forschungsstelle ist dem entsprechenden Landesministerium unterstellt. Zudem wurden bundesweit Fließgewässer von Biologen auf den Fischbestand untersucht.

The white-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala) probably had a global population of over 100,000 in the early 20th century; in the 1930s an estimated 50,000 wintered on the Caspian Sea. However, by 1991 the population was estimated at a mere 19,000 ducks. Over the last 100 years the white-headed duck has become extinct as a breeding bird in Albania, Azerbaijan, Corsica, Hungary, Italy, Morocco, and former Yugoslavia. Despite the historical declines, however, there was some optimism in 1991, since the population was thought to be relatively stable. Since 1991 that optimism has faded.

New research has found a dramatic decline in water birds in the Murray-Darling Basin, with numbers down about 70 per cent in the past three decades. A University of New South Wales team found the alarming drop after crunching 32 years of data. The study has been published today in the Global Change Biology journal. Director of the UNSW Centre for Ecosystem Science, Richard Kingsford, who surveys up to 2,000 wetlands around Australia annually, headed up the research.

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.

Recent monitoring studies in several countries have revealed a world-wide contamination of creeks, rivers and lakes with neonicotinoid insecticides, with residue levels in the low μg/L (ppb) range. At least two main areas of concern can be identified: reduced capacity for decomposition of organic debris by aquatic organisms and starvation of insectivores and other vertebrate fauna that depend on invertebrates as a major or only food source.

Once sighted in the thousands, the Blue-tailed bee-eater is a sparsely spotted bird these days. Bird watchers and photographers say their numbers have significantly declined from thousands to a few hundreds in the last five years. In South India, the tiny beauty is endemic to Chandagala, a village on the banks of River Cauvery and close to the historic town of Srirangapatna in Mandya district. The Blue-tailed bee-eater (Merops philippinus) is migratory by nature. The bird is found in peninsular parts of the country.