Weidevogels

The latest counts collected by Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) volunteers reveal the continuation of a sharp drop in the number of Oystercatchers wintering in Scotland. Having steadily increased during the 1980s and 1990s, numbers of Oystercatchers wintering in Scotland have declined at an even more rapid rate in the last ten years. The declines in Oystercatcher numbers include the most important sites in Scotland, such as the Solway Estuary, where the peak count of just over 21,000 birds in 2010/11 was the lowest for 25 years. Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) and Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula) are now at an all-time low across the UK as a whole having declined by 25% in the last 25 years.

Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS) conducted by the Biological Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey and volunteers throughout the country reveal that grassland birds, as a group, have declined more than other groups, such as forest and wetland birds. There are many examples of population decline in grassland birds, most notably the extinction of the heath hen (Tympanuchus cupido cupido) from the northeastern United States. Over the 25-year period 1966-1991, New England upland sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) and eastern meadowlark (Sturnella magna) populations declined by 84 and 97 percent, respectively. The greater prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido) has experienced an average annual rate of decline of over 10 percent during this same 25-year period. These examples and others illustrate the decline in grassland birds on a continental scale. While loss of grassland breeding habitat is likely the largest factor contributing to the decline in many grassland bird species, other factors have played a role. Brood parasitism by brown-headed cowbirds, increased use of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals toxic to birds, mortality during migration, and loss of wintering habitats may have contributed to population declines in many species.

We analyzed migration counts of American Kestrels (Falco sparverius) at 20 autumn migration hawkwatch sites throughout North America to estimate population trends. In eastern North America, autumn counts showed a pattern of significant declines along the Atlantic Coast and eastern Appalachian Mountains, stable numbers in the eastern Great Lakes region, and a significant increase in the western Great Lakes region from 1974 to 2004. From 1994 to 2004, significant declines occurred at most hawkwatch sites in eastern North America, with nonsignificant declines recorded in the western Great Lakes, northeastern Quebec, and Florida. In western North America, three counts from the Intermountain and Rocky Mountain regions that spanned the mid-1980s to 2005 showed mixed long-term trends. From 1995 to 2005, counts decreased significantly at three and nonsignificantly at two of six western hawkwatch sites active throughout the period. These results suggest population declines across much of interior western North America and the Pacific Northwest; however, kestrel counts remained comparatively stable since the mid-1980s in the southern Rocky Mountains. Migration counts along the Gulf of Mexico were variable from 1995 to 2005, with no strong indication of population changes in this region. The overall pattern of migration counts suggests that kestrel populations have undergone a long-term decline in northeastern North America and more recent declines in the midwestern and western regions of the continent.

Range-wide, bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) have declined an estimated 80 percent over the past 40 years, said Don McKenzie, director of the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative, a University of Tennessee-based consortium of 25 state wildlife agencies, conservation groups and research institutions launched in 2007 to form a unified strategy for saving bobwhites. "It's hard to overstate how serious the problem is. It's becoming really severe," McKenzie said. "All 25 bobwhite states have experienced short, medium and long-term declines." Moving in lockstep with the decline is a steep falloff in Texas quail hunting, a cultural touchstone for generations of hunters and a once-powerful economic generator. In 1960, 321,000 Texas quail hunters bagged 98 million birds. In 2010, there were fewer than 50,000 hunters and the harvest was around a half million quail. Hunters fear their children will never know what they're missing.

Der Lebensraum der Vögel hat sich laut BirdLife in den letzten 40 Jahren in Vorarlberg durch die Tätigkeit des Menschen stark verändert. Insgesamt sind bei den heimischen Brutvögeln von 177 Arten elf ausgestorben, 16 vom Aussterben bedroht, sechs stark gefährdet, 22 gefährdet.

In den letzten 20 Jahren hat die Schweiz rund 350000 in Landwirtschaftsgebiet lebende Vögel verloren, was einer Abnahme von 25 Prozent entspricht. Dies berechnete die Schweizerische Vogelwarte Sempach laut eigenen Angaben aus den Bestandstrends jener Vogelarten, die der Bund in den landwirtschaftlich genutzten Gebieten erhalten und fördern will. «Viele früher häufige Arten wurden aus dem Mittelland verdrängt», sagt Markus Jenny von der Vogelwarte. Vom Rückgang sei seit einiger Zeit auch das Berggebiet betroffen: «Im Unterengadin beispielsweise sind die Bestände der Wiesenvögel innerhalb von 20 Jahren um die Hälfte eingebrochen.»
Im Kanton Zürich verschwanden zwischen 1986/88 und 2008 vier Fünftel aller Feldlerchen (Alauda arvensis)», konkretisiert Werner Müller, Geschäftsführer des Schweizer Vogelschutzes SVS/BirdLife Schweiz.
Die Vogelwarte und der Vogelschutz bemängeln, dass die Agrarpolitik von der Landwirtschaft zu wenig konkrete Resultate zum Erhalt der Biodiversität einfordere.

Latest figures from the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) reveal that numbers of Meadow Pipits declined by nearly a third in Northern Ireland between 2010 and 2011. Numbers had remained stable from the start of the BBS in 1994 until 2005, but after that a decline was observed, and between 2010 and 2011 numbers fell by 27%. Meadow Pipits Anthus pratensis are widespread across Northern Ireland, favouring areas of open country and grassland.

Europe's largest wading bird, the curlew Numenius arquata, is facing extinction in Wales. The RSPB now think there could be as few as 576 pairs left. In 2006 the RSPB thought there were about 1,100 pairs left in Wales. Conservation officer Dave Elliott who works with the animals in Hiraethog, Snowdonia, the only place in Wales where they now breed, said: “The rate of decline has been about 50-80% in the last 15 year period. There may not have been any chicks fledged this year. They certainly disappeared from the uplands quicker than I have ever seen".

Eine neue Studie der Dachorganisation Bird Life International und des European Bird Census Councils (ein Netzwerk von Vogelbeobachtungsprogrammen) zeigt, dass vor allem die Vögel der Agrarlandschaft seit 1980 rapide abnahmen. Feldschwirl Locustella naevia, Kiebitz Vanellus vanellus, Feldsperling Passer montanus, Bluthänfling Carduelis cannabina, Schafstelze Motacilla flava, und Wiesenpieper Anthus pratensis: Vögel, die auf Feldern, Weiden und Wiesen leben, sind seit mehr als dreißig Jahren im Sinkflug. 37 Arten umfasst der Farmland-Indikator und er zeigt ein Minus von 52 Prozent seit 1980. Besonders verheerend, das belegt die Studie, ist die Abnahme von drei Arten: Ortolan Emberiza hortulana, Braunkehlchen Saxicola rubetra und Rebhuhn Perdix perdix. Sie verloren jeweils bis zu 94 Prozent ihrer ursprünglichen Population. Mit einem Rückgang von 94 Prozent nimmt das Rebhuhn Platz eins auf der Verlustskala ein.