Farmland birds

A mysterious die-off of 27 bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in Utah is being blamed on West Nile Virus, after lab tests from the state's Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) showed the deadly illness was behind the deaths. Officials with the DWR say the eagles contracted the virus after eating infected grebes. Luckily for other eagles in the area, though, they note that the grebe population should soon subside as that bird's migration season comes to an end. Five other eagles are being treated and rehabilitated by wildlife officials. The Utah DWR is urging residents not to try to handle any sick birds they might encounter.

Feldlerche (Alauda arvensis), Braunkehlchen (Saxicola rubetra), und Baumpieper (Anthus trivialis) verlassen nun auch scharenweise das Engadin, das unter Ornithologen als letzte Hochburg dieser typischen Vertreter des Kulturlands gilt. Diese jüngste Feststellung aus einer langen Liste von Hiobsbotschaften zum Zustand der Biodiversität in der Schweiz stammt von Forschern unter Leitung von Roman Graf von der Schweizerischen Vogelwarte Sempach, die Bestandsaufnahmen aus den Jahren 1987 und 1988 wiederholt haben.

Die Grauammer (Emberiza calandra, Syn. Miliaria calandra), ein unauffällig grau-braun gestreifter Singvogel, ist in der Schweiz vom Aussterben bedroht. Nur noch rund 100 Paare brüten hier. In den 1990er Jahren gab es noch 500 Brutpaare in der Schweiz, obwohl schon damals die Verbreitung der Grauammer im Vergleich mit den 1970er Jahren um die Hälfte geschrumpft war, wie der SVS/BirdLife Schweiz am Donnerstag mitteilte. Grund für den Rückgang des Bestands ist vor allem die Intensivierung und Industrialisierung der Landwirtschaft.

Wenn Werner Deitmar sich erinnert, dann schwärmt der Jäger von den einst großen Jagden auf Hase und Fasan (Phasianus colchicus) in seinem Revier in Hohenholte, Kreis Coesfeld. In langen Strecken wurden die erbeuteten Tiere einst aufgereiht. Seit 40 Jahren kennt der heute 64-Jährige das Revier. "100 und mehr Fasanenhähne haben wir in guten Jahren geschossen", sagt Deitmar. Die weiten Felder des Münsterlandes waren ein Dorado für Niederwild. Doch die Zeiten scheinen vorbei zu sein. Nicht einmal 20 Tiere hat er dieses Jahr erlegt. Er versucht es oft gar nicht, um die wenigen Fasane zu schonen. Zu den Treibjagden lädt er kaum noch Jagdfreunde ein. Schwankungen beim Fasanenbestand habe es immer gegeben, aber die seien vor allem durch die Witterung beeinflusst. Aber jetzt rätselt der Jäger, er hat keine Erklärung für das Fasanensterben.

Ornithologists say 2013 will be viewed as the worst year ever recorded for one of Britain's favourite farmland birds.
They fear that there are now fewer than 1,000 breeding pairs of barn owls (Tyto alba) in England, the population of the protected bird declining by more than three-quarters over the last four years. In a typical year, conservationists estimate, Britain should be home to as many as 4,000 pairs of the birds. The birds were a common sight on farmland in Britain a century ago, but numbers had declined by 70% by the early 1980s, according to some reports. Over this summer, the trust warned that the owl was facing a "catastrophe" and now, following an end-of-year assessment, the true scale of the birds' plight has been revealed. "They have gone from scarce to rare," said David Ramsden, head of conservation at the Barn Owl Trust. "The scale of the decline is not normal." This year, occupancy of nest sites has been between 5% and 15% of previous levels, and for large parts of the country the figure has been even lower.

Unless regulators take action, one of gifts in the lyrics to “Twelve Days of Christmas,” the turtle dove, may become extinct. The dove has experienced major population decline in England over the past 20 years, due in significant part to the destruction of turtle dove habitat and food sources from increasing herbicide use in English agriculture. Other species, such as Monarch butterflies and other pollinators around the world, are also experiencing similar loses of habitat and food sources through an increase in herbicide use. These increasing rates of population decline in wild species underscore the problem that chemical-intensive agriculture plays in the degradation of natural habitats.

Invertebrates are an essential food source for most farmland birds yet their relative abundance and biomass in the most commonly grown arable crops are poorly understood. Dvac suction sampling was used to determine the abundance, biomass and community composition of those invertebrate groups considered important in the diet of farmland birds for the commonest arable crops. Approximately 40 fields were sampled at the edge and mid-field over 2 years in three different locations in England. In cereals, the fauna was primarily comprised of Araneae (10%), Coleoptera (30%) and Hemiptera (58%), whereas the oilseed rape fauna was dominated by Coleoptera (65%) and peas and potatoes by Hemiptera (89%). Beans contained a high proportion of Coleoptera (39%) and Hemiptera (49%). Aphididae were the most abundant family (20–86% of total), although in oilseed rape and beans, Chrysomelidae, Curculionidae and Nitidulidae formed ca 20% of the fauna. Aphids only formed a small proportion (7%) of the total biomass, except in peas (32%).

Scientists from the RSPB, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and Natural Research have revealed the startling decline in bird populations in the State of UK Birds 2013 report. The mountain species dotterel (Charadrius morinellus), one of the rarest breeds in Britain – with two-thirds living in the Cairngorms – has declined by about 40 per cent in just over a decade. The results found that the estimated number of dotterels had fallen from 630 breeding males in 1999, to just 423 breeding males in 2011, continuing a longer-term decline since the first survey in 1987-88, which estimated the number of breeding males at 981. Other declines of population include the lapwing, a bird of farmland and wetland which has endured a 41 per cent population decline since 1995. The snipe, a wetland bird, has seen its breeding range shrunk by 31 per cent over the last 40 years. The population of grey partridge – another farmland bird – has declined by 53 per cent since 1995, while the corn bunting population has declined by 34 per cent since 1995. The turtle dove, which is not native in Scotland, has suffered a 51 per cent decline in the rest of the UK over the last 40 years. Mark Eaton, of RSPB, said: “Scotland’s Highlands provide an important home for dotterel and the species’ presence offers a good indicator of the health of our mountain landscapes. To see such a significant drop in their numbers over the past three decades is deeply concerning.

Some of Britain's most familiar countryside birds have plummeted in numbers since the 1990s, and some species have disappeared from parts of the UK, according to an authoritative annual report. Numbers of the farmland-dwelling grey partridge have halved since 1995, while the turtle dove has declined by 95%. The yellow wagtail, which inhabits farm and wetland, has declined by 45% over the same period. The State of the UK's Birds report, from the RSPB, the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust and several UK government nature bodies, shows that of the UK's 107 most widespread and common breeding birds, 16 species have declined by more than a third since 1995, including the willow tit, starling, cuckoo, lapwing and wood warbler.

I know the answer to the question in the headline, but almost no one will believe me. The drastic decline in the quail (Coturnix coturnix) population throughout the South has been a passionate concern of mine for many years. The tragic and drastic decline in quail and other field-bird populations is the result of the massive and widespread spraying of herbicides by agriculture and forestry industries. I am as sure of this as I am that night follows day. There is a curious and almost hostile resistance to this assertion. I have written many letters to various groups and agencies that assume an authoritative role in such problems, but my efforts are always met with an almost hostile indifference. More specifically, I believe that Quail Unlimited and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Deptartment are more a part of the problem than the solution. To my knowledge, they have no experimental data to support their position that herbicides have no significant effect on field-bird populations. I have suggested that Quail Unlimited spray their Quail Demonstration Project acreages with herbicide and see what happens, but they declined.