The Critically Endangered Sociable Lapwing is one of the world’s rarest and most threatened birds. It breeds in Kazakhstan and southern Russia and winters from Sudan to Pakistan and India. How it gets from its breeding grounds to its wintering areas is of great interest to conservationists, since hunting pressures along its migration routes is […]
Tag: threatened
More Bald Eagles Have Died Mysteriously
While we watched the live cam in awe as a bald eagle hatched two babies at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C., over the weekend, a mysterious bald eagle tragedy was unfolding a hundred miles away in Delaware. On Saturday, someone phoned state officials after finding five disoriented eagles in a farm field in […]
The special plight of Trans-Saharan migratory birds
Long distance migratory birds that use the African Eurasian flyway have been in serious trouble for at least a few decades, more so than their counterparts that travel shorter distances. Major declines have been observed for a number of species – including popular symbols of spring, such as the Nightingale – that fly each year […]
Record Black-faced Spoonbill count, despite deteriorating habitat
The annual International Black-faced Spoonbill Census recorded 3,356 individuals in January 2016, an increase of 2.6% from the last year’s 3,272 individuals, and a record recent count for this Endangered Asian waterbird. An annual census of Black-faced Spoonbill Platalea minor has been ongoing since 2003. This year’s census was held on 15-17 January, with the […]
Dodging Wind Farms and Bullets in the Arctic
Troms County, Norway – A lone reindeer emerges from the forest, prompting the Sami herders to bring their snowmobiles to a stop in the middle of a clearing. All three are bundled in sheepskin hats and wool capes, called luhka, against the chill wind of a late January morning in the Norwegian Arctic. Johann Anders […]
13 Bald Eagles Died in Mysterious Incident
It’s a whodunit for the animal kingdom: State and federal wildlife officials are trying to find out what happened to 13 bald eagles that were discovered dead on Maryland’s Eastern Shore on Saturday. The birds of prey were found on a farm in rural Caroline County, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) east of Washington, D.C. […]
POLL: Should houbara bustard “royal hunting trips” be stopped?
They’re a shy, rare bird breed, the size of a chicken – and hunting them is officially banned in Pakistan. But it is no holds barred when Arab royals begin their Houbara bustard hunting trips. Arab princes and their wealthy friends like to hunt Houbara bustards both as a sport and because the meat is […]
Icelanders Don’t Like Whale Meat – So Why the Hunts?
When it comes to commercial whaling, Japan is in the limelight. The country has been widely accused of using a scientific research program as a guise for hunting hundreds of whales a year and selling their meat. Last year, an international court agreed that the program isn’t scientific and ordered Japan to shut it down—to […]