Declines in populations of the Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaeus have been rapid, with the breeding population now perhaps numbering fewer than 120 pairs. The reasons for this decline remain unresolved. Whilst there is evidence that hunting in wintering areas is an important factor, loss of suitable habitat on passage and wintering areas is also of concern. While some key sites for the species are already documented, many of their wintering locations are described here for the first time. Their wintering range primarily stretches from Bangladesh to China. Comprehensive surveys of potential Spoon-billed Sandpiper wintering sites from 2005 to 2013 showed a wide distribution with three key concentrations in Myanmar and Bangladesh, but also regular sites in China, Vietnam and Thailand. The identification of all important non-breeding sites remains of high priority for the conservation of the species. Here, we present the results of field surveys of wintering Spoon-billed Sandpipers that took place in six countries between 2005 and 2013 and present species distribution models which map the potential wintering areas. These include known and currently unrecognised wintering locations. Our maximum entropy model did not identify any new extensive candidate areas within the winter distribution, suggesting that most key sites are already known, but it did identify small sites on the coast of eastern Bangladesh, western Myanmar, and the Guangxi and Guangdong regions of China that may merit further investigation. As no extensive areas of new potential habitat were identified, we suggest that the priorities for the conservation of this species are habitat protection in important wintering and passage areas and reducing hunting pressure on birds at these sites.

White-sand vegetation (WSV) is a rare vegetation type in the Amazon basin that grows in nutrient impoverished sandy soils that occur as patches of variable size. Associated with this vegetation is bird assemblage that has not yet been fully characterized. Based on published species inventories and our own field data we compile a checklist of bird species recorded in WSV. In addition, we compared the avifauna of WSV with that found in savanna patches, another type of Amazonian open vegetation. WSV hosted a distinctive avifauna including endemic and threatened species. The number of bird species was lower in WSV compared to nearby terra firme forests, seasonally flooded forests and Amazonian savannas. Despite its low diversity, the avifauna of WSV has a distinctive species composition and makes a significant contribution to Amazonian beta diversity. At least 35 bird species can be considered as indicator species for this environment. Previously identified areas of endemism within the Amazon basin house at least one WSV indicator bird including cases of congeneric species with allopatric distributions. Seven of the WSV indicator species (20% of this avifauna) are in an IUCN threatened category, with one species Polioptila clementsi considered Critically Endangered. Their isolated distribution, small area occupied, and fragility to human-driven disturbances makes WSV one of the most threatened vegetation types in the Amazon basin. The study of WSV avifauna contributes to a better understanding of mechanisms that generate and maintain species diversity as well as of the environmental history of the most biologically diverse biome of the planet.

The Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus is considered one of the most threatened seabirds in the world, with the breeding population thought to be in the range of 2,000–3,200 breeding pairs, from which global population has been inferred as 10,000 to 15,000 birds. To test whether the actual population of Balearic Shearwaters is larger than presently thought, we analysed the data from four land-based census campaigns of Balearic Shearwater post-breeding migration through the Strait of Gibraltar (mid-May to mid-July 2007–2010). The raw results of the counts, covering from 37% to 67% of the daylight time throughout the migratory period, all revealed figures in excess of 12,000 birds, and went up to almost 18,000 in two years. Generalised Additive Models were used to estimate the numbers of birds passing during the time periods in which counts were not undertaken (count gaps), and their associated error. The addition of both counted and estimated birds reveals figures of between 23,780 and 26,535 Balearic Shearwaters migrating along the north coast of the Strait of Gibraltar in each of the four years of our study. The effects of several sources of bias suggest a slight potential underestimation in our results. These figures reveal the urgent need to reformulate the population viability analysis for the species, and then if necessary reconsider its conservation status.

Characterising the habitat use of released captive-bred birds is required to help optimise future avian reintroduction programmes. The critically endangered Double-spurred Francolin Francolinus bicalcaratus ayesha is endemic to north-west Morocco, where it inhabits forests of cork oak Quercus suber. To improve the viability of this threatened population, 300 captive-bred francolins were released into a game reserve, and post-release monitoring was conducted. This study aimed to identify habitat variables determining the habitat selection of the Double-spurred Francolin. Auditory detection was used during transect surveys of calling males to locate birds and their habitat occupation. Comparison of occupied and random plots showed that this bird is found mostly in flat topography with high cover of shrubs and dense cork oak trees, and close to the release site and water points. Conservation of Double-spurred Francolin depends on the choice of the release point within the cork oak forest, which should be in proximity to suitable cover of cork oak trees, shrubs and water points. Such choices would allow a rapid adaptation to prevailing conditions within release sites. Further multi-scale studies are needed to improve our understanding of the effects of ecological factors on the processes of habitat selection by this endemic subspecies.

The Critically Endangered Grenada Dove Leptotila wellsi has a very small total population size (< 190 individuals) and faces multiple threats. Over eight weeks in 2012 at the Mount Hartman Estate, we investigated the dove’s habitat selection, established a mongoose index of occupancy and recorded dove use of water sources to help determine key research and conservation needs. Of 12 habitat variables measured, greater levels of canopy cover were the best predictor of dove presence. Tracking tunnels indicated that introduced small Indian mongooses Herpestes auropunctatus, widely known for negatively impacting Caribbean bird populations, have a high level of occupancy in dove habitat, providing baseline mongoose data. Trail cameras revealed that Grenada Doves make good use of water from man-made wells and mongooses scent-mark tunnels. We urge fuller habitat selection studies and water-provision experiments to validate this evidence; strong and immediate control of mongooses and other potential predators, particularly at the nest; and a census backed by a banding programme to establish a monitoring baseline to guide conservation actions.

An understanding of the ecological factors influencing nest success and the effectiveness of management activities focused on improving nest success can be critical to successful conservation strategies for rare or declining species. Over seven breeding seasons (2006–2012) we examined the influence of nest spacing and habitat characteristics on hatching success for the nationally threatened Pacific coast population of the Snowy Plover Charadrius nivosus in coastal Washington, USA in two study areas. Specifically, we assessed the influence of clutch age, nesting season date, distance to conspecific nests, perpendicular distance to the high-tide (wrack) line, vegetation cover and other habitat characteristics at three spatial scales (1m2, 5m2, and 25 m2) centred on the nest. We also assessed the effectiveness of wire mesh cages placed around nests to exclude mammalian and avian nest-predators. We discovered and monitored 307 nests, placed predator exclosures around 142 of these nests and measured habitat variables at 251. Our selected base model included site and quadratic function of season-date. For the analysis examining habitat effects on nest success, only models with distance to nearest active nest ranked higher than the baseline model even when removing the nests that were very distant from conspecific nests (outliers). For these unexclosed nests, predation was the primary source of nest failure and crows and ravens were apparently the primary nest predators. Predator exclosures had a clear positive influence on nest survival. Even though we observed a positive exclosure effect, we recommend that they be used cautiously because we and others have observed adult mortality associated with exclosures. Regardless of the spatial scale, Snowy Plovers are primarily using nest sites with little vegetation, shell or woody material cover suggesting the need for large expanses of very sparsely or unvegetated habitats that allow birds to nest semi-colonially (with near neighbours).

Eastern Mongolia supports one of the most important breeding populations of the White-naped Crane Antigone vipio (WNC), which is classified as ‘Vulnerable’ by the IUCN. Large numbers of WNCs were found to be breeding at high densities within the Ulz River basin during surveys conducted in 2000 and 2001, along a 270 km section of the river. Following these surveys, an extended drought continuing for at least a decade has threatened wetland ecosystems throughout Eastern Mongolia. This study reports the findings of surveys conducted in 2010 and 2011 along the same section of the Ulz River surveyed a decade earlier, as well as a generalised survey of other sites where breeding WNCs had previously been recorded. Along the Ulz River, populations declined from 42 territorial pairs in 2001 to 17 in 2011. Estimates of detection probability using distance sampling and occupancy methods at two locations gave consistent results of 23%–27% detectability. With a minimum population of 234 WNCs observed across all sites in 2011, these detection probabilities suggest that the areas surveyed support the majority of breeding WNCs in the western population. Although we cannot exclude the movement of WNCs beyond the survey area, these findings also suggest that the population has declined between 2001 and 2011. Exploration of key habitat variables using occupancy models and generalized linear mixed models found that WNCs favoured areas of high wet vegetation (estimated as ‘wet meadow’ coverage and using normalized difference vegetation index), and low grazing pressure. Given the importance of water resources to WNCs and nomadic herding communities, use of wetland habitat must be carefully managed to balance the needs of cranes and people, particularly during periods of drought.

Long-term survey data can provide important information on temporal and spatial changes in bird populations and are needed for conservation management. We investigate population indices of seven landbird species using an 11-year dataset from the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Aldabra Atoll. We analysed the associations of location, season and habitat with abundance, assessed population trends, and examined the influence of monitoring circumstances on results. Populations of all species except for the Aldabra Drongo Dicrurus aldabranus increased over this period. Abundance was associated with season and habitat, and interactions were found between season and location that differed for each species. Bird count results were affected by the timing of monitoring, number of observers and weather conditions. We use the results to review the strengths and weaknesses of the current monitoring programme and make recommendations for improvements. Overall our results indicate no immediate cause for conservation concern for the Aldabra landbird species monitored.

The once ‘Critically Endangered’ Seychelles Magpie-robin was down to just 12 individuals in 1960 on one island of the granitic Seychelles. In 2015, due to intensive long-term management the population stands at around 280 birds on five islands, marking a significant success for this species. Translocations to the islands of Cousin and Cousine have led to population saturation and stability, a translocation to Denis Island has resulted in a continuing population increase and the founder population on Frégate Island is likewise increasing. The latest translocation to Aride Island in 2002 resulted in population increase then stability but is now showing a steep decline throughout 2014 into 2015. Reasons for this decline are yet unknown though disease, lack of recruitment, the impacts of social conflict and the possibility of genetic issues are discussed. This report summarises the history of management for this species, compiling all available published and unpublished information, to provide a comprehensive account of the Seychelles Magpie-robin recovery.

Blakiston's Fish-owl Bubo blakistoni is classified as ‘Endangered’ by IUCN; this species is associated with riparian old-growth forests in north-east Asia, a landscape threatened by a variety of impacts (e.g. logging, agricultural development, human settlement). We examined a 20,213 km2 study area in Primorye, Russia, and assessed the ability of the protected area network to conserve Blakiston's Fish-owls by analysing resource selection of radio-marked individuals. Based on resource selection functions, we predicted that 60–65 Blakiston's fish-owl home ranges could occur within the study area. We found that the protected area network within our study area contained only 19% of optimal Blakiston's fish-owl habitat and contained only eight potential home ranges (five of these within a single protected area—Sikhote-Alin Biosphere Reserve). We also found that 43% of optimal Blakiston's Fish-owl habitat was within current logging leases; lands capable of supporting habitat equivalent to 24 home ranges. The remaining optimal habitat (38%) was on federal land and potentially contained 28–33 Blakiston's Fish-owl home ranges. The current protected area network, by itself, is not sufficient to conserve the species because relatively few home ranges are actually protected. Therefore, outside of protected areas, we recommend protecting specific locations within potential home ranges that likely contain suitable nest and foraging sites, maintaining integrity of riparian areas, modifying road construction methods, and closing old and unused logging roads to reduce anthropogenic disturbance to the owls and the landscape.

The biodiversity and naturalness of forests that cover stream valleys in submontane areas have not been investigated as intensively as riparian forests along large lowland rivers. In this study we compared data on total bird assemblages and on selected indicator species detected in forests along submontane stream valleys (‘Vall’) with those detected in forests covering submontane slopes and tops in the foothills (‘Hill’) of the Western Carpathians, considering also environmental characteristics of the studied locations. The aim of this study was to verify the hypothesis that forests along submontane stream valleys harbour significantly richer and more diverse bird communities and that they are an important habitat for rare and threatened species. We found that the species richness, abundance of birds and bird diversity were almost twice as high in ‘Vall’ than in ‘Hill’ locations and that indicator species mostly or exclusively inhabit ‘Vall’ locations. Moreover, species diversity was highly and positively correlated with higher tree species diversity and a higher amount of large trees and dead wood, but negatively correlated with logging intensity. The results of our study confirmed that forested river valleys in submontane areas play an important role as refugia both for rare and endangered bird species as well as for the whole bird assemblage. This study is the first to present an assessment of this type of habitat for birds in the Western Carpathians. Forests along submontane stream valleys, if protected or unmanaged, could be treated as reference areas for nature and biodiversity conservation.

Correlated climate patterns, dispersal, and similar management practices may synchronise dynamics of populations in close proximity, which tends to reduce metapopulation persistence. However, synchronising and desynchronising mechanisms can act at multiple spatial scales, which means that for wide-ranging species, patterns of spatial synchrony and their causes might vary across the species’ range. We examined the relationships of spatial autocorrelation in winter climate, dispersal distance and predator management to the spatio-temporal dynamics of the Western Snowy Plover Charadrius nivosus nivosus, a threatened shorebird that breeds along the Pacific coast of the United States. We investigated how signals and drivers of plover population growth dynamics vary among populations occupying northern, central, and southern regions of the species’ U.S. range. Across the metapopulation and specifically the core of the species’ range in the south, we found that plover populations within 132 km of each other exhibited detectable levels of synchrony, which fell within published estimates of dispersal distance. Furthermore, similar predator management among sites increased the degree to which nearby populations were synchronised. There was, however, no evidence of spatial synchrony in populations of the northern and central regions. Regional differences in synchrony were associated with different population drivers and structure; prolonged cold periods had the strongest influence on the growth of northern populations while predator management had the strongest influence on southern populations. Northern populations were also smaller than the south, which likely reduced our ability to detect spatial synchrony because of increased demographic stochasticity. Neither climatic nor management variables had a detectable influence on central populations. Although the primary objective of threatened and endangered species management is to increase populations to viable levels, we recommend that conservation biologists and land managers acknowledge region-specific processes when considering the long-term persistence of wide-ranging species and coordinate inter-agency efforts to manage neighbouring populations effectively.

An effective conservation strategy for a species requires knowledge of its biology and life history. This applies to the endangered Ma’oma’o Gymnomyza samoensis, a honeyeater endemic to the Samoan archipelago. Now locally extinct in American Samoa, this species is currently found only in declining numbers on the islands of Upolu and Savai’i in Samoa. Despite being endangered, the life history and breeding behaviour of the Ma’oma’o has not been documented previously. Here we examine Ma’oma’o nesting and breeding biology, which are unique among studied honeyeaters and unusual for passerines in general. Ma’oma’o lay only a single egg per clutch and have an extended breeding season that occurs outside the rainy season and peaks during budburst. Allometric analysis of the length of the nesting period of different honeyeaters versus adult body weight showed that Ma’oma’o remain in the nest for a longer period than expected for their body size. The post-fledging dependency period of 2.5–3 months was also extended compared to other honeyeater species. No Ma’oma’o were observed re-nesting after successfully raising a chick, though pairs attempted to re-nest following breeding failure. Despite the extended breeding season, the maximum annual reproductive capacity of Ma’oma’o is limited by their one-egg clutch and failure to nest again after fledging one chick. We discuss how these slow life history traits can influence conservation strategies, affect monitoring and limit recovery.

In ad hoc survey inventories of eight major bird markets in Java in 2014 and 2015, 615 individuals from nine species of the Garrulax genus were found for sale. The most numerous species was Sunda Laughingthrush Garrulax palliatus (215 individuals), followed by Chinese Hwamei G. canorus and Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush G. mitratus. Prices collected in Jakarta revealed that non-native species were the most expensive. Information from these and previous surveys indicate that prices for Sumatran Laughingthrush Garrulax bicolor appeared to have soared since 2007, suggesting increasing rarity of the species. We urge the Indonesian Government to take action against the illegal trade in laughingthrushes under existing laws, especially for the Rufous-fronted Laughingthrush Garrulax rufifrons which is listed on the national protected species list. We also recommend that the Sumatran Laughingthrush Garrulax bicolor be listed as a protected species under Indonesian law. As wild populations of Rufous-fronted Laughingthrush and Sumatran Laughingthrush are threatened by trade, we recommend an urgent review of the conservation status of both species on the IUCN Red List.

Estimating population abundances and patterns of change over time are important in both ecology and conservation. Trend assessment typically entails fitting a regression to a time series of abundances to estimate population trajectory. However, changes in abundance estimates from year-to-year across time are due to both true variation in population size (process variation) and variation due to imperfect sampling and model fit. State-space models are a relatively new method that can be used to partition the error components and quantify trends based only on process variation. We compare a state-space modelling approach with a more traditional linear regression approach to assess trends in uncorrected raw counts and detection-corrected abundance estimates of forest birds at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, Hawai‘i. Most species demonstrated similar trends using either method. In general, evidence for trends using state-space models was less strong than for linear regression, as measured by estimates of precision. However, while the state-space models may sacrifice precision, the expectation is that these estimates provide a better representation of the real world biological processes of interest because they are partitioning process variation (environmental and demographic variation) and observation variation (sampling and model variation). The state-space approach also provides annual estimates of abundance which can be used by managers to set conservation strategies, and can be linked to factors that vary by year, such as climate, to better understand processes that drive population trends.

A narrow coastal plain located between the Greater Caucasus and the Caspian Sea was recently discovered to be a major avian flyway through Transcaucasia. Here at the Besh Barmag bottleneck in Azerbaijan an estimated 1.24–1.51 million migrants passed through in autumn 2011 and a further 0.65–0.82 million in spring 2012, elevating this bottleneck to international importance. Furthermore, 34 bird species were observed in numbers in excess of the 1% threshold of world or flyway population in at least one of the observation seasons. Due to the high concentration of these species, any dangers affecting this passage can be threatening at a population scale. This study therefore aims to describe the migratory behaviour of these 34 species and subsequently to identify the dangers involved in passage through the area. Collision with anthropogenic obstacles was regarded as the main threat in the coastal plain. Ten (40%) of the species studied and observed in autumn 2011 were flying at the lowest altitudes and are therefore under threat on migration through the bottleneck due to overhead power lines, buildings, traffic and hunting. Planned infrastructural developments with heights of up to 200 m (e.g. towers, wind farms) pose a future threat for an additional 13 (52%) of the study species observed in autumn, making a total of 23 species that would be threatened. Only two species, Pygmy Cormorant Microcarbo pygmaeus and Grey Heron Ardea cinerea, can be expected to maintain their currently safe passage in future as they migrate mainly above 200 m above ground level. In spring 2012, all 14 (100%) of the species that used the coastal plain as flyway, migrated below 50 m and are therefore imminently threatened by collision. Although birds migrating over the Caspian Sea were concentrated at the lower altitudes, there was no identifiable threat for migrants using this flyway, but hazards can be expected in the oil production areas further south.

We review all available information from previously published and unpublished material including peer-reviewed papers, technical reports, field progress reports and information from local communities and hunters on the globally threatened ‘flagship species’ Western Tragopan Tragopan melanocephalus in the State of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K), Pakistan. Based on these data we summarise the species’ currently confirmed distribution in AJ&K, its minimum confirmed population size and highlight possible first signs of range contraction outside protected areas. We then use a simple ArcGIS habitat model to predict the species’ actual distribution in AJ&K and its potential population size. Depending on the chosen criteria for habitat suitability, the estimated maximum number of Western Tragopan in AJ&K ranges between 1,875 and 3,760 adult individuals. Given that AJ&K represents c.30% of the global distribution of the species, the current population estimate of 5,000 (BirdLife International 2014) might need reconsideration. We further illustrate the importance of critical literature reviews for little-known globally threatened species such as the Western Tragopan without which red list assessments can be at risk of relying on biased data which may easily lead to incorrect conclusions.