Little is known about the contribution of different forest types to the beta-diversity, abundance and biomass of the avifauna in lowland Amazonia. This paper presents data on the large-bodied bird assemblages of adjacent upland (terra firme) and seasonally flooded (várzea and igapó) forests in the lower Rio Purús region of central-western Brazilian Amazonia. We focus our analysis on 23 large-bodied canopy and terrestrial bird species from 10 families, on the basis of 2,044 bird sightings obtained during line-transect censuses conducted over a two-year period. Large toucans comprised the most numerically abundant large birds in terra firme and igapó forests, whereas macaws were the most abundant in nutrient-rich várzea forests that were seasonally inundated by white-water. The aggregate population density of all bird species in terra firme forest was slightly higher than that in várzea forest. Igapó forest, which was seasonally inundated by black-water, sustained the lowest population densities. Terra firme and várzea forests differed considerably in species composition and abundance whereas igapó forest shared many species with both terra firme and várzea. Our results suggest that Amazonian floodplain forests play a major role in the persistence and community dynamics of the large-bodied forest birds.

Pouco se sabe sobre a contribuição de diferentes tipos de florestas aos padrões de beta-diversidade, abundância e biomassa da avifauna na região amazônica. Este artigo apresenta dados à respeito das aves de médio a grande porte em florestas de terra firme e florestas adjacentes sujeitas a inundação sazonal (várzea e igapó) na região do baixo Rio Purús da Amazonia centro-ocidental. Nossa análise, baseada num total de 2,044 observações obtidas durante censos ao longo de transectos, foi direcionada a 23 espécies de aves de médio a grande porte pertencentes a 10 famílias. As aves mais abundantes em florestas de terra firme e igapó foram os tucanos, e as araras as mais abundantes em florestas de várzea. A densidade de população agregada de todas as espécies na terra firme foi ligeiramente mais elevada do que na várzea. A floresta de igapó sustentaram as mais baixas densidades populacionais. Terra firme e várzea diferem consideravelmente na composição e abundância de espécies, visto que a avifauna do igapó é intermediária entre a da terra firme e a da várzea. Os resultados sugerem que as florestas inundáveis tem uma papel muito importante na manutenção das comunidades de aves de grande porte na Amazônia, e pricipalmente aquelas espécies que usam grandes mosaicos de floresta.

The global decrease of vulture populations has been attributed to several factors, such as food availability, poisoning, human disturbance, or habitat suitability. We studied the effect of factors that vary both spatially and temporally on the nest site distribution of the Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus in northeast Portugal, and influence the population dynamics of these cliff-dwelling birds. Several demographic parameters were studied in the field, and the age structure of the population was determined. Additionally we investigated how food availability affected population fluctuations. The vulture population was most sensitive to juvenile mortality according to our model results. Our models showed that a decrease in the present food supply resulted in a decrease in vulture abundance and, moreover, negatively affected the spatial distribution of the species by decreasing the number of breeding pairs per colony. The total quantity of sheep and goat biomass, a greater distance to the nearest unpaved road, and the presence of Egyptian Vultures Neophron percnopterus at the breeding colonies showed a significant positive relationship to the numbers of Griffon Vulture breeding pairs. It is recommended that the available food supply in the most important foraging areas should be monitored and protected. Furthermore, to manage the community of cliff breeding raptors adequately, future research should identify and protect the most suitable breeding areas for each species. Human disturbance should be kept to a minimum by protecting breeding areas, especially in an area like Riba-Côa where species such as the Egyptian Vulture, Bonelli's Eagle Hieraaetus fasciatus and Griffon Vulture breed so close to each other.

A complete census was taken of all colonies of Southern Giant Petrels Macronectes giganteus within the Falkland Islands in 2004/05. The breeding population of the islands was estimated to be approximately 19,529 pairs (range 18,420–20,377). Southern Giant Petrels were found to breed in 38 locations around the islands, with colony size varying from one to 10,936. The majority of colonies were concentrated around the south of Falkland Sound, and to the west of West Falkland. Whilst there has been no previous census of the total population of the islands, there is a strong indication that the population has increased since the 1950s. The reasons for such an increase in population remain unclear in light of current knowledge. Development of our understanding of the breeding biology and demography of this species in the Falkland Islands is necessary, as is the need to conduct such a census every five years, with a few key colonies to be monitored every season. From the results obtained here, the conservation status of the Southern Giant Petrel, currently listed as ‘Vulnerable’, could be downgraded to ‘Near Threatened’.

We studied bird community composition and abundance within four vegetation and disturbance categories located within selectively logged and unlogged forest in a Bolivian subtropical lowland forestry concession. The logged forest was subject to reduced-impact logging between 1 and 4 years prior to our study. The four categories were: 1) ‘gap’ points possessing natural or anthropogenic tree-fall gaps; 2) ‘target’ points with one of five commercial tree species of harvestable size; 3) ‘future’ points possessing a commercial tree below harvestable size and 4) ‘non-target’ points not possessing harvestable tree species. The bird community composition of logging gaps significantly differed from that found within natural tree-fall gaps in the unlogged forest P< 0.05. Species richness was higher in natural tree-fall gaps than in anthropogenic gaps. Furthermore, a higher proportion of disturbance sensitive species were associated with natural-tree fall gaps, whereas a higher proportion of disturbance tolerant species were associated with anthropogenic gaps. No significant difference was detected in the bird community composition for the other three vegetation categories surveyed. We discuss the conservation and silvicultural repercussions of these results.

Some 2,000 orphaned chicks of African Penguins Spheniscus demersus were hand-reared and released back into the wild on Robben and Dassen Islands following the Treasure oil spill in June 2000. Of these chicks, 1,787 were flipper banded. This paper reports on the subsequent survival rate and breeding success of those individuals seen on Robben Island from 2001–2006. Survival to breeding age and their subsequent breeding success of hand-reared chicks was no different from that of naturally-reared chicks. Over a four-year period, pairs where at least one partner was a hand-reared chick produced an average of more than 1.6 chicks per year. Combining the data on survival with that on breeding success indicates that 1,000 hand-reared chicks will produce around 1,220 chicks themselves over their lifetimes, making this a worthwhile conservation intervention.

Jankowski's Bunting Emberiza jankowskii is endemic to China, Russia and Northern Korea, and was listed as a ‘Vulnerable’ species. The population in Dagang Forestry of western Jilin is one of the small remaining discrete breeding populations in the species' range. Very little information on the nesting biology and population dynamics has previously been published. We studied the nesting biology from 1999 to 2002 and population dynamics of the bunting from 1999 to 2006 (except 2003). A total of 74 nesting attempts were monitored. Jankowski's Bunting breeding season began in late April and usually ended in late July. Both sexes participated in nest-building, feeding young and defending the nest. Mean full clutch size for three years combined was 5.26 ± 0.76 eggs, and ranged from four to seven. Clutch size decreased with nest-initiation date. Mean hatching rate was 41.2%. Overall probability of Mayfield nest success to fledging was low for the three years, averaging 0.218 ± 0.007. The factors leading to low nest success include nest parasitization, nest predation, human activities and nest abandonment. Low survival of Jankowski's Bunting nests may be a factor in declining populations and the slow recovery of populations because of low recruitment at the population and the individual level. The population of Jankowski's Bunting in the Dagang Forestry grassland was small and declined dramatically from 1999 to 2006. The main threat is habitat loss and fragmentation due to agriculture, tree planting and housing following human colonization of the region. The habitat has been reduced in extent by c. 70% since the 1960s. In addition, grazing by domestic livestock dramatically destroyed their preferred vegetation. Furthermore, the restriction to several small, discrete sites makes the bunting inherently vulnerable to catastrophic and stochastic events that can eliminate subpopulations. Jankowski's bunting is one of the most threatened species in China and faces an unpredictable future. Maintaining the structure and general composition of remaining Jankowski's Bunting nesting habitat is important to ensure continued presence of this species in western Jilin and worldwide.

Point count distance sampling surveys were conducted at three sites in the Cordillera Vilcanota to determine whether variation in high-Andean species richness, diversity and abundance was a reflection of Polylepis habitat quantity. Bird community and abundance measures revealed that there was considerably variation in bird species richness, diversity and mean encounter rates between large, medium, and small forest patches. Densities of Polylepis-dependent bird species (including five globally-threatened and eight restricted-range species) were greater in larger forest patches and differed significantly between different patch size categories. Density estimates for matrix-dependent species were higher in smaller Polylepis patches indicating that the matrix exerts an influence on bird species composition and abundance in remnant Polylepis forests, particularly smaller patches. Comparison of lowland forest habitat specialists using three categories of rarity revealed that between 19–22% of all Polylepis-dependent species were intrinsically rare within larger forest patches, and a greater number (34–74%) were rare in smaller forest patches. Population estimates for all species, in particular for all threatened species, were extremely low, numbering ⩽ 10 individuals at nine of the ten sites examined. The results suggest that declines in the densities of certain Polylepis birds may be predictable following habitat loss and that these patterns of rarity should govern population recovery goals through appropriate habitat restoration strategies. Such strategies are urgently required and must be designed to prevent further habitat loss, and to increase Polylepis habitat quantity to boost threatened bird populations in the Cordillera Vilcanota.

Evaluaciones de distancias de puntos de conteo fueron conducidas en tres lugares en la Cordillera Vilcanota para determinar si la variación en la riqueza, diversidad y abundancia de las especies de los Andes altos, era un reflejo de la cantidad de hábitats de Polylepis. La comunidad de aves y su abundancia revelaron que hubo una considerable variación en la riqueza de especies, diversidad y la media encontrada en rangos parches de bosque comprendidos entre grandes, medios y pequeãos. La densidad de especies de aves dependientes de Polylepis (incluyendo cinco amenazados globalmente y ocho especies con rango restringido) fueron mayores en parches grandes de bosque y difirieron significativamente entre diferentes categorías de tamaãos de parche. La densidad estimada para especies matriz-dependientes fue mayor en pequeãos parches de Polylepis indicando que la matriz ejerce una influencia en la composición de especies de aves y abundancia en vestigios de bosques de Polylepis, particularmente parches pequeãos. En comparación con especialistas de hábitat de bosque bajo, empleando tres categorías de rareza revelaron que entre 19–22% de todos las especies dependientes de Polylepis fueron intrínsicamente raras dentro de parches grandes de bosque, y un número mayor (34–74%) fueron raras en los parches pequeãos de bosque. La población estimada para todas las especies, en particular para todas las especies amenazadas, fue extremadamente baja, contando ⩽ 10 individuos en nueve de los 10 sitios examinados. El resultado sugiere que la disminución en la densidad de ciertas aves de Polylepis se podría predecir después de la pérdida de hábitat y que esos patrones de rareza podrían servir como objetivos para la recuperación de la población a través de estrategias de restauración de hábitats apropiados. Este tipo de estrategias son requeridas con urgencia y deberían estar diseãadas para prevenir futuras pérdidas de hábitats, incrementar la cantidad de hábitat de Polylepis para aumentar la población de aves amenazadas en la Cordillera Vilcanota.

The Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus is a globally threatened species with three distinct populations, the smallest of which is the almost extinct eastern race with an estimated population size of 50 birds breeding in Mongolia and migrating to south-east China during the winter. We analysed recent survey information and published records to construct a picture of the annual life cycle of the Dalmatian Pelican and how it has changed over the years. We were able to obtain a total of 196 records from 82 sites in China and Mongolia dating back to 1862. Seasonal information was available for 168 records. The pelicans breed in western Mongolia and migrate in a south-easterly direction to the Bo Sea and then southwards along the coasts of Shandong and Jiangsu to the wintering area in south-east China. Return migration to the breeding grounds follows the same general path. There is some evidence that part of the population uses an inland migration route linking the wetlands along the Yellow and Huai Rivers and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River; this route was probably more important historically. The pelicans are encountering serious problems at all stages of their annual life cycle: destruction of nesting habitat and hunting in the breeding area, loss of important wetland habitats along the inland migration routes, and land claim, human disturbance and overexploitation of fisheries resources on the coast. It is highly desirable that a simultaneous count be conducted of the key wintering sites so that an accurate population estimate can be obtained. Use of satellite telemetry would provide very useful information on migration strategies and home ranges in the wintering grounds, and assist greatly in identifying key habitats for conservation action at different stages of the annual life cycle.