Observed maximum numbers of Baer’s Pochard Aythya baeri in China, the traditional core wintering range, declined from 16,792 during 1987–1993 to 2,131 during 2003–2011, accompanied by a dramatic contraction in range. Coordinated coverage of the most important sites in the middle and lower Yangtze River floodplain in January 2011 found only 194 Baer’s Pochard. The reported wintering population outside China declined from 719 in 2000–2005 to 48 in 2006–2010. The world population in 2011 apparently did not exceed 1,000 individuals, and the true number was most likely many fewer. The species seems to have ceased wintering regularly outside mainland China, where none had been found by mid-February 2012 despite coverage of favoured sites. Urgent, coordinated actions are needed to protect this species which may soon be on the verge of extinction in the wild.

The Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus is globally threatened with an estimated world population of 25,000–28,000, of which c 20,000 winter at East Dongting Lake, China. We present here the first collation of published and unpublished data on the distribution and abundance of the species in eastern China in recent decades. Lesser White-fronted Goose numbers have declined greatly in Anhui, Jiangxi and Jiangsu Provinces between the late-1980s/early-1990s and recent years: the species’ range has now mainly contracted to East Dongting Lake in Hunan. The relatively stable numbers at East Dongting Lake suggest that the population is not currently threatened, but the extreme concentration at one lake makes the species vulnerable. Lesser White-fronted Geese rely on very specific meadow vegetation exposed after water recession, so changes in water levels or recession timing, due to hydrological changes following the commissioning of the Three Gorges Dam, may affect biomass, palatability and plant species composition of the meadows. Thus, it is critically important to understand the wintering ecology and habitat needs of this threatened species at East Dongting Lake. It is also essential to conduct further synchronous Yangtze River floodplain surveys to assess the current status, distribution and habitat use of Lesser White-fronted Geese throughout the region.

Count data show that wintering Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons numbers in their Chinese stronghold (the Yangtze River catchment) have fallen from about 140,000 in the late 1980s and early 1990s to c.18,000 now, despite increases in the overall flyway population (mostly wintering in South Korea and Japan). Declines have occurred in Jiangxi, but most markedly in Hunan (predominantly at East Dongting Lake) where the decline has been steady since 2003/2004, with few left from 2008/2009 onwards. Numbers have increased substantially in Anhui (predominantly at Shengjin Lake), which now supports more Greater White-fronted Geese than Jiangxi and Hunan combined. The species appears a habitat specialist in China, confined to grazing short-sward recessional Carex sedge meadows. At East Dongting Lake, reductions in Greater White-fronted Geese numbers correlated with declines in availability of suitable sedge swards, caused by earlier water table recession, which in recent years has meant swards were too tall for geese to utilise from their arrival in autumn. The hydrological changes are most probably due to the commissioning of the Three Gorges Dam in mid-2003. At Shengjin Lake, the increases may be due to recent stable first exposure dates and slow water recession rates which favour short Carex swards attractive to geese; high buffalo grazing density at this lake may also assist in maintaining suitable sward heights. These hypotheses require investigation.

The pressures for land use change have led to an increasing isolation of habitat remnants throughout the world. The goal of this study was to estimate the population size and density of some endemic and threatened species in a nature reserve in the Cerrado biome. One hundred and thirty four point transects were undertaken at the Estação Ecológica de Itirapina (EEI), one of the last natural grassland savannah remnants in São Paulo state, in the south-east of Brazil between September and December 2006 and densities estimated for seven species (four endemic to the Cerrado, one near-endemic and two grassland specialists). Neither species reached the minimum viable population size of 500-5000 individuals. Four species, White-banded Tanager, White-rumped Tanager, Black-throated Saltator and Sharp-tailed Tyrant have populations ranging from 112 to 248 individuals, while the other species have a low population (< 60 individuals). The mean densities of Sharp-tailed Tyrant and Cock-tailed Tyrant in the EEI grassland showed similar values to those observed in larger areas of the Cerrado, which may indicate that the EEI grassland area is well conserved. In spite of the restricted size of the EEI, small areas can maintain some endemic and threatened bird populations, thus contributing to local biodiversity and the ecological processes in the region. The capacity of fragments of Cerrado (~ 2,000 ha) to maintain populations of endemic and threatened bird species is unlikely to be effective in the long term.

The Pantanal of Brazil, one of the largest wetlands in the world, is suffering severe threats, such as forest and grassland clearance on the surrounding plateau, conversion of forests and savannas for cattle ranching and effects of large development projects. We used richness, abundance and composition of bird species in four forest types to propose conservation priorities for the northern Pantanal. Birds from 11 sites (a total of 41 points) were sampled through point counts and mist-netting. In total 215 species were recorded in the forests. Two evergreen forest types (cambarazal and landi) had higher estimates of bird richness and abundance than two dry forest types (carvoeiro and cordilheira). The evergreen forests also had more species exclusive to them and were more similar to each other than the dry forests. Selection of forests to be conserved in the northern Pantanal should give priority to evergreen forests and secondarily to dry forests. Cambarazal should be the first forests to be conserved. If the Pantanal inundation cycle is altered by the construction of hydroelectric dams or the Paraguay-Paraná waterway, cambarazal and landi may no longer become flooded, decreasing local species richness. Before our recommendations are considered for conservation and management decisions, more studies on other groups of organisms should also be taken into consideration, and similar studies should be conducted in other regions of the Pantanal. Conservation of Pantanal forest birds depends on a deeper understanding of their use of several habitats, stronger protection of the forests with higher diversity, and public policies that guarantee the long term maintenance of natural flooding cycles.

White-necked Picathartes Picathartes gymnocephalus is a globally ‘Vulnerable’ bird endemic to the highly threatened Upper Guinea forests in West Africa. In an environment under a high level of threat, the high breeding site fidelity (or breeding site persistence) of this species enables long term monitoring of colony site occupancy, colony size and other breeding parameters, which provide multiple indicators of population status. We surveyed known colony sites and searched for new sites in three recent breeding seasons in order to assess the current population status in the most important part of their range in Sierra Leone, the Gola Forest. We found 157 active nests at 40 colonies, equating to at least 314 adult birds. Less than half of the known colonies were protected by the Gola Forest Reserve. Colonies outside the reserve tended to be confined to larger rocks and subject to disturbance from human activities in close proximity, but did not have fewer active nests in them. Colonies outside the reserve were also more likely to be inactive in a given year whereas all colonies inside the reserve were active in every survey year. A predictive distribution model indicated that the survey region could have as many as 234 nests equating to at least 468 breeding birds. There was no evidence that mean colony size had declined since surveys undertaken in the 1980s and 1990s but it was not possible to compare colony abandonment rates inside and outside the reserve over that time period. Clutch and brood sizes were similar in each year, though brood size appeared slightly lower in the third survey year possibly because of a slightly later survey date. Mean clutch and brood sizes reported during the study period were similar to those found in the 1980s and 1990s. We conclude that the population of White-necked Picathartes in the Gola Forest area has been relatively stable over the last two decades, reflecting both the efficacy of protection afforded by the Gola Forest Reserve and presumably low pressure to farm new areas in the nearby community forest. However, regular monitoring of colonies both inside and outside the reserve is required to detect any systematic impact on the birds as pressure for land increases.

The forest-associated Yellow-throated Apalis Apalis flavigularis is the only bird endemic to Malawi. The species is confined to three mountain massifs in the south of the country and is classified as globally ‘Endangered’. This study re-evaluates its conservation status by assessing its population size and habitat preferences on Mount Mulanje, where forest patches are threatened by illegal logging and an increasing frequency of uncontrolled fires. These fires also cause a proliferation of invasive plant species, especially the Himalayan yellow raspberry Rubus ellipticus. We surveyed the Yellow-throated Apalis in 41 forest patches during the breeding season. The apalises favoured forest edge habitat, occurring in forest patches as small as 0.01 ha. Their occurrence was positively correlated with the presence of R. ellipticus, although this relationship may be driven primarily by canopy architecture and the existence of an understorey shrub layer. At a conservative estimate, 7,900 Yellow-throated Apalises were calculated to be present in cedar forest habitat alone on Mount Mulanje. Given that the birds occurred in other native forests at the same altitude at densities of 8.6–10.9 birds ha-1, the true population size on Mount Mulanje alone is likely to approach or even exceed IUCN’s most optimistic estimate of the global population (10,000).

Decline of native forest cover is a worldwide concern. Recently, overall forest cover in Vietnam has increased, but most of the increase has been attributed to plantations of non-native trees. The conservation value of these plantations for birds is unknown. We compared avian species richness in pine plantations to that in second-growth and mature native forests in Tam Dao National Park, Vietnam. Bird species were classified into two categories: forest specialists or forest generalists. To account for strong heterogeneity in detection probabilities, the number of species in each category was estimated using the Pledger-Huggins estimator. We estimated total species richness and number of forest specialist species to be highest in mature forest (191; 95% CI = 96, 287, and 88; 95% CI = 47, 129 respectively), lower in second-growth forest (158; 95% CI = 87, 245 and 58; 95% CI = 18, 98 respectively), and lowest in pine plantation (106; 95% CI = 52, 158 and 49; 95% CI = 2, 97 respectively). The estimated number of forest generalist species was similar between mature forest and second-growth forest (103; 95% CI = 17, 189 and 100; 95% CI = 42, 158, respectively) and least in pine plantation (57; 95% CI = 31, 82). The maintenance of native forest types should receive priority for conservation in Vietnam and pine plantations should be managed to provide additional structure in the hope of increasing species richness.

We undertook field observations of the Azure Jay Cyanocorax caeruleus in Araucaria plantations and a secondary forest in southern Brazil from 2007 to 2010. During the breeding season, the territory and the flock sizes in Araucaria plantations (31.6–42.2 ha; 2–3 individuals) seemed to be smaller than in the secondary forest (64.5–72.6 ha; 5–6 individuals). One active nest was monitored in October–November 2009 and indicated cooperative breeding by the Azure Jay, as for the majority of American jays. The fact that reproduction was documented in Araucaria plantations may be positive for the conservation of this species, since natural areas of mixed rainforest are becoming increasingly scarce.

The Golden-cheeked Warbler Dendroica chrysoparia is a federally endangered Neotropical migrant that inhabits montane pine-oak forests in Mexico and northern Central America during the non-breeding season. Although it is known that Golden-cheeked Warblers are closely associated with ‘encino’ oaks (evergreen or holm oak) such as Quercus sapotifolia, Q. eliptica and Q. elongata, which have shiny, narrow, elliptical, or oblong leaves, quantitative habitat targets are useful for effectively incorporating this information into conservation planning and forest management practices. We analysed data on wintering Golden-cheeked Warblers collected during the non-breeding season in Honduras from 1996 to 1998 to identify quantitative targets for habitat conditions for this species. Data on warbler abundance were collected using line transect surveys located in montane pine-oak forests in a stratified-random fashion. Habitat data were collected at five 0.04 ha plots on these same transects and the averaged values used as predictors of Golden-cheeked Warbler abundance. We found that Golden-cheeked Warblers were strongly associated with the basal area of encino oaks and density of ‘roble’ oaks, such as Q. segoviensis, Q. purulhana and Q. rugosa, which have large, lobed leaves. Density of Golden-cheeked Warblers peaked at ≈ 5.6 m2 ha–1 basal area of encino and ≈7 roble oaks ha–1. These values can be used to identify quantitative habitat targets that can be directly incorporated into forest management practices to ensure that these activities maintain habitat conditions necessary for their use by Golden-cheeked Warblers.

The Red-knobbed Hornbill Rhyticeros cassidix and the Sulawesi Tarictic Hornbill Penelopides exarhatus are endemic to Sulawesi. This study assessed the effect of anthropogenic disturbance on these two species in Lambusango forest, Buton, south-east Sulawesi. Data were collected between 2005 and 2007 in six study sites which varied in their levels of disturbance. Two of the lightly disturbed and two of the more heavily disturbed sites were within ‘protection forest’ whereas the rest were classified as ‘production forest’. We used point counts with distance sampling to survey the hornbills. Habitat data were also collected at each of the points and related to hornbill ‘occupancy’ with the program PRESENCE. Both hornbills were estimated to be at higher density in the lightly disturbed forest but the level of disturbance had more of a detrimental effect on Red-knobbed Hornbill than on Sulawesi Tarictic Hornbill. Lightly disturbed forest had significantly more large trees than the heavily disturbed forest but there was no difference in the abundance of figs. Using four covariates (disturbance level, protection status, number of large trees, and number of figs), 99% of presence/absence of Red-knobbed Hornbills at the points could be explained by habitat disturbance and 87% by forest status; the same covariates explained 76% of presence/absence for the Sulawesi Tarictic Hornbill with abundance of large trees as the most important factor. These results support the notion that Red-knobbed Hornbill is more sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance and its conservation is highly dependent upon the preservation of forest habitats with low levels of disturbance.

Most studies of Corncrakes have been conducted in grasslands used for hay-cutting, and earlier hay-cutting has been suggested as the main cause of population decline in this species. Less is known about habitat preferences in relation to other land-uses and landscape structure. This paper investigated habitat composition and landscape structure in territories and at random sites in arable fields and meadows in south-central Sweden. Calling Corncrakes preferred sites with tall vegetation, moist ground, and locations close to ditches (55% of territories). Suitable conditions occurred on abandoned unmanaged wet meadows (31% of territories), mown wet meadows (14%), leys (30%) and non-rotational set-asides (15% of territories). Corncrakes avoided annual crops and other crops with short vegetation in the spring. Cutting of vegetation before mid-July was recorded in 21% of the territories and resulted in 100% abandonment of these sites. In contrast to many other ground nesting farmland birds, Corncrakes did not avoid forest edges (42% of territories within 100 m of edges). A strategy to conserve Corncrake populations should focus on maintenance of moist natural and sown grasslands (unmanaged or mown late) with tall vegetation and prevention of succession to woodland. Target areas should be in forested landscapes, because many other meadow birds that are more dependent on management (e.g. yearly mowing or grazing) prefer open landscapes.