Endangered Philippine hawk-eagle bred in captivity

(AFP) – Apr 19, 2012

MANILA — A Philippine hawk-eagle feared to be heading for extinction has been bred in captivity for the first time, its breeders said Thursday.

Hand-fed with ground quail meat, the chick has swiftly bulked up to 157 grams (0.04 ounces), three times its weight when hatched in an artificial incubator 16 days ago, the Philippine Eagle Foundation said.

Its spokeswoman Anna Mae Sumaya said this marked the first success of an 11-year-old captive breeding programme for the Nisaetus philippensis that dwell in fast-disappearing lowland forests.

“The species is under threat from human persecution. All the Philippine hawk-eagles that had been turned over to us were either injured by hunters or were young birds that had been removed from their nests,” she told AFP.

The adult of the dark-brown bird is 64-69 centimetres (25.2-27.2 inches) long, with a long crest of four or five feathers protruding from its crown.

Preying on lowland forest animals, the unique raptor is one of nearly 200 bird species that are found only in the Philippines.

Swiss-based International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) says it is “vulnerable” from hunting and habitat loss.

The foundation had been trying to breed Philippine hawk-eagles since 2001, using adults rescued from hunters that were rehabilitated at its project site in the southern city of Davao.

“We got our first compatible pair in 2009 and they laid eggs in 2010 and 2011, but they always got crushed before we could collect them,” Sumaya said.

The hatchling was from the “pinskeri” subspecies, a Philippine hawk-eagle variant that is found on the southern island of Mindanao, she said.

Set up in 1987 for captive breeding of the critically endangered Philippine eagle, one of the world’s largest birds of prey, the non-profit foundation later also began breeding other raptors found only in the Philippines.

“They are all threatened, they have almost the same habitats and inhabit more or less the same territory as the Philippine eagle,” Sumaya said.

The foundation has artificially bred 24 Philippine eagles from captive pairs and released three young birds back in the wild, though only one of those released birds is still alive.

Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved.
source: google news

THE INDISCRIMINATE use of poisons to kill rats or mice has been linked to an alarming decline in some of Ireland’s most iconic birds of prey, such as barn owls and kestrels.
According to one of the country’s leading experts, several native species of raptor – the ornithological term for birds of prey – are feeding on contaminated rodents and inadvertently ingesting poisons.

Raptor conservation officer with BirdWatch Ireland John Lusby said substances used in certain rodenticides were extremely toxic and can accumulate within birds.

This type of “secondary poisoning” is thought to be behind a sharp fall-off in the number of barn owls.

Known by their distinctive white plumage and eerie silent flight, the owls have seen their breeding population here plummet by more than 70 per cent in the past 20 years alone.

Recent estimates suggest there are now only between 400 and 500 pairs left in the country.

“In Ireland, we have fewer small mammal species compared to other countries like Britain, so barn owls here depend on rats and mice as prey to a greater extent,” Mr Lusby said.

Ornithologists fear kestrels, still the most commonly sighted bird of prey here, may be on a similar trajectory. The birds, most often spotted in their familiar hovering pose near roadside ditches and fields, share a similar ecology to the barn owl in terms of diet and habitat, and have declined by 7 per cent to 10 per cent since the 1990s.

There are also concerns surrounding the notoriously reclusive long-eared owl, whose cryptic nature makes the species difficult to survey, but whose numbers are also thought to be in decline.

Since 2010, the practice of using poisoned meat baits to control farmland pests such as foxes and crows has been outlawed because of the knock-on effects on other species.

However, there are currently no regulations concerning the use of poisons to kill rats or mice. In Britain, there are restrictions against the use of certain rodenticides in outside areas in order to protect other species, and ornithologists want similar regulations adopted here.

Raptor populations provide a “window to the health of the environment”, Mr Lusby said.

It was the rapid fall-off in peregrine falcon numbers in the middle of the last century which first alerted the authorities to the harmful effects of certain pesticides such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT).

The build-up of traces of the pesticide in the bird fat tissues as a result of its feeding on smaller insect-eating birds was found to be reducing the amount of calcium in bird’s eggshells, causing the eggs to be crushed by the weight of adults seeking to incubate them.

Since a ban on DDT was implemented, the peregrine population in Ireland, which had dwindled to little more than 60 pairs in the 1970s, has rebounded significantly, and the birds are now no longer a conservation concern.

Because peregrines and sparrowhawks, Ireland’s most common bird of prey, feed primarily on other bird species, they appear to have avoided the risks posed by rodenticides, in contrast with owls and kestrels.

Ireland unfortunately has had a poor record in protecting its native raptor species, arguably the worst in Europe.

There are currently 11 breeding raptor species in Ireland: the sparrowhawk, kestrel, peregrine falcon, merlin, hen harrier, barn owl, long-eared owl, buzzard, red kite, golden eagle, and the white-tailed or sea eagle.

Before the widespread woodland clearances of the 17th and 18th centuries, Irish skies teemed with big raptor species such as eagles, buzzards and goshawks, and perhaps even honey buzzards and eagle owls.

Unfortunately, the fate and ultimate extinction of these birds followed an all too familiar narrative of persecution and habitat destruction.

At one point in the last century, Ireland held the dubious distinction of being the only country in Europe which had more extinct birds of prey than existing species.

Because of our island status, lost species are also less likely to recolonise than in other regions which lie adjacent to healthy population groups.

While the recent high-profile eagle and red kite reintroduction programmes represent a step in the right direction, the breeding populations of these birds here are a long way from being classified as viable.

Perhaps the most positive recent news in raptor circles has been the remarkable comeback of the buzzard. Hunted to the brink of extinction in previous centuries, the broad-winged bird is now found throughout the country.

BirdWatch Ireland has launched a nationwide raptor appeal as part of its long-standing raptor conservation project to halt the loss of iconic birds such as the barn owl.

It is also set to beef up its own monitoring and research programmes on raptors. For more details log on to www.birdwatchireland.ie

RAPTORS AT RISK ICONIC BIRDS FACE A HIDDEN ENEMY:

Merlin – The smallest of all our birds of prey, also known as the pigeon hawk, is reclusive and hard to spot. It is unclear how Ireland’s population is faring.

Peregrine falcon – Swiftest bird in the skies. It suffered a catastrophic decline in the middle of the last century, linked to use of pesticides such as DDT. It has since rebounded significantly and is no longer a conservation concern.

Long-eared owl – Now thought to be more common than its barn owl cousin, but nonetheless on the wane because of use of poisons and loss of habitat.

Red kite – Tree-nesting raptor, reintroduced back into Ireland in 2007 after 200 years of absence. There were 14 breeding pairs of red kites in Wicklow as of last year.

Common buzzard – Hunted to the brink of extinction in previous centuries, this broad-winged raptor is now thriving again. Feeds on small mammals and carrion.

Barn owl – Known by its distinctive white plumage and eerie silent flight. Population has been in sharp decline, which experts link to the unrestricted use of rodenticides.

Kestrel – Easily the most commonly spotted raptor, typically seen hovering near roadside ditches and fields. Population is undergoing moderate but continual decline.

White-tailed eagle – Extremely large coastal bird which preys on fish, smaller mammals and carrion. Once widespread in Ireland, but like the golden eagle became extinct in the early part of the 20th century. Reintroduced back into Co Kerry in 2007.

Hen harrier – Scarce summer visitor to upland areas and bogs mainly in western Ireland. The species is steadily declining, probably due to the loss of quality moorland habitat.

Golden eagle – Often confused with buzzards, but much larger, with a wing span up to 6ft. Became extinct in Ireland in 20th century but was recently reintroduced back into Donegal.

Sparrowhawk – Ireland’s most common bird of prey, distinguished by its bluish-grey overcoat, often hunts garden birds in towns and cities.

source: www.irishtimes.com

Tradition and technology in focus at exhibition

Hunting and Equestrian show begins in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi: Falconers checked out the latest GPS innovations for the hunting season while horsemen inspected the latest stable equipment as the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition (Adihex), started in the capital yesterday.

And for the first time, children queued up to adopt cats and dogs looking for homes at the Pets for Adoption stall set up by the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital, which is looking to rehabilitate stray animals at this year’s event.

“Within four hours, we had already found homes for nine animals that were until now living in our shelter. Given the response, we are hoping to find homes for many more lovable cats and dogs by the end of Adihex on Saturday,” Dr. Margit Muller, director of the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital, told Gulf News.

Pet adoption

The pet adoption initiative was a welcome addition to the ninth edition of the popular exhibition, which saw its usual array of hunting and equestrian equipment on sale, and seamlessly fused heritage and hunting with technology and conservation.

The four-day exhibition, which spans 31,000 square metres this year, was inaugurated yesterday. It is held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region and Chairman of the Emirates Falconer’s Club. “This event is important in Abu Dhabi’s social landscape, especially as it allows Emiratis and other people to transmit their knowledge about wild species and the traditional arts to future generations,” Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, secretary general of the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD), told Gulf News.

“In this way, the event conserves important Emirati traditions, and spurs on various conservation efforts,” she added.

This year’s Adihex hosts 596 exhibitors from 28 countries, and is bigger than before, following Unesco’s registration of falconry within its world heritage list.

Saud Al Mishal, a 32-year-old falconer from Saudi Arabia, said the exhibition had helped him find a range of new hunting equipment.

New GPS equipment in falcon tracking has also found its way into the exhibition.

“These GPS trackers show the exact location of the falcons, which have a transmitter attached to their tails. This way, the hunter can pinpoint the exact coordinates of the bird and its possible prey up to nearly 150km,” Juliette Pont, owner of Horizon Development in Radio Frequency, said.

The exhibition also saw the Middle Eastern launch of the RX Helix hunting rifle, which was inspired by Shaikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court, and developed by German gun manufacturer Merkel.

[source: golfnews]

Published on 4 Nov 2010

The latest death toll of birds of prey is a distressing one.

In the first six months of this year, four golden eagles, a sea eagle, five red kites, three buzzards, two peregrine falcons and one sparrowhawk were poisoned in Scotland. This wanton destruction of our most majestic birds is bad enough. It is doubly disturbing, however, that some estate owners or their staff are still prepared knowingly to break the law to protect commercial interests, despite increased awareness of public opposition to the practice and of the benefits of not disrupting the ecological balance.

Making employers responsible for illegal poisonings carried out by their employees, with a penalty of a fine of up to £5000 or six months in prison might seem to be taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Nevertheless the continuing toll of raptors shows illegal poisoning persists in defiance of the available sanctions. Vicarious liability, as proposed by Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham, is an important step forward because it clarifies that the buck stops with the employer. Too many prosecutions for crimes against wildlife have left an uncomfortable feeling that a gamekeeper or estate worker was in the dock for carrying out his employer’s wishes and protecting his livelihood. If estate owners have a specific duty to ensure their employees comply with the law, even workers who live in tied houses should be able to refuse to break it.

Enlightened landowners should welcome this step because it can only enhance their reputation for good practice. While game sports, including stalking, shooting and fishing, bring in £136m a year to the Scottish economy, they must have a positive relationship with wildlife tourism, which is worth £127m and brings in a million visitors a year. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Whether it is the result of a greater awareness of the environment, or sparked by television programmes, there is no doubt of the increased interest in nature. The red kite trail in Dumfries and Galloway has brought more than £20m into that area since 2003 and the careful protection of osprey nests has not only been a phenomenal success in wildlife terms but has brought visitors to Scotland for the past 40 years. Yet last year saw the highest number of confirmed raptor poisoning incidents in a single year for more than two decades. Ms Cunningham is right to get tough with those who are so out of step with 21st-century thinking.
Source: herarldscotland

Here is the article:

By Sasha Goldstein and Heidi Hanse

POLSON – Alligators, eagles and hawks. Oh my.

At the South Shore Veterinary Pet Fair last Saturday, animals, native to Polson and from elsewhere, hung out for the public to ask questions about and touch.

“It was really fun, a good time,” Carlos Rodriquez, an employee at South Shore, said.

He said the weather wasn’t ideal and many vendors canceled due to the rain. This year there wasn’t a dog training course, among other things.

“There’s that momentary ‘oh no, I’ll never do this again’ reaction [after the vendors canceled],” he said. “The show must go on. However, the presenters rose to the occasion.”

People came from as far away as Kalispell and from as close as the Polson Senior Center to satisfy their curious nature.

“For a lot of the visitors, it was good for them to see those different animals,” Rodriquez said. “Here in Polson, it’s a novelty.”

The whole point of the Pet Fair was to expose people to new things that they wouldn’t normally come into contact with for the greater cause of education.

“I like to see people exposed to animals one-on-one,” he said. “It helps when a kid sees the look on the animals’ faces. He might not pull the trigger on a .22 when his friends are telling him to shoot an eagle or hawk.”

Rodriquez had his own red-tailed hawk and golden eagle there for people to be exposed to. Rodriguez examined a pellet the eagle spit up, showing attendees what the bird had eaten the previous days as part of his presentation. The magnificent, large bird had hit a power line, Rodriguez said, and will never fly again.

“The choices were three: to euthanize her, tame her or give it to a zoo,” he said.

His two-year-old golden eagle, which he just learned can live to 50 or 60 years old, is trained to be an educational bird and was calm when approached by some of the fair-goers.

“If she is going to be an educational bird, she is going to have to get used to all of it,” he said. “It’s an everyday thing for me to hold an eagle, but that isn’t the case for others.”

His red-tailed hawk, on the other hand, has been healing up at his home in Polson, so this fair was a coming-out party of sorts.

“It was her first time to be presented to a group of people,” he said.

When Rodriquez is going to present his birds, he takes into account how the birds are acting the day of a presentation.

“There’s days when one of my birds just isn’t in the mood,” he said. “Then it’s not fun for the bird, the people or myself.”

Visitors were also able to check out a salt-water aquarium with many types of fish and coral.

In the future, Rodriquez would like to see the fair expand to include more games and activities for children.

“Kids have only a certain length of an attention span,” he said. “I would like it to be more of a fair with a lot of different things.”

The day after, Rodriquez was thinking of how he was going to top an alligator for next year’s fair.

“An elephant,” he said. “We might need to start looking for one.”

Source: Leadadvertiser.com

Bald eagle lives the high life

WOTAN the American Bald Eagle has been living the high life.

The bird, a star attraction at the Cotswold Falconry Centre at Batsford, near Moreton, spent a couple of nights at a luxury hotel near Bristol last week after soaring too high during a display.

Head falconer Mike Hope said the 10-year-old eagle, was “thermalling” and just went up, up and away until he was a tiny speck in the distance.

Wotan eventually came down to earth 45 miles away at the Berwick Lodge Hotel, Bristol, where guests were amazed to see him land in the hotel’s woodland grounds.

When India, the 10-year-old daughter of hotel owner Sarah Arikan, went to take some photos of the bird of prey, he tried to land on her arm, terrifying the girl and scratching her arm.

Eventually, after trying to get help from the RSPB, hotel staff managed to contact local bird trainer Lloyd Buck, who was able to lure Wotan down with some of the hotel’s finest lamb steak before securing him.

It was then that Wotan, who was ringed, was identified as belonging to the Cotswold Falconry Centre and Mike was contacted. He went to get his bird back last Tuesday.

“You are always relieved when they come back. The last time he went down that way was four years ago when he was scared off by military helicopters,” said Mike. “He ended up at the ski slope at Gloucester.”

Wotan, who was born at Hanover Zoo and arrived at the falconry centre eight years ago, has a six foot wingspan. There are about a dozen captive bred bald eagles in the UK.

The day after his latest adventure, Wotan was back at work visiting children at Blockley Primary School.

(source: www.cotswoldjournal.co.uk )

The gyrfalcon spotted on the Isle of Lewis since late April has a wingspan of more than 6 feet.

“Usually, they hang around in the Arctic Circle and move south a little in winter, but very rarely get to the U.K.,” said Royal Society for the Protection of Birds conservation officer Martin Scott.

He said the ash also appears to have kept a large number of geese in the Outer Hebrides from being able to migrate to the Arctic.

The RSBP said the gyrfalcon could actually be hunting the newly arrived geese.

Source: Earthweek.com

Jeffrey Lendrum was charged with climbing a mountain in south Wales to steal peregrine falcon eggs from their nest at Solihull Magistrates’ Court.

West Midlands Police said it is the first case of its kind for 20 years.

The 48-year-old, who has dual Zimbabwean and Irish nationality, was said to have the eggs strapped to his body to keep them warm.

He was charged with four offences involving the taking of the eggs from a peak in the Rhondda and hiding them to evade export restrictions.

He was also charged with the possession of climbing gear, an incubator and other equipment to take and keep wild bird eggs.

Twelve of the 14 eggs are believed to be alive.

Officers said they kept them safe by nesting them on their office computers and turning them regularly until wildlife rescue centre staff arrived to collect them. It is hoped they will eventually be returned to the wild once they are hatched.

Lendrum was remanded in custody on May 5 and he is due to appear at Warwick Crown Court later this month.

Source : Birmingham mail news

The Department of Environmental Conservation has conducted annual surveys since 1979. The highest winter count was in 2008, with 573 bald eagles spotted. DEC’s preliminary results for 2010 indicate that sightings may exceed that number.

In 1975, The state was able to document only one, unproductive pair of bald eagles after years of habitat loss, pesticide contamination and hunting.

In 2009, 173 breeding pairs raised 223 young. Eagles from Canada winter in New York, and during a Jan. 2010 survey, 459 were spotted, including 101 along the St. Lawrence River and 277 in the Hudson River and Delaware River basins.
The chronicle news>

This year has seen 46 breeding pairs – two more than 2008 – and 36 chicks fledge and leave their nests.

RSPB Scotland said it could be the healthiest population for 150 years.

Sea eagles were hunted to extinction in Scotland during the early 19th Century. Birds were first reintroduced to Mull between 1975 and 1985.

There are now more than 200 individual birds in Scotland, with recent releases of young in Fife.

Among the breeding birds this season were a new pair setting up on Lewis in the Western Isles and another in Lochaber.

Five of this year’s chicks have been fitted with satellite tags, and several of these are starting to make exploratory flights away from the immediate nest site areas.

The progress of two of these chicks on Mull is being tracked via the RSPB website at www.rspb.org.uk/mulleagletracking.

Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham said a record-breaking year for sea eagles was “wonderful news”.

She said: “Everyone involved should be congratulated on their achievements as thanks to this reintroduction a little piece of Scotland is being restored to its former glory.”

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) said landowners and land managers deserved thanks for their part in helping the raptors establish territories.

Prof Colin Galbraith, SNH policy and advice director chairman of the Sea Eagle Project Team, said: “This is important progress in re-establishing sea eagles across their historic range in Scotland, and is the result of a huge effort by many people over the past 30 years.

“It shows what can be done to reinstate a key part of our natural heritage.”

Radio tagged

Prof Jeremy Wilson, head of research for RSPB Scotland, added that there were plenty of vacant territories available for the eagles across Scotland.

However, crofters on Skye and in Wester Ross have blamed the birds for taking lambs.

In April, it was announced the fortunes of 60 lambs were to be monitored from birth to weaning to help determine whether large numbers of livestock fell prey to sea eagles.

Lambs on two holdings in Gairloch, Wester Ross, were radio tagged and observed by field workers.

SNH appointed FERA (Food and Environment Research Agency) to do the study.

The natural heritage agency said the study aimed to provide a scientific measure of the true level of lamb deaths directly attributable to sea eagles as opposed to other causes.