“The EU Commission has announced that the ban on imports of birds caught in the wild is to be made permanent throughout the European Union later this year.”
“The move comes after a temporary ban was imposed within the EU in October 2005, after birds in a UK quarantine centre were found to have avian influenza.
The ban is to take effect from the 1 July 2007.”
Kingfishers in the Netherlands are doing exceptionally well due to the recent mild winters. In the Dutch language they are called ijsvogels, which means ice birds. Despite that name, the birds do not fare well in cold winters.
Ten years ago the population of Kingfishers in the Netherlands consisted of only 150 breeding pairs. Today there are several hundred.
Source: IJsvogel rukt op dankzij zachte winters
A low-flying gull caused chaos on the A28 highway in the Netherlands last weekend. A 34-year-old motorist from Amsterdam swerved to avoid the animal, causing a traffic accident.
The swerving driver drove into the ditch resulting in the car becoming a total loss. The driver suffered head wounds.
The gull did not survive the incident.
Laysan and Black-footed Albatrosses fitted with GPS tracking devices have been gathering important information about their habits and habitats. The devices measure temperature as well as track the movements of the birds with a ten meter margin of error.
Both species of albatross are listed as either Vulnerable or Endangered. They are fitted with the devices on Hawaii’s Tern Island and Guadalupe Island, Mexico. The data will be shared with fishery commissions in order to inform them where they are most likely to have bycatch (birds caught during fishing operations) and what they can do to reduce it.
In 2006 the Netherlands gained not only the White-tailed Eagle as a new local breeder, but also the Whooper Swan.
Whooper Swans have been winter guests in the Netherlands for years. Every fall Whoopers come to the Netherlands from the north to spend the winter months. By the end of March most have flown back to their breeding homes in the north and northeast of Europe.
In 2005 a Whooper Swan nest was found in the province of Drenthe. Though four eggs were laid, none lived to hatch. In 2006 the nest was used again. This time, two chicks survived to fledge.
The Marquette Tower in downtown Marquette, Missouri used to be home to dozens of roosting pigeons. Their waste and noise was becoming a nuisance to pedestrians in the area so authorities are now employing two non-traditional methods to get rid of the birds.
A large device broadcasts the sound of birds in distress over the rooftops. And ‘spiders’, metal poles that move in the wind or when pigeons touch them, have been installed. Since installation, the number of pigeons roosting in the area has dramatically dropped.
In the 1950’s, the farthest north a Ringed Kingfisher was ever seen was Mexico. In the early 1970’s, a Ringed Kingfisher nest was discovered in south Texas.
The Green Jay is another species that used to come no farther north than Mexico’s tropical forests. Today, they are known to breed in central Texas.
Read more in the article Expert: Birds flee to beat the heat.
The Grenada Dove, an endangered bird with a global population of 180 birds, is seriously threatened as the government of Grenada is planning to sell off the Mount Hartman National Park to developers.
The national park, also known as ‘The Dove Sanctuary’, is home to about 20 pairs of the Grenada Dove, which is about 22% of the entire population.
The resort development is proposed by the Four Seasons group.
There were less than 20 Whooping Cranes in 1941. Today, the U.S. population exceeds 500 birds.
The comeback of the Whooping Crane is due to a coordinated conservation effort. A recent survey counted 237 individuals over-wintering in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas.
The large birds reach a height of 5 feed and their wingspan can be up to 7 feet.
Around Amsterdam’s airport, Schiphol, approximately 25,000 birds have settled and seem to be planning nesting activities. That is about 20 percent more than normal.
To drive the birds, mostly lapwings, off, authorities have placed dogs in the fields around the airport. Loudspeakers playing recordings of lapwings in distress have also been placed around the airport in an effort to drive the birds away. The lapwings have migrated from northern Europe and remain in the Netherlands this year due to unseasonably warm temperatures.
Landing and departing aircraft can suffer from damage if the birds fly into the windows or engines.
The grass in the fields around the airport will remain unmowed in an effort to make the birds feel less comfortable.
Source: Schiphol verjaagt kieviten
