Surprise Cley Spy visitor leads to OBC windfall

Steve Gantlett took this superb photo of the Long-eared Owl at Cley Spy shortly before it flew off to hunt one evening.

Birdwatchers have been flocking to Cley Spy, one of OBC’s Corporate Sponsors, for the rare opportunity to observe a Long-eared Owl at its day time roost.

The bird was first seen by a visitor to Cley Spy, located in Glandford in north Norfolk, UK, who was testing out the wide range of optics sold by the company.

As he scanned the vegetation behind the buildings he was astonished to find a Long-eared Owl roosting in one of the bushes.

Word quickly spread of the owl’s presence that has led to a steady stream of birdwatchers coming to see it in recent days.

A suggestion box put out by Cley Spy staff asking for donations from grateful owl watchers to the OBC Conservation Fund has already led to more than £2,200 being collected for the Club.

“The Oriental Bird Club is hugely grateful to the quick thinking and generosity of our corporate sponsor Cley Spy and the generosity of the birdwatchers making donations to the OBC Conservation Fund,” said Chris Gooddie, Chairman of the Oriental Bird Club.

“The Long-eared Owl’s surprise appearance has resulted in a significant windfall for the Club’s bird conservation efforts in the Asian region.”

Cley Spy commented: “Cley Spy are delighted that such a great bird has given so many people so much pleasure and that visitors have been so generous in their support for the OBC, with some even donating more than once.”

Egyptian Vulture migrations in Asia described for the first time

© DickDaniels / CC Share Alike 3.0 Unported licence

The Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus), distinctive with its white body, black flight feathers and yellow facial skin, is globally Endangered having experienced severe declines throughout its range, including in India, Africa and Europe. Satellite tracking has been an integral part of identifying the causes for declines in the migratory populations in Europe and Africa, and consequently where conservation efforts should be focussed to halt the decline of “the white scavenger vulture”. The situation, however, is much less clear in central Asia where its migratory populations, numbering an estimated 700–1,300 pairs, are also thought to be declining. There are few data available on population status or trends and nothing is known about their migration routes or wintering sites. While some threats, such as electrocution, are known on the breeding grounds, little is known about the relative importance of threats, their demographic impacts and how these vary during migration.

The recent Convention on Migratory Species Multi-species Action Plan to Conserve African-Eurasian Vultures identified these critical gaps in knowledge as a key priority needing to be addressed. The Central Asian Vultures Project (www.CentralAsianVultures.org) aims to tackle this by satellite tracking Egyptian Vultures originating from the Uzbekistan population where there is estimated to be only 135 breeding pairs and the species is listed in the National Red Data Book. 

Uzbekistan is in the middle of the central Asian-Indian flyway with many migrants funnelled through it because of the Caspian Sea in the west and the Hindu Kush range in the east. This flyway ends with Iraq in the west and Pakistan and the Indian subcontinent in the east. The majority of Uzbekistan is covered in desert, with the Kyzylkum Desert at its centre. The semi-arid region is predominantly flat, but does provide some nesting habitat for the Egyptian Vulture in the form of low-lying hills and cliffs along wadi systems. In August 2021, the field team visited three different nests in the regions of Ayakaghytma and Bukantau in central Kyzylkum and satellite tagged four juvenile Egyptian Vultures (read about the birds here). Of the four birds, three transmitted GPS data allowing their movements to be tracked for the first time in Asia.

All three birds started migration from Uzbekistan between 5–15th September 2021. Each bird took a different route with two (Arys & Anya) migrating via Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan and ultimately wintering in India (Rajasthan and Haryana). The third bird, Timur, took a very different route making a long journey with several stops through Turkmenistan, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and finally arriving in Yemen in late November 2021 (Fig. 1). You can read about Timur’s journey to the Middle East in more detail on the OSME Blog.

Figure 1. Autumn migration routes of three Egyptian Vultures from Uzbekistan. 

Anya followed a traditional route south from Uzbekistan (Fig. 1) and made a fairly direct migration south, avoiding mountain crossings, until she reached the Rann of Kutch, north of the Indus near Karachi in Pakistan. The Rann of Kutch (which actually spans parts of Pakistan and India) is known for its populations of Egyptian Vultures. Anya, however, only remained here for a few weeks before crossing the Indus and entering the Thar Desert in Rajasthan, India, where she has stayed in the deserts west of Barmer (Fig. 2). Judging from satellite photos, she has largely remained in remote areas and not utilised human refuse sites or dumps. 

Figure 2. Wintering site movements of the Egyptian Vulture, Anya, through Pakistan and India, remaining in the Thar Desert. Most recent point (3rd Jan 2022) shown with the dropped pin. 

In contrast, Arys has shown quite a different migratory behaviour. Arys’s route was much farther east and took him right over the Hindu Kush Mountain range in Afghanistan/Pakistan (Fig. 1). He then followed the ridge of the Sulaiman range in Pakistan all the way south, after which he directly crossed the Indus south into the Thar Desert. Once in India, Arys has used man-made habitat several times, in the forms of slaughter areas and carcass dumps. Notably, his first arrival point in India, Bhadriya, was near a livestock facility, after which he moved east to the town of Bikaner. Bikaner is famous for its carcass dump which attracts thousands of vultures and Steppe Eagles (Aquila nipalensis) during the winter months. Arys spent several weeks at this site before moving east again where he has spent more than a month just south of New Delhi. He is a real tourist, as by the end of December he had visited all three cities making up the famous Golden Triangle; New Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. On his journey he flew over the India Gate in New Delhi (Fig. 4) and within 200 m of the world famous Taj Mahal (Fig. 5) where he remains until the time of writing.

Figure 3. Wintering site movements of the Egyptian Vulture, Arys, through India, moving from the carcass dump in Bikaner to New Dehli and Agra. Most recent point (3rd Jan 2022) shown with the dropped pin.

Figure 4. The yellow line shows the route and altitude of Arys as he flew past India Gate in New Delhi. 

Figure 5. The yellow line shows the route and altitude of Arys as he flew past the Taj Mahal in December 2021. 

These results confirmed what we had expected, namely that the migratory populations in Central Asia would join resident Egyptian Vultures populations in the Indian sub-continent during winter. However, we did not expect the birds to migrate to Yemen in the Middle East. This establishes for the first time that the central Asian populations show connectivity to the European/Balkan, Arabian and Oriental Asian populations. Migration in European populations has been shown to be particularly dangerous with juvenile migrants susceptible to a high mortality from a range of threats, including drowning, hunting, poisoning and electrocution. These threats mainly exist in Africa and crossing the Mediterranean, but also in Yemen. In contrast, accidental poisoning by diclofenac and other veterinary drugs is the main threat in India and is potentially ongoing although much effort is being put into actively tackling poisoning in Asian countries as it is a recognised problem.

Here we have only tracked three individuals and more should be tracked to confirm the relative frequencies of individuals wintering in these different regions. The picture is nonetheless complex and interesting. In 2022, we aim to track more individuals to improve the knowledge of the routes. You will be able to follow the project updates at www.CentralAsianVultures.org.

This project (OBC ref: P1410) is run by Dr Robert (John) Burnside (University of East Anglia), Vladimir Dobrev (Bulgarian Society for Protection of Birds) and Anna Ten and Valentin Soldatov (Institute of Zoology, Uzbekistan). Funding and support for the project is provided by OBC, Ornithological Society of the Middle-east (OSME) and the Hawk Conservancy.

If you are not already a member of the Oriental Bird Club, please consider joining the Club to support our vital conservation work in Asia—as an OBC member, each year you will also receive two issues of BirdingASIA and one issue of the Journal of Asian Ornithology.

Video of the Egyptian Vulture migrations.

Black-browed Babbler documented in the wild

Indonesia—Following its sensational rediscovery after 172 years, the mysterious Black-browed Babbler has finally documented in the wild for the first time.  A team of ornithologists discovered, photographed, and obtained the first-ever footage of the rare babbler in its limestone habitat in Kotabaru Regency, South Kalimantan, Indonesia.

It is the first documentation of this species in its natural habitat following the picture of this bird on hand that circulated the internet after its rediscovery in 2020. This discovery has sparked global interest, given that the species has gone unobserved since colonial times.

The Black-browed Babbler was initially described by the renowned French naturalist, Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1850, based on a single specimen collected by German geologist and naturalist Carl Anton Ludwig Maria Schwaner from his expeditions to southern Borneo around 1843-1848. This mysterious species, widely considered to be Borneo’s greatest ornithological enigma, was finally seen again in 2020 after being captured by a local resident. With a 172 years gap between its discovery and its first documentation in the wild, the species has indeed gone missing for a longer time than any other bird, including America’s presumed extinct Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

While the researchers were able to glean several clues about the species’ ecology, much of its life history is still shrouded by mystery. It is currently listed as “Data Deficient” by IUCN, with no information regarding its population or range. It is also not listed as a protected species by the Indonesian government due to the lack of data, which may make it vulnerable to threats such as poaching or habitat destruction.

In September 2021, a team of ornithologists from Birdpacker Indonesia collaborated with Kalimantan Selatan’s Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA Kalimantan Selatan) and Dinas Kehutanan Kalimantan Selatan KPH Cantung became the first team to explore the babbler’s habitat in an area of rugged limestone hills. The project was funded by Oriental Bird Club and American Bird Conservancy and was aimed to understand the status of the Black-browed Babbler’s population. On the first day of fieldwork, the team managed to re-find the bird and documented its natural behaviour for the first time in the wild.

According to Panji Gusti Akbar, the lead scientist from Birdpacker Indonesia, a pair of the birds were spotted in thick undergrowth on the side of a karst cliff just a few hours after they commenced their search. The birds were very secretive and moved quietly in extremely rugged terrain, making them difficult to observe—which may help explain why their evaded science for so long. After an intense wait, one individual of this strikingly marked babbler finally perched close enough for the team to capture the very first images and footage of the species in the wild.

“It was a breathtaking moment to finally see this species in the wild, as most of its natural history is entirely unknown—so that every single behaviour we observed can be new to science,” said Akbar.

Akbar also explains how Muhammad Suranto, a local community member and one of the original discoverers who also co-authored the paper documenting its rediscovery last year in 2020, greatly helped the expedition. The team went under his guidance during the entire expedition, and his expertise with the terrain along with some past encounters with the mysterious bird eventually led to the team’s success in re-finding the species.

“Suranto’s rediscovery in 2020 is like a Rosetta Stone in the ornithology community, a clue that eventually led us to the location of this enigmatic species and eventually kickstarted this expedition,” said Akbar. “All information he collected during the initial discovery helped us in designing this expedition, and without him who knows how many more years we have to wait until we can solve this century-long mystery about this bird’s whereabouts.”

The importance of this finding is noted by Paul Insua-Cao, Chair of the OBC Conservation Committee, who mentioned that this is a landmark project as global leaders meet to plan actions to address the biodiversity crisis. He also explained that this species’ extinction would have been inevitable without this discovery and that this project brings hope for other poorly known species.

“Significantly this work has been done by Indonesians reflecting a growing interest in this megadiverse country to understand and protect its unique natural heritage,” Paul said. “The OBC urges the relevant authorities to do what they can to protect the habitat of the black-browed babbler as soon as possible based on Birdpacker Indonesia’s work.”

Dr. Ir. Mahrus Aryadi, M.Sc, Head of the BKSDA South Kalimantan also noted the significance of this finding and give the highest appreciation to the team who have successfully found black-browed babbler in its native habitat. Mahrus noted that this is the first step towards the availability of valid and reliable data as a basis for future biodiversity management and that mapping location and human activities that might be a potential threat for the preservation of this species and the other wildlife are necessary things to get the point.

“Given that several encounters are outside the conservation area, it is important to collaborate with many parties regarding the protection of their habitat. BKSDA South Kalimantan will propose the area become Essential Ecosystem Area by collaborating with related stakeholders,” said Aryadi.

Just like other things in the world, the expedition has also been affected greatly by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Akbar said that the expedition was supposed to be commenced in June 2021, but the worsening condition of the pandemic delayed the project for over three months. However, after the condition is finally getting better some of the team made their way to Kalimantan and started fieldwork right away. The team will continue searching for more sightings of this babbler for another month to figure out its distribution and possible threat to its population, which will help determine the species’ threatened status and necessary action to conserve it.

Source:

Akbar, P.G., Nugroho, T.W., Suranto, M., Rizky Fauzan, M., Ferdiansyah, D.,Trisiyanto, J.S. & Yong, D.L. (2020) Missing for 170 years—the rediscovery of the Black-browed Babbler Malacocincla perspicillata on Borneo. BirdingAsia 34: 13–14.

BirdLife International (2001) Threatened birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International. 

BirdLife International (2020) Species factsheet: Malacocincla perspicillata. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 08/11/2020.

Collar, N.J. (2014) Blue-wattled Bulbul Pycnonotus nieuwenhuisii and Black-browed Babbler Malacocincla perspicillata: two Sundaic passerines in search of a life. BirdingASIA 21: 37–44.

Enigmatic bird missing for 172 years rediscovered in the rainforests of Indonesian Borneo

Black-browed Babbler © Muhammad Rizky Fauzan

Banjarmasin, Indonesia—The Black-browed Babbler (Malacocincla perspicillata), widely considered by experts the “greatest enigma in Indonesian ornithology”, has been sensationally rediscovered in the rainforests of Borneo more than 172 years after it was first seen.

Mr. Muhammad Suranto and Mr. Muhammad Rizky Fauzan, both locals in Indonesia’s South Kalimantan Province, were gathering forest products in an area not far from where they live when they accidentally stumbled upon an unfamiliar bird species. They caught and released it after taking some photographs.

The two contacted local birdwatching groups, BW Galeatus and Birdpacker who then suspected the bird might be the missing Black-browed Babbler. This was subsequently confirmed after consultations with expert ornithologists from Indonesia and around the region.

“It feels surreal to know that we have found a species of bird presumed by experts to be extinct. When we found it, we didn't expect it to be that special at all – we thought it was just another bird that we simply have never seen before”, said Rizky Fauzan.

The Black-browed Babbler was described by the noted French ornithologist, Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1850 based on a specimen collected some time in the 1840s by German geologist and naturalist, Carl A.L.M. Schwaner during his expeditions to the East Indies.

Since then, no other specimen or sightings have been reported and the origin of the type specimen has been shrouded in mystery. Even the island where it was taken was unclear: widely assumed to be Java, it was only in 1895 that Swiss ornithologist Johann Büttikofer pointed out that Schwaner was in Borneo at the time of his discovery.

“The sensational finding confirms that the Black-browed Babbler comes from south-eastern Borneo, ending the century-long confusion about its origins,” said Mr. Panji Gusti Akbar of Indonesian bird conservation group, Birdpacker, lead author of the paper giving details of the rediscovery published today by the Oriental Bird Club, a UK-based bird conservation charity in their journal, BirdingASIA.

“We now also know what the Black-browed Babbler really looks like—the photographed bird showed several differences from the only known specimen, specifically the colour of the iris, bill and legs. These three parts of a bird’s body are known to lose their tint and are often artificially coloured during the taxidermy process.”

“The discovery also confirms that this species remains extant despite the massive deforestation and habitat conversion in this little-known part of Borneo. There is therefore a very high possibility of it being severely threatened by habitat loss.”

Mr. Teguh Willy Nugroho, a co-author of the BirdingASIA paper, a member of staff at the Sebangau National Park in Kalimantan, and a founding member of BW Galeatus, observed that the remarkable discovery demonstrated the importance of networks of local people, birdwatchers and professional scientists in gathering information on Indonesia’s biodiversity, especially some of the country’s least known species. This can be important in remote areas of the country that are not easily accessible to scientists.

“I think it is amazing that we managed to document one of the most remarkable zoological discoveries in Indonesia, if not Asia (largely through online communication) in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, which has hampered us from visiting the site”, Teguh noted.

The dramatic rediscovery of the Black-browed Babbler demonstrates how poorly known Indonesia’s sprawling avifauna is, the largest in Asia—with more than 1,700 species found across the archipelago’s many little-surveyed islands.

“It’s sobering to think that when the Black-browed Babbler was last seen, Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species hadn’t even been published and the now extinct Passenger Pigeon was still among the world’s commonest birds,” said Mr Ding Li Yong, an Asia-based conservationist with the world’s leading bird conservation charity, BirdLife International, and a co-author of the paper.

“Who knows what other riches lie deep within Borneo’s fabled rainforests, especially in the Indonesian part of the island, and the paramount need to protect them for future generations.”

A further publication detailing the bird’s ecology is currently being prepared by the authors, while plans are ongoing to revisit the site where the species was discovered when conditions permit.

Details of the rediscovery are published today by the Oriental Bird Club, a UK-based bird conservation charity, in their members’ journal, BirdingASIA—click on the title below to download the paper.

Akbar, P.G., Nugroho, T.W., Suranto, M., Fauzan, M.R., Ferdiansyah, D., Trisiyanto, J.S. and Yong, D.L. (2020). Missing for 170 years—the rediscovery of Black-browed Babbler Malacocincla perspicillata on Borneo. BirdingASIA 34: 13–14.

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Media contacts

For more information, please contact

Panji Gusti Akbar

Birdpacker

Email: panji.gusti@gmail.com

Teguh Willy Nugruho

Sebangau National Park Headquarters, BW Galeatus

Email: teguhwillynugroho@gmail.com

Doddy Ferdiansyah 

BW Galeatus

Email: ferdiansyah.doddy@yahoo.co.id

Ding Li Yong

BirdLife International (Asia)

Email: dingli.yong@birdlife.org

Flappy's journeys end

Flappy: close up taken when the bird was fitted with a satellite tag

On 17th May 2018, the last satellite transmission was received from Flappy – the Oriental Bird Club sponsored Common Cuckoo of the nominate subspecies – 100 km north of Mandaly and 30 km east of the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar. It seems certain Flappy perished sometime on the night of 14-15th May, during the return leg of her migration from wintering quarters in Mozambique to where she had spent the previous two summers, in northern Mongolia, close to the border with Russia.

The first cuckoo to be fitted with a satellite transmitter as part of the Beijing Cuckoo Project in May 2016 in Beijing, China, during the two years before her demise, the bird crossed 61 international borders involving 16 countries: China, Mongolia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Oman, Yemen, Somalia, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia and DRC.

The insights into cuckoo migration have been profound: few predicted the cuckoos passing through China in spring would summer as far north, let alone winter in southern Africa. The truly remarkable journeys made by Flappy were followed by a large online audience and a number of high profile media articles. Her exploits helped link two great continents and thanks to OBC sponsorship, helped raise the profile of the Club too.

Full details of the remarkable travels of Flappy and the other cuckoos – which took in East Asia, parts of South-east Asia and South Asia, then across the Arabian Sea and along the coast of the Arabian peninsular and into the Horn of Africa, down through East Africa to southern Africa – can be found on the The Beijing Cuckoo Project website.

The Beijing Cuckoo Project aims to engage Chinese audiences about the wonders of bird migration with a view to promoting conservation and helping to strengthen the links between Chinese and international bird conservation organisations.

The main scientific goal was to discover the unknown migration route and winter quarters for Common Cuckoos breeding in East Asia. In 2017, there are plans to tag further birds to learn more about the remarkable migrations.

The Beijing Cuckoo Project is a collaboration between the Beijing Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (BWRRC), China Birdwatching Society (CBS), the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and Birding Beijing.

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Alongside OBC, other supporters of the project are the Zoological Society of London and the British Birds Charitable Foundation and BirdLife International.

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Flappy flies home

Flappy: close up taken when the bird was fitted with a satellite tag

On 3rd June 2017, Flappy - the Oriental Bird Club sponsored Common Cuckoo - completed the round trip back from Mozambique, where she wintered, to her summer home in Olon Balj Basin National Park in northern Mongolia. Remarkably, the latest satellite signals reveal she is within 2-3 km of where she spent summer 2016. Flappy is one of several cuckoos satellite tagged as part of the Beijing Cuckoo Project in May 2016 in Beijing, China.

Only two of the original five tagged cuckoos - Flappy and another bird, Meng - still have active transmissions - the tags either having failed or the birds carrying them perished. Both Flappy and Meng wintered in southern Africa having moved from their summering areas in Mongolia and China respectively. Flappy is a female of the nominate subspecies, while Meng is a male of the slightly smaller race bakeri.

Full details of the remarkable travels of these birds - which took in East Asia, parts of South-east Asia and South Asia, then across the Arabian Sea and along the coast of the Arabian peninsular and into the Horn of Africa, down through East Africa to southern Africa - can be found on the The Beijing Cuckoo Project website.

The Beijing Cuckoo Project aims to engage Chinese audiences about the wonders of bird migration with a view to promoting conservation and helping to strengthen the links between Chinese and international bird conservation organisations.

The main scientific goal was to discover the unknown migration route and winter quarters for Common Cuckoos breeding in East Asia. In 2017, there are plans to tag further birds to learn more about the remarkable migrations.

The Beijing Cuckoo Project is a collaboration between the Beijing Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (BWRRC), China Birdwatching Society (CBS), the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and Birding Beijing.

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(小）中国观鸟会logo

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Alongside OBC, other supporters of the project are the Zoological Society of London and the British Birds Charitable Foundation and BirdLife International.

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Helmeted Hornbill records sought

Bee Choo Strange of the Hornbill Research Foundation is on an urgent mission to collate all records of Helmeted Hornbills Rhinoplax vigil within the species's geographic range in preparation for a report to delegates attending the Helmeted Hornbill Conservation Strategy and Action Plan workshop in Sarawak, Malaysia, in May 2017.

The Helmeted Hornbill was uplisted in the IUCN Red List from from Near Threatened to Critically Endangered in 2015 owing to severe hunting pressure for its casque and habitat loss. Hunting pressure is expected to increase across the species's range and urgent conservation action is required.

The Indonesian government recently called upon the international community to help  prevent illegal trade in the species - in particular bill casques - during last year's meeting of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).

The forthcoming Sarawak workshop will include NGO representatives from range countries and aims to develop a conservation Action Plan for the Helmeted Hornbill.

Phase I (March - May 2017) involves collating Helmeted Hornbill records from the literature, databases, museums and most importantly, recent and near-recent records from birdwatchers.

If you have records of Helmeted Hornbills - particularly recent sightings - please enter your data by visiting the following location and following the instructions there.

Please note any information provided will be used for research purposes only and will not be disclosed publicly.

Helmeted Hornbill Rhinoplax vigil © Muhammad Alzahri

Three tagged cuckoos reach Africa

Routes from Asia to Africa followed by Flappy (red), Skybomb (gold) and Meng (blue).

Flappy, the satellite-tagged Common Cuckoo sponsored by the Oriental Bird Club is currently in southern Mozambique, having crossed around 20 international borders on her migration south.

Flappy's journey south, and that of two other satellite-tagged cuckoos, Meng and Skybomb, is shown in the map above.

All three have moved from their breeding grounds in Asia to south-east Africa. Flappy is currently the furthest south, close to the Zimbabwe border in Mozambique, while Skybomb was last reported a few weeks ago just north of Flappy, also in Mozambique. The lack of a recent signal from Skybomb could be because of tag failure, if the bird is inhabiting dense forest where a signal is not possible, or because the bird has perished. Researchers will be keenly awaiting further signals. Meanwhile, further to the north is Meng, the only male of the trio and a different subspecies (bakeri) to the two tagged female canorus. This individual migrated somewhat later than the other two birds and is some way behind in southern Tanzania.

Regular and social media, particularly in China, have carried numerous articles about the travels of the birds, reaching potentially hundreds of thousands if not millions of readers, and all helping raise awareness of the remarkable migrations undertaken by some Asian species.

Birding Beijing reports that “Cuihu Urban Wetland Park in Beijing, the location where Flappy was tagged, is planning to erect an information board about cuckoos for the general public. It will include what we know about the life-cycle and migration and, all being well, will include a map showing the migration route of Flappy.”

The Beijing Cuckoo Project aims to engage Chinese audiences about the wonders of bird migration with a view to promoting conservation and helping to strengthen the links between Chinese and international bird conservation organisations.

The main scientific goal was to discover the unknown migration route and winter quarters for Common Cuckoos breeding in East Asia.

The Beijing Cuckoo Project is a collaboration between the Beijing Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (BWRRC), China Birdwatching Society (CBS), the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and Birding Beijing.

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(小）中国观鸟会logo

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Alongside OBC, other supporters of the project are the Zoological Society of London and the British Birds Charitable Foundation and BirdLife International.

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Flappy currently in northern India

Flappy, the satellite-tagged Common Cuckoo sponsored by the Oriental Bird Club has been making astonishing progress on her autumn migration and is currently in northern India, having crossed several international borders on her migration south.

Since the last update here on 15th July she crossed the Mongolian desert, arriving in Hebei Province, southwest of Beijing, on 1st August, where she stayed for a few weeks. Next stop ruled out Southeast Asia as a wintering destination, as she travelled an incredible 2,400 km southwest into Myanmar, arriving there on 1st September.

Not for long, however, and speculations that she may stay in Myanmar were soon overturned, as only two days later her transmitter was picked up by satellites showing her to be in India, just north of the border with Bangladesh, in the state of Meghalaya. Pushing on in a west/northwesterly direction for 800 km, by 5th September Flappy had passed through the northernmost part of Bangladesh and arrived 120 km southwest of Kathmandu on the India/Nepal border.

Birding Beijing received an email from an excited follower at the Wildlife Institute of India, who noted that Flappy's route is similar to that taken by Amur Falcons, and speculating she may fly across India and migrate to Southern Africa taken an oceanic crossing like the Amurs.

Flappy has since carried on travelling northwest into Nepal and skirted the foothills of the Himalayas.

On the latest update she appeared to have changed tack from the consistent bearing of 290 degrees she had followed for the 1,700 km since Myanmar, and on 12th September was 200 km east of Delhi in Uttar Pradesh.

Birding Beijing also reports that "Cuihu Urban Wetland Park in Beijing, the location where Flappy was tagged, is planning to erect an information board about cuckoos for the general public.  It will include what we know about the life-cycle and migration and, all being well, will include a map showing the migration route of Flappy."

The Beijing Cuckoo Project aims to engage Chinese audiences about the wonders of bird migration with a view to promoting conservation and helping to strengthen the links between Chinese and international bird conservation organisations.

The main scientific goal will be to discover the presently unknown migration route and winter quarters for Common Cuckoos breeding in East Asia.

The Beijing Cuckoo Project is a collaboration between the Beijing Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (BWRRC), China Birdwatching Society (CBS), the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and Birding Beijing.

Alongside OBC, other supporters of the project are the Zoological Society of London and the British Birds Charitable Foundation.

Spoon-billed Sandpiper wintering site under threat

Spoon-billed Sandpiper © Richard Thomas/TRAFFIC

Khok Kham, one of only two regular wintering sites in Thailand for the Critically Endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper and other wader species of the East Asian-Australasian flyway is under threat from a solar farm development.

A number of Thai organizations and individuals are campaigning against the development. The Oriental Bird Club is offering our support to their efforts.

More information about the nature of the threat can be found in this article on the Birdguides website.

Flappy goes cuckoo and leads a merry dance

There was exciting news earlier this week when Flappy – or Flappy McFlapperson to give her full name: the female Cuckoo sponsored by the Oriental Bird Club through the Beijing Cuckoo Project—apparently began her southward migration. Speculation was rife as to whether she would head towards Africa or South Asia. However, as the maps below demonstrate, she is not about to give her secret away just yet.

By 15th July, Flappy was back in China, having been tracked to the edge of the Gobi Desert, and it appeared as if she was retracing her route from her tagging location in Beijing.

Things looked to be quite normal, but then her latest position revealed she had headed north once more to a location in Mongolia to the southeast of where she had started, thus completing three sides of a parallelogram!

Although the behaviour might appear extraordinary, such return movements of southbound migrants are not unknown, according to the BTO’s Dr Chris Hewson, who manages the project.

According to Hewson, migrant birds are sometimes even known to return to where they began their autumn migration.

In this instance, it is possible that on encountering harsh conditions on the edge of the Gobi Desert, Flappy turned back north to where she knew there was favourable habitat and a food source.

The next few days are keenly awaited to see where Flappy will make her next move.

Meanwhile, the other four cuckoos fitted with transmitters through the Beijing Cuckoo Project are all still on their breeding grounds.

All five of the birds were trapped in the Beijing area where local schoolchildren chose names for them and encouraged to follow their movements online as they move first to their breeding grounds then in the autumn to their as yet unknown wintering grounds.

The Beijing Cuckoo Project aims to engage Chinese audiences about the wonders of bird migration with a view to promoting conservation and helping to strengthen the links between Chinese and international bird conservation organisations.

The main scientific goal will be to discover the presently unknown migration route and winter quarters for Common Cuckoos breeding in East Asia.

The Beijing Cuckoo Project is a collaboration between the Beijing Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (BWRRC), China Birdwatching Society (CBS), the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and Birding Beijing.

Alongside OBC, other supporters of the project are the Zoological Society of London and the British Birds Charitable Foundation.

Flappy makes a flying start

An exciting new project is currently underway to find the wintering grounds of East Asia's Common Cuckoos.

Through the Beijing Cuckoo Project, satellite transmitters have been placed on five Common Cuckoos in order to track their international movements.

The birds were all trapped in the Beijing area where local schoolchildren have chosen names for them and encouraged to follow their movements online as they move first to their breeding grounds then in the autumn to their as yet unknown wintering grounds.

The Oriental Bird Club has sponsored a transmitter on one of the cuckoos, which the pupils at Dulwich International School, Beijing, chose to name Flappy McFlapperson.

The project follows a hugely successful study on Common Cuckoos breeding in the United Kingdom that for several years has tracked the birds' movements between Europe and their wintering grounds in sub-Saharan Africa.

That project attracted huge interest, both from the scientific community and from those with an interest in the natural environment.

The Beijing Cuckoo Project similarly aims to engage Chinese audiences about the wonders of bird migration with a view to promoting conservation, and help to strengthen the links between Chinese and international bird conservation organisations.

The main scientific goal will be to discover the presently unknown migration route and winter quarters for Common Cuckoos breeding in East Asia.

Speculation is rife about whether the birds will head for: Southeast Asia or, like their European cousins, sub-Saharan Africa.

Flappy, which is probably of the race canorus (blood analysis should confirm), has already provided some interesting insights into Common Cuckoo migration in the region. Following her fitting with a transmitter at Cuihu Urban Wetland Park, she first headed east then  NNW and is currently on the border of Mongolia and Russia. The route taken suggests she flew in an arc around the Mongolian Plateau.

Remarkably a second female cuckoo, tagged 161315, followed almost precisely the same route and at one point the two were within 50 km of one another in the Hentiyn Mountains. However, female 161315  carried on even further north and is now around 200 km east of Lake Baikal.

By contrast the three tagged male cuckoos, probably of the race bakeri, have all remained in the Beijing area.

You can keep up-to-date with all the latest developments through the Beijing Cuckoo Project pages on the Birding Beijing website, which includes further migration maps.

The Beijing Cuckoo Project is a collaboration between the Beijing Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (BWRRC), China Birdwatching Society (CBS), the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and Birding Beijing.

Alongside OBC, other supporters of the project are the Zoological Society of London and the British Birds Charitable Foundation.

Trade wiping out Indonesia’s bird species

Indonesia’s national bird – the Javan Hawk-eagle – is one of those most at risk © Chris R Shepherd / TRAFFIC

Jakarta, Indonesia, 26th May 2016 — A new study published in the latest issue of Forktail, the journal of the Oriental Bird Club, has revealed that 13 bird species—including Indonesia’s national bird, the Javan Hawk-eagle—found in Sundaic Indonesia are at serious risk of extinction because of excessive over-harvesting.

The study, Trade-driven extinctions and near-extinctions of avian taxa in Sundaic Indonesia, also finds that an additional 14 bird subspecies are in danger of extinction. The driver behind this crisis is the enormous demand for birds for the domestic pet trade.

The keeping of birds as pets in Indonesia is an integral part of the national culture, yet the high levels of demand for some species have fuelled excessive hunting with the populations of many rapidly disappearing.

Besides the Javan Hawk-eagle, the other full species at risk include the Silvery Woodpigeon, Helmeted Hornbill, Yellow-crested Cockatoo, Scarlet-breasted Lorikeet, Javan Green Magpie, Black-winged Myna, Bali Myna, Straw-headed Bulbul, Javan White-eye, Rufous-fronted Laughingthrush, Sumatran Laughingthrush and Java Sparrow.

Although most of them are kept as pets, the Helmeted Hornbill is an exception: as TRAFFIC recently revealed, thousands are being illegally killed and traded for their unique solid bill casques, carved as a substitute for elephant ivory, to meet demand in China.

Another of them, the Javan Green Magpie, was recognized as a full species as recently as 2013—and simultaneously documented as in grave danger of extinction owing to trade pressure. In direct response, the Threatened Asian Songbird Alliance (TASA), operating as a formal body of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), initiated a programme of captive breeding in a number of zoos, as assurance colonies, for security and propagation purposes.

Such conservation breeding is the last hope for some of the taxa affected. According to the study: “Regrettably five subspecies…are probably already extinct, at least in the wild, due primarily to trade.” They include one subspecies of a parrot (Scarlet-breasted Lorikeet), three subspecies of White-rumped Shama, an accomplished songster and one of the Hill Myna, popular because of its ability to mimic human voices.

“Whether its species or subspecies, the message is the same: excessive trade is wiping out Indonesia’s wild bird species at an alarming rate” said Dr Chris Shepherd, TRAFFIC’s Director for Southeast Asia, and a co-author of the study.

“Despite the alarming scale and consequences of the bird trade, governments and even conservation organizations often don't view this issue as a high priority. This hampers efforts to prevent further losses.”

The solutions to the bird trade crisis in Indonesia lie in a combination of better law enforcement, public awareness campaigns, in situ management, conservation breeding, conversion of trappers to wardens and field, market and genetic surveys, say the study’s authors.

Meanwhile as certain favoured species disappear because of trapping, others are targeted as “next-best” substitutes, while commercial breeders sometimes hybridise taxa for “better” effects, leading to further conservation complexities.

The study’s authors also consider whether commercial breeding could help alleviate the situation, but conclude that “while attractive in theory, [commercial breeding] presents difficulties that are probably insurmountable in practice.”

Conservation breeding is the focus for efforts to save the Javan Green-magpie © Chester Zoo

Volunteers sought to survey Yellow-breasted Buntings in Mongolia

Male Yellow-breasted Bunting © G. Amarkhuu

Populations of Yellow-breasted Bunting, Emberiza aureola, are rapidly declining across their range and the species has recently been classified as Endangered by IUCN. They were once common in the northern Palearctic from Finland and Belarus, eastwards to north-east Asia. Mainly due to excessive hunting in China and several other reasons, the species has declined across its range and become quite rare. However, ecological aspects of the decline remain unclear.

It is vital to understand the breeding ecology and migratory behaviour of this species to help identifying conservation actions in future. During the breeding season in June 2016, we want to find and identify locations suitable for deploying geo-locators next year and establishing a long-term population study and monitoring for this species.

We are looking for volunteers who can help us to find breeding localities of Yellow-breasted Bunting in north-eastern Mongolia. However, due to lack of funding and urgency of the issue, Mongolian biologists cannot do this on their own.

We seek volunteers who are able and willing to pay for costs related to their travel and participation in field surveys in Mongolia in the first half of June 2016. We can help arrange the logistical support you will need while you are in Mongolia. The field survey will last 2-3 weeks in June, and we would appreciate volunteers willing to contribute their time and resources during this period.

If you are interested, please contact:

Mr. Batmunkh Davaasuren at Wildlife Science and Conservation Center of Mongolia, batmunkh@wscc.org.mn, or

Mr. Alex Ngari at BirdLife International, Alex.Ngari@birdlife.org

Mixed news for Asia's vultures

Slender-billed Vultures, Assam (c) James Eaton / Birdtour Asia

The latest issue of the IUCN's Vulture Specialist Group newsletter (PDF, 200KB) has been published. Covering vulture news from around the world, the newsletter includes mixed news from Asia where, on the positive side, there is a growing prospect of the first releases back to the wild of Critically Endangered vulture species in Nepal and India.

Offset against this, however, are ongoing concerns over the continuing use of the vulture-killing drug diclofenac and derivatives thereof: one Indian pharmaceutical company is challenging in court the latest ban on multi-dose vials of the human formulations. Meanwhile a paper demonstrating that aceclofenac (a pro-drug to diclofenac) is indeed metabolised directly to diclofenac in cattle has been published this month, highlighting the urgent need for a veterinary ban.

Illegal cage bird trade threatens Black-winged Myna

Illegal trade is pushing the Critically Endangered Black-winged Myna towards extinction © Khaleb Yordan

Jakarta, Indonesia, 13th August—So rare that captive breeding centres have been robbed, the soaring prices and drop in availability of Black-winged Mynas in trade point to a species on the brink.

Black-winged Mynas are prized in the cage bird trade for their striking black and white plumage, lively behaviour and singing ability; today their extreme rarity in the wild adds to their desirability.

The species is native only to the islands of Java and Bali and is protected under Indonesian law. Despite this, illegal capture in the wild continues, while trade is carried out openly in Indonesia’s notorious bird markets.

Surveys by TRAFFIC and Oxford Brookes University researchers between 2010 and 2014 found significantly fewer Black-winged Mynas available in the three largest bird markets in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta: down by three-quarters since the 1990s. This coincides with a more than ten-fold increase in asking prices and the near complete decimation of the species in the wild.

The crisis facing the Black-winged Myna and other Asian songbirds is scheduled to come under expert scrutiny next month at the inaugural Asian Songbird Crisis Summit, taking place on 26-29th September 2015 in Singapore.

Just a few hundred individuals of the once common Black-winged Myna remain in the wild and the species is currently assessed as Critically Endangered by IUCN.

The birds are now so valuable that a captive breeding centre, where birds were being reared for conservation purposes, suffered a double robbery in June 2014, and almost the entire breeding stock, more than 150 birds were stolen.

While the bulk of trade in Black-winged Mynas appears to supply domestic demand, there is also an unknown level of international trade.

The authors of the latest study, published in Bird Conservation International, recommend that Indonesia lists the species in Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

“An Appendix III-listing is essentially a call for support by a country to assess the international trade in a species,” explained Vincent Nijman, Professor at Oxford Brookes University.

“That information would be essential for devising an action plan to save the species,” he added.

There is an unkown level of international trade in Black-winged Mynas © James Eaton / BirdtourAsiaThe demise of the Black-winged Myna is an eerie reminder of the fate of its close relative, the Bali Myna. The two are similar in appearance, and indeed the trade in Black-winged Mynas partly arose as a replacement species for the increasingly rare and expensive Bali Myna.

Commercial captive breeding is unlikely to remove pressure from remaining wild populations of Black-winged Mynas as long as enforcement efforts to prohibit the poaching and trade of the birds are absent or inefficient.

“TRAFFIC is extremely concerned over the increasing threat of extinction from trade to the Black-winged Myna”, said Dr Chris Shepherd, Regional Director of TRAFFIC in Southeast Asia.

The open and widespread illegal trade in birds in Indonesia, is pushing these mynas and many other species down a dangerous path.

“Indonesian authorities should demonstrate willingness to uphold their own national wildlife laws. It is high time for uncompromising and swift action against the illegal trade in the notorious bird markets,” said Shepherd.

Illegal trade pushing the Critically Endangered Black-winged Myna Acridotheres melanopterus towards imminent extinction (PDF, 218 KB) by Chris R. Shepherd, Vincent Nijman, Kanitha Krishnasamy, James A. Eaton and Serene C. L. Chng is published in the journal Bird Conservation International.

Superabundant bird decline mirrors Passenger Pigeon

Yellow-breasted Bunting male on the breeding grounds © Ulrich Schuster / Amur Bird Project

One of the Eurasia’s most abundant bird species has declined by 90% and retracted its range by 5000km since 1980 a new study shows.

Yellow-breasted Bunting was once distributed over vast areas of Europe and Asia, its range stretching from Finland to Japan.

New research published in the journal Conservation Biology suggest that unsustainable rates of hunting principally in China have contributed to a catastrophic loss of numbers and also in the areas in which it can now be found.

“The magnitude and speed of the decline is unprecedented among birds distributed over such a large area, with the exception of the Passenger Pigeon, which went extinct in 1914 due to industrial-scale hunting”, said Dr Johannes Kamp from the University of Münster, the lead author of the paper.

High levels of hunting also appear to be responsible for the declines in Yellow-breasted Bunting.

"A Century on from America's folly and Asia is blindly following suit, allowing a once superabundant bird to spiral into oblivion," said Richard Thomas, OBC Council Member.

The species has all but disappeared from Eastern Europe, European Russia, large parts of Western and Central Siberia, and Japan.

"Once Yellow-breasted Buntings were too numerous to count, today you can count on them nowhere being numerous," said Thomas.

In 2004, Yellow-breasted Bunting was the first species featured as A Bird to Watch in the OBC's journal BirdingASIA, where concern was expressed over the rapid levels of decline.

During migration and on the wintering grounds, Yellow-breasted Buntings gather in huge flocks at night-time roosts making them easy to trap in large numbers. Birds have traditionally been trapped for food at these roosts with nets.

Following initial declines, hunting of the species – known in Chinese as ‘the rice bird’ – was banned in China in 1997. However, millions of Yellow-breasted Buntings and other songbirds were still being killed for food and sold on the black market as late as 2013. Consumption of these birds has increased as a result of economic growth and prosperity in East Asia, with one estimate from 2001 of one million buntings being consumed in China’s Guangdong province alone.

“To reverse these declines we need to better educate people of the consequences of eating wildlife. We also need a better and more efficient reporting system for law enforcement”, said Simba Chan, Senior Conservation Officer at BirdLife International.

“The story of the Yellow-breasted Bunting illustrates how little we know about trends in populations in many species in the region. There is growing evidence that these declines are part of wider problems for common Asian birds. We need to better understand these in order to address them more effectively.“

Coordinated monitoring activities are urgently needed in East Asia. However, a new agreement between China, Japan, Republic of Korea and Russia is a first step in developing a coordinated monitoring of migratory birds across the region. The situation is now so serious that the Convention on Migratory Species has agreed to develop an international action plan for the recovery of the Yellow-breasted Bunting throughout its range by 2017.

“In the last decade birdwatching has become increasingly popular in China. Birdwatchers will play an important role in future data gathering”, said Simba Chan. “Now is the time to address these worrying declines across the region by mobilising people for conservation action.”

The latest study is published in Conservation Biology: Kamp et al. (2015) Global population collapse in a superabundant migratory bird and illegal trapping in China

Yellow-breasted Buntings are trapped in huge numbers to be sold as snacks © Huang Qiusheng

Jerdon’s Babbler rediscovered in Myanmar

Jerdon’s Babbler, rediscovered in Myanmar in May 2014 © Robert Tizard / WCS

5th March 2015—Jerdon’s Babbler Chrysomma altirostre has been rediscovered in Myanmar by a scientific team from WCS, Myanmar’s Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division – MOECAF, and National University of Singapore (NUS).

Jerdon’s Babbler had last been seen in Myanmar in July 1941 and was considered by many to be extinct in the country.

News of the exciting rediscovery has been unveiled in the latest issue of BirdingASIA, the six-monthly journal of the Oriental Bird Club.

The printed article will be distributed to Club members, while an electronic version can be downloaded here: BirdingAsia22 pp13-15 (PDF, 50 KB)

The team rediscovered Jerdon’s Babbler on 30th May 2014 while surveying grasslands near the town of Myitkyo, Bago Region near the Sittaung River, close to an abandoned agricultural station.

After hearing a distinctive call, scientists played back a recording and were rewarded with the sighting of an adult Jerdon’s Babbler.

During the next two days, the team repeatedly found Jerdon’s Babblers at several locations in the immediate vicinity and mistnetted individuals to obtain blood samples and high-quality photographs.

The small brown bird, about the size of a House Sparrow Passer domesticus, was initially described by British naturalist T. C. Jerdon in January 1862, who found it in grassy plains near Thayetmyo, Myanmar.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the species was common in the vast natural grassland that once covered the Ayeyarwady and Sittaung flood plains around Yangon. Since then, agriculture and communities have gradually replaced most of these grasslands as the area has developed.

“The degradation of these vast grasslands had led many to consider this subspecies of Jerdon’s Babbler extinct. This discovery not only proves that the species still exists in Myanmar but that the habitat can still be found as well. Future work is needed to identify remaining pockets of natural grassland and develop systems for local communities to conserve and benefit from them,” said Colin Poole, Director of WCS’s Regional Conservation Hub in Singapore.

Jerdon’s Babblers in Myanmar are currently considered as one of three subspecies found in the Indus, Bhramaputra, and Ayeyarwady River basins in South Asia. All show subtle differences and may yet prove to be distinctive species.

Further analysis of DNA samples taken from the bird will be studied at the Department of Biological Sciences at the NUS Faculty of Science, to determine if Jerdon’s babbler in Myanmar should be considered a full species. If so, the species would be exclusive to Myanmar and be of very high conservation concern because of its fragmented and threatened habitat.

“Our sound recordings indicate that there may be pronounced bioacoustic differences between the Myanmar subspecies and those further west, and genetic data may well confirm the distinctness of the Myanmar population,” said Professor Frank Rheindt of NUS’s Department of Biological Sciences and a key member of the field team and leader of the genetic analysis.

This work was carried out as part of a larger study to understand the genetics of Myanmar bird species and determine the true level of bird diversity found in the country. Already Myanmar has more species of bird than any other country in mainland Southeast Asia and this number is likely to increase as our understanding of birds in this long isolated country continues to grow.

WCS’s work in Myanmar which led to this discovery was supported by The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.

Oriental Bird Club, UK registered charity 297242, is for birders and ornithologists around the world who are interested in birds of the Oriental region and their conservation. The Club's aims are to encourage an interest in wild birds of the Oriental region and their conservation, to promote the work of regional bird and nature societies and to collate and publish information on Oriental birds. The Club is run by a team of dedicated volunteers.

Jerdon’s Babbler, Myanmar © Robert Tizard / WCS

Asian ibis on the Edge

Giant Ibis (c) James Eaton / BirdtourAsia

An assessment by scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Yale University of bird species worldwide has helped produce a list of the top 100 most Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (Edge) species.

Top of the list is the rare and striking Giant Ibis, which today can most easily be found in northern Cambodia. Approximately 230 pairs remain in the wild, many of them protected by local campaigns run through the Sam Veasna Centre and BirdLife Cambodia. Chief threats to the ibis are habitat loss, human disturbance and hunting.

New Spoonie video launched

A new short two minute video, based upon the conservation work by Sayam Chowdhury   through Spoon-billed Sandpiper Conservation Project (BSCP) in Bangladesh has been launched and can be seen here:

You can also read Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig's blog about her visit to the project.

Enjoy!