Waterbird News - Issue 39

Linking climate warming and land conversion to species’ range changes across Great Britain

The most notable changes over the past 75 years have been an increase in temperature and a loss of roughly 90% of lowland meadow and pasture, mainly converted to arable farmland and improved grassl

Flight heights obtained from GPS versus altimeters influence estimates of collision risk with offshore wind turbines in Lesser Black-backed Gulls Larus fuscus

As previous BTO research has shown, bird-borne tracking devices are essential for shedding light on seabird flight behaviour.

Avoidance of offshore wind farms by Sandwich Terns in the North Sea increases with turbine density

How do offshore wind farms affect seabird behaviour?

Research reveals a crucial link between wind farm design and Sandwich Tern behaviour in the North Sea.

Combining remote sensing and tracking data to quantify species’ cumulative exposure to anthropogenic change

The results showed that although the actual amount of change had been greatest on the breeding grounds, cumulative exposure to changes in direct mortality risk and climate were highest during the C

State of Nature report 2023

The current state of nature

The UK, like most other countries worldwide, has experienced a significant loss of biodiversity.

LifeCycle issue 12, Summer 2023

This issue contains articles on Redshank and Dunnock nest finding as well as a feature with advice and guidance on accessing funding to help fund fieldwork.

A demonstration of the value of recapture data for informing moult phenology models for species with imperfect moult data.

Developing statistical approaches to better understand feather moult

Researchers seeking to understand moult in the context of these other events need robust measures of moult duration and timing.

The status of the UK breeding European Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur population in 2021

The UK Turtle Dove population is thought to have peaked around 1970, when there were an estimated 125,000 pairs.

A crowded ocean: the need for demographic and movement data in seabird conservation

To implement effective conservation actions, locally and globally, we need to quantify the importance of the multiple, often interacting, threats to seabird population growth rates.

Analysis of wintering waterbird population trends for the Lough Neagh and Lough Beg Special Protection Area (SPA)

Waterbird trends for the Lough Neagh and Lough Beg Special Protection Area

This analysis of Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) data for the Lough Neagh and Lough Beg SPA provides details of wintering waterfowl population changes around the loughs and assists in identifying potential

Lasso Penalisation identifies consistent trends over time in landscape and climate factors influencing the wintering distribution of the Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata)

Bioacoustics as a novel approach for detecting the presence of Brown Rats on seabird islands

Detecting Brown Rats on seabird islands

Introduced Brown Rats can devastate seabird colonies, predating both eggs and chicks. Can we use bioacoustic technology to detect and monitor this threat?

Local colonisations and extinctions of European birds are poorly explained by changes in climate suitability

Assessing movements of Lesser Black-backed Gulls using GPS tracking devices in relation to the Galloper Wind Farm<br /> 

Global assessment of marine plastic exposure risk for oceanic birds

Disproportionately high risk for threatened seabirds from marine plastic.

Seeing the wood for the trees, irregular silviculture supports bat populations in conifer plantations

How do bats respond to different approaches to the management of conifer plantations

Conifer woodland covers 1.6 million hectares of the UK and is an important source of economic revenue.

Spring arrival of the Common Cuckoo at breeding grounds is strongly determined by environmental conditions in tropical Africa

West African stopover determines timing of Cuckoo arrival

The authors use 11 years of satellite tracking data from 87 male Cuckoos, tagged at 11 sites across the UK, to examine variation in migratory timing throughout the annual cycle and its potential co

The phenology and clutch size of UK Blue Tits does not differ with woodland composition

Does the timing of Blue Tit breeding vary with woodland composition?

Changes in breeding wader populations of the Uist machair and adjacent habitats between 1983 and 2022

Study shows 25% decline in breeding waders between 1983 and 2022