Many populations of long‐distance migrants are declining and there is increasing evidence that declines may be caused by factors operating outside the breeding season. Among the four vulture species ...breeding in the western Palaearctic, the species showing the steepest population decline, the Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus, is a long‐distance migrant wintering in Africa. However, the flyways and wintering areas of the species are only known for some populations, and without knowledge of where mortality occurs, effective conservation management is not possible. We tracked 19 juvenile Egyptian Vultures from the declining breeding population on the Balkan Peninsula between 2010 and 2014 to estimate survival and identify important migratory routes and wintering areas for this species. Mortality during the first autumn migration was high (monthly survival probability 0.75) but mortality during migration was exclusively associated with suboptimal navigation. All birds from western breeding areas and three birds from central and eastern breeding areas attempted to fly south over the Mediterranean Sea, but only one in 10 birds survived this route, probably due to stronger tailwind. All eight birds using the migratory route via Turkey and the Middle East successfully completed their first autumn migration. Of 14 individual and environmental variables examined to explain why juvenile birds did or did not successfully complete their first migration, the natal origin of the bird was the most influential. We speculate that in a declining population with fewer experienced adults, an increasing proportion of juvenile birds are forced to migrate without conspecific guidance, leading to high mortality as a consequence of following sub‐optimal migratory routes. Juvenile Egyptian Vultures wintered across a vast range of the Sahel and eastern Africa, and had large movement ranges with core use areas at intermediate elevations in savannah, cropland or desert. Two birds were shot in Africa, where several significant threats exist for vultures at continental scales. Given the broad distribution of the birds and threats, effective conservation in Africa will be challenging and will require long‐term investment. We recommend that in the short term, more efficient conservation could target narrow migration corridors in southern Turkey and the Middle East, and known congregation sites in African wintering areas.
One approach to stabilise small and declining populations is to breed individuals in captivity and release them into the wild to reinforce existing populations while working to reduce threats. ...Population reinforcement programmes require long‐term commitments to be successful and can divert limited resources from other conservation measures. A rigorous evaluation whether reinforcement can stabilise a population is therefore essential to justify investments.
Many migratory species incur high mortality during their first migration, and releasing captive‐bred birds at an older age may therefore benefit reinforcement programmes for migratory birds. We examine whether a small and declining population of a long‐distance migratory raptor—the Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus—can be stabilised using population reinforcement that reduces mortality during the first migration. We used an integrated population model to evaluate realistic reinforcement and survival improvement scenarios to estimate how many captive‐bred birds would need to be released to stabilise the population.
Survival probability of wild juveniles during their first year (0.296; 95% CI 0.234–0.384) was too low for a stable population (population growth rate 0.949; 95% CI 0.940–0.956), but captive‐bred juveniles released in their second calendar year had improved survival (0.566; 95% CI 0.265–0.862) during their first year in the wild.
Reinforcement of 15 birds per year for 30 years was insufficient to achieve a neutral or positive population growth rate. However, reinforcement reduced the probability of extinction by 2049 from 48% without reinforcement to <1% if 12 or more birds were released every year for 30 years. A 6% increase in annual survival probability would likely lead to a stable population without any reinforcement.
Synthesis and applications. Although releasing captive‐bred birds can reduce high juvenile mortality during first migration and assist in postponing local extinction, further improvements of survival in the wild are required to safeguard a migratory population where threats in the wild will persist for decades despite management.
Translated Περίληψη
Μία προσέγγιση που στοχεύει στη σταθεροποίηση μικρών και μειούμενων πληθυσμών είναι η αναπαραγωγή ατόμων σε αιχμαλωσία και στη συνέχεια η απελευθέρωσή τους στην φύση για την ενδυνάμωση των υπαρχόντων πληθυσμών, ενώ παράλληλα συνεχίζονται οι διαχειριστικές δράσεις που στοχεύουν στον περιορισμό των απειλών. Τέτοια προγράμματα ενδυνάμωσης πληθυσμών, για να είναι επιτυχημένα, απαιτούν μακροπρόθεσμη δέσμευση και μπορούν να εκτρέψουν τους ήδη περιορισμένους πόρους από άλλα μέτρα διατήρησης. Είναι επομένως απαραίτητη μια διεξοδική αξιολόγηση του κατά πόσον οι δράσεις ενδυνάμωσης μπορούν να οδηγήσουν έναν πληθυσμό σε σταθεροποίηση, έτσι ώστε πιθανές επενδύσεις σε τέτοιες δράσεις να είναι δικαιολογημένες.
Πολλά μεταναστευτικά είδη πουλιών υφίστανται υψηλή θνησιμότητα κατά το πρώτο τους ταξίδι οπότε η απελευθέρωση ατόμων που έχουν αναπαραχθεί σε αιχμαλωσία αφού έχουν φτάσει σε μεγαλύτερη ηλικία μπορεί να ωφελήσει προγράμματα ενδυνάμωσης που στοχεύουν πληθυσμούς μεταναστευτικών ειδών. Εδώ, εξετάζουμε εάν ένας μικρός και μειούμενος πληθυσμός ενός μεταναστευτικού είδους αρπακτικού ‐ του Ασπροπάρη (Neophron percnopterus) ‐ μπορεί να σταθεροποιηθεί μέσω δράσεων ενίσχυσης που μειώνουν τη θνησιμότητα κατά την πρώτη μετανάστευση. Χρησιμοποιήσαμε πληθυσμιακά μοντέλα για να αξιολογήσουμε ρεαλιστικά σενάρια ενδυνάμωσης και αύξησης της επιβίωσης ώστε να εκτιμήσουμε πόσα άτομα που έχουν αναπαραχθεί σε αιχμαλωσία θα πρέπει να απελευθερωθούν για να επιτευχθεί η σταθεροποίηση του πληθυσμού.
Η πιθανότητα επιβίωσης των άγριων νεαρών ατόμων κατά το πρώτο έτος της ζωής τους (0,296, 95% CI 0,234 – 0,384) ήταν πολύ χαμηλή για να οδηγήσει σε έναν σταθερό πληθυσμό (ρυθμός αύξησης πληθυσμού 0,949, 95% CI 0,940 –0,956), αλλά τα νεαρά άτομα που είχαν αναπαραχθεί σε αιχμαλωσία και απελευθερώθηκαν στον δεύτερο χρόνο της ζωής τους, έδειξαν αυξημένη επιβίωση (0,566, 95% CI 0,265 – 0,886) κατά τη διάρκεια του πρώτου έτους τους στη φύση.
Η ενδυνάμωση του πληθυσμού με την απελευθέρωση 15 πουλιών ετησίως για 30 χρόνια δεν επαρκεί για την επίτευξη είτε σταθερού είτε θετικού ρυθμού αύξησης του πληθυσμού. Ωστόσο, η δράση ενδυνάμωσης μπορεί να μειώσει την πιθανότητα εξαφάνισης από 48% σε λιγότερο από 1% έως το 2049, εάν 12 ή περισσότερα πουλιά απελευθερώνονταν κάθε χρόνο για 30 χρόνια. Επίσης, εάν η ετήσια πιθανότητα επιβίωσης αυξανόταν κατά 8% θα οδηγούσε σε έναν σταθερό πληθυσμό χωρίς να χρειάζεται καμία δράση ενίσχυσης.
Σύνθεση και εφαρμογές. Παρόλο που η ενδυνάμωση του πληθυσμού μπορεί να μειώσει την υψηλή θνησιμότητα των νεαρών ατόμων κατά την πρώτη τους μετανάστευση και να βοηθήσει στην αναστολή μιας τοπικής εξαφάνισης, απαιτείται περαιτέρω βελτίωση της επιβίωσης τους στην φύση για την διασφάλιση ενός μεταναστευτικού πληθυσμού ο οποίος θα συνεχίσει να αντιμετωπίζει απειλές για δεκαετίες παρά τη διαχείριση.
Although releasing captive‐bred birds can reduce high juvenile mortality during first migration and assist in postponing local extinction, further improvements of survival in the wild are required to safeguard a migratory population where threats in the wild will persist for decades despite management.
Assessing the effectiveness of conservation measures to reverse population declines is essential to evaluate management strategies. Management solutions such as direct protection or supplementary ...feeding typically aim at reducing mortality or increasing productivity, but demonstrating such demographic consequences of adopted management is often difficult. Here we assess the effectiveness of large-scale management actions aimed at the conservation of an endangered vulture on the Balkan Peninsula by extending a novel analysis to estimate seasonal adult survival from observations of unmarked individuals. We monitored Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus breeding success and territory occupancy over 11years in three countries during which both nest guarding and supplementary feeding were carried out. We found little evidence that nest guarding and supplementary feeding increased breeding propensity (mean=0.88±0.32 standard deviation, n=463), breeding success (0.82±0.39), or the number of fledglings raised by successful pairs (1.3±0.74). We estimated adult survival during the 23-week breeding season (mean=0.936, 95% credible interval 0.889–0.968) and found no significant increase due to management. In the last 13years 43 dead adult birds have been found during the breeding season, and 77% of confirmed mortalities were due to poisoning. Overall, the current management measures may have so far failed to halt ongoing population declines because the beneficial effects are insufficient to offset the loss of adult birds for example due to poisoning. We suggest that additional measures to slow the decline of Egyptian Vultures in the Balkans are required. In the short term, we urge governments to enforce anti-poison regulations that already exist. In the medium term, alternative approaches need to be developed that reduce the use of poisons and the associated accidental mortality of vultures and other wildlife species.
The Convention of Migratory Species aims to protect migratory animals throughout their range, but efficient mitigation of threats facing migratory birds is hindered by poor knowledge about the ...magnitude and geographic range of threats. We used an expert assessment to prioritise which threats to mitigate in 13 countries along the eastern Mediterranean flyway to protect globally threatened Egyptian Vultures Neophron percnopterus. We informed this assessment by satellite tracking 71 birds to quantify where and how mortalities occurred, surveying 4216 km of powerlines to detect carcasses, conducting 910 interviews to quantify poison use, and by surveying markets and hunters to assess direct persecution. Mortality of 50 birds occurred in Europe and the Mediterranean Sea (44%), the Middle East (18%), and Africa (38%), and mortality causes varied geographically. Inadvertent poisoning resulting from rural stakeholders targeting predators occurred along most of the flyway. On the breeding grounds in eastern Europe and in Saudi-Arabia, poisoning and collision and electrocution are the priority threats to mitigate. Electrocution on small and poorly designed electricity pylons was the priority threat in Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and Ethiopia. Direct persecution for belief-based use of vulture products was the priority threat in Nigeria and Niger, while other illegal killing was the priority threat in Lebanon and Syria. Our work cannot quantify which threat has the greatest demographic impact on Egyptian Vultures. Nonetheless, because all threats we assessed are relevant for many other migratory birds, our assessment highlights the priority threats that range states need to address to protect migratory birds.
Abstract
Wetland bird species have been declining in population size worldwide as climate warming and land-use change affect their suitable habitats. We used species distribution models (SDMs) to ...predict changes in range dynamics for 64 non-passerine wetland birds breeding in Europe, including range size, position of centroid, and margins. We fitted the SDMs with data collected for the first European Breeding Bird Atlas and climate and land-use data to predict distributional changes over a century (the 1970s–2070s). The predicted annual changes were then compared to observed annual changes in range size and range centroid over a time period of 30 years using data from the second European Breeding Bird Atlas. Our models successfully predicted ca. 75% of the 64 bird species to contract their breeding range in the future, while the remaining species (mostly southerly breeding species) were predicted to expand their breeding ranges northward. The northern margins of southerly species and southern margins of northerly species, both, predicted to shift northward. Predicted changes in range size and shifts in range centroids were broadly positively associated with the observed changes, although some species deviated markedly from the predictions. The predicted average shift in core distributions was ca. 5 km yr
−1
towards the north (5% northeast, 45% north, and 40% northwest), compared to a slower observed average shift of ca. 3.9 km yr
−1
. Predicted changes in range centroids were generally larger than observed changes, which suggests that bird distribution changes may lag behind environmental changes leading to ‘climate debt’. We suggest that predictions of SDMs should be viewed as qualitative rather than quantitative outcomes, indicating that care should be taken concerning single species. Still, our results highlight the urgent need for management actions such as wetland creation and restoration to improve wetland birds’ resilience to the expected environmental changes in the future.
Avian scavengers are declining throughout the world, and are affected by a large number of threats such as poisoning, electrocution, collision with man-made structures, direct persecution, changes in ...agricultural practices, landscape composition, and sanitary regulations that can reduce food availability. To formulate effective conservation strategies, it is important to quantify which of these factors has the greatest influence on demographic parameters such as territory occupancy and breeding success, and whether quantitative models can be transferred across geographic regions and political boundaries. We collated territory and nest monitoring data of the endangered Egyptian Vulture
Neophron percnopterus
in the Balkans to understand the relative influence of various factors on population declines. We monitored occupancy in 87 different territories and breeding performance of 405 territory-monitoring years between 2003 and 2015, with an overall territory occupancy rate of 69% and a mean productivity of 0.80 fledglings per occupied territory. We examined which of 48 different environmental variables were most influential in explaining variation in territory occupancy and breeding success in Bulgaria and Greece, and tested whether these models were transferrable to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Territory occupancy and breeding success were affected by a wide range of environmental variables, each of which had a small effect that may not be the same across political boundaries. Both models had reasonably good discriminative ability area under the receiver-operated characteristic curve (AUC) for territory occupancy = 0.871, AUC for breeding success = 0.744, but were unsuccessful in predicting occupancy or breeding success in the external validation data set from a different country, possibly because the most influential factors vary geographically. Management focussing on a small number of environmental variables is unlikely to be effective in slowing the decline of Egyptian Vultures on the Balkan Peninsula. We recommend that in the short term the reduction of adult mortality through the enforcement of anti-poison laws, and in the long term the adoption of large-scale landscape conservation programs that retain or restore historical small-scale farming practices may benefit vultures and other biodiversity.
This list includes probably more than 90% of all the material containing data on birds of the Republic of Macedonia. This time, the references in their original language are presented, with (C) ...denoting that the original work was published in Cyrillic alphabet. 268 references depict Macedonian ornithology and its history, showing its ups and downs at the same time. The references presented herewith are for information purposes only. As no complete information has been at hand for certain references, some mistakes are possible. The last update was made on 14 Dec 2011. Online version of this review is available on the web page of the Macedonian Ecological Society) where it is regularly updated. You are kindly requested to report on all possible/necessary corrections, supplements or new references that embrace original data on birds of Macedonia, to the authors. The next step to be made in the ensuing years is preparation of the authors' and species' index, key words and list of localities (regions).
An attempt is made to identify Key Biodiversity Areas in the Republic of Macedonia through the identification of internationally recognized important areas for biodiversity: Important Plant Areas ...(IPAs) and Important Bird Areas (IBAs). Forty two IPAs covering 6,495km2 and 24 IBAs covering 6,907km2 have been identified in Macedonia. Thirty seven IPAs (6,152km2 or 24% of the country’s territory) and 15 IBAs (4,821km2 or 18.75% of the national territory), meet KBA criteria, between them yielding 42 KBAs. The remaining five IPAs and nine IBAs do not meet KBA criteria although have international significance. Together IPAs and IBAs total 10,698km2; those meeting the KBA criteria total 9,670km2. In total, 73% and 65% of the entire national protected areas (PAs) surface overlaps with IPAs and IBAs respectively. This proportion is 81% for the 42 KBAs. However, only 25% of the total size of protected areas overlaps with IPAs, only 21% overlap with IBAs, and only 19% with the combined 42 KBAs. This means that Macedonia’s protected areas system is not yet representative and comprehensive for safeguarding its botanical and avian diversity.
Identification of the Important Bird Areas (IBAs) is an initiative implemented by BirdLife International at the global level, aiming to conserve a network of sites that are particularly important for ...the conservation of birds. With the changed conservation status of some species and increased information on the distribution and population sizes of birds in Macedonia in general, a revision of the IBA network was needed to update previous inventories for this country, published in 1989 and 2000. As the bird fauna of the Republic of Macedonia ranks among the least known in Europe, and as data on many species, notably passerines, are still largely missing, the inventory is mainly based on some threatened or rare birds of prey and a few other larger species, yet characteristic of the Macedonian landscape. Data used were collected in the course of different dedicated studies and projects carried out after 2000. Out of 314 species so far registered in Macedonia, 114 regularly occurring species have currently unfavourable conservation status in Europe, 84 of which breed or possibly breed in the country. Several criteria for the selection of IBAs of global (A criterion) and European importance (B criterion) developed by BirdLife International were used for sites selection, taking into consideration species of global conservation concern (A1), biome-restricted species (A3), important congregations (A4, B1) and species with an unfavourable conservation status (B2) or concentrated (B3) in Europe. Species of global conservation concern used for site identification include the Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus, considered Endangered (EN) at the global level according to the latest IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus and Imperial Eagle Aquila heliaca (both Vulnerable - VU), and Roller Coracias garrulus and Semicollared Flycatcher Ficedula semitorquata (both Near Threatened - NT). Furthermore, species assemblages characteristic as occurring mostly or entirely within a Eurasian high-montane or Mediterranean biome are found in Macedonia. Important congregations of non-breeding waterbirds with at least 1% of global or biogeographic populations of individual species occur on all three large lakes in the country, some of them (e.g. Dalmatian Pelican, Red-crested Pochard Netta rufina) in very large numbers, surpassing the 1% threshold by more than tenfold. In total, 25 species regularly occurring in the breeding season, for which the site protection approach is thought to be appropriate in Macedonia, were used for the selection of sites of European importance. Site boundaries were drawn following distinct natural features or isohypses to include breeding sites and foraging areas of triggering species, and, for Imperial Eagle and Egyptian Vulture also former breeding sites back to 1991, taking into consideration their habitat requirements, land-use and management needs. The resulting IBA list numbers 24 sites, covering 6,907 km2 or 26.9% of the entire territory of Macedonia: (1) Šar Planina Mountain, (2) River Radika Catchment, (3) Lake Ohrid, (4) Lake Prespa, (5) Demir Kapija Gorge, (6) Lake Dojran, (7) Zletovska River Valley, (8) Tikveš Region, (9) Pčinja - Petrošnica - Kriva Reka Rivers, (10) Preod - Gjugjance, (11) Osogovo Mountains, (12) Jakupica Mountain, (13) Taor Gorge, (14) Ovče Pole, (15) Topolka - Babuna - Bregalnica Rivers, (16) Gradsko - Rosoman - Negotino, (17) Lake Mantovo and Kriva Lakavica River, (18) Raec River Valley, (19) Pelagonia, (20) Mariovo, (21) Lake Tikveš, (22) Bošavija, (23) Kočani Rice Fields, and (24) Lower Vardar. With the exception of three sites occupying the highest parts of the large mountain massifs in NW and central parts of Macedonia, and the lakes Ohrid and Prespa, sites are concentrated mostly in central hilly and lowland parts of the country, comprising breeding areas of species of global conservation concern. The percentage of territory covered by the IBAs in Macedonia is relatively high compared to the total European average but comparable to several countries in SE parts of Europe. The size of separate IBAs ranges from 25 km2 (Taor Gorge) to 1,136 km2 (Pelagonia) and number of triggering species per site from one (Bošavija, Kočani Rice Fields) to 17 (Pčinja - Petrošnica - Kriva Reka Rivers). 22 sites trigger some of the criteria of global importance - three sites (Lakes Ohrid, Prespa and Dojran) meet A4 criterion, eight sites hold significant populations of species characteristic of the Mediterranean biome, while three other sites sustain significant populations characteristic of the European high-montane biome. Species of global conservation concern are included as follows: Egyptian Vulture on 13 sites, Imperial Eagle on 7, Dalmatian Pelican and Saker Falcon Falco cherrug on 2, Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca on 3, Roller Coracias garrulus on 10, Red-footed Falcon Falco vespertinus on 3 sites, and Semi-collared Flycatcher on 1 site. Individual triggering species for sites of European importance are represented on 2-15 sites. The IBA network includes 80-100% of the national populations of the globally threatened species, while the coverage of other species vary between 5% and 100%, being over 40% in great majority of species. Non-irrigated arable land and transitional woodland-shrub are dominant land-cover types, jointly covering 32% of the total IBA surface area. Abandonment of traditional pastoral system, resulting in decrease of the livestock numbers and overgrowing as well as trapping, poisoning and poaching, are considered the most serious threats for triggering species, particularly the Egyptian Vulture and Imperial Eagle, being classified as high on no less than 11 sites, respectively. The national legal protection of the sites is incomplete, being either only partial or with inadequate conservation measures adopted, or, many sites still lack any form of legal protection. With about 21% of the National protected area network overlapping with the IBAs, the existing protected area system is thus insufficient for conservation of most priority species. Notably underrepresented are the regions in the lower parts of the country with the highest number of species of global conservation concern.
Mednarodno pomembna območja za ptice globalnega in evropskega pomena v Makedoniji
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