Birds
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Item Bird data : Poland, Warsaw(Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 2005) Witt, Klaus; Mitschke, Alexander; Luniak, MaciejAvifaunas of three large cities (Hamburg, Berlin and Warsaw) situated in the northern lowlands of Central Europe along an 850-km-long west-east line were compared. Estimates of several species’ breeding populations in these cities were used to calculate their densities in the total area of breeding habitat in each city used by the species in question. The relationship of the densities of several common species was compared. Of 39 species analysed, 18 showed higher densities in Hamburg, 4 in Warsaw and 2 in Berlin. A gradient of increasing density from Warsaw to Berlin and Hamburg (Western gradient) was found for 16 species: Columba palumbus, Troglodytes troglodytes, Prunella modularis, Turdus merula, T. philomelos, T. viscivorus, Sylvia atricapilla, Phylloscopus collybita, Ph. trochilus, Regulus regulus, R. ignicapillus, Garrulus glandarius, Parus cristatus, Certhia brachydactyla, Fringilla coelebs, Pyrrhula pyrrhula. An opposite (Eastern) gradient was found for only 3 species: Columba livia f. domestica, Oriolus oriolus and Passer domesticus. Suggested causes for most of the larger differences among the three cities in the densities of particular species are the variation in the richness of vegetation (higher in both German cities) and differences in the stage of synurbization (i.e. adaptation to the urban environment) of specific avian species. In a few cases, factors such as the geographic range of a species, the attitude of humans (in the case of the Feral Pigeon), and specific, slight variations in habitat are put forward to explain the differences found.Item Bird data : Singapore(National University of Singapore. Dept. of Zoology, 2007) Wang, Luan Kang; Hails, Chris J.This annotated checklist is the third major compilation for Singapore. It lists the current status of all bird species ever recorded in the wild in Singapore. A total of 404 species have been recorded, including 44 species which are now extinct or have not been recorded for the last 50 years. Some of the latter species have been recorded again as non-breeding visitors. There are now 342 species that occur naturally in Singapore and another 22 species that were introduced by man. Fifty-eight families of birds are represented. There are 121 resident species with proven breeding records and 21 other presumed residents. One hundred and fifty-four species are winter visitors and/or passage migrants, with another 25 species listed as non-breeding visitors and 21 others that occur in Singapore as vagrants. Census data since 1991 shows that the total number of birds in Singapore has declined by 40 % and the number of species has declined by nearly 17 %. The most abundant bird species Is a migrant, the Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis fulva). The most important site in terms of bird population is Sungei Mandai, an unprotected mudflat and mangrove ecosystem while Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and Pulau Ubin are important in having the highest diversities of birds. The loss of mudflats through reclamation, damming of estuaries, and canalisation of rivers has resulted in a decline in waterbird density and diversity as shown in the Annual Waterfowl Census. The current total shorebird population in Singapore is only 4,000 - 5,000 birds, a vast decrease from the large wintering population of 10,000 birds at a single site, the Serangoon Estuary, in 1985. Forty-one of the 44 extinct species were resident forest birds, of which, 34 (82.9 %) went extinct between 1900 and 1950. This equates to 3.4 species lost every five years, an alarming rate of extinction for a small island like Singapore. The most susceptible families are the Trogonidae and Eurylaimidae, with 100 % species loss, and Picidae, with 56.3 % species loss. The susceptible bird families are predominantly those of the forest, whereas the resistant families exist largely in open country and scrub. In fact, only three extinct species were not largely dependent on tropical rainforests for their existence. Forest species such as the Green Broadbill (Calyptomena viridis) became extinct from the forests as recently as 1941. This emphasises the role that habitat destruction has played in shaping Singapore's avifauna. Fifty-four species of birds are at risk of extinction, of which 34 species (63 %) live in the forest. The remaining patches of forest in Singapore are mostly protected in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve that should provide a safe haven for the forest birds. However, the forests are too fragmented, small and constantly disturbed by thousands of visitors. By connecting the smaller Bukit Timah Nature Reserve to the much larger Central Catchment Nature Reserve, the forest patch size can be increased and might allow more movement of animals and plants between the two patches. Many forest birds are secretive or weak fliers and are reluctant to cross open spaces. A green corridor might encourage them to do so. Another 16 species (29.6 %) of threatened birds are specialists of mangroves and wetlands. Preservation of these most-threatened of ecosystems in Singapore is of utmost importance to the survival of the birds found in these special habitats. With improvement in the quality of habitats, we could perhaps slow down the rate of local extinction of the avifauna of Singapore. Our remaining habitats need to be protected and laws protecting wildlife must be strictly enforced, so that the birds may have a chance to coexist with us.Item Bird data : Japan, Sendai(Elsevier, 2010) Imai, Haruka; Nakashizuka, TohruThe importance of biodiversity in urban parks and green spaces has been increasingly emphasized. In this study, we focused on the avian community in urban parks and green spaces and aimed to elucidate its characteristics and affecting factors. Specific questions addressed are, (1) What ecological traits feature the avian communities in urban parks and green spaces? (2) What environmental factors are important in changing the structure or avian communities in urban area, such as species diversity and guild structure. The study sites were 20 urban parks or green spaces located in central urban area in Sendai, northern Japan. Bird surveys were conducted from middle to late breeding season. We measured environmental factors of stand and landscape level, including water related environment. The overall species number decreased in highly urbanized area, while diversity index (H ) increased, probably because the species with low frequency did not occur in urban environment and increased equitability of the community. The result of CCA revealed that the characteristics of avian communities in Sendai City were determined by the prevalence of water-related environments and the predominance level of urban environment. Insectivores and foliage foraging species contributed to increasing overall species number, while ground foraging species negatively affected to the overall avian diversity of a community. These findings suggested that increased shrub in stand level was effective to increase the overall species number, and to be considered future design of the city parks.Item Bird data : Spain, Valencia(Ginster Verlag, 2005) Murgui, E.Item Bird data : Bulgaria, Sofia(Ginster Verlag, 2005) Iankov, P.