The accurate estimation of key demographic parameters is invaluable for making decisions about the management of endangered wildlife but such estimates are often difficult to obtain. Parameters such as species-specific apparent survival rates are an important component in understanding population ecology and informing management decisions. The Maui Parrotbill Pseudonestor xanthophrys is a ‘Critically Endangered’ Hawaiian honeycreeper endemic to the Island of Maui. We used an 18-year encounter history dataset comprising 146 marked individuals to estimate apparent survival between sexes and age classes (juvenile, adult). A difference in survival rates between sexes was strongly supported; 0.72 ± 0.04 for adult females and 0.82 ± 0.03 for adult males. This difference may be a reflection of either reproductive costs or additional risks of incubation and brooding, such as depredation. We also found support for age-biased survival, but limited information for juveniles did not provide a well-supported model fit for our data (juvenile survival = 0.17 ± 0.15; adults = 0.78 ± 0.02). However, apparent adult survival was similar to that of other Hawaiian passerines (mean 0.78 ± 0.03, n = 16). These results suggest that efforts to prevent the extinction of this species may benefit from future management strategies focused on increasing female survival such as predator reduction.

In developing countries, ‘land sparing’ may be more effective than ‘land sharing’ in partially mitigating the impacts of farming on bird species diversity. We examined the pattern of change in the global and local distribution of Hinde’s Babbler Turdoides hindei, a ‘Vulnerable’ Kenyan endemic whose local abundance is dependent on a passive form of land sharing, in which farmland is left fallow or abandoned, enabling Lantana scrub to colonise. In 2011 we assessed the species’ global range and resurveyed three IBAs, surveyed previously in 2000–2001, to determine whether fine-scale changes in abundance reflected temporal changes in habitat quality. Although the babbler’s known range increased between 1900–1970 and 1991–2011, we suggest that this apparent expansion largely reflects an improved knowledge base, and that several recently discovered sites are likely to have been overlooked in the past. In combination, the three IBAs surveyed in 2000-2001 and 2011 showed little net change in the number of individuals (+1.3%) or groups (-3.8%) encountered, despite a 68% decline in the number individuals recorded at one site. Within 1-km transect sections there was a positive correlation between change in Hinde’s Babbler abundance and change in the amount of scrub cover available, such that a reduction in scrub cover of 22 and 6 percentage points, respectively, was associated with the loss of one group or one individual. The availability of scrub cover was dependent mainly on the amount land left uncultivated, perhaps in response to changes in the value of coffee and other crops. Since the babbler’s abundance thus currently depends mainly on land sharing by default, rather than by design, we suggest that a more proactive approach, involving land purchase or payments for land set aside, might help to secure its future.

Diagnosing the causes of population declines of highly endangered species is vital to ensure that appropriate conservation measures are undertaken. Although experiments can provide critical information on potential causes, these can be time consuming and costly, and so it is important to determine the most plausible hypothesis for such tests. The last wild population of the Critically Endangered Mariana Crow Corvus kubaryi has been declining rapidly on Rota in the Mariana Islands. Because nest predation by introduced rats Rattus spp. has been implicated in the declines of other Pacific island birds, we tested for a correlation between breeding success of Mariana Crows and abundance of rats R. diardii surrounding their nest sites. If rats are a contributing factor in this species’s decline, we predicted that breeding success would be lower in areas where rats were more abundant. In complete contrast to this prediction, we found that breeding success was significantly higher where rats were most abundant, suggesting that rats are unlikely to be a major driving force behind the decline in this species. The positive association between crow breeding success and rat abundance suggests these species may be responding to similar habitat needs or a shared predator. This study illustrates the importance of gathering sufficient knowledge on the ecology of a species prior to undertaking costly, logistically difficult and time consuming experiments.

No published information is available on the foraging ecology and choice of feeding habitat of New Zealand’s rarest breeding bird: the New Zealand Fairy Tern (NZFT) Sternula nereis davisae. To address this gap, we conducted an assessment of the largest remaining breeding population at Mangawhai Harbour, Northland, New Zealand, during the chick-rearing period of the 2010/2011 breeding season. We combined visual tracking of birds with prey surveys and stable isotope analyses, and we present the first quantitative assessment of NZFT foraging. We recorded 405 foraging dives that show NZFT foraging habitat includes the water edges, shallow channels, and pools on the tidal flats of mangrove-lined (Avicennia marina var. resinifera) parts of the estuary; tidal pools on mud- and sandflats in the mid-estuary and lower harbour; the shallow margins of the dredged main channel in the lower harbour; the oxbow lagoons on the sand spit; and coastal shallows. Our study identifies the mangrove-lined highly tidal and shallow mid-estuary and the lagoon on the sand spit as foraging hotspots for the Mangawhai breeding population of the NZFT. The prey survey employed a seine-net sampling method at identified NZFT foraging sites and yielded 4,367 prey-sized fish of 11 species, two of which had not previously been reported in Mangawhai Harbour, as well as numerous shrimps. The most abundant fish were gobies of the genus Favonigobius. Our stable isotope results highlight gobies as the most important prey for NZFT chick rearing, also indicating that flounder Rhombosolea sp. contribute to NZFT diet. We raise the possibility that shrimps may also constitute a substantial diet component for NZFT, potentially providing up to 21% of diet mass for adult birds. While our results provide a first basis to understanding the feeding ecology of NZFT during their breeding season in order to facilitate conservation planning, further research is required to address inter-annual variation and to identify key foraging grounds for this Critically Endangered bird at other breeding sites.

Lear’s Macaw Anodorhynchus leari is currently listed as “Endangered” by IUCN. Although it only breeds on cliffs at two protected sites in Bahia State, Brazil, there is no accurate information on population parameters such as the number of breeding pairs and their breeding performance. Between 2009 and 2010, we sought to quantify, for the first time, breeding population size and the main breeding parameters for the species in the two known breeding sites, by quantifying the number of active nests and monitoring 75 breeding attempts. Overall, 80% of the breeding attempts were successful with 1.33 (± 0.86 SD) fledglings/breeding attempt (productivity) and 1.67 (± 0.60 SD) fledglings/successful nest (brood size). Breeding success and productivity were higher in 2010, while brood size did not vary between years and breeding sites. By adding 73 estimated nests to the 41 nests monitored, 228 individuals were estimated to be reproductively active in 2010, representing c.20% of the population (1,125 individuals). Given that the species is confined to a single population, further population increases could provoke overcrowding and negative density-dependent effects if it does not expand geographically. Therefore, long-term population monitoring focusing on the fraction of the population that is actually breeding and its breeding performance, rather than solely on the whole population size, is important for a better understanding of the population dynamics and conservation of this species.

Source-sink dynamics are easily overlooked when formulating recovery objectives for threatened species. This could lead to unrealistic criteria imposed on sink populations, which in turn might restrict an entire metapopulation from being delisted. Therefore, an understanding of the viability of subpopulations within the context of a metapopulation is needed to develop appropriate recovery objectives. Consequently, we used 11 years of mark-recapture, productivity, and movement data to analyse the viability of a small, geographically isolated population of the Snowy Plover Charadrius nivosus, a shorebird listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Simulations confirmed that the focal population in northern California is a sink that relies upon immigrants from neighbouring populations. Furthermore, these source populations will increase within the next 50 years and are likely to achieve the delisting requirements. However, the northern California population is unlikely to reach the delisting criteria given the current vital rate estimations. Management scenarios demonstrated that lethal predator removal and reducing human disturbance facilitate population recovery and may partially alleviate the reliance upon immigration. However, the use of nest exclosures reduced population growth because they are known to compromise adult survival. These results highlight the importance of maintaining viable source populations and re-evaluating the recovery objectives of metapopulations with active sinks.

Coastal and inland surveys for the endemic and “Critically Endangered” Madagascar Fish Eagle Haliaeetus vociferoides were conducted in western Madagascar from Antsiranana in the north to Manja in the south during the 2005 and 2006 breeding seasons (May–October). Surveys covered typical Madagascar Fish Eagle habitat: lakes, rivers, mangroves, estuaries, and marine islands within their known distribution. In total, 287 individuals were encountered, including 98 breeding pairs (196 individuals), 23 breeding trios (69 individuals), 15 single adults and seven immature birds. Of these 287 birds, 128 individuals (44.6%) were observed on lakes; 116 (40.4%) in coastal areas, consisting of 103 (35.9%) in mangroves and 13 (4.5%) in estuaries; 32 (11.2%) on marine islands and 11 (3.8%) on rivers. There was an increase between surveys in 1995 and this study in the number of Madagascar Fish Eagles counted, from 222 to 287, and in the number of pairs from 99 to 121. This study confirms that the Madagascar Fish Eagle population is still low due to human persecution (hunting, collection of eggs and nestlings), overfishing and habitat destruction. We recommend monitoring fish eagles annually at the higher concentration sites to evaluate human activities and conducting a population survey every five years throughout western and northern Madagascar.

African Penguins Spheniscus demersus naturally breed in guano burrows which provide shelter from predators and extreme weather conditions. Past guano harvesting has removed this habitat and artificial nests of different types have been deployed, with previous research identifying variable success of these different types. We investigated climatic conditions in two types of artificial nests, and compared them to natural burrows and surface nests for two weeks in the incubation and early chick-rearing phases of the 2012 summer breeding season on Bird Island, Algoa Bay, South Africa. We also compared breeding success since 2009 between some of these nest types. Natural burrows remained the best insulated from extremes of temperature and humidity, with temperatures consistently higher and humidity consistently lower than in exposed nests and the two types of artificial nests. Fibreglass nests retained temperatures > 30°C, when Spheniscus penguins start being heat-stressed, for the longest periods of time. Sustained high temperatures will induce increased energy expenditure associated with active thermoregulation for birds in these nests. The combination of high temperatures and low humidity could also have contributed to damaging water loss in the eggs and reduced egg survival, as suggested by the consistent lower hatching success in the fibreglass nests. Cement nests had more moderate temperatures than fibreglass nests and higher breeding success, possibly due to superior ventilation. Vegetation cover had no effect on the temperature regime inside fibreglass nests. To maximise conservation efforts for these endangered penguins, additional research should be conducted towards engineering artificial nests that better mimic the conditions of natural burrows.

Mapping migratory routes and the distribution of species during migration requires information collected over large scales (e.g. survey data), or the ability to follow specific movements (e.g. using tracking devices), which is often limited to a few individuals. For endangered species, such techniques may be impractical, but developments in flight range modelling allow inferences about migratory routes and potential site occupancy, given a few morphological parameters. We modelled flight range in a rapidly declining population of continental Black-tailed Godwits Limosa limosa limosa departing from a staging site in Iberia during spring migration and found that the vast majority of godwits are able to reach the breeding grounds in a single flight. Contrary to the traditional use of staging sites in France (and Morocco), godwits currently staging in Iberia are predicted to fly directly to The Netherlands and be present at breeding locations earlier than previously expected and observed. Despite harbouring approximately 75% of the total population during spring migration, Iberian staging sites currently lack any legal protection. Our example of the Black-tailed Godwit illustrates the potential of this approach to identify migration strategies and locate staging sites for species of conservation concern for which such information may be virtually absent.

Breeding dispersal subsequent to nest failure is hypothesised to be a behavioural response to danger posed by nest predators. We used histories and locations of male and female Snowy Plover Charadrius nivosus nests in northern California over a 10-year period to examine effects of nest fate, mate fidelity, residency, predator exclosures, and age on dispersal distance. Within years, females moved a median distance of 2.2 km after changing mates; males moved a median of 0.9 km. Between years, plovers moved the shortest distances when they retained a mate from the prior year and were successful in hatching eggs (males = 0.2 km, females = 0.3 km). Both females (13.0 km) and males (2.6 km) dispersed farther when mate change coincided with nest failure in the prior year. The observation that most plovers did not disperse far enough to move away from sites where predators are abundant and have strong effects on plover reproductive success suggests that effective predator management will be challenging.

The Sahel in West Africa is a major wintering area for many western Palearctic migrants. The breeding populations of many of these have declined over the past 50 years. However, there have been few intensive field studies on migrant ecology in the Sahel and these were generally within a very restricted area. Consequently our knowledge of the distribution of species within this extensive area and the habitat associations of these species is limited. Understanding these habitat associations is essential for the effective conservation management of populations. We brought together a group of experts and consulted a wider group by email to assess the main Sahelian habitat types used by 68 African-Eurasian migrant bird species. Those species that showed strongest declines during 1970–1990 were associated with more open habitats than those newly declining during 1990–2000, when declining species were associated with habitats with more shrubs and trees. Populations of species that winter in the Sahel are generally stable or increasing now as rainfall has increased and is now near the long-term average for the Sahel. Those which use the Sahel only as a staging area are, in many cases, in rapid decline at present.

Eleonora’s Falcon is a long-distance migrant of the Palearctic region. In recent years, the advent of satellite telemetry has enabled a more detailed investigation of the species’s migratory and wintering periods. In this study, we model the distribution pattern of four Eleonora’s Falcons originating from Greece within their wintering grounds in Madagascar with the use of satellite telemetry data and a niche-based technique, Maxent. The model predicted few highly suitable areas for the occurrence of the species, restricted to elevated areas receiving large amounts of precipitation during the wintering period, containing patches of primary and degraded humid submontane forests as well as cultivation. Most of these areas occurred within the previously estimated home ranges of the four falcons, as well as of three falcons from another independent study. Taking into account the ongoing alterations in landscape structure that occur within the eastern rainforest region of Madagascar, we believe that it is imperative to better understand the ecological requirements of Eleonora’s Falcon. To this end, we recommend the application of Maxent in the study of habitat selection of the species that could be further refined with the inclusion of biotic interactions and seasonal resource availability.

We present the results of searches for the Austral Rail Rallus antarcticus in Argentine and Chilean Patagonia between January 1998 and February 2006 and from subsequent visits. We surveyed 58 localities and found the rail in 22, which collectively cover approximately 85 km2 of habitat. A maximum of 175 individuals were detected. This poorly known species was rediscovered in 1998; since then, it has been found in 18 additional localities, providing further data on distribution, habitat and seasonal movements. During the searches, we found that the species faces different threats, such as reduction of wetlands due to cattle grazing, burning and abnormal water management, but also the presence of American mink Neovison vison. However, due to the lack of prior information we conclude that the species should be maintained as Vulnerable.

Taiwan has 145 breeding bird species, but so far no comprehensive attempt has been made to model their distributions. For the first time, we bring together various datasets to model the distributions of the 116 bird species with sufficient sampling coverage. We improved on previous limited modelling efforts by using ensemble modelling, based on five well-performing modelling approaches: multiple discriminant analysis, logistic regression, genetic algorithm for rule-set production, ecological niche factor analysis and maximum-entropy. We then used these ensemble models to improve our knowledge of the status of each bird species by (1) calculating each species’s coverage of Taiwan, (2) calculating each species’s coverage by Taiwan’s protected area network, and (3) comparing these two conservation-relevant measures with already established measures to highlight those species whose status may need to be reassessed. We categorised each species’s coverage of the entire study area as measured by their modelled distributions into four quartiles, thus establishing a new measure of rarity called ‘range quartile’ which we used to highlight the 22 species with a limited distribution on mainland Taiwan. We also calculated that overall, 29.8% of the distribution ranges of the 116 modelled species are covered by Taiwanese protected areas. We then identified those species whose status may need to be reassessed because of possible conflicts between the respective conservation-relevant measures. Thus we identified 10 species which are first-quartile species < 5% of whose distributions are protected, of which only five are considered threatened. We also identified another 12 species with limited distributions, 30 species with limited protection and 19 species whose status may need to be reassessed for various reasons. We recommend that range quartile and protected area coverage be incorporated into future assessments of the conservation status and protected area coverage of Taiwanese birds.

Condors and vultures comprise the only group of terrestrial vertebrates in the world that are obligate scavengers, and these species move widely to locate ephemeral, unpredictable, and patchily-distributed food resources. In this study, we used high-resolution GPS location data to quantify monthly home range size of the critically endangered California Condor Gymnogyps californianus throughout the annual cycle in California. We assessed whether individual-level characteristics (age, sex and breeding status) and factors related to endangered species recovery program efforts (rearing method, release site) were linked to variation in monthly home range size. We found that monthly home range size varied across the annual cycle, with the largest monthly home ranges observed during late summer and early fall (July–October), a pattern that may be linked to seasonal changes in thermals that facilitate movement. Monthly home ranges of adults were significantly larger than those of immatures, but males and females used monthly home ranges of similar size throughout the year and breeding adults did not differ from non-breeding adults in their average monthly home range size. Individuals from each of three release sites differed significantly in the size of their monthly home ranges, and no differences in monthly home range size were detected between condors reared under captive conditions relative to those reared in the wild. Our study provides an important foundation for understanding the movement ecology of the California Condor and it highlights the importance of seasonal variation in space use for effective conservation planning for this critically endangered species.

Following a recent assessment of the distribution and habitat use of Gurney’s Pitta in Myanmar (Burma), further extensive surveys were undertaken in 2010, 2011 and 2012. These have extended the species’ known altitudinal limit to between 250 m and 300 m asl and its latitudinal limit to above 12.5°N, around 80 km north of the northernmost historical record, although the species was recorded far less frequently at higher altitudes and latitudes. Birds were recorded in a range of forested habitats, from intact primary forest to secondary and bamboo forest, with no significant difference between major forest types in the likelihood of occurrence. Niche envelope modelling (MaxEnt) suggested a total range size in Myanmar of 3,379 km2, and did not identify any potentially suitable areas in adjacent parts of Thailand. The species’ preference for warmer, wetter areas on flat ground, conditions ideal for growing oil palm and rubber, suggest that its distribution is likely to contract in the near future. The entire range of Gurney’s Pitta in Myanmar falls within the part of the country most suitable for commercial oil palm production, although the projected yields within its range are low to moderate. Field surveys found evidence of rapid recent deforestation and high levels of hunting and trapping in many parts of the region. The species’ range in Myanmar does not overlap with any protected areas. The protection of southern Myanmar’s biodiversity will require substantial investment by foreign conservation interests, sympathetic land-use planning and the strengthening of environment legislation. Protection of extensive tracts of lowland forest within the range of Gurney’s Pitta, particularly the proposed Lenya National Park and the adjacent Ngawun and Htaung Pru Reserve Forests, is urgently needed. Conserving these areas will also protect populations of other globally threatened bird and mammal species.

The island of Aguiguan is part of the Mariana archipelago and currently supports populations of four endemic species, including one endemic genus, Cleptornis. Bird population trends since 1982 were recently assessed on the neighbouring islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota indicating declines in some native species. Point-transect surveys were conducted in 2008 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to assess population densities and trends on Aguiguan. Densities for six of the nine native birds—White-throated Ground-dove Gallicolumba xanthonura, Collared Kingfisher Todiramphus chloris, Rufous Fantail Rhipidura rufifrons, Golden White-eye Cleptornis marchei, Bridled White-eye Zosterops conspicillatus and Micronesian Starling Aplonis opaca—and the non-native bird—Island Collared-dove Streptopelia bitorquata—were significantly greater in 2008 than in 1982. No differences in densities were detected among the surveys for Mariana Fruit-dove Ptilinopus roseicapilla, and Micronesian Myzomela Myzomela rubratra. Three federally and locally listed endangered birds—Nightingale Reed-warbler Acrocephalus luscinius, Mariana Swiftlet Collocalia bartschi, and Micronesian Megapode Megapodius laperous)—were either not detected during the point-transect counts, the surveys were not appropriate for the species, or the numbers of birds detected were too small to estimate densities. The factors behind the increasing trends for some species are unknown but may be related to increased forest cover on the island since 1982. With declining trends for some native species on neighbouring islands, the increasing and stable trends on Aguiguan is good news for forest bird populations in the region, as Aguiguan populations can help support conservation efforts on other islands in the archipelago.

The endemic Jamaican subspecies of the Golden Swallow Tachycineta euchrysea euchrysea has been rare and locally distributed since its discovery in 1847. By the 1950s, its geographic range had contracted to a small region along the northern frontier of Cockpit Country. The last unequivocal sight records occurred in the early 1980s, raising strong concern about the swallow’s conservation status. I conducted an island-wide search for the swallow from 1994 through 2012. Standardised censuses of aerial insectivores at 1,281 sites, including the last redoubts of the Golden Swallow in Trelawny Parish, revealed no evidence of the species. These surveys and the absence of documented sight records during the past three decades suggest that the Jamaican race of the Golden Swallow is close to extinction if not already extinct. The cause of the population decline is unknown but is most likely linked to chronic predation by introduced mammalian predators, particularly the arboreal black rat Rattus rattus.

Despite the recent rapid decline of many grassland bird species, the relative importance of habitat configuration to population persistence is unclear. We used Southeastern American Kestrels Falco sparverius paulus in north-central Florida as a model system to explore the relative influence of landscape structure components on site occupancy patterns at two spatial scales, and for two different time periods. We focused on the dynamic processes of site-level population expansion or contraction. We modelled the occupancy of 131 American Kestrel nest boxes with Bayesian state-space dynamic occupancy models that considered both the partially observed process of true occupancy and the probability of detection of occupancy. We used reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo (RJMCMC) algorithms to identify variables that described the continued occupancy of nest boxes, or ϕ, and the probability of colonisation of nest boxes between time periods, or γ3. Changes in open habitat patch isolation at a fine scale, as estimated by the variability of nearest neighbour distance, predicted site colonisation between decades, and patch shape variability was related to ϕ during the early time period (1992–93). We found no strong effects of landscape structure on ϕ during the later time period (2008–2010). We also found no evidence for effects of loss of open habitat on box occupancy or colonization. Our results indicate that continued habitat fragmentation would be deleterious for this threatened subspecies. Additionally, certain land cover management practices recommended for the Florida sandhills, such as frequent low-intensity controlled burns, will likely help conservation attempts.