Great to see this statement from WOAH, recognizing the broader ecological impacts of HPAI and the need to integrate conservation initiatives beyond just wildlife health. www.woah.org/en/statement...

#seabirds #ornithology

On the other side of the world, 96% of entire population (c. 7,000 birds) of the CR Siberian Crane have been forced by dwindling natural food supplies to winter in increasingly crowded conditions around Poyang Lake in SE China, where a single outbreak could be a potential extinction event.

#ornithology abcbirds.org/news/congres...

Not sure whether 13 is a lot or too few, but a lesson for other MEAs that tracking the translation of decisions into effective national implementation is critical to assessing success

The star bird of Rajah Sikatuna Protected landscape, the Azure-breasted Pitta, shining in the dark forest. Video courtesy of Taej Mundkur

Lord help me, for I have started a substack. It's because I haven't been able to write my damn book. Who knows where this will go? If you like unpredictability, come on over. 🤪 daringindanger.substack.com

No more rivers to cross ... www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...

super cool study found human artifacts in Bearded vulture nests, incl. "weaponry like a crossbow bolt and wooden lance, decorated sheep leather, and parts of a slingshot....a shoe made from twigs and grass is ~675-years-old." link to paper: doi.org/10.1002/ecy..... www.popsci.com/environment/... 🧪🌍🦉

Hello everyone. Today in "One day, one paper", global cumulative impacts on marine ecosystems are projected to >double by mid-century, driven by ocean warming and fisheries. Coastal habitats face the highest total impacts, while offshore and tropical regions will experience the fastest increase 🌎

I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA 10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)

Daily Discovery: The Diasonics – Larks Synth-driven funk with voice and vintage electronics. Third single from their Record Kicks album Ornithology, out 3 October. #TheDiasonics #Larks #Funk #Ornithology #RecordKicks #Moscow rhythmpassport.com/?p=163028

An Intergeneric Hybrid Between Historically Isolated Temperate and Tropical Jays Following Recent Range Expansion | doi.org/10.1002/ece3... | Ecology and Evolution | #ornithology 🪶

While there is no disconnect scientifically, the climate and nature crises are intrinsically linked, as are the solutions, but institutionally there is often poor communication and coordination among implementing agencies within countries and representation at global fora such as the upcoming COP 30

A recent study found only 15% of the sandpiper’s suitable non-breeding habitat is protected, with threats from coastal reclamation, invasive plants and sea-level rise. Scientists call for prioritizing high-threat wintering areas, especially in Thailand and Myanmar.

Papers like this reflect the remarkable upsurge and awareness and interest by Chinese researchers of the critical importance of China for migratory waterbirds in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway over the past 20 years, including the conservation perspective.

Black-tailed godwit joins NSW endangered species list as population dives https://www.newsbeep.com/au/40739/ Scientists fear a remarkable migratory shorebird, which flies vast distances each year to reach Australia, will become extinct…

Early this morning #Whimbrel POTSKAR landed in Guinea, W Africa, after flying 7000+km from St-Petersburg, Russia. It took POTSKAR 5.5 days of NON-STOP flight, varying altitude from 10s of meters over the Baltic and the Med, to >5km over land. #ornithology www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci...

history of a health insurance system rooted in exclusion drjessicaknurick.substack.com/p/we-were-ne...

"Keeping cats indoors would mitigate the risk of their infection" It would also stop them killing millions of wild birds every year!

seems like a dream job 👍

This is a really nice interview. Nostalgic, but as Anaïs hints, nostalgia moves on :) I have one burning question though - does Anaïs still drink beer ? Hahaha

#ornithology dialogue.earth/en/nature/ma...

Very cool, interesting to see Ruff (and Broad-billed Sandpiper) nested in among the Calidris species

For those (few) highly migratory CR species, area-based approaches such as 30x30 under GBF Target 3 are not, in themselves, very useful. But some of these species, as noted, have significant international cooperation and resources, unlike many habitat-restricted, sedentary species.

Mass death and cruelty, whether in the form of genocide or planetary destruction, is being actively normalised by our leaders. I cannot think of a more dangerous time. The horror of it is enough to take breath and words away. Anyone who feels safe (or sane) is deluded.

#ornithology yaleclimateconnections.org/2025/06/how-...

🧊☀️Warming winters promote biodiversity through reduced mortality of a habitat-forming species in soft-sediment intertidal systems vist.ly/3n52zbb #ClimateChange #FoundationSpecies #LaniceConchilega #Macrozoobenthos #Mudflats #PopulationDynamic

well, you know White Storks in Europe stopped migrating to hang out at garbage dumps all winter. Who wants to fly all the way to Africa to chase blackened locusts in smoky grassland fires? On a related issue, do gulls still have webbed feet?

These viruses just want to replicate and spread. That's their raison d'etre. Teaming up with other like-minded viruses to take advantage of political and institutional failures offers them the best pathway for doing that. It's hard to combat an evolutionary imperative!

Very good (and relatively readable) summary/history. There has always been a fair bit of disinformation around outbreaks and although the proposed One Health approach is clear and logical, the constraints are political and institutional rather than scientific and so need to be seen in that context

Important information as CAF networks of international cooperation develop

In an ideal world, prevention and preparedness efforts would focus on identifying and monitoring sites of key biodiversity importance and high vulnerability, such as some seabird colonies and roosts and directing capacity building, including resource flows, to those areas.

Once HPAI hits colonies it is really hard to control, so major efforts need to go into assessing vulnerability and prevention and preparedness measures, but this is so much more difficult now HPAI has become "endemic" in wild birds since 2022 with more pathways to entry :(

As do pika communities on the grasslands of the Tibetan plateau

hahaha, someone has a wicked sense of humor. I'm sure they considered the task as dismantling a terrorist bomb before settling on building a space rocket, lol www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

This is great. So-called "binding" agreements like CMS are only successful to the extent resolutions are incorporated into national legislation (international law is a bit of a chimera). Happy to see CMS take this initiative and hopefully in the long run a way to measure the Convention's success.

Chile's long coastline is vital for migratory shorebirds and seabirds, the latter very vulnerable to HPAI outbreaks as we saw a couple of years back www.audubon.org/press-room/n...

Moult is an underappreciated factor in determining patterns of bird migration and this study shows some seabirds use calmer waters at this time. As we develop full life-cycle conservation plans for pelagic seabirds, it is important to understand the factors influencing habitat choice.

#ornithology www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

We urgently need better international cooperation, communication and information-sharing "upstream" in East Asia. Many of the researchers in this article are working on that. Harder for the long-distance seabirds that are less easily observed for long periods and whose migrations is less well-known

.. and those migratory birds better stay in America during the winter, or they won't be allowed back in

Look forward to the Natural History Museum only curating American birds ... www.washingtonpost.com/history/2025...

What a business! Seems to run on repeated federal compensation, the birds and eggs are only incidental www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

Couldn't get some of those key birds ... www.theguardian.com/film/2025/ma...

Bird Flu is a big risk for rare species that associate with large concentrations of commoner species. In addition to Whooping Cranes, Lesser White-fronted Geese mix with flocks of congeners, and Black-headed Gulls may bring HPAI to tern colonies. www.jsonline.com/story/sports...

one of several species that have "moved in" to Beijing in the last 20 years (Black-shouldered Kite, Long-tailed Shrike) but since Bearded Tits have also increased could it be more reedbed habitat is now present?

Although focused on the poultry sector, the strategy includes key actions for wildlife and ultimately human health. However, many of the key barriers to implementation are institutional and political, but we can learn from successful examples of local and regional cooperation and hopefully scale up.

The problem is that there is still a huge gap between knowing what we need to do and having the technologies to do it and actually being able to apply that knowledge and implement effective solutions, especially where actions are needed in multiple countries along migratory flyways.