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BIRDING ADVENTURES TV NEWS
Dear James,
The Birding Adventures crew is off to Belize and Costa Rica to film 2 exciting shows on these must-visit destinations. Please be sure to watch out for these shows when they air in March.
Congratulations to the winner of our weekly quizz, Peggy Gussman from California! And be sure to enter this week's quizz.
Learn more below about our upcoming show, the Snail Kites of Palm Beach County, Florida. Our next newsletter will be sent at the end of February so, if you missed any of our more popular shows this year, we will be re-airing some of these as per the schedule below.
Stay tuned for another Birding Adventure!
THE TV SHOW WHERE BIRDS OF A FEATHER ADVENTURE TOGETHER
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NATURE IS AMAZING! Watching a butterfly weaving its way along a summer meadow is one of life's greatest pleasures. But how many of us realise that these fragile creatures can undertake annual migrations of several thousand kilometres? A new study has shed light on how they manage it - with an inbuilt compass that enables them to select winds which will take them in their chosen direction at speeds of up to 100 km per hour. Nature is truly amazing and something to celebrate.
Last month the United Nations launched 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity. As the world's largest partnership of conservation organisations, BirdLife is an official partner of the International Year of Biodiversity and we're joining in the global celebrations ( International Year of Biodiversity).
In January, for the International Year of Biodiversity we presented a photo exhibition of Europe's natural wonders within the European Parliament (Biodiversity on the brink). BirdLife Partners were also actively celebrating biodiversity: SEO/BirdLife (BirdLife in Spain) announced the winner of their photo competition (Great Bittern wins SEO/BirdLife's photo competition), and a member of DOF staff (BirdLife in Denmark) in their spare time created and launched a new CD 'Music & Migration' in support of our Born to Travel Campaign (Music and Migration - music for the birds).
We are all dependant on healthy and diverse ecosystems for clean water, food, a stable climate, and much more. Yet unsustainable human actions are degrading ecosystems throughout the world. The short-term economic and other benefits that may be derived from exploitation of our forests, wetlands and oceans are significantly outweighed by the far greater long-term damage to human livelihoods and health. With threats to biodiversity growing faster than ever, BirdLife knows that International Year of Biodiversity is an important opportunity to recognise the urgent need for more action to halt its loss.
We reported last month how invasive alien species, ranging from disease and plants, to rats and goats, are one of the top three threats to life on this planet (Impact of nature's invading aliens measured for the first time). We also helped to launch two petitions, the first to better protect seabirds within European waters (It's time to protect Europe's seabirds), the second to stop the illegal spring hunting of migrants on the island of Malta (International action to stop illegal hunting in Malta). Please take a moment to sign the petitions if you haven't already.
Finally, it was with great excitement that we announced that the breeding site of one of the world's least known birds has finally been found in the remote and rugged Wakhan Corridor of the Pamir Mountains of north-eastern Afghanistan ('World's least known bird' found breeding in Afghanistan). First discovered in India in 1867, more than a century elapsed before a second Large-billed Reed-warbler was spotted. Now we know where they breed, conservationists now stand a chance at protecting it.
From the familiar summer butterfly, to the elusive bird, we're continually reminded that Biodiversity certainly has the ability to surprise us. Amazing.
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| SNAIL KITES! Snail Kites are 45 cm (18 in) long with a 120 cm (47 in) wingspan. They have long, broad, and rounded wings. It is long-tailed, with a white rump and undertail coverts. The dark, deeply hooked beak is an adaptation to its diet. The adult male has dark blue-gray plumage with darker flight feathers. The legs and cere are red. The adult female has dark brown upperparts and heavily streaked pale underparts. She has a whitish face with darker areas behind and above the eye. The legs and cere are yellow or orange. The immature is similar to adult female, but the crown is streaked.
It flies slowly with its head facing downwards, looking for its main food, the large apple snails. It feeds almost exclusivley on this single prey item. For this reason, it is considered a molluscivore.
The Snail Kite is a locally endangered species in the Florida Everglades, with a population of approximatley 400 to 500 breeding pairs. Research has demonstrated that water-level control in the Everglades is depleting the population of apple snails and, in turn, the Florida population of Snail kites. However, this species is not generally threatened over its extensive range.Learn more about the conservation of this unique bird on this week
 BATV WEEKLY QUIZZCorrectly identify the mystery bird in the photo at left and win a comprehensive Nikon lens cleaning kit. See below for more details on this great book. Email all answers to info@BirdingAdventures.com and title your email "Quizz".
Clue: a type of thrush
The winner (first correct entry drawn) will be announced in next week's newsletter.
Congratulations to our last winner, Peggy Gussman of California, who correctly identified our last mystery bird as an Orange-crowned Warbler! Peggy won a Nikon lens cleaning kit. |
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TV SCHEDULE
We will be re-airing the following popular shows. Our upcoming immediate schedule is as follows:
Week of February 8 Snail Kite - Florida
Week of February 15 Aplomado Flacon - Texas
Week of February 22 Guianan Toucanet - Suriname
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Happy Birding,
The Birding Adventures Team
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