Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

About: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is a nonprofit organization based out in Sandy, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Biodiversity. The organization has 670 authors who have published 1425 publications receiving 88006 citations. The organization is also known as: RSPB & Plumage League.

Breeding and wintering bird distributions in Britain and Ireland from citizen science bird atlases

Abstract: MOTIVATION: We undertook large citizen science surveys of bird distributions (atlases) in Britain and Ireland, aimed at quantifying breeding bird distributions on a 20‐year cycle and wintering bird distributions on a c. 30‐year cycle. We use these to generate spatially referenced information on apparent changes in bird distributions over c. 40 years. MAIN TYPE OF VARIABLE CONTAINED: Detection of breeding and wintering bird species in grid squares during five periods, and changes in detection between periods. The combined distribution dataset contains 1,410,938 records detailing detections of 465 bird species in 3,880 grid cells in different periods. The combined distribution change dataset contains 1,297,791 records describing stability, apparent colonization or apparent extinction of individual species in grid squares between pairs of atlases spanning up to c. 40 years. SPATIAL LOCATION AND GRAIN: Grid squares (10 km × 10 km) containing land throughout Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The majority of data are at 10‐km resolution, but data for rare species are summarized at 20‐ or 50‐km resolution to protect sensitive locations. TIME PERIOD: The data represent summarized detection information derived from fieldwork during five periods: the breeding seasons 1968–1972, 1988–1991 and 2008–2011, and the winters 1981/1982–1983/1984 and 2007/2008–2010/2011. MAJOR TAXA STUDIED AND LEVEL OF MEASUREMENT: Birds; their distribution derived from citizen science surveys. SOFTWARE FORMAT: Data are supplied as comma‐separated text files.

Geolocator tagging reveals Pacific migration of Red‐necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus breeding in Scotland

Abstract: The migration route of Red-necked Phalarope populations breeding on North Atlantic islands has been subject to considerable speculation. Geolocator tags were fitted to nine Red-necked Phalaropes breeding in northern Scotland to assess whether they migrated to Palaearctic or Nearctic wintering grounds. Of four birds known to return, two had retained their tags, of which one was recaptured. This male Phalarope left Shetland on 1 August 2012 and crossed the Atlantic Ocean to the Labrador Sea off eastern Canada in 6 days, then moved south to reach Florida during September, crossed the Gulf of Mexico into the Pacific Ocean and reached an area between the Galapagos Islands and the South American coast by mid-October, where it remained until the end of April, returning by a similar route until the tag battery failed as the bird was crossing the Atlantic Ocean. The total migration of 22 000 km is approximately 60% longer than the previously assumed route to the western part of the Arabian Sea, and this first evidence of migration of a European breeding bird to the Pacific Ocean also helps to indicate the possible migratory route of the large autumn movements of Red-necked Phalaropes down the east coast of North America.

Factors affecting the abundance of introduced hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) to the Hebridean island of South Uist in the absence of natural predators and implications for nesting birds

Abstract: Introduced hedgehogs Erinaceus europaeus are a known threat to ground-nesting birds on many islands. Spring hedgehog density and sex ratio were measured over a 5-year period at four plots on the 315 km2 Hebridean island of South Uist. The mean instantaneous density on the sandy-soiled machair plots (31.8 hedgehogs km−2, se 2.95) was over twice that on the peaty-soiled blackland plots (15.4 hedgehogs km−2, se 3.46), a difference reflecting the amount of preferred foraging habitat (mainly pasture). Plot population densities fluctuated approximately in unison. Year-to-year density changes were strongly correlated with temperature in the preceding winter and previous year's spring/summer, indicating that warmer conditions promote both survival and breeding success. The mean spring sex ratio of sub-adults (animals born in the previous calendar year) was not significantly different from 1M:1F. However, the 1.8M:1F ratio observed for adults was significantly male biased, probably a result of female mortality associated with rearing young. The study estimates that in an average year the South Uist hedgehog population numbers c. 2750 (95% confidence limit±800) adults and sub-adults and these produce around 3000 young. Compared with the native range, hedgehog densities on South Uist are shown to be unusually high, probably because their natural predators are absent. High hedgehog densities have led directly to high rates of egg predation of ground-nesting shorebirds and subsequent declines in bird populations. The results suggest that over the past 20 years egg losses have become more severe and control of hedgehogs more difficult because climate warming has resulted in generally more favourable conditions for hedgehogs on the islands.

Managing a food web: impacts on small mammals of managing grasslands for breeding waders

Abstract: Conservation management of landscapes often targets species of conservation concern, but this can have repercussions for other components of the food web which may, in turn, indirectly influence the target species. In Western Europe, many lowland wet grasslands are managed to encourage declining breeding wader populations but the benefits of creating habitat conditions that attract waders are often limited by increased predation rates. As predator activity may be influenced by the relative availability of different prey sources, we investigate the influence of habitat management for waders on the distribution and activity of the small mammal prey of mammalian predators. Livestock grazing to create the short sward structure that attracts breeding waders on wet grasslands results in areas of tall, dense vegetation being largely restricted to verge areas outwith fields. Through both ink tracking tunnels and field-sign searches, we found small mammal activity to be almost entirely restricted to swards of > 20 cm height and > 80% ground-level cover which, in this landscape, is only found in verges and field edges. The creation of extensive areas of short grass to attract breeding waders may therefore be substantially reducing the abundance of mammal prey for the predators that are limiting wader productivity on many sites. Using this information to plan small mammal habitats within these landscapes may be a means of reducing the predation pressure on breeding waders, and there is an urgent need to establish whether predation rates on wader nests and chicks are lower when small mammals are abundant.