The Bird Emergency

What do you think is the rarest bird in New Zealand? Perhaps, you immediately think of the Kakapo? But the title probably belongs to a seabird, or a little-known shorebird, the Southern Dotterel (or the Southern Red-breasted Plover) (Chadrius obscurus), which has been described as a distinct species and listed as such on the IUCN Red LIst. It is listed as Critically Endangered and the population trend is indicated as Decreasing.

Last assessed in 2017, the IUCN estimates that the population is between 60 and 80 individuals, which is limited to one population, which occurs (fortunately) within the boundaries of the Rakiura National Park, on Rakiura (or Stewart Island), off the southern tip of the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Alasdair Burns spoke with Grant, from Stewart Island (Rakiura) about the Southern Dotterel, and recounted his work previously with the species, and explained why the specialisation of the species, and it's limited range makes it extremely vulnearable, especially to feral predators, such as cats, rats, mice and possums.

See the grim IUCN Red List assessment for yourself here.

Check out Predator Free Rakiura on the web here; https://www.predatorfreerakiura.org.nz/contact-us/

And they are also on Facebook; https://m.facebook.com/100852492507299/

There is a lot of Southern Dotterel info from the New Zealand Department Of Conservation website; https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/nz-dotterel-tuturiwhatu/

Vote for Southern Dotterel for New Zealand Bird of the Year on Instagram (Voting begins in October - so set yourself a reminder!); https://instagram.com/southern_dotterel_boty

See the full show notes at thebirdemergency.com/dotterel

Follow The Bird Emergency on Twitter @birdemergency or Instagram @thebirdemergency

You can support the show by making a contribution by buying Grant a coffee here - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/birdemergency

If you enjoy the show, how about share with your friends or colleagues? https://followthepodcast.com/birdemergency

Or you can review us at https://lovethepodcast.com/birdemergency

This episode is a little different than our usual "regular" episode, in that is the audio of the video live stream, and a number of images and videos are referenced in the recording. Because the subject matter is so shocking, and really should be a wake up call for many people (listen for the distressing stats of how many chicks are found to have ingested plastic in the colony of Flesh-footed Shearwaters on Lord Howe Island).

Dr. Jennifer Lavers is on of the co-leads of The Adrift Lab, based at the University of Tasmania. Jenn has been studying the same colony of Flesh-footed Shearwaters on Lord Howe Island for almost two decades. There is continuous data for this entire, except for one breeding season, when fieldwork was not conducted due to pandemic restrictions.

Joining Dr. Lavers in this discussion are two PhD candidates, Lill Stewart and Alix de Jersey and Honours student, Nina Jones. Each of these students have a different focus in their respective projects, but I am sure each with turn out to be significant when it comes to how the wider community deals with the ubiquitous issue of plastic pollution.

It is important that you watch the video we discuss in the episode. You can see it here thebirdemergency.com/adrift

• The Adrift Lab
• Dr. Jenn Lavers
• Lill Stewart
• Alix de Jersey
• Nina Jones
• Dr. Alex Bond
• Dr. Alex Evans (not Adrift Lab!)

Follow The Bird Emergency on Twitter @birdemergency or Instagram @thebirdemergency

You can support the show by making a contribution by buying Grant a coffee here - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/birdemergency

If you enjoy the show, how about share with your friends or colleagues? https://followthepodcast.com/birdemergency

Or you can review us at https://lovethepodcast.com/birdemergency

Fotography Friday has been given a bit of an overhaul, and will be an irregular regular bonus in The Bird Emergency feed. The reboot episode features Nicolas Rakotopare, who is based in the northern Australian state of Queensland.

His work focuses on documenting science and nature, bringing stories of science, conservation and nature to a general audience through all the channels available today.

Nicolas has a degree in Ecology and Conservation Biology and grew up in Madagascar.

He has been based in Australia for over a decade and was the science communication and media specialist for the Threatened Species Recovery Hub (before it ceased to be!) and also works on other projects for NGOs, magazines, research institutions as well as eco-tourism content creation.

Here is some of the gear that Nicolas usually carries in the field;

• Canon EOS 1DX2
• CANON EF 24-70 F/4
• CANON 16-35 F/4
• CANON 300 F/2.8
• extenders.

Lot's more in-depth discussion about gear and the advantage that Nicolas has in gaining work, due to his science background.

If you want to see the conversation between Grant and Nicolas, visit thebirdemergency.com/nicolas

You can find some really lovely shots from Nicolas on his website, not limited to his work with birds at lerako.net

Follow Nicolas on Twitter - @le_rako

And still more great images from Nicolas on Instagram @lerako

To catch the next Fotography Friday, featuring Nicolas and Sandy Horne (and all future Fotography Friday conversations) bookmark thebirdemergency.com/photo

Professor Hugh Possingham is widely know in Australia, as the Chief Scientist in the State of Queensland, but also as a champion of birds, and for his work assisting to develop conservation stragegy and plans utilising his skills as a mathematician, combined with his training as an ecologist to devise conservation initiatives that integrate spatial planning and economic factors.

He has co-authored more than 650 peer-reviewed papers, with more than 30 in the world's top two scientific journals Science and Nature, and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in. In 2016, Hugh was elected a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences.

Alongside his official duties, Hugh is a confirmed (massive) Bird Nerd, and an originator of Bird-A-Minute. It was my pleasure to spend some time talking birds and conservation policy with Hugh.

Follow Hugh on Twitter (great handle!) @HugePossum

Read his full bio here.

Follow The Bird Emergency on Twitter @birdemergency or Instagram @thebirdemergency

You can support the show by making a contribution by buying Grant a coffee here - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/birdemergency

If you enjoy the show, how about share with your friends or colleagues? https://followthepodcast.com/birdemergency

Or you can review us at https://lovethepodcast.com/birdemergency

Continuing with our regular theme exploring the interactions between birds in urban settings, and the humans that have created and live in them, Grant spoke with ecologist and author, Emeritus Professor Darryl Jones, of the Centre for Planetary Health & Food Security and the School of Environment & Science at Griffith University about the idea some some species are adapting their behaviours to thrive in the built environment, perhaps on the road to becoming new species.

You can read Darryl's Griffith University academic profile here

You can follow Darryl on these social media platforms;

Twitter: @MagpiejonesD

Facebook: @thebirdsatmytable

Instagram: @thebirdsatmytable

Follow The Bird Emergency on Twitter @birdemergency or Instagram @thebirdemergency

You can support the show by making a contribution by buying Grant a coffee here - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/birdemergency

If you enjoy the show, how about share with your friends or colleagues? https://followthepodcast.com/birdemergency

Or you can review us at https://lovethepodcast.com/birdemergency

Should we be feeding our local wild birds? Dr. Holly Parsons, Manager of the Urban Birds program at Birdlife Australia, Dr. Johanne Martens and Prof. David Phalen from the University of Sydney, discuss this issue with Grant, who has been feeding his local birds in the park. Where did they end up on this disputed topic?

If you are interested in this issue, be sure to batch Grant talking to Darryl Jones, who wrote "The Birds At My Table" which you can find at thebirdemergency.com/live

Follow The Bird Emergency on Twitter @birdemergency or Instagram @thebirdemergency

You can support the show by making a contribution by buying Grant a coffee here - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/birdemergency

If you enjoy the show, how about share with your friends or colleagues? https://followthepodcast.com/birdemergency

Or you can review us at https://lovethepodcast.com/birdemergency

Camilo Carniero is a biologist and ecologist and postdoc researcher at the South Iceland Research Centre, after completing a PhD in Biology and Ecology of Global Change; University of Aveiro.

His masters thesis was the "Breeding parameters, diet and growth of the Red Heron (Ardea purpurea) in Salreu, Aveiro" and his PhD thesis was about whimbrels in Iceland, titled "Bridging from the arctic to the tropics: implications of long-distance migration to individual fitness."

I spoke with Camilo about his long-term observations of the Whimbrels in Iceland, and what it was like to work in a location that many people wish they could visit.

Keep up with his latest Twitter posts - https://twitter.com/Camilo_Carneiro

Follow The Bird Emergency on Twitter @birdemergency or Instagram @thebirdemergency

You can support the show by making a contribution by buying Grant a coffee here - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/birdemergency

If you enjoy the show, how about share with your friends or colleagues? https://followthepodcast.com/birdemergency

Or you can review us at https://lovethepodcast.com/birdemergency

Yoav Perlman is based in a region of the world that is not often the first thought when bird nerds begin thinking about destinations to sate our birdwatching desires, but the Middle East is a great destination. It is on an avian highway, and the movement between Africa and Europe and Asia is comparable to the annual migrations between the American land masses.

Yoav is into birding, photography, ringing, sound recording, twitching, and dipping. In this episode her shares his experiences with Grant about the birds he see and studies in Israel and the Middle East in general.

If you want to check out more of Yoav's interests, work and travels, have a look at his blog - yoavperlman.com

And follow his socials - Facebook , Twitter and Instagram.

Follow The Bird Emergency on Twitter @birdemergency or Instagram @thebirdemergency

If you enjoy the show, how about share with your friends or colleagues? https://followthepodcast.com/birdemergency

Or you can review us at https://lovethepodcast.com/birdemergency

The term "biodiversity" is thrown around and inserted into conversations all the time. But when one person says biodiversity, is the full meaning of the term conveyed to anybody listening? Dr. Holly Parsons from Birdlife Australia (Birds In Backyards) is joined by Jacinta Humphrey, a PhD candidate at LaTrobe University in Melbourne. Her research focuses on the impacts of urban development on birds at the landscape scale. Holly and Jacinta kick around a lot of the issues that are picked up in any discussion about biodiversity in an urban setting with Grant.

Did we reach any consensus?

BTW Sign the petition - it's urgent, and it pertains to the Blue-billed Ducks that we referenced in the show. https://www.kes.org.au/home/campaigns/lakeknox

You can watch the unedited conversation for the show, and see the upcoming interviews live at thebirdemergency.com/live

Subscribe to on The Bird Emergency on YouTube

Follow The Bird Emergency on Twitter @birdemergency or Instagram @thebirdemergency

If you enjoy the show, how about share with your friends or colleagues? https://followthepodcast.com/birdemergency

Or you can review us at https://lovethepodcast.com/birdemergency

And if you want to support what Grant is doing with the show, why not buy him a coffee? (It's currently a flat soy with no sweeteners.) https://www.buymeacoffee.com/birdemergency

What is it like to be involved in a breeding program and managing part of an insurance population of an endangered species that is under human care? How important are the birds that you see in free-flight displays at zoos and sanctuaries around the world? How do the birds in those shows get selected, and is it a good purpose for those birds to be put to?

If you have ever wondered about any of those issues, you will enjoy hearing Chad Crittle, Senior Keeper of Birds and Free Flight at Adelaide Zoo, who supervises a wonderful team of animal professionals, delivering care for 1000 individual birds from over 100 species, talk about these issues.

Adelaide Zoo is part of Zoos SA, a private foundation, which also includes Monarto Zoo, and Zoos SA participates in the captive breeding and management programs for the Regent Honeyeater, Orange-bellied Parrot, Plains-wanderer and Malleefowl.

As well as supported research with animals in human care for species such as Little Penguins, Australian Sea Lions, New Zealand Fur Seals, Swift Parrots, Regent Honeyeaters, Regent Parrots, Palm Pockatoo and many others. His main passion is sharing the stories of wildlife with people who visit the Zoos SA sites, as well as directly contribute to vitally important conservation work both on site at the zoos and in the wider community.

SInce 2009, Chad has presented over 3500 large scale animal shows, highlighting the work of good zoos in the conservation space and highlighting species to the thousands of visitors good zoos receive each year. Chad has also worked directly on several conservation programs including captive breeding of the critically endangered Western Swamp Tortoise, Swift Parrots, Orange-bellied Parrots and Regent Honeyeaters.

You can watch the unedited conversation with Chad, many of the past conversations, and see the upcoming interviews live at thebirdemergency.com/live

Subscribe to on The Bird Emergency on YouTube

Follow The Bird Emergency on Twitter @birdemergency or Instagram @thebirdemergency

If you enjoy the show, how about share with your friends or colleagues? https://followthepodcast.com/birdemergency

Or you can review us at https://lovethepodcast.com/birdemergency

And if you want to support what Grant is doing with the show, why not buy him a coffee? (It's currently a flat soy with no sweeteners.) https://www.buymeacoffee.com/birdemergency