The Bird Emergency

Did you know that 3 out of the 4 birds most likely to go extinct in the coming years are found only on King Island?

Let's not quibble about species or sub-species, but the King Island Scrubtit, the King Island Brown Thornbill and the King Island Black Currawong are all in peril, mostly because of the (already) small population size, and the lack of suitable habitat.

Kate Ravich has been a champion for birds, and most recently, the birds of King Island for many, many years, and has been recognised for her work by BirdLife Australia.

Kate is an educator, communicator and a passionate, pragmatic advocate for birds and their conservation. She was made a Life Member of BirdLife Australia in 2020 in recognition of her contribution to the organisation and to the conservation of birds and their habitats over the last 20 years.

Learn about the surveys that are undertaken to monitor the birds of King Island in this episode. The next surveys are happening on the last weekend in Autumn - 28/4/2022 - 1/5/2022.

For more information, you can go to the Wings On King section of the Birds Of King Island website.

Currently trying to get some eyes and subscribers on The Bird Emergency on YouTube, so I can put a bit more effort into the video side of things, so if you would like more visual content, please subscribe, and I will watch with interest if that's what you want!

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When Simon Verdon and I had this chat, he was a PhD candidate at LaTrobe University. who had been leading a team in an effort to relocate a group of Mallee Emu-wrens, in the remote Mallee habit of South Australia and Victoria, to try to safeguard this isolated population from one of it's greatest threasts - fire.

How did this translocation project work out? You should listen to find out.

Currently trying to get some eyes and subscribers on The Bird Emergency on YouTube, so I can put a bit more effort into the video side of things, so if you would like more visual content, please subscribe, and I will watch with interest if that's what you want!

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

If you want to support the show, help pay the bills and build on what we do, why not Buy Me A Coffee? https://www.buymeacoffee.com/birdemergency

Following on from Part One of this discussion, Grant is joined by Tegan Douglas, Citizen Science Project Coordinator, BIrdlife Australia, Western Australia, to promote the upcoming Aussie Backyard Bird Count for 2021, and go over the highlights of the 2020 count last year. Are there any surprises? Significant results? Important trends? Find out in this episode.

It's always a lot of fun talking birds with Tegan!

Register for this year's count, check out the results and highlights from previous counts, and download the App at the Aussie Backyard Bird Count website.

Follow Tegan on Twitter @TeganDouglas

Get a stack of useful information at the Birds In Backyards website.

Currently trying to get some eyes and subscribers on The Bird Emergency on YouTube, so I can put a bit more effort into the video side of things, so if you would like more visual content, please subscribe, and I will watch with interest if that's what you want!

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

Grant Humphries has become The Data Guy after a long career studying birds, and particularly Seabirds. Grant tells Grant how he became The Data Guy, and how the various forms of data that are available can inform conservation decisions, and he describes how much of this data is collected. And he talks about birds, too!

Check out the World Seabird Conference here

Follow Grant Humphries on Twitter @GrantHumphries

Currently trying to get some eyes and subscribers on The Bird Emergency on YouTube, so I can put a bit more effort into the video side of things, so if you would like more visual content, please subscribe, and I will watch with interest if that's what you want!

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

Patrick Jodice was elected Chair of the World Seabird Group in 2015, at WSC2. Patrick is an ecologist, with a special interest in seabirds, and in this episode we talk a lot about one of the "gadfly" petrels, the Black-capped Petrel, which can be found in the Gulf of Mexico, but it's main breeding locations are in the Carribbean.

Check out the World Seabird Conference here

Follow Patrick on Twitter

Currently trying to get some eyes and subscribers on The Bird Emergency on YouTube, so I can put a bit more effort into the video side of things, so if you would like more visual content, please subscribe, and I will watch with interest if that's what you want!

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

Aline Da Silva Cerqueira is a PhD candidate, in the Department of Geography of King's College, London jointly with the ZSL Institute of Zoology. The full title of the research project is; "Acoustic Tracking of Ocean Wanderers: Revealing Behavioural Context on the Wing", but from now on, we are going to just say Seabird Soundscapes!

Her research investigates seabird soundscapes in the context of foraging at sea, using a combination of miniature bird-borne audio recorders and GPS tracking devices.

She is the creator of Seabird Soundscapes, a citizen-science-powered project that engages people with the marine soundscapes of seabirds at different locations around the world, helping to unveil their foraging behaviour in the high seas and identifying potential threats to their existence and Aline tells Grant all about the project today.

Aline's research interests lie mainly with marine ecology and conservation using biologging technology and non-invasive monitoring methods, and marine policy. She is engaged in activities that support fairer, collaborative and inclusive practices and equal representation in conservation.

Aline is the co-founder of AQUASIS, a conservation NGO dedicated to the protection of endangered species and important habitats in northeastern Brazil, and a research partner with AQUASIS' Marine Mammals Program, focused on the conservation of the manatee (Trichechus manatus), and the Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis), two endangered species that have the highest mortality rate in the region. Aline is part of Liga das Mulheres pelo Oceano (Women's League for the Ocean), a network of women from a range of backgrounds working collectively to boost the impact of actions and ideas for ocean conservation. She is also a collaborator in the Decade of Ocean Scientists Network.

Since we recorded our discussion, Aline has sent me this update;

"There have been over 19,000 classifications on Zooniverse so far! Soon I will upload more Gannet sounds (from new individuals) to the project site and am starting to prepare my albatross data to upload to the site too! All these should be done by the end of the next month, which is very exciting! Seabird Sounds will be online until 2023, at least."

Please check out the Seabird Soundscapes project, and get involved!

Follow the project on Twitter here

There is also a Facebook page, if that's your preferred social channel.

Currently trying to get some eyes and subscribers on The Bird Emergency on YouTube, so I can put a bit more effort into the video side of things, so if you would like more visual content, please subscribe, and I will watch with interest if that's what you want!

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

Grant is joined by Tegan Douglas, Citizen Science Project Coordinator, BIrdlife Australia, Western Australia, to promote the upcoming Aussie Backyard Bird Count for 2021, and go over the highlights of the 2020 count last year. Are there any surprises? Significant results? Important trends? Find out in this episode.

Register for this year's count, check out the results and highlights from previous counts, and download the App at the Aussie Backyard Bird Count website.

Get a stack of useful information at the Birds In Backyards website.

Currently trying to get some eyes and subscribers on The Bird Emergency on YouTube, so I can put a bit more effort into the video side of things, so if you would like more visual content, please subscribe, and I will watch with interest if that's what you want!

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

When is it important to study a population of birds? Ryan Carter from Edith Cowan University in Perth, in Western Australia, is undertaking a Masters, studying the Abrolhos Painted Button-quail (or Buttonquail - depending on the last reference read!)

The IUCN lists the Painted Button-quail as Least Concern, but there are some thoughts that the isolated Houtman Abrolhos population may be significantly distinct from the mainland population, as to warrant far more attention for conservation management.

Ryan is looking for the elusive, secretive birds on 3 islands in the Houtman Abrolhos achipelago, between 60 - 80 km off the coast of Western Australia, near Geraldton. See the map below for some perspective.

Hear how Ryan is undertaking his research, and how he manages to collect significant data in a remote, inhospitable location.

Currently trying to get some eyes and subscribers on The Bird Emergency on YouTube, so I can put a bit more effort into the video side of things, so if you would like more visual content, please subscribe, and I will watch with interest if that's what you want!

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

Fotography Friday has come around again, and joining Grant and Ewen Bell this time is Conservation, Science & Nature media creator, 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 the list 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.

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

Check out Ewen's latest work on his website www.ewenbell.com

And keep up with his offerings on Twitter @ewester

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

What are the chances that the avian world will suffer a pandemic? Topical, I know!?!! Well, the best way to find out more about that is to ask a scientist who specialises in avian diseases, and that person is Michelle Wille, who knows just about everything there is to know about Avian influenza. In this episode I try to keep up with her!

Michelle has worked on Mallards in the Northern Hemispere, but is now at the University of Sydney, and putting some energy into Australia's waders when she is not in the lab.

MIchelle explains what avian influenza is, how is occurs in wild populations, and deals with my anxiety about pandemics!

Visit Michelle's website to learn a lot more about Michelle and Avian viruses - michellewille.com

Michelle has one of the best Twitter handles - follow @duckswabber

Currently trying to get some eyes and subscribers on The Bird Emergency on YouTube, so I can put a bit more effort into the video side of things, so if you would like more visual content, please subscribe, and I will watch with interest if that's what you want!

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