 | Gib Elections 07 - Environmental Wish List (Part 1) With the General Elections just weeks away, 2 of Gibraltar's most prominent NGOs make it clear what they want from a future government. John Cortes of the Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society and Janet Howitt of the Environmental Safety Group speak to Radio Gibraltar's Jonathan Scott. |
 | Israelis Choose National Bird HEADLINE: Israeli citizens are choosing a National Bird in light of the State's anniversary. CHAN: Israeli public is asked to suggest what bird is worthy to be the national bird of the country. Here is more from our Israeli correspondent. STORY: Israel is preparing to celebrate the 60th Independence Day anniversary in May 2008. On this occasion Society for the protection of Nature had suggested to choose a National Bird. Hundreds of ornithologists and bird lovers have composed a list of 10 candidates. Only one of the birds will get the title of the "National Bird" of the country. [Zeev Labinger, Ecologist - Society for the protection of nature in Israel]: "In my opinion the whole idea of having a national bird is really to bring the idea of nature conservation forward in Israel." Israeli citizens are invited to vote for a bird through website or telephone. For now, among the leading birds are spur-winged plover, graceful warbler and yellow-vented bulbul. Choosing national bird seems to be a challenging task. On the one hand the appearance of the bird is considered, on the other hand its temper and features are important as well. [Balfour Hakak, Poet and Writer]: "The bird I would choose as our national bird is the graceful warbler. It's a simple bird that doesn't have outward charm or special coloring that catches the eye, but it's precisely out of this simplicity that the real singing voice emerges, making our life more beautiful and pleasant.'' Public opinion has a pretty portion of the final decision - 75%. The rest belongs to a special commission which is composed of experts in various fields. NTDTV, Israel |
 | Yellowhammers Emberiza citrinella Yellowhammers in my garden April 2008. Flock of nine arrived yesterday and have been around all of today. I have put down wild bird food. This bird is on the "Red List" of the RSPB due to its decline over recent years. Made my day ! |
 | Peregrine Falcon Rescue A tired and injured peregrine falcon seeks refuge on my stairs. Wildlife rescue workers help him. UPDATE (8/4/07): The peregrine falcon was removed from the endangered species list in 1999 after recovery due to banning of DDT and groups aiding recovery (www.fws.gov/endangered/). See peregrine falcon stoop speed controversy update below. Rescue Organizations: http://www.WildCareMarin.org (see the "found animal" link, which I used to get their night phone number) http://www.yuwr.org (Yggdrasil [ig'-dra-sil] Urban Wildlife Rescue) WildCareMarin gave me Yggdrasil's phone number for yuwr.org. http://wildlife.ohlonehumanesociety.org Yggdrasil coordinated the rescue with the Ohlone [a-lone'-ee] Humane Society. SWISS ORNITHOLOGICAL INSTITUTE www.vogelwarte.ch/ (For English insert link in BabelFish.altavista.com & choose "German to English") FALCON STOOP (DIVE) SPEED CONTROVERSY ===================================== ***ROUND 1*** SWISS with excellent research versus hearsay (1) The Swiss Ornithological Institute used military tracking radar and measured Peregrine Falcon stoop speed at 115 mph maximum with a maximum dive angle close to 45 degrees. SEE BELOW FOR MORE INFO DIRECTLY FROM THE SWISS versus (2) Bird literature and textbooks, which for years have stated the peregrine falcon's maximum stoop speed is about 242 mph without referencing any research. I gave credit to the Swiss because they actually and accurately measure falcon angle and speed (and claim they were the first to do so); they used military tracking radar instead of estimating speed or merely parroting the old literature, which the Swiss discount as unsubstantiated. The Swiss point out they do not claim the peregrine falcon cannot dive faster, but that peregrine falcons never dived faster than 115 mph when the Swiss measured them. ***ROUND 2*** SWISS versus SKYDIVER (not hearsay) (3) I asked Cornell University's Ornithologists about this controversy since Cornell posts the higher and long-believed speed on its website. A Cornell person promptly replied that although they have not measured the speed themselves, they referred to an experiment by a falconer who also skydives. The skydiver jumped out of planes with his peregrine falcon and sometimes had a speed-measuring device attached to his falcon's tail: he clocked the falcon diving at up to 242 mph. (Unfortunately, the reference sent to me from Cornell was a brochure for a private jet company that explained the skydiver's experiment with his Peregrine Falcon; the jet plane brochure stated that NAFA (n-a-f-a.org) North American Falconers Association first published the skydiver's article (I emailed NAFA and await their reply and the article). SEE BELOW FOR INFO ABOUT THE SKYDIVER'S EXPERIMENT (4) I asked the Cornell person about the validity of comparing the vertical falls of the skydiver/falcon chasing a vertically traveling prey (the skydiver with a lure) with the natural stoop environment of a 45-degree angled stoop. Though the Swiss measured a stoop angle no more than about 45 degrees, the Cornell person said he's seen stooping that looked like it was straight down from his vantage point; he also said many stoops he's seen occurred at a less steep angle and approached the prey from behind, with the falcon often going slightly lower than the prey before turning up for the collision. MY CONCLUSION UNTIL MORE RESEARCH/DATA ARRIVE If the skydiver's experiment was valid, and it *seems* like it was even though so far I've only read about it in a jet plane brochure (cough, cough), then I conclude the following until I see more research: (1) The Peregrine Falcon can dive straight down as fast as 242 mph; however, a cheetah pushed out of an airplane could also dive straight down at speeds probably near 120 mph even though its max land speed in well under 90 mph; that's obviously not a fair analogy since falcons fly and cheetahs do not, but the question is whether a skydiver-led freefall is close enough to being like a peregrine falcon naturally stooping without human involvement (especially straight down since peregrine falcon stooping so far has been accurately measured at around 45 degrees). Also, there's a trade-off between accuracy and speed. Because most prey moves horizontally (not vertically like the skydiver w/lure), the difficulty of timing a collision with horizontally traveling prey must be much more for a peregrine falcon diving straight down (a 90 degree collision) than for a peregrine falcon diving at 45 degrees, especially behind prey, which would put the falcon closer to the prey's vector besides improving the odds of surprise and therefore not causing evasive action by the prey. Maybe falcons dive straight down for short period then lessen the angle for accuracy (but this is conjecture, not research). Quantum Mechanics side note: the fact that no observer leaves the observed undisturbed (at the quantum level) is really greatly ignored by the skydiver experiment, which is still amazing; even using military tracking radar to measure peregrine falcon stooping speed technically disturbs whatever's observed, (quantumly speaking). ******************** MY CONCLUSION: THE PEREGRINE FALCON CAN DIVE AS FAST AS 242 MPH WITH A SKYDIVER, BUT THE FASTEST MEASURED *NATURAL* STOOP SPEED TO DATE IS 115 MPH. ******************* That's the total known truth I could find. I'll post newer substantiated info when available if I find out about it. I think the Swiss need to test many more Peregrine Falcons stooping, especially stooping for different prey at different altitudes in different environments. Perhaps measuring 2 peregrine falcons isn't enough; and maybe the type of prey affects the stoop speed along with how hungry the falcons are and their ages. ***************************************************************************************** SWISS INFO ********** Matthias Kestenholz, PhD, MSc, of the institute promptly answered my email about his research into Peregrine Falcon speed. He explained the research, provided a link to page on the institute's site detailing their use of military-level tracking radar for bird study, and attached a pdf file in German with an English summary of the specific Falcon speed research. HIS EMAIL ========= "Two stoops of Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) and two of Barbary Falcon (Falco pelegrinoides) were measured with a tracking radar. In the last decades, our institute has made strong progress in developing this military device to an instrument to study bird migration. We are not only able to track individual birds and to measure precisely their flight direction, flight altitude and flight speed but we also measure wind direction and wind speed, and by calculating these two data sets we get the bird's own contribution to flight speed. Just one example to explain what I mean: A bird that is able to reach a speed of 40 kph with the power of its flight muscles, can reach a speed of 70 kph if it gets tailwind support of 30 kph. "Most information about speeds of stooping falcons do not consider the contribution of the wind. They don't either take into consideration stooping angles but it is evident that this considerably influences the speed: the steeper, the faster. "For our two Peregrines, total altitude losses while diving were 250 m and 350 m. Steepest diving angles amounted to 42° and 40°, respectively. Maximal speed of 36 and 51 m/s (130 and 184 kph) were recorded. For the two Barbary Falcons, the corresponding values are height losses of 173 m and 189 m, diving angles of 20° and 34°, and maximal speed of 42 and 44 m/s (150 and 158 kph). The 51 m/s (184 kph) of a Peregrine Falcon represents the highest speed of a bird accurately measured so far. "But it does by no means say that the birds can't attain even higher speeds. You can find much higher speeds published, including the widely cited estimate of [much higher] kph, but these are in fact "only" estimates but not accurate measurements that are only possible with the help of a measuring instrument such as our tracking radar (see www.vogelwarte.ch/home.php?lang=d&cap=projekte&subcap=vogelzug&file=../detailprojects.php&titel=Radar-Ornithology&projId=135). HIS PDF (in German with English summary) ================================== Publication: Der Ornithologische Beobachter 95:107 - 112 (1998) Aus der Schweizerischen Vogelwarte Sempach Title: Sturzfliige von Wanclerfalke Falco peregrinus und Wiistenfalke F. pelegrinoides By Dieter Peter und Matthias Kestenholz SUMMARY (the rest of the article is in German) Stoops of Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus and Barbary Falcon F. pelegrinoides. - Two stoops of Peregrine Falcons and two of Barbary Falcons were measured with a tracking radar. For the Peregrine Falcons, total altitude losses while diving were 250 m and 350 m. Steepest diving angles amounted to 42° and 40°, respectively. Maximal air speeds of 36 and 51 m/s (130 and 184 km/h) were recorded. For the Barbary Falcons, the corresponding values are height losses of 173 m and 189 m, diving angles of 20° and 34°, and maximal air speeds of 42 and 44 m/s (150 and 158 km/h). The 5 1 m/s (184 km/h) of a Peregrine Falcon represents the hig¬hest air speed of a bird accurately measured so far. Key words: Falco peregrinus, Falco pelegrinoides.. stooping, flight speed, flight mechanics, tracking radar. Dieter Peter und Matthias Kestenholz, Schweizerische Vogelwarte, CH-6204 Sempach Matthias Kestenholz, PhD, MSc Swiss Ornithological Institute Luzernerstrasse 6 CH-6204 Sempach www.vogelwarte.ch FULL PUBLISHED STUDY IN PDF (he emailed me this as an attachment; I posted it here:) http://generatech.files-upload.com/358000/PeterKestenholz1998OrnitholBeobSturzflge.PDF.html (After clicking this link, watch the time countdown from 15 seconds to zero then you can click the "download" link.) ***************************************************************************************** CORNELL SUPPLIED INFO ********** Dear John: The fastest recorded speed I've heard of for a Peregrine Falcon is 242 miles per hour. A skydiver/falconer, Ken Franklin, trained his peregrine to stoop after him while he was skydiving. He would toss the bird out of a small aircraft and then jump out of the plane. The falcon would dive down after him as he threw out a leather lure. Franklin modified a Pro-Track recording altimeter (the kind skydivers wear on their wrists) and attached it to the bird's tail feathers. This gave him an accurate reading of the descent speed of the falcon in a vertical dive. National Geographic filmed a television segment about this several years ago. Below is a link to a recent article about Franklin and his falcon. Best regards, Tim Gallagher Referenced Brochure: www.dassaultfalcon.com/whatsnew/falconer_article.jsp?DOCNUM=56327&IDOCNUM=56326 ---------------------------- ---------------------------- Dear Tim, Thanks for your quick reply. I'll add that to the website. My only question is whether Peregrine Falcons' stoop speed with a skydiver is anywhere close to the stoop speed when going after prey; the Swiss noted the maximum stoop angle they measured was about 40 degrees, not the straight-down angle of a skydiver. I doubt Peregrine Falcons ever dive after prey straight down. Do they? It seems unlikely since the timing to intersect horizontally-traveling prey would be much more difficult from 90 degrees than from a lesser angle. I'll email the skydiver about this. Thanks very much for your reply, John ---------------------------- ---------------------------- [Dear John,] That's a difficult question to answer. I think what Franklin has proven is that these birds are capable of stooping at these speeds. No one before had ever established that in a verifiable way. Whether they can strike prey at that speed is another matter. It may be that they use extremely high speeds to catch up to prey but slow down somewhat before striking it. As for the angle of the stoop, I have definitely seen peregrines knock down prey in stoops that, to my eye, were perfectly vertical (this seems more common with males), but the majority of stoops are certainly done at a lesser angle than 90 degrees. In fact, many peregrines will deliberately stoop behind their prey, going below it and then swooping up (using the momentum from the stoop) to hit or bind to it on the upswing. [-Tim] |
 | PERÚ un verdadero paraiso de aves "¿Que más podemos pedir?" El Perú posee más de 1800 especies de aves, más que las encontradas en Norteamérica y Europa juntas. El Perú es el segundo país con mayor diversidad de aves en el mundo, y el primero considerando sólo las especies residentes. Hogar de 117 especies endémicas que sólo las encontrará en el Perú. En las últimas décadas, la mayor cantidad de nuevas especies de aves fueron descubiertas en el Perú. Aquí se descubren 2 especies por año en promedio. Y en el norte del Perú ya existe una ruta donde podrá ver a gran parte de ellas, esto es posible solamente en PERU. The late Theodore Parker III, famous American field ornithologist once said "Peru offers 'bird-enthusiasts' more than any other country in the world... Being here is like being a child visiting a huge store filled with new and fascinating toys". He was right. Peru possesses an extraordinary ornithological diversity. New species are continually being discovered every year in its cloud-forests and Amazon jungles, as well as in its rugged mountains and inter-Andean valleys. At last count, there were 1.710 registered species (close to 20% of the world's total), of which more than 300 are endemic. Furthermore, Peru holds the record for the most species in a single place (650 in the area surrounding the Explorer's Inn lodge, located in the jungles of Tambopata) and the record for the highest number of species seen in a single day (361 in the area surrounding the Biological Station of Cocha Cashu, in Manu). For birdwatchers, Peru is a true paradise. It is filled with species dwelling in unique and fragile habitats, large migratory birds arriving from the most remote parts of the world and with species that, having disappeared in other countries, flourish in unexplored corners of the country. These giant flocks are a fundamental element in the life cycles of the sea, jungle and Andean lakes. The Birds of Peru Imagine a country with 1,804 species of birds.... A country with more bird species than found in all of North America and Europe combined. Home to 120 endemic species that cannot be found anywhere else in the world! Imagine traveling through the land of the Incas, among locals dressed in colorful woven fabrics. Here at the birthplace of the potato, visit with the people of ancient traditions, savour tasty cuisine, mingle in lively markets and see sophisticated folk art- just to name a few of the country's unmistakable allure. Visualize waking up in the morning to ear-deafening noise of thousands parrots and macaws - an unforgettable cacophonic experience as they arrive each morning for their daily supplementary diet of mud. Picture yourself seeing a beautiful male Andean Cock-of-the-Rock with the backdrop of the Inca fortress of Machu Picchu, or having a close encounter with a huge Andean Condor as it soars above the majestic Colca Canyon. Experience the heart-stopping image of a male Marvelous Spatuletail hauling his coin-sized tail discs or moving thru a bog at 14,000 feet to find a smart White-bellied Cinclodes, one of only 28 individuals known to exist in the world, and all of them in Peru. Glimpsing through the shrouds of mist in Cordillera Azul you may spot the splendid Scarlet-banded Barbet, which avoided detection for years and only recently has been discovered. Peru is "the country to explore", a country in which no fewer than 42 new species of birds have been described to science in the last 30 years. In the white-sand forest of Allpahuayo-Mishana alone, a reserve only minutes from the City of Iquitos, three new species have been identified. Peru is the land of vast biodiversity - of the 104 life zones known in the world, 84 occur in Peru. A complete mosaic comprises almost every type of habitat imaginable from the deserts and dry forests of the coast to the Puna grassland and snow-capped mountains of the Andes, and the multitude of types of forests within the Amazonian lowlands. Peru is blessed with an abundance of life forms, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, butterflies, trees, cacti, orchids, and the list goes on. To ensure the preservation of this natural wealth, the country has set aside 13% of its national territory as protected areas, forming a network of 58 reserves and natural sanctuaries. A recent up-surge in environmental awareness in the country has led to the formation of grass roots conservation initiatives with encouraging results. Coastal lagoons are being reclaimed, and rivers and streams are being cleaned. The community of Santa Catalina de Chongoyape has declared 34,000 hectares of its land as "Chaparri Ecological Reserve". In this dry forest you may encounter White-winged Guan, a species long thought to be extinct but thanks to a major conservation effort is making a remarkable comeback. (PromPeru) Why Peru? It's the ultimate Birding experience Peru is the birdiest country in the world. Peru ties Colombia with over 1800 species of birds, more than 85% of which are permanent residents. Peru is second only to Brazil in the number of endemic birds and second only to Indonesia in the number of bird species with restricted geographical ranges. Several rainforest lodges in Peru offer superb birding, each with a list of over 550 species! In 1982 a team of birders in Manu in southeastern Peru established the current world record "big day" when they recorded 331 species while only walking and paddling canoes. Peru is truly a land of superlatives: From the world's richest oceanic current, to the world's highest and most extensive tropical mountains, to the rainforests of the world's largest river, Peru is a country of unparalleled diversity. With 87 of the world's 104 climate zones, Peru encompasses both the driest desert and the second wettest locality on the planet. The time has come to witness Peru's unrivalled diversity of birds - from exotic hummingbirds (118 species), cotingas (33 species), and antbirds (142 species), to flocks of hundreds of macaws at clay licks, mixed species flocks of over 60 species, and rare endemics like the White-winged Guan and the flightless Junin Grebe. "Peru is home to more than 1,800 bird species, 120 of which are found nowhere else in the world. At least five new species have also been discovered as of this year and are still waiting official scientific description. The diversity of bird species in Peru, O'Neill said, stems from its ecological and geographical diversity. On the coast, the Pacific Ocean laps at parched desert. Inland, dry forest and scrubland rise to the snowcapped Andes. Toward the east, cloud forests spill into the Amazon Basin" |
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