Tropical oceans are often described as “marine deserts”, where resources are patchily distributed and predators, such as seabirds, must cover wide areas to find food. However, oceanic islands like the Fernando de Noronha
BirdLife International and BirdLife Australia launched our Avian Sensitivity Tool for Energy Planning (AVISTEP) at the Australasian Ornithological Conference in Boorloo/Perth. Today, AVISTEP was launched in Australia, providing government planners and the
Central-place foragers returning to their colony can rely on various environmental cues—such as landmarks or the sun angle—to adjust their return movement behaviour and navigate efficiently. While these homing strategies have been well
Protected areas are a vital tool for safeguarding marine wildlife, but seabirds and other marine species often travel beyond these havens. Ascension Island supports a very large Marine Protected Area covering the
Black-faced Cormorants (Phalacrocorax fuscescens) are endemic to Australia and only breed in a limited number of locations, often on offshore islands. Until recently, little was known about their ecology and, due to a
On Tuesday 3rd Dec, we celebrated 20 years of the Seabird Tracking Database! We had many activities with people attending online and in person. Here is a recap of everything that went on.
A new open access study published today highlights the remarkable achievements of the BirdLife Seabird Tracking Database (STDB) in marine conservation. Since its launch in 2004, the STDB has become one of the
Last month, four of us from the BirdLife International Marine Programme attended the 16th International Seabird Group Conference in Coimbra, Portugal: Ana Carneiro (Marine Science Manager), Antonio Vulcano (Marine Officer), Yann Rouxel (Bycatch
Density-dependent competition for food influences the foraging behaviour and population dynamics of colonial animals. Tracking technology can provide new insights in how these patterns vary among populations, and collaboration between research groups studying
Fishing for balance Fishing is a vital industry: providing over 3.3 billion people with at least 20% of their animal protein, and employing around 38 million people, globally. Different gear types, such as
Seabird species all over the world, especially tube-nosed birds like albatrosses and petrels, are at risk when they interact with fisheries. Attracted to fishing vessels by the prospect of food, seabirds frequently get
White-tailed Tropicbirds are a common seabird species across all tropical oceans but their movement and foraging ecology has so far been poorly studied. A recent study tracked the feeding movements of White-tailed Tropicbirds
Magellanic Penguins, Spheniscus magellanicus, spend half of the year in open waters and the other half at their colonies. Except on remote islands, this species is easy to study whilst breeding. However, little
The West African Crested Tern (Thalasseus albididorsalis) is the most abundant breeding tern in West Africa, nesting from Mauritania to Guinea. Its global population is estimated at less than 77,000 breeding pairs, mostly
During the recent global summit on biodiversity, world leaders committed to protecting 30% of the world’s oceans for nature. But which 30% of the oceans should be protected to safeguard the most vulnerable
