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The Out of Africa Appeal
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The Out of Africa
appeal is raising money to fund the suite of projects which
will investigate the decline in numbers of our summer migrants.
If you would like to find out
more about some of the fieldwork taking place in Africa, visit
our 'Migrants
in Africa blog', or
if you would like to make a donation to this appeal click
here. |
We are seeing worrying declines in many of our African migrants.
The Wood Warbler and Pied Flycatchers have undergone declines of
60%. Nightingales, Spotted Flycatchers and Garden Warblers are also
amongst the group to have exhibited downward population trends.
Even the Willow Warbler is close to being red-listed.
Help us find out more!
Our knowledge of ecology of the migrants in their
wintering grounds is extremely poor and severely hampers our ability
to explain these declines and our ability to conserve this group
of species. We lack even basic information about when birds arrive,
the habitats they use and how they move around Africa.
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| Changes between 1994 and 2007 |
(BBS results) |
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With worrying changes
in distribution appearing in Atlas maps, we really need to get started
now, if we are to try to explain what is happening to African migrants.
Please
support the Out of Africa appeal.
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Out of Africa Research
We are proposing that the BTO should start working on projects
that fall into three main areas:
- Set up special studies in Africa to try to understand
how birds use different areas and habitats during the course
of our winter. We’ll probably need the help of volunteers
for this work.
- Work internationally – to look at the bigger picture
of European / African migration and to develop close working
relationships with conservationists and scientists across
a range of African countries.
- Look for evidence within data from the Nest Record Scheme
and the Ringing Scheme to see if problems are more closely
linked to habitat and/or climate changes in the UK or within
Africa.
A suite of BTO
projects
Amongst the suite of proposed projects, is
one in which we will be working together with RSPB & BirdLife
partners in Africa. This is a hugely exciting research project
in West Africa that will contribute enormously to our understanding
of when the birds arrive, what habitats the species use and
how they move about through the autumn, winter and spring.
North-south transects from the Sahara to the coast will be
identified and studied over the next three years.
And this is just the start. This initial
investigation will help us focus on more detailed ecological
work that needs to take place in the wintering areas, to assess
the problems faced by our long-distance migrants.
For more information
about species-specific projects and a PDF of the Out of
Africa appeal leaflet
click on the links below. |
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If you prefer to send us a
donation through the post, please make cheques payable to
the
British Trust for Ornithology
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Nightingale
project update
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Geolocaters were attached to 20 birds as part
of the
Nightingale fieldwork in the
Fens last spring and will have winged their
way to West Africa over the winter. We now have
to sit and wait patiently for them to come back.
Once they do, we will recatch them and learn
how they migrated through Europe and where they
spent the winter. This project, together with
partners in Switzerland, Italy and Bulgaria
will provide unique data on the distribution
of a species that is incredibly difficult to
study in their wintering grounds and will provide
a focus for our work in West Africa. |
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Nightingale
above with Geolocator attached. |
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If you would like
to read updates about the fieldwork in Africa, in collabaration
with RSPB, Ghana Wildlife Society and Naturama,
please
see our 'Migrant
birds in Africa' blog.
Thank you.
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