American Bird Conservancy Updates

By Steve Holmer, Senior Policy Advisor American Bird Conservancy & Director, Bird Conservation Alliance

Due to Loss of Birds, Arachnophobes May Want to Avoid Guam
http://www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/releases/120917.html
A new study on the island of Guam reveals that the near-total loss of native birds caused by the invasive brown tree snake has led to a huge increase in the number of spiders. During certain times of the year, arachnids on Guam occur at 40 times the rate of nearby islands where the snake is absent and birds persist."

Largest Snake ever Recorded in Florida Captured - with 87 Eggs
http://www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/stories/120821.html
Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey in Florida have captured a 17-foot-7-inch-long, 164.5-pound Burmese python in Everglades National Park, a record for the state. Scientists found out later that the snake also contained a state record, 87 eggs.

Study Shows Growing Coffee and Cacao in Shade Helps Birds
http://www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/stories/120816.html
While natural forests provide the best habitat for tropical birds, a new study from the University of Utah found that wooded "shade" plantations - called agroforests -- that produce coffee and chocolate with some native forest trees left standing, provide four times greater bird diversity than open farmland.

ABC Adds Three Reserves to ConservationBirding.org
ABC has added two new destinations and updated four others on its ConservationBirding.org website, a unique resource that helps conservation-minded birders plan trips to see some of the rarest birds in Latin America while contributing to their conservation. The sites are in Peru and Bolivia and are home to such rarities as the Long-whiskered Owlet and Marvelous Spatuletail (Peru) and Red-fronted Macaw (Bolivia). Come visit!

ABC Adds Three Reserves to ConservationBirding.org
ABC has added two new destinations and updated four others on its ConservationBirding.org website, a unique resource that helps conservation-minded birders plan trips to see some of the rarest birds in Latin America while contributing to their conservation. The sites are in Peru and Bolivia and are home to such rarities as the Long-whiskered Owlet and Marvelous Spatuletail (Peru) and Red-fronted Macaw (Bolivia). Come visit!

Voters Approve Conservation Spending Measures
Across the nation, voters of all political leanings gave overwhelming approval o taxing themselves and spending money for new parks in their communities, The Trust for Public Land announced following the last election Tuesday. Of the 57 measures on local and statewide ballots, 46 passed—an approval rate of 81%.  The measures in 21 states will provide more than $2 billion overall, including $767 million in new money to support protection of water quality, new parks and natural areas, and working farms and ranches.  Complete results can be found on The Trust for Public Land's LandVote website, www.LandVote.org.

Field Guide to Web Technology Available
http://webtechguide.sepif.org/xwiki/bin/view/Main/
This publication was started through Southeast Partners in Flight to provide an introduction to some potentially useful and (hopefully) persistent web tools for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of bird conservation. It is a compilation of short documents, written for a broad audience of biologists, researchers, and managers, consisting of one page descriptions of various web tools and their potential uses for bird conservation.

Field Guide to Southeast Bird Monitoring Protocols and Programs Available
http://semonitoringguide.sepif.org/
This guide is targeted at researchers, land managers, and biologists in the southeast bird conservation community and beyond. The main objective of the guide is to serve as a starting point when considering a monitoring program by summarizing many of the protocols that are available. It is not intended to be a detailed and comprehensive guide, but rather provides one-page introductions to a variety of popular, multi-species bird monitoring programs and protocols that are currently used, or could be used, within the Southeast Partners in Flight region.