<
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/one-of-europes-most-endangered-birds-is-bouncing-back-180982835/>
"When conservation biologist Jaime Ramos began the fieldwork for his doctoral
studies on the elusive Azores bullfinch in 1991, one sound in the island
forests excited him the most—the patter of a light drizzle. But there was no
rain in sight. The sound was created by the falling fruit husks of the
lily-of-the-valley tree as they landed on the leaves below. “It meant that the
Azores bullfinch was nearby and it was de-husking the fruit to get to the
seed,” says Ramos, of the University of Coimbra, in central Portugal. The sound
helped Ramos locate the bird in the dense forest and observe its foraging
behavior.
At that time, very little was known about this passerine bird endemic to São
Miguel Island in the Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal in the Atlantic.
Ramos had some colleagues at the University of the Azores who were aware that
this difficult-to-observe bird was restricted to a small patch of native forest
in the vicinity of Pico de Vara, the highest point on São Miguel. The Royal
Society for the Protection of Birds in the United Kingdom had also been
monitoring the bird and estimated the population size of the Azores bullfinch
to be at an alarmingly critical level of around 100 breeding pairs.
Ramos’ doctorate was focused on getting a better understanding of the feeding,
nesting and other behaviors of the bird. He went on to publish a 1995 study in
Biological Conservation on the diet and habitat preferences of the Azores
bullfinch, which became crucial for the bird’s conservation. Ramos’ work, and
that of other researchers after him, helped show that the bird was a disperser
of the spores of several native fern species and, hence, plays an important
role in the natural regeneration of the forest."
Via
Future Crunch:
<
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-child-poverty-leprosy-conservation-california/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
