Recognition of Bird Species of Yunnan Based on Improved ResNet18

Birds play a crucial role in maintaining ecological balance,making bird recognition technology a hot research topic.Traditional recognition methods have not achieved high accuracy in bird identification.This paper proposes an improved ResNet18 model to enhance the recognition rate of local bird species in Yunnan.First,a dataset containing five species of local birds in Yunnan was established:C.amherstiae,T.caboti,Syrmaticus humiae,Polyplectron bicalcaratum,and Pucrasia macrolopha.The improved ResNet18 model was then used to identify these species.This method replaces traditional convolution with depth wise separable convolution and introduces an SE(Squeeze and Excitation)module to improve the model’s efficiency and accuracy.Compared to the traditional ResNet18 model,this improved model excels in implementing a wild bird classification solution,significantly reducing computational overhead and accelerating model training using low-power,lightweight hardware.Experimental analysis shows that the improved ResNet18 model achieved an accuracy of 98.57%,compared to 98.26%for the traditional Residual Network 18 layers(ResNet18)model.

Birds’Diversity in Kalfou Forest Reserve and Its Peripheral Zone, Far North, Cameroon

The Far North Region of Cameroon is home to a great diversity of bird species, which unfortunately remains very little explored. This work was initiated to establish an inventory of birds and the factors affecting their diversity and distribution for sustainable management in the Kalfou Forest Reserve (KFR) and its periphery. Two methods were used for sampling, linear strip transects from which direct counts and indirect observations were made and the mist netting to complement the first. In total, 2525 birds were observed, including 149 species, belonging to 20 orders and 55 families. Accipitridae had the greatest number of species (11). The species richness was greater in the KFR (117 species) compared to the periphery (95 species). The specific richness was higher in wooded savannah compared to other habitats. Shannon index was significantly higher in the KFR (3.99) compared to that obtained in the periphery (3.80). The value of the Simpson index was higher on the outskirts of the KFR than on the periphery. The indices of species diversity were greater in the wooded savannah compared to other vegetation types. The seasons had no influence on bird diversity. Among the human activities encountered, the pressure indices were more important for grazing (7.3 contacts/km). Human activities have resulted in a significant decrease in specific richness. Six endangered species were encountered, four belonging to the Accipitridae family. The greater bird diversity in the reserve compared to the periphery shows that protected areas are a long-term solution for biodiversity conservation.

Species diversity of birds in mangroves of Kundapura, Udupi District, Karnataka, Southwest Coast of India

We quantified species diversity of birds in mangroves at Kundapura from April-2010 to March-2013. We recorded 79 species of 36 families and 14 orders. Of these 71% are resident species, 22% are residential migrants and 8% are migratory. One endangered species, three near threatened species, and a few occasional visitors were re-corded. Species diversity and abundance of birds were greater during from October through May as there was availability of food, increased vegetation and the arrival of migratory birds. Minimum diversity was recorded from June through September owing to heavy rains, increased flow of water, limited availability of food and return of migratory birds.

An Updated Checklist of the Birds of Jiangxi,China

Complete checklist records are essential to understand regional bird diversity.We update the checklist of the bird species of Jiangxi,China based on numerous reported documents.The updated checklist of the bird species of Jiangxi shows that there are 536 bird species in Jiangxi,which belong to 21 orders,74 families,246 genera.And 48.7% of them are Passeriformes species and 12.3% are Charadriiformes species.Fifty species are classified as threatened.Fourteen of these species are grade I nationally protected wild animals,and 72 species are grade II nationally protected wild animals.In addition,fauna analyses indicate that the Palearctic realm（47.7%） is dominant.As for distribution type,the Oriental type is dominant.Considering the fauna of resident birds,the Oriental realm is dominant.Additionally,the distribution of several species was revised in the checklist.

True cicadas (Cicadidae) as prey for the birds of the Western Palearctic: a review

Background:True cicadas(Cicadidae)are large and temporarily abundant insects.Their availability may produce demographic and behavioural effects on bird populations,as happens with forest avifauna feeding on periodical cicadas in North America.In Europe,the Near East and North Africa,knowledge of cicada predation by birds is sparse.Methods:To help fill this gap,I consulted Cramp’s Birds of the Western Palearctic,conducted a search of online databases and used search engines to generate a database of Western Palearctic birds known to eat cicadas.Results:A total of 105 species(16%of those occurring in the region)belonging to 13 orders,and comprising 20 of the 33 passerine families,were found to consume cicadas.I estimated that 69 of these bird species are known to consume cicadas within the limits of the Western Palearctic.Many terrestrial birds predate on cicadas,preferably on adults.Avian predators include cuckoos,owls,bee-eaters,woodpeckers,falcons,reed-warblers,larks,crows and jays,buntings,shrikes,pipits and wagtails,flycatchers and chats,tits,sparrows,leaf-warblers,starlings,warblers and thrushes,but also terns and gulls.Nymphs are consumed by some passerines,owls and herons.Cicadas can make up as much as 70%of food items delivered to nestlings.Analysis of stomach contents and neck collar samples are the most common methods used in diet studies.Conclusions:Available knowledge is biased towards species that have been more intensively studied,and often lack proper quantification of prey items.More studies about the relative importance of cicadas as prey for birds in the Western Palearctic are needed.I suggest using non-invasive studies based on pellets and droppings and prioritizing declining bird species.

Bird Monitoring to Conserve Salitre Wetland in Bogotá： Strengthening Local Efforts in Conservation

Abstract： The Bogota Savannah was great Lake Humboldt 20,000 years ago. In the early 20th century, there were 50,000 ha of wetlands in Bogotá, but now this area has reduced to around 800 ha, due principally to human activities like industry, city-planning expansion, and agriculture. Actually, there are 13 wetlands and two lakes in Bogotá. SW （Salitre wetland） is an aquatic area that contains migratory and resident bird＇s species. Around this wetland, there are some urbanization and recreational areas that affect this natural habitat. Due to city-planning expansion, the city government wanted to build a great area to perform massive public events on the Salitre area. From June 2009 to June 2010, the researchers have made bird monitoring and recorded the SW as a very important habitat for birds; they demonstrated that this site offered them food and protection. Migratory species like Dendroica striata, Porzana carolina, Porphyrio martinica, Actitis macularia, Piranga rubra, Contopus cooperi and Contopus virens, inhabit this area. Most of the birds in SW use the area primarily for feeding and roosting, and the authors have recorded presence of eggs and chicks. In this way, the authors have demonstrated that this area is very important for migratory and resident birds. Currently, SW is in process to be officially designated as a wetland after many efforts. However, conservation and educational efforts should be taken into consideration for the protection and conservation of this wetland.

The Biogeographic Network of Birds in the Brazilian Cerrado May Guide Conservation Efforts

The Brazilian Cerrado,characterized by grasslands,savannahs and riverine forests,is a biodiversity hotspot,threatened by the expansion of the agricultural frontier,and therefore,needs effective conservation actions.At the national level,the Cerrado core-region has received more conservation efforts than the marginal(non-core)areas,being considered more biodiverse.However,many marginal areas are also home to high species richness and endemism.Birds represent a highly diverse and widely distributed biological group,whose variety of functions gives them important roles in the maintenance of ecosystem services.In this study the authors analysed the distribution patterns of bird biodiversity in the Brazilian Cerrado and verified whether a separation into core and marginal Cerrado zones would make sense for birds’distribution,as this is an important issue concerning resources allocation for biodiversity conservation.The authors developed a biogeographic network analysis considering 42 sites with savannah vegetation distributed throughout the country and built two presence-absence matrices for birds-with and without species typical of the woodland Cerrado and forest physiognomies-and generated two biogeographic networks.The network without woodland/forest bird species showed no modularity,whereas the complete network produced three modules:Northwest,Centre-South and Centre-North.Network modularity was mainly determined by forest/woodland bird species.The Northwest region was richer and had a greater number of regional species compared to the other two modules;lower richness of bird species was found in the Centre-South region,which had more widespread species.The biogeographic pattern for the Cerrado birds perceived in this study did not evidence a clear dichotomy between core versus marginal regions.Therefore,the same conservation effort should be implemented throughout the Cerrado.

Nest site selection and reproductive parameters of the threatened Atlantic Royal Flycatcher(Onychorhynchus swainsoni)and their significance for conservation

Background:Patterns of rarity can be explained by reproductive rates,levels of endemism,and habitat specificity,and knowledge on these parameters is important to understand the levels of vulnerability of each species and to formulate conservation strategies.Here,we studied nest-site selection and breeding biology of the Atlantic Royal Flycatcher(Onychorhynchus swainsoni),a poorly known vulnerable bird endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.Methods:We addressed nest site selection in three different levels:first,we searched for nests near and far from water to investigate whether birds could select water proximities to construct nests;second,we examined if they could select certain streams in detriment of others,and we analyzed the characteristics of used and non-used streams,and third,in streams in which nests were found,we addressed nest site selectivity by comparing a number of parameters between nest sites and random sites.Further,we provide information on breeding biology parameters related to annual fecundity.Results:During five breeding seasons,we found 23 nests in a well-preserved forest continuum.All of the nests were constructed above water,and they were found in streams that were about 4 m in width,instead of smaller streams with about 1.5 m in width.Modeling analyses revealed that within the used streams,nests were constructed in sites with lower vegetation density in relation to random points,while stream width,water speed,and canopy cover presented no significant correlation.Atlantic Royal Flycatchers in our study had a 22-day incubation period and 24 to 27-day nestling period.Overall nest survival was comparatively high(62%),but clutch size was small(N=2 eggs)and Along the nesting streams,we found an average of 1.62±0.07 breeding pairs/km.Conclusions:These data suggest that nesting habitat specificity and low annual fecundity are among the factors contributing to the rarity of the Atlantic Royal Flycatcher in large forest continuums and to its absence in fragmented environments.It reinforces the importance of large well-preserved forest continuums for the conservation of habitat specialist Atlantic Forest bird species.

Grey Crowned Crane and Shoebills Conservation Status and Linkage to Livelihoods of Lake Victoria Shores Adjacent Communities in Mayuge District, Eastern Uganda

This research was done among communities living adjacent to Lake Victoria Shores in Mayuge District to generate knowledge on Shoebill, Grey Crowned Crane conservation status and linkage to livelihoods. This knowledge was necessary to guide design and implementation of interventions that would deliver on the species conservation and adjacent communities’ livelihood benefits at the same time. We obtained information through individual interviews with 101 members of households from targeted communities and key informers-technical officials from the district, and analysed this data using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) by Bryman and Cramer, (2011) Version 20. The results were then subjected to validation using focus group discussions with 10 groups of between 8 - 15 individuals representing the targeted communities and other stakeholders and the results from this further validated with ≥250 representatives of these stakeholders in a one day workshop and with evidences collected during field observations, before synthesis. The findings show: Grey Crowned Crane habitats declining due to mining, agriculture, fishing activities by adjacent communities for their livelihoods (food and income from sale of produce obtained from the species’ habitats). The communities say they need to be engaged in development and implementation of integrated interventions that will improve their livelihoods while securing conservation for Grey Crowned Cranes. They among others propose ecotourism enterprises, training and sensitization on environment and wildlife conservation practices, policies and laws to enhance their knowledge and compliance in management. The fisher folk say fish is often found within Grey Crowned Cranes’ habitats and breeding grounds in the Lake and to avoid destroying the habitats, they need engine boats and standard fishing nets to enable fishing far away in the deeper waters. Crop farming communities say they need commercial, soil fertility improving tree species to plant boundary to the buffer zones so that they can prevent cultivation encroachment on Grey Crowned Crane habitats in the Lake Shores. The findings also reveal need for Grey Crowned Crane population structure studies, and, that of shoebill presence to determine management strategies for their survival in habitats.

Water Resource Monitoring Exploiting Sentinel-2 Satellite and Sentinel-2 Satellite Like Time Series;Application in Yangtze River Water Bodies

As part of the Dragon 4 project,the water extents of Wuchang and Shengjin lakes have been extracted from Sentinel-2 time series,using all exploitable images since the beginning of the acquisitions in 2015.The aim of the study is to assess the capability of the Sentinel-2 constellation and Landsat 8 over the Anhui region,especially the high temporal resolution.A total of 32 dates have been used and 10 Landsat 8 images(Libra)have been added to try to reduce the temporal gaps in the Sentinel-2 acquisitions caused by cloudy conditions.Extractions were done using a SERTIT-ICube automatized routine based on a supervised Maximum Likelihood Classification.These extractions allow to recreate the dynamic of the two lakes and show the drought and wet periods.During the 3 years interval,the surface peaks in July 2016 for both lakes.The lowest level appears at two different dates for each lake;in January 2018 for Wuchang,in February 2017 for Shengjin.Wuchang Lake surface area appears to be more variable than Shengjin Lake,with many local maximum and minimum between the end of 2017 and April 2018.In the case of Wuchang Lake,floating vegetation is a problem for automatic water surface area extraction.The lake is covered by vegetation during long periods of time and the water below can’t be detected by automatic radiometric means.Nevertheless,Sentinel-2 stays a pertinent and powerful tool for hydrological monitoring of lakes confirming the expectation from the remote sensing wetland community before launch.The presence of NIR and SWIR bands induces a strong discrimination between water and other classes,and the systematic acquisitions create dense time series,making analysis more consistent.It makes possible to sensor events occurring over short periods of time.Thanks to this a link can be done between endangered bird species,such as the Siberian Crane and the Lesser White-Fronted Goose and periodically flooded areas.These midterm results illustrated the pertinence and powerful of multi-source optical satellite data for environmental analysis.

Masting effect on alpha and beta avian diversity in fragmented forests of relict?endangered Mexican Beech(Fagus grandifolia subsp.mexicana)

Background:Tropical montane cloud forests are one of the most important hotspots on Earth and show presence of relict-endemic and endangered species,representing about 14%of the total tropical forest worldwide.Synchronous seed production or masting in tropical montane cloud tree species is a widespread reproductive strategy of decidu-ous and evergreen broad-leaved tree associations to decrease costs of reproduction and ensure offspring.Masting event maintains a high avian diversity,which can be modified by phenological process(seed production and non-seed production).Methods:The main aim of this study was to assess alpha and beta avian diversity and whether the composition of the trophic guild modifies among phenological processes and between two fragmented relict-endangered Mexican Beech(Fagus grandifolia subsp.mexicana)forests(Medio Monte and El Gosco)in the Mexican state of Hidalgo.In addi-tion,we evaluated beechnut production.Results:We recorded 36 bird species,11 of them included in some conservation risk status,and 5 endemic species.Alpha diversity values were dissimilar in avian richness(q=0)among phenological processes and between frag-mented beech forests.Avian communities among three phenological processes and between fragmented forests were structurally similar,dominated during immature seeds the Brown-backed Solitaire(granivores-insectivores-frugivores);during mature seeds the White-crowned Parrot(Pionus senilis,granivores-frugivores);and the Dwarf Jay(Cyanolyca nana,insectivores)was abundant during low seed quality.The complementarity index was high among phenological processes and low between forests.We found a high bird turnover value between immature seeds—mature seeds and during mature seeds—low seed quality.Furthermore,a similar pattern was recorded between the two study forests.Seed production showed a high number of undamaged beechnuts in Medio Monte,while in El Gosco beechnuts were attacked by insects.Conclusions:Our results reflect that masting phenological process and contrasting study forests'structure influence the shifts in alpha and beta diversity of seed and non-seed bird consumers.Our study reaffirms the importance of continuing studies throughout masting in all the Mexican Beech forests to address regional efforts in preserving the relict-ecological interactions.

Biologging is suspect to cause corneal opacity in two populations of wild living Northern Bald Ibises (Geronticus eremita)

Background:In this paper,we present evidence that biologging is strongly correlated with eye irritation,with sometimes severely impairing effects.A migratory population of the Northern Bald Ibis(Geronticus eremita,NBI)is reintroduced in Europe,in course of a LIFE+project.Since 2014,all individuals have been equipped with GPS-devices.Remote monitoring allows the implementation of focussed measures against major mortality causes.Methods:Initially all birds carried battery-powered devices,fixed on the lower back of the birds.Since 2016 an increasing amount of birds has been equipped with solar-powered devices,fixed on the upper back,the more sunexposed position.In 2016,we observed opacity in the cornea of one eye(unilateral corneal opacity;UCO)during a regular health monitoring for the first time.Results:By 2018,a total of 25 birds were affected by UCO,with varying intensity up to blindness.Clinical examination of the birds revealed no clear cause for the symptoms.However,only birds carrying a device on the upper back were affected(2017 up to 70%of this group).In contrast,none of the birds carrying devices on the lower back ever showed UCO symptoms.This unexpected relationship between tagging and UCO was discovered in 2017.After we took countermeasures by removing the device or repositioning it on the lower back,we observed an immediate reduction of the incidence rate without any new cases reported since January 2019.NBI roost with their head on the back,one eye closely placed to the device if it was positioned on the upper back.Thus,we conclude that the most parsimonious explanation for the symptomatology is either a repetitive slight temperature rise in the corneal tissue due to electromagnetic radiation by the GSM module of the device or a repetitive slight mechanical irritation of the corneal surface.Concrete evidence is missing so far.Meanwhile,cases of UCO were found in another NBI population.Conclusion:Our observations indicate that further research in the fast-growing field of biologging is urgently needed.The findings question the positioning of devices on the upper back in birds roosting with the head on the back.

Projected impacts of climate change on protected birds and nature reserves in China

Knowledge about climate change impacts on species distribution at national scale is critical to biodi- versity conservation and design of management programs. Although China is a biodiversity hot spot in the world, potential influence of climate change on Chinese protected birds is rarely studied. Here, we assess the impact of climate change on 108 protected bird species and nature reserves using species distribution modeling at a relatively fine spatial resolution （1 km） for the first time. We found that a large proportion of protected species would have potential suitable habitat shrink and northward range shift by 77-90 km in response to projected future climate change in 2080. Southeastern China would suffer from losing climate suitability, whereas the climate conditions in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and northeastern China were projected to become suitable for more protected species. On average, each protected area in decline of suitable climate for China would experience a 3-4 species by 2080. Cli- mate change will modify which species each protected area will be suitable for. Our results showed that the risk of extinction for Chinese protected birds would be high, even in the moderate climate change scenario. These findings indicate that the management and design of nature reserves in China must take climate change into consideration.

Habitat heterogeneity influences avian feeding guild composition in urban landscapes:evidence from Bhubaneswar,India

Background:Habitat heterogeneity clearly distinguished in terms of availability of food and habitat resources and landscape features(natural or human-modified)play a crucial role in the avian species composition and population structure.To examine this,a study was carried out in Bhubaneswar,India,to understand the ecological niche distinction in birds based on habitat heterogeneity.Regular sampling was conducted in 30 sampling sites covering six different habitat types in a predominantly urban landscape of Bhubaneswar for understanding the ecological niche in birds.The birds were classified into 11 types of foraging guilds.Results:The insectivorous guild had the highest bird species richness(181 species)and the omnivorous guild had the lowest(11 species).The piscivorous guild and wetland habitat had the strongest linkage,followed by the insectivorous guild and agricultural land.The frugivorous guild was significantly correlated with forest habitats(r=0.386,p<0.01)and park and garden habitats(r=0.281,p<0.01).This urban area hosted a higher number of bird species in certain habitat types,viz.,agricultural lands(52%,115 species)and forest patches(50%,111 species).Conclusion:The present study highlights the importance of agricultural lands,forest patches,parks and gardens,and wetlands inside the cityscape for supporting avifauna.It is therefore suggested that such habitats should be conserved inside an urban area to protect native avifauna.Thus,the city development plan must invariably include strategies for conserving the forest patches inside the urban area.Measures must be taken to restrain the degradation of agricultural lands and reduce their utilization for non-agricultural purposes,which will help in further reducing the bird population decline in the urban landscape.