British Birds in Aviculture

Product Information

Species extirpated from the wild require investment in captive facilities (eg aviaries in zoos for captive breeding programmes) to ensure their long-term future. More common species, on the other hand, benefit from an investment in the supplementation of their populations through habitat and ecosystem management that enables populations to maintain high levels of growth and expansion. It is true what they say – that “common species are easier to conserve because they are common”. Therefore, knowledge of their ecological requirements allows habitats to be conserved, which, in turn, keeps the species prevalent and reduces the need for intense species-specific conservation action.

We aren’t barbaric killers, we are the worlds best and least understood naturalists. And every Falcon that we touch lives within us for the rest of our lives. FIGURE (1) The integration of in situ (wild-based) conservation action alongside ex situ (zoo-based) conservation action beneficial to a species’ attainment of population recovery and sustainability. Including all stakeholders in creating a species conservation action plan increases the buy-in to conservation initiatives and promotes a sense of commonality to what you are trying to achieve. A sliding scale of management (eg more in-zoo compared to the wild, or more wild intervention compared to in-zoo) can be implemented based on a species’ specific needs at a certain timeEvidence for aviculture: identifying research needs to advance the role of ex situ bird populations in conservation initiatives and collection planning. Birds, 2, 77-95 Peregrine falcons have a conservation status of green which means they are widespread and their numbers are not under threat. In fact, the species’ current range and numbers are greater than at any time since detailed recording began in the 1930s. The peregrine population has particularly increased over the last 50 years – there were just 47 breeding pairs in England by the 1970s but by 2014 this number had increased to 826 breeding pairs. The behavioural biology of hornbills, toucans, and kingfishers. In: Rose, P. E. (ed), The Behavioural Biology of Zoo Animals, 1st edn. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp. 185-196 FIGURE (3) IUCN threat categories of least concern, ie the species is doing well, compared to incremental increases in endangerment, right up to extinct in the wild, where a species only occurs in ex situ managed populations. The triangles explain the intensity of management required to sustain the species into the future

Brambling ( Fringilla montifringilla) ( Note: this species is often known in aviculture as the bramble finch) Greenies start breeding from late March to early April and like to use a nesting pan high off the ground and surrounded by some greenery. This mimics a tree environment and allows the hen to feel she has blended into her surroundings while incubating. This will provide UK native peregrine falcons to falconers and potentially limit the amount of peregrines taken from the wild in the future, and it will also have the added benefit of creating a captive population on known provenance which we have never had before and would give us options in the future. We issue wildlife licences for a range of purposes, and falconry and aviculture are listed as purposes for which licences can be granted under the legislation. This includes the potential to take a small number of birds from the wild for these pursuits – but only if strict welfare and conservation conditions are met. The taking of birds from the wild for these purposes is also practised in a number of other European countries.

In the Footsteps of Audubon

We have limited the licence period to two years and have the power to revoke or suspend the licence if there was evidence that the licences have been assessed on false information. The British Birds list of Western Palearctic birds sets out the names and taxonomic sequence used in all material published in and by British Birds. In terms of taxonomy and scientific nomenclature, the BB list follows the International Ornithological Union’s IOC World Bird List (v. 13.2). In most cases, English names are the same as the international English names used in the IOC World Bird List, but in some cases more familiar European names are retained (for example, divers and skuas rather than loons and jaegers). Separate columns in the BB list denote differences in common names from the IOC World Bird List and also from the vernacular names used by the British Ornithologists’ Union in the official British List. As far as breeding British goes, these species mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg. There are a great number of species kept in captivity as well as mutations of these birds and European versions, such as the Siberian Bullfinch and Goldfinch. These are very similar to our familiar British birds so when purchasing, always find out exactly which bird you are buying.