There is serious concern for the future of a wide range of birds in Java and elsewhere in Indonesia due to both loss of habitat and trapping for the cagebird trade (the so-called “Asian Songbird Crisis”). Despite this concern, few data on presence and abundance of key species exist. We provide such data on 184 bird species from over two years of biodiversity surveys from 37 sites on 12 mountains in West and Central Java. Many of these species are heavily traded, endemic, and globally threatened. Several of the threatened endemics, notably Javan Trogon and Javan Cochoa, were often recorded, in terms of both geographical spread and numerical abundance. Rufous-fronted Laughingthrush, Spotted Crocias, and Orange-spotted Bulbul, believed to be threatened by trapping for the songbird trade, appear to remain fairly widespread. By contrast, Brown-cheeked Bulbul, Chestnut-backed (Javan) Scimitar-babbler, Javan Oriole, and especially Javan Blue-flycatcher, recorded on just a single occasion, and Javan Green Magpie, which we failed to record with certainty, now appear to be extremely rare. Our encounter rates, while not pinned to specific mountains for security reasons, represent an important baseline against which future changes in abundance can be gauged.

Information about population sizes, trends, and habitat use is key for species conservation and management. The Buff-breasted Sandpiper Calidris subruficollis (BBSA) is a long-distance migratory shorebird that breeds in the Arctic and migrates to south-eastern South America, wintering in the grasslands of southern Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. Most studies of Nearctic migratory species occur in the Northern Hemisphere, but monitoring these species at non-breeding areas is crucial for conservation during this phase of the annual cycle. Our first objective was to estimate trends of BBSA at four key areas in southern Brazil during the non-breeding season. We surveyed for BBSA and measured vegetation height in most years from 2008/09 to 2019/20. We used hierarchical distance sampling models in which BBSA abundance and density were modelled as a function of vegetation height and corrected for detectability. Next, we used on-the-ground surveys combined with satellite imagery and habitat classification models to estimate BBSA population size in 2019/20 at two major non-breeding areas. We found that abundance and density were negatively affected by increasing vegetation height. Abundance fluctuated five- to eight-fold over the study period, with peaks in the middle of the study (2014/15). We estimated the BBSA wintering population size as 1,201 (95% credible interval [CI]: 637–1,946) birds in Torotama Island and 2,232 (95% CI: 1,199–3,584) in Lagoa do Peixe National Park during the 2019/20 austral summer. Although no pronounced trend was detected, BBSA abundance fluctuated greatly from year to year. Our results demonstrate that only two of the four key areas hold high densities of BBSA and highlight the positive effect of short grass on BBSA numbers. Short-grass coastal habitats used by BBSA are strongly influenced by livestock grazing and climate, and are expected to shrink in size with future development and climatic changes.

Based on censuses in 2021 and 2022 of Bristle-thighed Curlews Numenius tahitiensis on 10 atolls of French Polynesia, the species has declined by c.50% over the last two decades. While the species has recently been down-listed from “Vulnerable” to “Near Threatened”, these new data would qualify it for an “Endangered” Red List status. The non-breeding population on Tuamotu numbers approximately 1,000 curlews and up to 1,500 individuals in all of Eastern Polynesia. On uninhabited islands, the expansion of copra (coconut pulp) exploitation has caused long-term disturbance for curlews, increased predation by pet dogs, and introduced or reinforced non-native rat populations. Climate change, particularly sea-level rise, will add to changes in land use that shrink the suitable habitat for Bristle-thighed Curlews in French Polynesia. As this study shows, obtaining population trends for species breeding in remote areas may best be achieved through surveys at key non-breeding sites.

This study provides the first record of the beaded sea cucumber Euapta lappa at Madeira Island. A single individual was observed during a nocturnal scuba dive at 17 m depth, presumably feeding. After having its previous northern limit in the North-east Atlantic at the Selvagens Islands, this record expands the known distribution and northern limit of this tropical species by about 300 km. This new record of yet another tropical species expanding its range northwards can be seen as another indication of the ongoing tropicalization in the marine environment of Macaronesia in the North-east Atlantic.

Beaks are one of the most important sclerochronological structures used to study the age and growth of cephalopods, in particular Octopus vulgaris Cuvier, 1797. The present study provides results of ageing of 128 O. vulgaris (56–239 mm dorsal mantle length, DML; 121–5974 g total weight, TW) collected in the southern Moroccan Mediterranean coasts between Fnideq and Jebha. The number of increments corresponding to the age (days since hatching) varied from 137–368 in females and from 129–382 in males. There was a significant correlation between beak and somatic growth. The correlation coefficients of the growth curves DML-Age and TW-Age were similar for both power and exponential models: DML = 0.185Age1.188 (R2 = 0.547), DML = 35.933e0.005Age (R2 = 0.546), TW = 0.00002Age3.260 (R2 = 0.532), TW = 29.56e0.014Age (R2 = 0.541). The average width of the increments was similar between females and males. It varied significantly with season and stage of sexual maturity. Comparison of the growth curve with those estimated by other authors showed that Moroccan Mediterranean O. vulgaris grew faster than that of Sardinia (Italy) and slower than that of the Mauritanian coast.

The Blue-throated Hillstar Oreotrochilus cyanolaemus is a recently described hummingbird endemic to the southern Andes of Ecuador. This “Critically Endangered” species faces multiple conservation problems; thus, acquiring basic ecological information is a key step for guiding sound and integral conservation actions. We performed a series of expeditions throughout the cordillera Chilla-Tioloma-Fierro Urco to gain new data about its ecology, abundance, breeding, and distribution. From November 2019 to March 2020, we surveyed a total of 161.6 km searching for O. cyanolaemus, and gathered data on encounter rates, microhabitats used, and flower resources used. From November 2020 to January 2021 we studied the breeding ecology of the species. Occurrence records of O. cyanolaemus were used to build a species distribution model, based on climatic variables and the normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI). We found that the species is relatively more abundant in the western and central portion of its distribution range. Males were found using more shrubby habitats than females, who used more open habitats. They visited flowers of 11 plant species, with Chuquiraga jussieui and Puya ssp. being the most frequently used flowers. Nests were found in caves and rocky walls, and only one out of three active nests was successful. The distribution model indicated that the species has a potential distribution range of 62.7 km2. This manuscript is the first comprehensive evaluation of the ecological requirements of the species, and the information provided has important potential for use as a conservation guide for the species and its habitats.

The Amathole forest complex is the breeding stronghold of the endemic and vulnerable Cape Parrot Poicephalus robustus, and is also one of only two forest complexes in South Africa formally harvested for timber. The aim of this study was to determine if formal harvesting of indigenous trees, primarily the two yellowwood species Afrocarpus falcatus and Podocarpus latifolius, in 9 of 16 Amathole forests has had any effect on the presence of Cape Parrots and three primary nest-excavating species, as well as on parrot breeding. The study used logging data from the past 25 years (1997–2021) as well as data collected by acoustic recording units over two breeding seasons from 2019 to 2021. Cape Parrots were present in 15 of 16 forests, but breeding calls were identified in only seven forests: five in logged and two in unlogged forests. Fourteen of the forests harboured all three primary excavators: Knysna Woodpecker Campethera notata, Olive Woodpecker Dendropicos griseocephalus, and Red-fronted Tinkerbird Pogoniulus pusillus. The last two species were absent from the adjacent Mount Thomas and Kologha forests, respectively, in which parrots were present, but no breeding calls were recorded. Logging of yellowwoods was not found to affect parrot breeding. However, due to the overlap between preferred parrot breeding sites and preferred trees for harvesting, we recommend that harvesting in the five harvested forest blocks where parrot breeding occurs be limited to tree falls, with no standing dead, dying, or damaged trees harvested, to ensure that potential nesting trees are not harvested.

Of the 21 species recorded from the greater Azores region during the HMS ‘Challenger’ Expedition, 12 were newly introduced during the late 19th century. The respective types of these species are fixed, and eight species are redescribed based on scanning electron microscope analysis (Notoplites bilobus, Raxifabia minuta, Hemicyclopora canalifera, Smittoidea oratavensis comb. nov., Buskea ovalis comb. nov., Buskea fayalensis comb. nov., Celleporina ansata comb. nov. and Reteporella atlantica comb. nov.). Another four species are merely dealt with shortly either because the material is insufficiently preserved for a thorough revision (Columnella gracilis, Carbasea pedunculata), or because the species have recently been revised already (Notoplites clausus, Microporella hastigera). Moreover, two Azorean species that were introduced by later workers are synonymized with ‘Challenger’ species: S. oratavensis is considered a senior synonym of Smittia ensifera, and Lekythopora laciniosa is synonymized with C. ansata.

Landscape changes affect species abundance and drive biodiversity loss. Here we explored if habitat amount and patch aggregation shape the abundance of forest passerines within the south-western Palaearctic (Morocco). As forests in this region are affected by increasing drought and temperature, we also forecasted their trends according to current predictions of climate change and explored how landscape changes could affect bird distribution. We recorded geo-referenced occurrences of seven forest passerines that were modelled with a set of environmental variables with Maxent to predict their distribution. The occurrence probabilities provided by the models were used as surrogates for the current distribution of habitat amount and patch aggregation within the country. In addition, 190 500-m line transects scattered within the country were used to estimate local bird abundance. Results showed that bird abundance recorded in line transects was positively correlated with habitat amount and patch aggregation of landscape around transects. This supports the idea that changes in these landscape metrics affect the abundance of the study species. Climate-change projections suggest that habitat amount and patch aggregation will decline in southern sectors but will be maintained or will increase at higher elevations. Given their relationship to abundance, these landscape changes suggest that forest birds will have to shift to the northernmost and elevated sectors. These results showed that landscape management can play an important role in the conservation of rear-edge populations of forest birds and suggest that any increase in forest amount and connectivity will improve bird resilience under a global change scenario.

The sicklefin devil ray (Mobula tarapacana) is a large, pelagic ray which is listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Mobula tarapacana is thought to have a circumglobal, yet patchy distribution, and has not been verified extant off the eastern USA. Here, we report 180 sightings of M. tarapacana with a total of 361 individuals, collated across five datasets from aerial survey operations and incidental sightings in the waters off the US East Coast and Gulf of Mexico, between 1996 and 2022. This study extends the northern range of M. tarapacana in the Gulf of Mexico to 29°N, and in the Atlantic to 40°N. Seasonal trends were observed off the north-eastern coast of the USA, with M. tarapacana only present in the summer months. Measurements from high resolution digital aerial imagery found M. tarapacana off the New York coast to be adults and subadults with an average disc width of 268 cm (±25, range 232–316 cm). This study provides important spatial and temporal data for management, as well as informing areas for future research on M. tarapacana in the western Atlantic.