Proceedings

Eurosite VII Spoonbill Workshop

Santoa, Victoria and Joyel Marshes Natural Park

Proceedings
Eurosite VII Spoonbill Workshop
Santoa, Victoria and Joyel Marshes Natural Park

organizers:

collaborating partnerships:

EXCMO. AYUNTAMIENTO DE SANTOA

Proceedings EUROSITE VII SPOONBILL WORKSHOP

Knowledge transfer-benets for spoonbills and associated waterbirds Santoa, Victoria and Joyel Marshes Natural Park Cantabria, Spain September 25th-30th 2012
Editor Juan G. Navedo*. Conservation Biology Research Group. University of Extremadura. Spain.

Editorial Board Claudine de le Court. Consejera de Agricultura, Pesca y Medio Ambiente, Junta de Andaluca, Spain. Petra de Goeij. Animal Ecology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies (CEES), University of Groningen, The Netherlands. Tibor Mikuska. Croatian Society for Birds and Nature Protection, Osijek, Croatia. Otto Overdijk. Werkgroep Lepelaar, Schiermonnikoog, The Netherlands. Csaba Pigniczki. Directorate of Kiskunsg National Park, Kecskemt, Hungary.

Book citation: Navedo JG. (ed.). 2013. Proceedings of the Eurosite VII Spoonbill Workshop. Cantabria, Spain. Chapter citation (e.g.): De Goeij P, Lok T, Overdijk O, Piersma T. 2013. Dutch spoonbills stick to their traditions. pp. 19-24. In: Navedo JG (ed.) Proceedings of the Eurosite VII Spoonbill Workshop, Cantabria, Spain. Layout: 7PIES.com *present address: Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnolgicas. Universidad Austral. Chile.
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Foreword
The workshop has provided a unique opportunity to celebrate key EU policies, strengthen their implementation and promote the interchange of knowledge, experiences and ideas between people involved in studying and managing wetlands for the conservation of spoonbills and associated waterbird populations. Our aim was to share information and build practical know-how about drivers of population regulation and ways to improve management effectiveness in habitat restoration, especially between the well-known spoonbill Atlantic population/countries and other spoonbill populations/countries. We had also shared advances in communication, awareness and raising support to improve waterbird conservation. In the year of the 20th anniversary of the Habitats Directive and that of the now famous Santoa sentenceunder the Birds Directive, this workshops focus on knowledge transfer was an ideal opportunity to celebrate 20 years of the Habitats Directive, improving connectivity between migratory waterbird populations and yways. Our collective aim was to generate results from the workshop, which will be useful for strengthening this core legislation for the next 20 years and beyond.

International Spoonbill Working Group

Institutional words
The celebration of the VII Spoonbill Workshop has represented for Santoa and Arnuero councils, as well as for Cantabrian Government, an excellent window to show our villages and regional countryside in Europe. The marshes are part of our history and our culture, and it is our mission to protect, preserve and promote the high ecological and environmental values of our surrounding landscape. Therefore it is an honor to begin with these words this document that will undoubtedly be a reference in the study of the Eurasian spoonbill Platalea leucorodia for the future generations. We are very proud to welcome you in our villages, and it was a great opportunity to collaborate with the International Spoonbill Working Group in terms of developing management practices and research for the conservation of waterbirds. This can be possible thanks to the Santoa, Victoria and Joyel marshes Natural Park, a protected area where sand dunes, cliffs, coastal pastures, muddy elds, marshes and other wetland types merge to provide a privileged place for our regular visitors, and international ambassadors of our villages, the spoonbills. With the hope that your stay in Santoa and Arnuero and your work had been the most satisfactory as possible, we are sure that you will enjoy the contents of this Proceedings. We look forward to welcoming you again in Santoa, Victoria and Joyel marshes Natural Park, Cantabria, Spain.

Milagros Rozadilla Arriola Mayoress Santoa Town Council Jos Manuel Igual Ortiz Mayor Arnuero Town Council Blanca Martnez Gmez Regional Minister of Rural Development Government of Cantabria

Credits & Acknowledgements

These Proceedings were the technical outcome of the VII Spoonbill Workshop, held in Santoa, Victoria and Joyel marshes Natural Park, North Spain, from 25th to 30th September 2012. The main theme Knowledge transfer-benets for spoonbills and associated waterbirds, supported by 23 scientic communications and two special sessions and the participation of 35 people from 14 different countries, had been successfully achieved. The International Spoonbill Working Group, EUROSITE, Ecoparque de Trasmiera, Ayuntamiento de Santoa, Consejera de Ganadera, Pesca y Desarrollo Rural from Cantabrian Government, sincerely thanks the implication of the following people and institutions: Collaborating partnerships MINISTERIO DE AGRICULTURA, ALIMENTACIN Y MEDIO AMBIENTE, www.magrama.gob.es. EURONATUR - Connecting Nature and People, www.euronatur.org. OBRA SOCIAL LA CAIXA - More Opportunities for People, www.obrasocial.lacaixa.es. CONSERVAS EMILIA - Seafood Canning Factory, www.conservasemilia.com. LUCID PAPERS - English Language Editing Service, www.lucidpapers.com. AVES CANTABRICAS - Environmental Consultancy and Ecotourism, www.avescantabricas.com. Honor Committee Mr. Micheal OBriain, Deputy Head of Unit, DG Environment, EU Commission. Mr. Federico Ramos de Armas, Secretario de Estado de Medio Ambiente, Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentacin y Medio Ambiente. Mrs. Blanca Martnez, Consejera de Ganadera, Pesca y Desarrollo Rural, Gobierno de Cantabria. Mr. Jos Manuel Igual, Alcalde, Ayuntamiento de Arnuero. Mrs. Milagros Rozadilla, Alcaldesa, Ayuntamiento de Santoa.

Organizing Committee Mrs. Nicole Nowicki-Caupin, Special Delegate, Eurosite. Mr. Otto Overdijk, International Spoonbill Working Group. Mr. Javier Manrique, Director Gral. de Montes y Conservacin de la Naturaleza, Gobierno de Cantabria. Mrs. Carmen Prez, Ayuntamiento de Arnuero. Mr. Fernando Palacio, Ayuntamiento de Santoa. Scientic Committee Dr. Martin Schneider-Jacoby, Euronatur, Germany. Dra. Cristina Ramo, Doana Biological Station (EBD/CSIC), Spain. Dr. Antonio J. Lucio, Gobierno de Cantabria, Spain. Technical Secretariat Mrs. Cristina San Emeterio, Ecoparque de Trasmiera, Ayuntamiento de Arnuero. Mr. Alejandro G. Herrera, Aves Cantbricas. Coordination Mrs. Lourdes Gonzlez, Directora del PN Marismas de Santoa, Victoria y Joyel, Gobierno de Cantabria. Mr. Ramn Meneses, Ecoparque de Trasmiera, Ayuntamiento de Arnuero. Scientic Coordinator Dr. Juan G. Navedo, International Spoonbill Working Group. Last, we also thank Tom Stuart for helping with english editing of some contributions; Diego Martn who lend his nice spoonbill drawings to illustrate this Proceedings; Gisela and Miguel, from Posada Soano, for their delicius meals and friendlly manner; Casona del Agua and Hotel Estrella del Norte too; and nally, Dovidena Bonet, from La Yaya Company, that provide participants with spectacular meals during coffee-breaks that signicantly contributed for the success of this Workshop.

Contents
9 13 15 The remarkable recovery of the North Atlantic spoonbill breeding population. Otto Overdijk. An overview of the Eurasian spoonbill situation. Otto Overdijk, Mike Smart , Juan G. Navedo. Implementation of the AEWA Eurasian Spoonbill Action Plan: advances for each population and priorities for the next years. Juan G. Navedo, Otto Overdijk , Mike Smart , Szabolcs Nagy , Patrick Triplet. Dutch spoonbills stick to their traditions. Petra de Goeij, Tamar Lok, Otto Overdijk, Theunis Piersma. Long-term monitoring and management of the spoonbill population in Andalusia: a comparison among three coastal colonies. Claudine de le Court. Population development in Mauritanian spoonbills. Otto Overdijk, El Hacen Mohamed El Hacen. Recent trends of the breeding population of Spoonbill in France. Loc Marion. Breeding success of the only Belgian spoonbill colony with an exploratory diet study. Geert Spanoghe, Hilbran Vertstraete, Ralf Gyselings. Dispersal and migration of Eurasian spoonbills breeding in Croatia. Jelena Kralj, Tibor Mikuska, Mirko etina, Otto Overdijk. Stopover sites and migration seasons of Eurasian Spoonbill in the eastern Adriatic region and the Dinaric Karst. Borut Stumberger, Peter Sackl, Luka Boic, Gordan Lukac, Draen Kotroan, Mihailo Jovicevic, Metodija Velevski, Davorka Kitonic, Martin Schneider-Jacoby, Romy Durst. Movements of Eurasian Spoonbill based on metal- and colour-ringing recoveries between 1908 and 2012 in Hungary. Csaba Pigniczki, Zsolt Karcza

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33 38 44 48 53

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Enhancing the role of emergency sites for the conservation of migratory waterbird populations: a tribute to Martin Schneider-Jacoby. Juan G. Navedo, Otto Overdijk. Where do spoonbills make the crossing to Africa? Limes Platalea Project. Francisco Hortas, Javier Ruiz, Rubn Rodrguez. Post-nuptial migration of the Eurasian spoonbill in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve. Rafael Garaita, Sonia Larrabide. Habitat management and restoration in Hungary and their effects for spoonbills and associated waterbirds. Csaba Pigniczki, Andrs Rcz, Jnos Olh, Lszl Tajti, Zoltn Ecsedi. How spoonbills benet from measures to combat oods and high water levels in the Biesbosch National Park. Jacques van der Neut. Do providing nest sites and materials increase breeding success of the Blackfaced spoonbill Platalea minor on an islet with poor vegetation? In-Ki Kwon, Ki-Sup Lee, Ji-Yeon Lee, Jeong-Chil Yoo. Impact of a recently created wetland on Eurasian spoonbills at Urdaibai marshes (N Iberia). Juan Arizaga, Ainara Azkona, Xarles Cepeda, Jon Maguregi, Edorta Unamuno, Jose Mari Unamuno. Networking for spoonbills. Nicole Nowicki. Workshop Conclusions. International Spoonbill Working Group. List of Participants.

70 75 80

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contents

The remarkable recovery of the North Atlantic Spoonbill breeding population

Otto Overdijk
Natuurmonumenten, Working-Group spoonbills International, Schiermonnikoog, the Netherlands Correspondence: o.overdijk@natuurmonumenten.nl

Three hundred years ago it is assumed that all large brackish river deltas in NW Europe, like Elbe (D), Eems (D-NL), IJssel/Flevo (NL), Rhine (NL), Schelde (NL-B), Thames (UK), Somme (F), Seine (F), Loire (F) and many more smaller ones, were occupied by breeding spoonbills. The historic numbers of breeding pairs are not known, but in periods of food shortage people took shiploads of spoonbill eggs from the marshes for their own benets. Just as an example, in 1851 people took eggs from the spoonbill colony Horstermeer (NL) twice a week. At the peak of the breeding season it was possible to get 1,600 spoonbill eggs twice a week! (Bril 1954). Before those times, in 1808, Napoleon made a special law in The Netherlands in which he rewarded men who killed spoonbills (and other associated waterbirds) with 1 orin per adult bird and 0.5 orin for each juvenile bird. This was a measure to protect shing rights/food resources. In 1936, in Holland the rst bird protection law was made (Staatsblad700 1937). Most waterbirds (including the spoonbills) were protected: it was forbidden to have, to trade and even to attempt to catch the birds, its eggs or its nest, was liable to punishment. It is believed that two or three hundred years ago there were more than 3,000 breeding pairs in the North Atlantic part of Europe. In Holland there were several colonies containing 1,000 breeding pairs or more (Voslamber 1994). As Europe developed further and further, the habitat for spoonbills came under high human pressure due to land reclamation, drainage, house building, intensive farming and the use of chemicals and fertilizers in agriculture, etc. Their numbers declined sharply, and around 1950-1960 many former breeding sites were empty. Only in Holland a small isolated population of around 150 pairs could survive (Voslamber 1984). At that time, the nearest breeding site was located in SW Spain, Coto Doana, 2,000 km away from these northern breeding sites. In Holland, in 1905, a private nature protection association (Natuurmonumenten) was created and this organization bought a wetland (Naardermeer) for nature protection reasons. The Government was aiming to use this wetland as a garbage storage site for the city of Amsterdam, but a spoonbill colony was established here. In the following years, more and more wetlands were saved for nature, simply by buying and managing them. After the 1970s many PCBs and other toxic chemicals (e.g. DDT) were banned. The land reclamation stopped and hunting was strongly restricted. Later, also the building of sh traps started and this lead to an increase in available food for spoonbills. Also
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the birds (Dir. 79/409/CEE) and habitats directives (Dir. 92/43/CEE) and the creation of infrastructure for nature (connecting nature reserves) have had positive contributions to the recovering of the breeding population.
Figure 1. Map of Europe (from www. eea.europe.eu) with areas with an elevation between 0 and 5 meters above sea level (in grey). This is almost equal to the present distribution of breeding grounds for spoonbills. If sea level rises as predicted, spoonbills and several associated waterbirds will face a major problem in future and will have to nd new breeding grounds.

Here I present the evolution of the spoonbill population since 1983. The size of the breeding population in The Netherlands was monitored and supplementary data from other breeding sites were collected and written down in a database le. Also data were retrieved during previous Eurosite Spoonbill workshops. Only fragmentary data were found on historical breeding. The large gap between the two breeding sites, Holland and southern Spain in 1950 (Fig. 2) was slowly lled up. Breeding started in the Loire delta rst, and later also in Somme, Camargue (both in France), Germany and Belgium. The number of breeding sites in SW Europe colonies increased quickly too, especially between 1995 and 2005 (de le Court this publication). Besides this, the mean number of breeding pairs at each site also increased (Table 1). In early 1980s the Loire delta (F) was more or less permanently used by breeding spoonbills (Marion this publication). It is unknown if this colonization involved birds from the Dutch population. But the establishment of spoonbills in Germany, Belgium, Denmark and in the UK, this expansion involved birds hatched in Holland, as some of them wear PVC colour-rings. In the mid-1990s the rst breeding attempt was recorded in the German part of the Wadden Sea (Mellum) and later also the other German Wadden Sea
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Figure 2. Distribution of Spoonbill breeding areas (key populations in NW Europe) in the period from 1800 till 2030.
1800 (reconstruction) 1950

1980

1990

2010

2030 (foreseen)

islands were occupied by spoonbills. In 2011 there were over 400 breeding pairs breeding here. Also the rst breeding attempt in Denmark occurred in mid 1990s, and now approximately 75 pairs breed there. In the UK the rst attempts were recorded in 1998, in Galloway and in Suffolk (Orfordness). In 2010 spoonbills also bred in Norfolk (Holkham), with other small colonizations. In Belgium rst breeding attempts were recorded in 2000 at het Zwin and later in the river Schelde area, near the city of Antwerpen (Verrebroek). In near future the breeding population in NW Europe can grow further, especially in countries at the periphery of the current breeding area: in the UK, Ireland and Poland (Oder delta), for example. In the key breeding sites (i.e. in Holland), it seems that density dependent regulation has already started (Lok et al. 2009). This means that the population in Holland is (almost) at its carrying capacity. However, sea level rise might be a major
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 Year

Breeding sites in NW Europe (n)

Mean colony size (n breeding pairs)

26 31 35 38 45 55 66 50 60 63

Table 1. The number of breeding sites in the North Atlantic population and the mean colony size, broken down for 5-year periods.

1965 5 1970 5 1975 9 1980 8 1985 11 1990 12 1995 21 2000 48 2005 61 2010 70

problem for breeding waterbirds, since most spoonbills breed at an elevation of 0-5 meters above sea level (Fig.1) and it is predicted that the sea level might rise by approximately 2-4 meters in the coming 50-100 years (IPCC 2007). These are also the areas where spoonbills are using to establish new breeding colonies (Fig. 2). In Holland site managers are preparing themselves for this predicted sea level rise by buying land at a higher elevation (currently 5-10 meter above sea level) or land behind large dikes protecting reserves behind them. References Bril EJ. 1954. Historische gegevens van onze vroegere ornithologen en de avifauna van Nederland. p. 82. de le Court C. 2013. Long-term monitoring and management of the Spoonbill population in Andalusia: a comparison among three coastal colonies (this publication). IPCC. 2007. Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report. An Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. Lok T, Overdijk O, Horn H, Piersma T. 2009. The Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia population of the Wadden Sea islands: does population growth level off? Limosa 82: 149-157 Marion L. 2013. Recent trends of Spoonbill breeding population in France (this publication). Staatsblad van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden, nummer 700. 1937. Vogelweg 1936, de wet van 31 december 1936 houdende nieuwe bepalingen ter bescherming van in het wild levende vogels. Voslamber B. 1994. De ontwikkeling van de broedvogelaantallen van de Lepelaar Platalea leucorodia in Nederland in de periode 1961-1993. Limosa 67: 89-94
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An overview of Eurasian Spoonbill situation

Otto Overdijk 1, Mike Smart 2, Juan G. Navedo 3, 4, *
Natuurmonumenten, Working-Group spoonbills International, Knuppeldam 4, 9166 NZ Schiermonnikoog, the Netherlands. 2 143 Cheltenham Road, Gloucester GL2 0JH, UK. 3 Conservation Biology Research Group, University of Extremadura, Spain. 4 Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnolgicas, Universidad Austral, Chile. * Corresponding author: juangnavedo@yahoo.es
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Keywords: Population trends; P.l.archeri; P.l.leucorodia; P.l.balsaci. The Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia is distributed from the East Atlantic to India and China, with three recognized subspecies P.l.leucorodia, P.l.balsaci and P.l.archeri (Triplet et al. 2008). In 2007, gures of the nominate subspecies showed 4,800 breeding pairs (bp) for the Atlantic population; 5,500 bp for the Central/ Southeast European (C/ SE); and 5,000 bp for the Eastern population (Triplet et al. 2008). P.l.archeri was partially estimated as 1,100-1,200 bp and 750 bp composed the P.l.balsaci population (Triplet et al. 2008).
Subspecies Population P.l.leucorodia C/SE Europe
P.l.leucorodia P.l.leucorodia P.l.leucorodia P.l.archeri P.l.balsaci

Flyway

Wintering

colonies min max

39 22 102 ? ? 6

trends

Adriatic Tunisia & Italy C/SE Europe E Mediterranean Nile Valley W Europe Atlantic NW Africa & Iberia E Europe ? Asia Red Sea ? ? Mauritanian

1482 2374 Slight decrease 1268 1793 Decrease 4729 6301 Increase ? ? ? ? ? ? 750 750 Decrease

Table 1. Compilation of spoonbill breeding pairs (min-max) and trends for each recognized population in 2012.

A specic session held during the VII Workshop to update spoonbill breeding population and trends at each country within the species distribution range conrms the health of the Atlantic population with 4,700-6,300 bp. On the contrary it reveals a worrying situation for the C/SE one (Table 1), with decreasing trends in all countries around the Balkan Peninsula Greece and Turkey (Figure 1). Moreover, the species became extinct during the last years in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Republic of Macedonia and Albania. This population is currently
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Figure 1. Map showing trends of spoonbill breeding populations at each country with available data in 2007 and 2012 (Map credits: Borut Stumberger). trend: absent decrease extinct

increase stable unknown

composed by 2,750-4,150 bp (Table 1), and birds use two different yways to migrate. Since spoonbill colonies in Hungary and the Balkan Peninsula, the main breeding sites, showed only a slight decrease, the big fraction of the overall decrease registered for this C/ SE population seems to affect colonies in countries around the Black Sea and Greece. Lastly P.l.balsaci is still on risk with an estimate of 750 bp. (Table 1), and no information from the population in Eastern Europe neither about P.l.archeri has been received (Table 1). Overall, the situation of the Eurasian spoonbill in 2012 is much better than decades ago, with a healthy population in the East Atlantic but with decreasing populations in C/SE and the P.l.balsaci. Even more important, there is still a poor knowledge about the situation of Eastern European and P.l.archeri populations. Mitigating the factors currently threatening C/SE and P.l.balsaci populations, as well as obtaining the crucial information about the situation of Eastern European and P.l.archeri populations, emerge as priorities to solve during the next years for the long-term conservation of the species. Acknowledgements All participants in the VII Spoonbill Workshop as well as other people that sent information for this compilation: E.S.Karauz, A.Zuljevic, M.Tucakov, S.Volponi, B.Kiss, I.Ham, J.Gergely, I.Balogh, C.Ramo, M.Mez, V.Encarnaao. We also thank B.Stumberger for help with the map. References Triplet P, Overdijk O, Smart M, Nagy S, Schneider-Jacoby M, Karauz ES, Pigniczki Cs, Baha El Din S, Kralj J, Sandor A, Navedo JG. (Compilers). 2008. International single species action plan for the conservation of the Eurasian spoonbill Platalea leucorodia. AEWA Technical Series n 35. Bonn, Germany, 40 pp.
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Implementation of the AEWA Eurasian Spoonbill Action Plan: advances for each population and priorities for the next years
Juan G. Navedo 1, 2, *, Otto Overdijk 3, Mike Smart 4, Szabolcs Nagy 5, Patrick Triplet 6
Conservation Biology Research Group, University of Extremadura, Spain. Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnolgicas, Universidad Austral de Chile. 3 Natuurmonumenten, Working-Group spoonbills International, Knuppeldam 4, 9166 NZ Schiermonnikoog, The Netherlands. 4 143 Cheltenham Road, Gloucester GL2 0JH, UK 5 Wetlands International, Wageningen, The Netherlands. 6 Syndicat Mixte Baie de Somme, Place de lAmiral Courbet 1, 80100 Abbeville, France. * Corresponding author: juangnavedo@yahoo.es
1 2

The International Spoonbill Working Group developed, with the participation of dozens of managers, researchers and, overall, spoonbillers belonging to 75 different countries throughout the species distribution range, the Action Plan for the Eurasian spoonbill (Triplet et al. 2008). The implementation of this Action Plan was foreseen in 54 Range States. Specic activities for each spoonbill population at subspecies level were identied and prioritized in order to reach the long and short term targets stated in the Action Plan for the conservation of the species. Furthermore, a ten year implementation period was foreseen.

Score
4 3 2 1

Meaning
Action fully implemented, no further work required Signicant results (51-75%), but still work to be done Some work done (11-50%), further action is required Little or no work (0-10%) carried out

Table 1. Scores used for the evaluation of the Eurasian Spoonbill Action Plan implementation in 2012.

During the VII Spoonbill Workshop a special session was organized to evaluate, after four years (thus nearly half-way), the degree of implementation of any action for each population at the subspecies level. Following the same approach used during the development of the Action Plan, each action was scored by all participants in the workshop divided in three groups (East Atlantic, Central European and P.l.balsaci populations) depending on its actual implementation (Table 1). If there was not a consensus within the evaluation group for a given score, half-points were used to score actions (Table 2). Furthermore we grouped each detailed action in Legislation, Management or Research in order to calculate the average score and estimate which type of actions had been better implemented for any population.
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 Actions detailed in the AEWA Action Plan E Atlantic Central Europe P.l.balsaci for the Eurasian Spoonbill Designate the species as protected in all countries along the yways in all the range states 4 2 4
Maintain the integrity of the coastal ecosystem at Banc dArguin 1 1 Designate and maintain key breeding, feeding and stop-over 2.5 3 sites as Protected Areas (SPAs in EU countries) and Ramsar Sites Restore former feeding areas and prevent drainage of existing feeding areas 2.5 2.5 Prevent overgrowth of feeding areas by management of 1 2 vegetation succession and/or invasive plants Take measures to limit activities which may reduce the availability of food 2 2 (e.g. Overshing, disturbance, scaring at shponds, constructions which may limit movement of prey species, wind farms, human settlements and infrastructures, development, regulation of rivers) Maintain the area of shponds managed extensively in Central 1.5 Europe and adjust their management to the needs of the species Develop management plans for key breeding, feeding and stop-over sites 4 2.5 Reduce mortality caused by collision with overhead power lines 2 2 Reduce direct mortality caused by poaching 4 2 Reduce direct mortality caused by toxins 2 2 Phase out organochlorines (especially DDT) along the entire migratory yway 2 1 Restore wetlands for breeding, maintain adequate water 3 3 level at colonies and create water supply systems Protect colonies threatened by ooding 2 2.5 Preserve colonies from burning and cutting reed, by avoiding such activities around colonies 3.5 Take measures to protect threatened colonies against 3 1 excessive redation (notably by fox, wild boar or jackal) Manage competing species if necessary and appropriate 1.5 1 Protect nesting colonies from disturbance 2 3 Determine and monitor breeding success and calculate the values 3 2 necessary to meet the target in relation to survival rate Determine and monitor survival rate through colour ringing and satellite telemetry 3 2.5 Identify limiting factors with a view to promoting further expansion of breeding 4 2.5 range and to creating early warning system against potential threats Identify additional wintering and stop-over areas along the yways and their 2 3 role in limiting the growth of the different populations/subspecies (i.e. The inuence of the conditions at wintering sites on breeding success) Identify any potential age and gender differences in use of stop-over and wintering sites 2 3 Determine migratory status and the migratory yways (study movements during 4 1.5 non-breeding season using colour-ringing and satellite tracking) Complete full survey of breeding areas (Turkey as a priority) 2.5 Study the sensitivity of Spoonbill to disease and toxins 2 Identify key mortality factors and hot spots 1 1.5 Collect and analyse genetic samples (Turkey, Hungary, Mauritania) 4 1 4 Study the feeding ecology of the species 3 1.5 4

Table 2. Implementation of each action detailed in the Eurasian Spoonbill Action Plan.
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Overall, the East Atlantic and Central European populations obtained average scores ( SD) of 2.6 1.0 and 2.2 0.7, after combining 25 and 27 different actions, respectively (Table 2), with all research, management and legislation actions being similarly implemented (Figure 1). P.l.balsaci obtained the highest average score of 2.8 1.6, but only ve actions were evaluated for this population (Table 2). Moreover, there seem to be great differences in the type of actions implemented, with research being fully implemented while the unique management action detailed in the Action Plan (i.e. take measures to protect threatened colonies against excessive predation, notably by fox, wild boar or jackal; Triplet et al. 2008) was even not started yet. On the other hand, information about populations and trends of P.l.archeri and the Eastern European population of P.l.leucorodia at any country within their distribution range was still lacked. Therefore, the implementation of the Action Plan for both populations did not already start in 2012 (and not scored in Table 2).
P.I. balsaci Central European East Atlantic 0 1 2 3 Implementation of the Action Plan Figure 1. Average scores of research, management and legislation actions of the Eurasian Spoonbill Action Plan implementation in 2012 for each population. research management legislation 4

As indicated by the average scores obtained (i.e. close to 2.5 which would mean that each action was half-way implemented) the Action Plan for the conservation of the Eurasian Spoonbill seemed to be successfully implemented after four years for
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East Atlantic, Central European and P.l.balsaci populations. However, there still are specic issues of concern, especially dealing with legislation measures for the Central European population (Table 2) and management actions for P.l.balsaci (see above), that need to be tackle in the near future to guarantee its conservation. By contrast, the non-implementation of the Action Plan for the Eastern European and P.l.archeri populations threatened the conservation of the species, since two of the ve recognized conservation units would not reach in 2018 the expected long-term target detailed in the Action Plan (Triplet et al. 2008). Finally, it is remarkable that the implementation of the Action Plan has to be specically supported by funding in the following years by international agencies. If not, one can easily guess that the Eurasian Spoonbill would loss in the near future a great part of its genetic diversity, beginning with P.l.archeri. Acknowledgements We thank all participants in the VII Spoonbill Workshop for their work during this session. References Triplet P, Overdijk O, Smart M, Nagy S, Schneider-Jacoby M, Karauz ES, Pigniczki Cs, Baha El Din S, Kralj J, Sandor A, Navedo JG. (Compilers). 2008 International single species action plan for the conservation of the Eurasian spoonbill Platalea leucorodia. AEWA Technical Series n 35. Bonn, Germany, 40 pp.

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Dutch spoonbills stick to their traditions

Petra de Goeij 1, *, Tamar Lok 1, 2, Otto Overdijk 3, Theunis Piersma 1, 2
Animal Ecology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies (CEES), University of Groningen, PO Box 11103, 9700 CC Groningen, The Netherlands. 2 Department of Marine Ecology, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute of Sea Research, PO Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands. 3 Werkgroep Lepelaar, Knuppeldam 4, 9166 NZ Schiermonnikoog, The Netherlands. * Corresponding author: p.j.de.goeij@rug.nl
1

Keywords: Site-delity; winter site choice; migration; tradition; survival; density dependence. Introduction Migrant birds face a choice where to spend the winter based on trade-offs between migration distance (costs) and the quality of the wintering site (benets). In breeding colonies in The Netherlands, near-edged spoonbills Platalea leucorodia have been colour-ringed since 1982. The considerable resighting efforts along the yway have shown them to spend the winter in wetland areas in France, Spain and Portugal, and further south in West Africa (especially in Mauritania and Senegal). Over this period the Dutch breeding population faired well as it increased from an historic low of 150 pairs in 1968 to 2,400 pairs in 2010. This may have led to changes in wintering destinations, with effects on the relative use of different areas, and to changing responsibilities for the conservation managers in the different regions of the yway. In order to examine possible changes in winter destination we need to examine whether spoonbills are site-faithful, and to establish site delity we need to simultaneously estimate survival rates. We here summarize recent analyses of these vital rates for spoonbills breeding in The Netherlands. Thus, the rst step is to examine whether spoonbills are site-faithful to their wintering (and breeding) sites and at which point of their lives such individual routines become established. If spoonbills would move around from one wintering area to another in different years, it would be hard to discover how winter site choice affects the vital rates of spoonbills. Our analyses concern spoonbills individually marked in The Netherlands in the period 1988-2010 (Lok et al. 2009, 2011, 2013). We will distinguish site delity at three spatial regions, i.e. either Atlantic France, Iberia or Mauritania & Senegal.

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Methods For our analysis of site delity to the wintering areas in association with subsequent survival in juveniles and adults, we used data from 5,627 spoonbills that were colourringed as chicks just before edging in breeding colonies in The Netherlands between 1992 and 2009. We compared winter site choice and age-dependent site delity for the period 1992-2010. The observations of colour-ringed spoonbills come from a large network of voluntary and professional ring-readers throughout Europe, supplemented by expeditions to major wintering areas in West Africa: the Banc dArguin National Park (Mauritania) and the Senegal delta (Mauritania and Senegal).

Figure 1. (a) Estimates of winter site delity to France (open dots), Iberia (grey dots) and Mauritania and Senegal (black dots) as a function of age. (b) Estimates of annual survival probabilities in France (open dots), Iberia (grey dots) and Mauritania and Senegal (black dots) as a function of age. From Lok et al. (2012).

The analysis is based on resightings of live birds, which can be treated as recapture data (Lebreton et al. 1992). The rst observation refers to the ringing of the bird as a preedged chick in The Netherlands. To select birds at their likely terminal wintering areas, we used resightings between October and February for Mauritania and Senegal, but only the months December and January in France and Iberia, as these sites are known to be used as stop over sites during both migrations for the birds wintering further south (e.g. Navedo et al. 2010). Dead recoveries were excluded from the analysis because they
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were rare and because of the uncertainty that these birds actually died in winter. On the few occasions where individuals were observed in different wintering regions within a winter, we treated these birds as wintering in the southernmost region where they were observed (see also Lok et al. 2011). By applying a multistate-mark-recapture approach, we investigated whether and how wintering site choice and delity changed with age. To examine temporal changes in survival rates of birds wintering in each region, we did an additional analysis on only adult birds (3 years old). Immature birds generally remain in the wintering areas and use to only return to the Netherlands in their 3rd year to begin breeding (Lok et al. 2009). We selected data of spoonbills that had been colour-ringed as chicks in The Netherlands between 1988 and 2007, and who were then resighted as adults between 1994 and 2010 (n = 2,095 birds), either in summer in the Netherlands (n = 1,931 resightings) and/or in winter in one of the three main wintering regions (n = 783 resightings): (1) France, (2) Iberia (Spain and Portugal) and (3) Mauritania and Senegal (see Lok et al. 2011). The suitability of the three wintering regions was assessed in terms of adult survival. Data prior to 1994 were excluded because resightings in winter were too sparse. A multi-event mark-recapture modelling approach was used to estimate annual survival over the years for the three wintering areas, and to estimate temporal changes in the probability to winter in each area. Models were run in E-Surge (version 1.7). Results During their rst southward migration, most Dutch spoonbills (52%) migrated to the southernmost wintering region (Mauritania and Senegal). From the 1st to the 2nd winter of life birds were more likely to make a southward than a northward move; indeed, there were hardly any bird that moved to a more northerly wintering area. For the rest of their lives spoonbills remained highly site-faithful. This resulted in most birds wintering in Mauritania and Senegal (66% by the 2nd winter), against 7% in France and 27% in Iberia (Fig. 1a). Survival was actually lowest in the region to which most birds went, i.e. Mauritania and Senegal (Fig. 1b). With an increase in population size, annual survival for birds using all three wintering areas decreased (Fig. 2a). The survival trends for France and Iberia were similar, but annual survival in Mauritania and Senegal was consistently lower. There was a steady increase in the proportion of juveniles that ended up wintering in Europe (Fig. 2b). Discussion Dutch spoonbills do not seem to be very exible in their choice of a wintering area. They should have chosen for Iberia and France where they had higher survival, but the majority
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still chose for Mauritania and Senegal. A possible explanation for this persistent migration to wintering areas in West Africa is that before this study, winter conditions were much better there and survival higher than in Europe. Survival in Mauritania and Senegal then decreased through density dependence or other (food-related) factors so that at some point (before our study started!) survival became higher in Iberia and France.
Figure 2. (a) Annual survival of adult birds and: (b) initial state probabilities, the probabilities to choose to winter in France, Iberia or Mauritania and Senegal, as a function of year and year of birth. Lines and shaded areas represent means and 95% condence intervals. From Lok et al. (2013).

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In fact, conditions for wintering in France and Iberia have been improved. European Unions Birds and Habitats Directives improved habitat- and species protection (Donald et al. 2007). Because of the severe droughts in Spain and Portugal in the 1990s, water management was drastically changed, with an accompanying increase in the extent of suitable wintering habitat especially in Doana area (e.g. Novo and Cabrera 2006). In addition, average winter temperatures in France and Iberia increased over the last decades (Tank et al. 2002). This would have reduced the costs of thermoregulation of spoonbills and may have increased the activity of the prey. Over the same period, a new exotic prey species, the Louisiana (freshwater) craysh Procambarus clarkii became a dominant inhabitant of the newly established wetlands and in some places it is a prey of spoonbills (e.g. Aguilera et al. 1996). Although many spoonbills made the wrong choice of wintering areas (a choice leading to lower survival), as a population the spoonbills showed catch up, since more and more spoonbills choose for Iberia and France over the years, but the change came slowly. Would this have been caused by migration distance being inherited either by learning (juveniles following parents) or on the basis of genetic similarity? This seems unlikely, given that in only 16 out of 29 known cases juvenile spoonbills born in The Netherlands had the same wintering destination as their parents. This suggests that young spoonbills are rather free to choose their wintering area early in life. Their choice may be inuenced by whom they y southwards with. As juveniles often y together with adults, and most adults y to Mauritania and Senegal, their learning from experienced birds may slow down the switch from West Africa to north of the Sahara, to Iberia and France. Interestingly, at least over the period of study annual survival has decreased in all wintering areas. The question is how much this is inuenced by density dependence. Is there competition on the breeding sites, in the post-breeding feeding areas, on the stopover sites during migration or in the wintering areas? Has food availability or habitat quality in general declined? As far as we know, no detrimental changes have taken place in the breeding environments in The Netherlands, although we lack detailed information on food conditions around the breeding colonies. In fact, as reproductive success of Wadden Sea island colonies decreased with increasing colony size, there may be competition for the best feeding sites around the colonies (Lok et al. 2009). Also very little is known about the food conditions along the migration route and in the wintering areas in Europe and West Africa. One thing is very clear though: the world of spoonbills keeps changing. The increased part of the Northwest European population relying on European wintering grounds, and faring well by doing so, in combination with the apparent inexibility of spoonbills to change their wintering habits, creates a serious responsibility for the conservation managers to ascertain the suitability of European wetlands for wintering spoonbills. If we want to take care of them based on an understanding of the factors limiting their populations, we better keep up the ringing and ring-reading efforts in Europe and West Africa!

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References Aguilera E, Ramo C, de le Court C. 1996. Food and feeding of the Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) in Southwestern Spain. Colonial Waterbirds 19: 159-166. Lebreton JD, Burnham KP, Clobert J, Anderson DR. 1992. Modeling survival and testing biological hypotheses using marked animals: a unied approach with case studies. Ecological Monographs 62: 67-118. Lok T, Overdijk O, Horn H, Piersma T. 2009. The Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia population of the Wadden Sea islands: does population growth level off? Limosa 82: 149-157. Lok T, Overdijk O, Timbergen JM, Piersma T. 2011. The paradox of Spoonbill migration: most birds travel to where survival rates are lowest. Animal Behaviour 82: 837-844. Lok T, Overdijk O, Piersma T. 2013. Migration tendency delays distributional response to differential survival prospects along a yway. American Naturalist 118: 520-531. Navedo JG, Orizaola G, Masero JA, Overdijk O, Sanchez-Guzman JM. 2010. Long-distance travellers stopover for longer: a case study with spoonbills staying in North Iberia. Journal of Ornithology 151: 915-921. Novo FG, Cabrera CM. 2006. Doana: water and biosphere. Madrid, Spanish Ministry of the Environment. Tank A, Wijngaard JB, Konnen GP, Bohm R, Demaree G, Gocheva A, Mileta M. 2002. Daily dataset of 20th-century surface air temperature and precipitation series for the European Climate Assessment. International Journal of Climatology 22: 1441-1453.

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Long-term monitoring and management of the Spoonbill population in Andalusia: a comparison among three coastal colonies
Claudine de le Court
Consejera de Agricultura, Pesca y Medio Ambiente, Junta de Andaluca, Spain. Correspondence: cdelecourt@agenciamedioambienteyagua.es

Keywords: Platalea leucorodia; breeding success; wintering trends. Introduction The Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia is a long-lived colonial waterbird, with a scattered distribution throughout the Palearctic (Hancock et al. 1992). After a strong decline in the last century, the population is now increasing in Western Europe. In Andalusia (SW Spain), monitoring of spoonbill population began in the 80s and a conservation program started in the 1990s. In 1997, a regional spoonbill conservation plan was implemented in Andalusia. In the Odiel colony management has been directed towards improving the breeding success. The main cause of breeding failure in Odiel marshes was nest ooding during spring tides. Depending on the tides height and the colony location, nest failure varied between 0 and 100% (average 40%) during a single tide event. Before spring tides, active colonies were visited and platforms were set up under the most exposed nests in order that they could be moved up to avoid being ooded. Several types of nest platform were tested showing variable success. Next to this, it has been shown that salt-excretion is energetically costly for coastal birds (Johnston and Bildstein 1990). For example in the young White Ibis Eudocimus albus, Bildstein et al. (1992) showed that birds were physiologically not able to eliminate the salt efciently, so parents had to shift their diet towards freshwater prey when feeding chicks. In the study area, fresh water is clearly a limited resource. In lagoons frequently used by spoonbills to drink and bath, water levels decline progressively as the season advances. Thus management had been carried out to create and restore gravel pits and articial basins in close proximity to the colony, with to aim to ensure the freshwater availability as late as possible in the season. For this purpose, the perimeter walls of a gravel pit were restored and a system of channels was built to collect runoff water. After these management measures the number of spoonbills using the gravel pit registered a strong increase (author pers. obs).

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In addition, other management techniques have been applied in order to increase nest site availability and to favor the settlement of new colonies in selected places. In this sense, decoys and articial nests were unsuccessful when used before incubation started (de le Court and Feria 2009). Two experiments of captive breeding and release (hacking) of spoonbill chicks were carried out, respectively in 1997 and 2006 (de le Court and Feria 2009). One of the objectives was to develop techniques for promoting the formation of new colonies. This paper reviews the main results of long-term monitoring of the species at this large area and summarizes management measures carried out for its conservation. Methods In Andalusia spoonbills are found in coastal areas mainly in fresh- or brackish saltmarshes. Until 1990 there were only two spoonbill breeding colonies in Andalusia: the Pajarera de Doana in the Guadalquivir marshes and the Odiel marshes colony. The Odiel marshes (37.10N-6.58W) is a 7,185 ha complex of tidal salt marshes, saltpans and lagoons at the estuary of Odiel and Tinto rivers. The presence of the spoonbill colony enhanced the site protection which was declared Natural Park in 1989. spoonbills breed in mixed colonies together with Grey Heron Ardea cinerea, Little Egret Egretta garzetta, and occasionally Purple Heron Ardea purpurea. Most spoonbill nests are located in a 480 ha marsh island. The tidal regime is particularly marked with a large part of the island ooded every day during high tide. The vegetation at the breeding sites is dominated by Spartina densiora, Sarcocornia fructicosa, Arthrocnemum macrostachyum, Suaeda vera, Halimione portucolaides and Limoniastrum monopetalum. At the end of the 1990s two new coastal colonies were established in Andalusia, one in the Cadiz Bay and the other in the Isla Cristina marshes. Cadiz Bay (3619N, 0610W) has 16,000 ha, and was declared as Natural Park in 1989, including salt pans, sh ponds and tidal marshes. The Spoonbill colony was discovered in 1997 (author pers. obs.) but the presence of old nests indicated it was already active in 1996. In Cadiz Bay spoonbill nests are located on the small walls of an abandoned saltworks. spoonbills breed in close proximity to Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis. The Isla Cristina colony (3707N 0711W) is located in the 2,145 ha protected area of Marshes of Isla Cristina, at the conuence of the Guadiana and Carreras rivers, on the border with Portugal. spoonbills breed on the ground as in Odiel marshes, in mixed colonies with other egrets. The three spoonbill coastal colonies, Odiel marshes, Cadiz Bay and Isla Cristina have been intensively monitored every year during the breeding period. Visits for nest counting and chick ringing have been carried out since 1984 in the case of Odiel, and since 1997 for the others. At each visit, the number of active nests (with at least one egg) and their contents (number of eggs and/or chicks) were reported. Additionally,
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aerial censuses and counts in foraging sites have been performed in the area. The numbers of breeding pairs was estimated by counting nests with at least one viable egg. The breeding success was estimated as the total number of edglings in a given colony divided by the number of nests. Data were gathered using a similar protocol and analyzed with standardized procedures. In addition, within the International Waterbird Census, mid-January counts of spoonbills were performed since 2004 by a coordinated team in more than 110 wetlands of Andalusia covering an area of about 140,000 ha.
Figure 1. Trends of the spoonbill breeding population in Andalusia.

To evaluate population trends (1984-2012), we used the program Trends and Indexes for Monitoring data (TRIM; Van Strien et al. 2000). This program allows the analysis of temporal series of counts, and can be used to estimate indexes and population trends. To analyse the inuence of inter-annual environmental patterns on spoonbill reproduction, we used multiple regression models. Rainfall patterns and water level are known to be the most essential factors related to the breeding success of wading birds (e.g. Bildstein et al. 1990). Therefore, to determine whether the breeding population was related to climate, we applied a multiple regression with the number of breeding pairs as the dependent variable and the winter rainfall and the average monthly temperature in the early breeding season as independent variables. Winter rainfall was considered as the total rainfall accumulated from October to March. Average temperatures in January, February and March were also used as independent variables. Results and discussion Breeding population Until the 1990s there were only two spoonbill breeding colonies in Andalusia and the breeding population was around 500 breeding pairs. From those dates onwards both
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the total breeding population and the number of breeding colonies showed a strong increase, especially from the end of the decade. The breeding population showed a peak in 2011 with about 2,800 breeding pairs distributed over 19 colonies (Fig. 1). Over the period 1984-2012, the number of breeding pairs showed a moderate increase of 3.15% (TRIM: Imputed index = 0.0315, SD = 0.0009, p < 0.01) while the number of colonies experienced a strong increase, with an average annual change rate higher than 8% (TRIM: Imputed index= 0.083 SD = 0.012, p < 0.01). The lowest numbers of breeding pairs were registered in 2012, 2005 and 1999, coinciding with periods following a particularly dry autumn and winter.

Figure 2. Trends of the spoonbills wintering population in Andalusia (mid-January counts; see text for biological means).

Overall, the breeding population in the three colonies increased signicantly as winter rainfall increased (R2 = 0.27, F1,27 = 10.31; p < 0.01). Fluctuations in winter rainfall explained 27% of the variation in the number of breeding pairs, while temperature in January or February did not contribute signicantly to explain the uctuations in the breeding population. A similar result was observed in Odiel, with the breeding population increasing signicantly after a rainy winter (R2 = 0.27, p < 0.01). The size of the breeding population was signicantly correlated with mean temperature in January in Isla Cristina while it was not signicantly related to climatic variables in the Cadiz colony. When comparing the breeding populations among the three main coastal breeding colonies, Odiel, Cadiz and Isla Cristina, different trends were observed (Table 1): in the Odiel marshes, the breeding population showed a slight (-1.4%) but signicant decrease over the period 1984-2012 (TRIM: Imputed index = -0.014, SD = 0.0014, p < 0.01). On the other side, the Cadiz Bay breeding population experienced a moderate increase of +5.9% (TRIM: Imputed index = 0.059 SD = 0.006, p < 0.01). The Isla Cristina colony showed the opposite trend: a strong decline estimated to -7.4% (TRIM: Imputed index = -0.074, SD = 0.0014, p < 0.01). Thus, even though the uctuations in breeding populations were in part related to winter rainfall, other factors are likely to explain such differences. In the case of
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the Isla Cristina colony, spoonbills did not settle in some years for unknown reasons, but probably related to human disturbance (pers obs.) From 2009 onwards there were only a few breeding attempts, all of them failed. Another small colony was established at a short distance in 2010 but even considering it as the same breeding colony, the annual trend remains still negative. (TRIM: Imputed index = -0.041, SD = 0.006, p < 0.01).The area is surrounded by sh ponds and there are some conicts with private owners. The new colonies tended to show a higher breeding success than Odiel, especially Cadiz Bay, but differences were not signicant (F2,4 = 2.39 p = 0.10). In all colonies breeding success showed strong uctuations from year to year (Table 1). In Odiel marshes, the average breeding success (0.6 edglings per nest) was lower than reported for other spoonbill populations (see for example Triplet et al. 2008), but showed an increase from 0.3 edglings per nest until the 90s to an average of 0.8 edgling per nest in the last decade. The strong uctuations in breeding success in the Odiel colony were positively related to winter rainfall (F1,17 = 13.69, p < 0.01) but negatively with mean temperature in March (F1,17 = 16.80, p < 0.01). In the Cadiz colony rainfall had no inuence but success was improved with increasing temperature in March (F4,9 = 3.39, p < 0.05). In the Isla Cristina colony the annual uctuations in the breeding success were neither signicantly related to winter rainfall nor to average temperature in January, February of March. Wintering population The spoonbill wintering population in Andalusia was on average 1,649 individuals with a record of 2,536 birds in January 2012 (Fig. 2). It showed a moderate increase (+4.6%) from year to year (TRIM: Imputed index = 0.046, SD = 0.001, p < 0.01). Such a moderate increase is registered at all three coastal wetlands: Odiel marshes, Cadiz Bay and Isla Cristina marshes. The wintering population was strongly related to the size of the breeding population in the previous year (F1,7 = 25.17, p < 0.01; R2 = 0.75) However, as reported by Lorenzo and de le Court (2007), the interannual uctuations in the number of spoonbills in mid-January reects the changes in the prenuptial migration rather than the differences in the wintering population. Therefore to determine the real wintering population and its potential relationship with the breeding population in the previous year, the censuses should be carried out in early December, when the postnuptial migration of the Dutch spoonbills has nished (and the return of the Spanish spoonbills from the wintering areas has not yet begun; de le Court and Aguilera 1997). Management In Odiel, oating platforms were used from 2010 onwards, and the breeding success improved to 80% (author unpubl. data). Hence, the increasing breeding success in the last decade at this colony could be explained at least in part by a successful management against nest ooding. These actions, although applied to a limited number of nests (40 nests per year), may be useful for increasing local breeding success in other colonies.
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 Odiel marshes Cadiz Bay Isla Cristina marshes Habitat Tidal marshes, saltworks Tidal marshes, saltworks, Tidal marshes, sh ponds sh ponds First spoonbill 1963 1996 1997 breeding record Average annual 334 pairs 72 pairs 76 pairs nesting population (s.d.= 112.9) (s.d.= 44.4) (s.d.=65.8) Trends in Slight decrease Moderate increase Strong decline nesting population (-1.4%) (+ 5.9%) (-7.4%) Variables related to (+) Winter rainfall - (+) mean t in January nesting population Average annual breeding success 0.6 chick/pair (0.04-1.4) 1.2 chick/pair (0-2.9) 1.0 chick/pair (0 -1.8) (min-max) Variables related to (+ ) Winter rainfall (+) Mean t in March - breeding success (-) Mean t in March Table 1. Description of breeding parameters and trends among the three colonies.

During the experiments of captive breeding and release, eggs were rescued from ooded nests and chicks were hand-reared in captivity over a period of seven weeks. After this time, the captive-born spoonbills were released into the wild; 104 birds in total. All birds were marked and intensively monitored in the following months. Results indicate that the survival rate of captive-reared birds is high and similar to wild birds (author unpubl. data). In the period 2000-2007, at least 39% of the released spoonbills in 1997 had been conrmed breeding. However, there was only a small amount of evidence for the contribution to the formation of a new colony: only one of the released birds nested in a new area, representing the rst occurrence of breeding in a current small colony (5 pairs). In Cadiz Bay, the main spoonbill colony was established in an abandoned saltpan, where the water levels are controlled by oodgates. The colony quickly experienced a strong increase and a high breeding success. However, in 2010 during a big storm the external edge collapsed and the colony was subjected to inuence from spring tides, which caused the loss of all nests and abandonment of the colony. In the following year reproduction started but failed while in 2012 no nest was found. Management for the restoration of the wall has been carried out and nished at the end of 2012. The main problem in the Cadiz area is the maintenance of infrastructures because of progressive abandonment of shponds and saltpans traditionally conserved by local owners, which reduces the habitat available for feeding and nesting.
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Conclusions On a regional scale, the spoonbill breeding population in Andalusia, as well as breeding chronology and reproductive success, showed marked annual uctuations related to environmental conditions. Nevertheless the general trend was one of a strong increase, a trend observed in most colonies including Doana (Ramo et al. 2012). The positive trend of the spoonbill population may be explained at least in part by successful management measures and wetland conservation in Andalusia, as well as in Northern Europe and along the migratory yway. The long-term monitoring contributed to a good knowledge of the spoonbill population and its threats, and was helpful in developing management techniques, mainly towards the minimization of nest ooding. References Bildstein KL, Post W, Johnston J, Frederick P. 1990. Freshwater wetlands, rainfall, and the breeding ecology of white ibises in coastal South Carolina. Wilson Bulletin 102: 84-98. de le Court C, Aguilera E. 1997. Dispersal and migration in Eurasian spoonbills Platalea leucorodia. Ardea 85: 193-202. de le Court C. 2001. The life history of the Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia. How to live in an unpredictable environment. Unpublished PhD. Universiteit Antwerpen. de le Court C, Feria E. 2009. La Esptula en Andaluca. Bases para su conservacin. Manuales de Conservacin de la Naturaleza N 5. Consejera de Medio Ambiente, Junta de Andaluca, Sevilla. Hancock JA, Kushlan JA, Kahl MP. 1992. Storks, ibises and spoonbills of the world. Academic Press Limited, London. Johnston JW, Bildstein K. 1990. Dietary salt as a physiological constraint in white Ibis breeding in an estuary. Physiological Zoology 63: 190-207. Lorenzo M, de le Court C. 2007. Spoonbill winter population in the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands. 31st WbS Annual meeting of the Waterbird Society [Poster communication]. Ramo C, Aguilera E, Figuerola J, Mez M, Rodrguez R, Garca L, Arroyo JL, del Valle JL, Garrido H, Green AJ. 2012. Factors affecting Iongterm breeding population trends of spoonbills in Doana (Guadalquivir marshes, SW Spain). VII Eurosite Spoonbill Workshop [Poster communication].

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Triplet P, Overdijk O, Smart M, Nagy S, Schneider-Jacoby M, Karauz EZ, Pigniczki C, Baha El Din S, Kralj J, Sandor A, Navedo JG. 2008. Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia. AEWA International Single Species Action Plan. AEWA Technical Series No. 35. Bonn, Germany. Van Strien AJ, Pannekoek J, Gibbsons DW. 2000. Indexing European bird population trends using results of national monitoring schemes: a trial of a new method. Bird Study 48: 200-213. Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge all the people that participated in the spoonbill monitoring in the last decades and helped in some way in this work, especially the monitoring group of Doana Biological Station, the staff of the Odiel Park and the monitoring team of the Agency of Environment of the Junta of Andalusia.

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Population development in Mauritanian spoonbills

Otto Overdijk 1, *, El Hacen Mohamed El Hacen 2
1 2

Werkgroep Lepelaar, Knuppeldam 4, 9166 NZ Schiermonnikoog, The Netherlands Parc National du Banc d Arguin, Nouakchott, Mauritania. * Corresponding author: o.overdijk@natuurmonumenten.nl

Keywords: Floodings; jackals; Platalea leucorodia balsaci; predation. Introduction The Mauritanian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia balsaci is an endemic subspecies of the Eurasian Spoonbill (Piersma et al. 2012) and living in Mauritania only. The nominate subspecies is migratory, moving from/to its breeding grounds along the east Atlantic coast. By contrast P.l.balsaci is resident in Mauritania and breeding in the Banc dArguin National Park. This Mauritanian spoonbill is a bit small sized than the nominate subspecies (Glutz von Blutzheim and Bauer 1966) and adults do have a black bill, with no orange spot on the bill if being an adult (O.O. unpubl. data), being this a clear difference with P.l.leucorodia. During the non-breeding period (November till February) both nominate and endemic subspecies are mixed in the Banc dArguin. Nominates are originated from Denmark, Great Britain, Germany, Holland, Belgium, France and Spain. The juveniles (1 year old) and the sub-adults (2-3 years old) from the nominate subspecies stay during their immaturity also in the park. Overall, they do not migrate northwards until they become mature at an age of 3 years (Bauchau et al. 1998).
Zira Nair Arel Toufat Kiaune all 2002 6 6 2003 - 2004 - 2005 1 1 2006 - 2007 54 45 99 2008 1 3 4 2009 1 3 4 2010 97 140 237 2011 - 2012 5 5 10 all 111 197 3 45 5 361 Table 1. Banded nestlings in Banc d Arguin, broken down by year and nesting site.

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Methods Since 1997 the park was visited once, twice or three times per year. During three or four weeks long surveys were conducted through the park (e.g. Overdijk et al. 2000), and the total number of spoonbills were counted, in some years broken down by adults and juveniles. If we found breeding colonies, the numbers of nest were also counted and each nest were separated in used, ooded or predated. In all years the reproduction rate was estimated for both subspecies.
1800 1600 1400 number of breeding pairs 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 year Figure 1. Population development in Mauritanian Spoonbill.

Separating the juveniles of the subspecies was not an easy job. However, the percentage of banded P.l.leucorodia is quite well known. Each colour banded juvenile of the nominate subspecies was an equivalent for 6 not-banded juveniles of the subspecies. By extracting those P.l.leucorodia juveniles from the total number found, we roughly estimated the reproduction rate of the P.l.balsaci. Further, at some breeding sites it was just a matter of counting the juveniles because some were even still begging for food by their Mauritanian parents (O.O. pers. obs).
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Results While combining all data we realized that population size quickly decreased. Before our study started in 1997, the total number of breeding pairs was estimated at 1,610 (Gowthorpe and Lamarche 1995). In 1999 the breeding population size was estimated at 1,400 breeding pairs, in 2003 at 1,120 breeding pairs, in 2006 at 850 breeding pairs and in 2010 at 780 breeding pairs (O.O. unpubl. data). In 2012 we estimated the number of breeding pairs at 750-800. It means that in a period of twenty years the population decreased with (almost) 50% (see also Triplet et al. 2008) (Figure 1).
Photo 1. The breeding colony at island of Zira (NP Banc dArguinMauritania) ooded on 15-July-2010.

In many years we found a very low (no success at all or smaller than 0.1 edged juvenile per breeding pair) breeding success in the P.l.balsaci population. If available, we colour banded as many juveniles (being nestling) as we could (Table 1). After 13 years of monitoring we were very happy to notice that in 2010 reproduction was on several islands very successful (see photo 2). It was estimated that 600 successfully breeding pairs rose over 1,000 juveniles and most of them edged. We could colour-band 237 juveniles in that year. We could band even more chicks but we run out of rings. In contrast, in the 2012 survey we could band only 10 juveniles in the whole park. Discussion Banc dArguin National Park is a well protected site and the decrease of numbers of breeding pairs cannot be explained by the loss of habitat or overall food reduction (Veen 2011). Using satellite transmitters it was found that birds start breeding and, after laying eggs and short incubation, the breeding attempt stopped and birds left the breeding area. Then the birds began a new breeding attempt, sometimes at the same and
35

sometimes at a different breeding site. The desertion of nests occurred in some years 4 or 5 times, between April and October. In order to nd out why birds left the nesting area we installed infra red continue working photo cameras close near the breeding colonies. It was found that ooding during spring tides forced the birds to leave the breeding area (see photo 1). In many years we found a very low (no success at all or smaller than 0.1 edged juvenile per breeding pair) breeding success in the P.l.balsaci population. In some years some small colonies at rocky islands could produce a few number of juveniles. The sandy islands at lower elevation were ooded in many years (see photo 1). Other sandy breeding islands were colonized by Golden Jackals (e.g. the island of Cheddid) and the presence of those predators probably forced spoonbills to move. In the 2009 survey more than ve Golden Jackal burrows, which were recently used, were found at Cheddid. A mass movement was recorded from Cheddid to Nair (200-300 breeding pairs) in 2001 (Overdijk et al 2002). Lastly, in 2012, the low juvenile production was indeed caused by both oodings and predation by Golden Jackals (O.O. pers. obs).
Photo 2. Mauritanian Spoonbill colony at island of Zira (PNBA) with lots of raising juveniles. Photo taken at 18 May 2010. See also Figure 1, same colony.

Acknowledgements We thank the direction and staff of the PNBA for giving permission to carry out the research and for their friendly hospitality during our staging in the park. We thank the Adessium foundation for supporting us nancially for the satellite tracking devices. We thank also the WIWO foundation for supporting the wader counting expeditions from 1997 to 2001.

36

References Bauchau V, Horn H, Overdijk O. 1998. Survival of Spoonbill on Wadden Sea islands. Journal of Avian Biology 29: 177-182 Glutz von Blotzheim N, Bauer KM. 1966. Handbuch der Vogel Mitteleuropas, band 1: 428-441. Akademische Verlaggeselschaft, Frankfurt am Main. Gowthorpe P, Lamarche B. 1995. Oiseaux du Parc National du Banc dArguin (Mauritanie) Collection PNBA, N 2. Overdijk O, de le Court C, Gueye A. 2001, spoonbills count on Banc dArguin, Mauritania, January 2000. WIWO report 70. Zeist / Nouakchott. Overdijk O, Marion L, Sall MA. 2002. Spoonbill count in park National du Banc dArguin Mauritania in January 2002. WIWO report submitted, Nouakchott / Zeist Piersma T, van de Velde M, Mohamed El Hacen EH, Lok T, Overdijk O. 2012. Molecular verication of the subspecies status of the Mauritanian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia balsaci . Ardea 100: 131-136. Triplet P, Overdijk O, Smart M, Nagy S, Schneider-Jacoby M, Karauz ES, Pigniczki Cs, Baha El Din S, Kralj J, Sandor A, Navedo JG. (Compilers). 2008. International Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia. AEWA Technical Series No. 35. Bonn, Germany. Veen J. 2011. Voedsel van de Mauretaanse lepelaar Platalea leucorodia balsaci (in Dutch). Internal report Werkgroep Lepelaar 2011. Zwarts L, van der Kamp, J, Overdijk O, van Spanje TM, Veldkamp R, West R, Wright M. 1998. Wader count on the Banc dArguin, Mauritania, in January-February 1997. Wader Study Group Bulletin 86: 53-69.

37

Recent trends of the breeding population of Spoonbill in France

Loc Marion
UMR CNRS Ecobio, Universit de Rennes 1, campus Beaulieu, 35042 Rennes, France. Correspondence: loic.marion@univ-rennes1.fr

Keywords: Distribution; Dynamics; Sacred ibis; Red Swamp craysh; wetlands. Introduction After four centuries of absence, spoonbills Platalea leucorodia are breeding again in the Lake of Grand-Lieu area in Loire-Atlantique, sporadically since 1973 (Marion and Marion 1982) and regularly since 1987, but in very small numbers (3-7 pairs) until the beginning of the 1990s (Marion 1996). The present paper describes the chronology of colonization of breeding spoonbills in France from this rst record, for each breeding site until 2011. Methods The data on breeding colonies have been obtained from annual censuses of the population through personal research until 1997, and thereafter by coordination of an annual national census. The census of occupied nests in the Lake of Grand-Lieu needed three weeks between May and June every year, by walking through Salix spp. and Alnus spp. forests along the shoreline (with only 1 or 2 visits to each part of the lake), while it generally needed one to three visits in other colonies (references are given in results when the local censuses have been published). The number of breeding pairs (hereafter bp.) was estimated in some years for some colonies (Table 1). In these cases, the lower values give the minimum bp. and the higher values are estimates of the maximum breeding pairs including late breeders, breeding failures (nests occupied only during a part of the breeding season), or nests only observed at distance. Results Most of the colonies are on the Atlantic coast, on the migration path of the Dutch spoonbills (Fig. 1), with numerous cases of emigrant ringed birds from the mother colony of Grand-Lieu (Marion 2006). This colony stayed at very low numbers for two decades, before it suddenly increased at the beginning of the 1990s (Table 1) (Marion
38

and Marion 1994). The decrease to only 14 successful bp. in 2003 was probably due to a fall in the water level at the foraging habitats (i.e. marsh meadows). Breeding spoonbills reached the record of 159 bp. in 2010. However, in the main sub-colonies the breeding population was 40% lower in 2011 (falling to only 92-98 bp.; Marion 2012), and uncertainty about estimate of possible late breeders was higher due to the presence of non-breeders in the colonies (Table 1).
8 13 3 10 11 9 2 1-10 pairs 11-20 pairs 21-40 pairs 41-80 pairs 81-120 pairs 121-160 pairs 1 7 16 14 15 5 12 6 4

Figure 1. Distribution of breeding sites of Spoonbill in France in 2011 (numbers refer to Table 1).

The second and third breeding sites in France appeared in the Brire marshes in 1992 and in the Erdre marshes two years later (Marion 1994), however, with few reliable quantitative data. In Brire there have been several sporadic colonies, largely uctuating between 23 and 119 bp. (Table 1). Between 2006 and 2011 numbers uctuated between 40 and 69 bp., and between 3 and 14 bp. between 1994 and 2011 in the Erdres marshes (Table 1). Curiously the next French breeding records occurred in 1996 in centralsouth east France, a long way from the Atlantic migration route, in the Dombes in Ain department (one attempt), with another attempt in the Forez department (Crouzier and Rimbert 1997). Breeding occurred at this latter area regularly from 2006 (Benmergui and Crouzier 2006). In 1997 a new breeding colony appeared at Orx (Landes), with 5-6 bp. until 1999, but it disappeared until 2005 and then uctuated between 3 and 9 bp. until 2011 (Table 1). In 1998 breeding occurred for the rst time in the Camargue with 13 to 15 bp. until 2005, and increased to 71 bp. in 2009 (Blanchon et al. 2010) reaching 143 bp. in 2011 (Marion 2012). In 1999 large marshes of Charente-Maritime were colonized by breeding spoonbills, with one bp. at Moeze and again in 2004. Regular breeding started from 2006 at another site nearby (Brouage) increasing up to 31 bp. in 2011 (including the new neighboring colony of Marennes) (Table 1).
39

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Angers Braud St-Louis Brire Erdre Grand-Lieu Orx Bois mont Dombes Camargue Marquenterre Moeze-Brouage St-Georges Marennes Gurande Adour Blaye

1973 1 1974 3 1975 0 1976 0 1977 0 1978 0 1979 0 1980 0 1981 3 1982 0 1983 0 1984 0 1985 0 1986 0 1987 7 1988 3 1989 7 1990 5 1991 5 1992 10 3 1993 18 2 1994 23 11 3 1995 27 15 1996 25 19 4 1 1997 22 23 5 5 1998 37 20 4 6 3 1999 32 51 4 6 4 1 3 2000 37 5861 5 0 56 6 2001 34 4552 5 0 35 6 2002 29 78 57 0 79 12 2003 1429 60 8 0 1317 16 1 116122 5 0 1215 02 23 1 2004 2930 2005 4151 4852 5 3 13 25 10 2006 6177 5864 713 56 4 26 56 28 2645 2 2007 6889 44 48 56 4 1837 8 26 3261 0 2 2008 77119 69 1215 68 8 50 8 35 3860 0 1 34 10 1 46 21 1 2009 111116 4749 1012 810 68 6478 10 45 5170 0 3841 810 69 68 111 10 55 3876 0 0 68 3 2 13 2010 150168 1012 1 810 143 28 60 3560 0 0 47 1 3 79 3 2011 92154 6468

Table 1. Annual numbers of breeding spoonbills (min-max breeding pairs, see Methods) at each French breeding area (estimated numbers in bold).

40

In spite of its proximity to the Dutch population, the eastern Channel coast was only occupied in 1999 at the Parc de Marquenterre (Somme). The number of breeders increased rapidly from 3 to 60 bp. in 2011 (Table 1). Another colony appeared nearby at Boismont in 2008 reaching 21 bp. the following year, but fell to just one bp. in 2011 (Table 1). In 2003 a new site was colonized at Gurande (Loire-Atlantique) with a peak of 5170 bp. in 2009. However there are large differences between the number of pairs and conrmed breeding records in this colony since 2006 (see estimated values in Table 1). spoonbills bred once at Angers (Maine-et-Loire) in 2006, while at a neighboring site, St-Georges-sur-Loire, one pair nested in 2008 and 2009. From 2007, a new colony appeared in Barthes of Adour (Landes) uctuating between 4 and 7 bp. until 2011 (Table 1). Finally, one bp. was detected in the Gironde estuary at Braud-St-Louis in 2009, increasing to 3 bp. in 2011, while another two bp. appeared in the same estuary at Blaye in 2010, increasing to 7 bp. in 2011 (Table 1). Discussion After a progressive, but still limited, increase of number of colonies in France (14 occupied sites in 2011), the total number of breeding spoonbills strongly increased after 2005 (145-159 bp.) to reach 459-559 bp. in 2011. Overall decreases occurred in 2001, 2003, and 2005, mainly affecting the Grand-Lieu and Brire colonies. Differences between minimum and maximum breeding pairs tended to increase in recent years due to nest failure (predation, human disturbance), and difculties in distinguishing between real breeders and non-breeders when the nests were not monitored. Several factors played major roles in this history (Marion 2006). Immigration from the increasing Dutch population which migrates along the Channel and Atlantic coasts played a initial role in the establishment of new colonies in France (except in Dombes and the Camargue where the rst records seemed a result of accidentally escaped birds from local zoos). The lack of disturbance by humans in the Grand-Lieu natural reserve (until management of the Sacred ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus began) is also an important factor. The higher carrying capacity of the larger feeding areas is probably the second important factor, particularly in Loire Atlantique and recently in the Camargue (the largest French wetland), while the small feeding areas in some sites (Erdre, Orx, Angers, St-Georges, Adour) probably did not allow signicant breeding populations of spoonbills. The recent increase of the invasive Red Swamp Craysh in the marshes on the Atlantic coast (Brire since the beginning of the 2000s, Grand-Lieu since 2007) and in the Camargue (since 1997), largely increased the food resources (Marion in press). On the other hand, uctuations in the water level in the feeding areas of the colonies of Grand-Lieu and Brire (lower number of breeders with low water level) could explain some uctuations in the breeding population before 2006 (Marion 2006).
41

Disturbance of Sacred ibis in mixed colonies as a generalized management measure for this alien species in Europe (IUCN 2012) could also affect short-term trends of breeding spoonbills in France (Marion 1999). The social context in mixed colonies seems to be of particular importance for the development of breeding Spoonbill in France (Marion 2006). A recent study stated that the potential attraction of breeding spoonbills by Sacred ibis is not supported (Clergeau et al. 2010). Nevertheless this was only based on the chronology of the breeding of the two species after the deterrent actions against Sacred ibis in other colonies, which altered the traditional timing of breeding by inducing an inux of this species in the refuge area of Grand-Lieu later in the breeding season (L.Marion in prep.). Despite such a disturbance, there was still a strong correlation between number of breeding pairs of both species at Grand-Lieu (r Spearman = 0.84; p < 0.0001 between 1993 and 2011; L.Marion in prep.). Above all, shooting and other deterrent action against Sacred ibises in the mixed colonies of Loire-Atlantique since 2008 disturbed breeding spoonbills signicantly. This is probably the reason for the strong decrease of spoonbills in these main colonies following displacement in new sites, since the food resources did not seem to be limiting in this large wetland area. Acknowlegdements I thank all the counters who participated in the annual census of the breeding spoonbills in France: J.Cl. Beaudoin, M. Benmergui, E. Beslot, T. Blanchon, G. Bourls, S. Cardonnel, Ph. Carruette, M. Caupenne, F. Cazaban, R. Chazal, R. Hargues, P. Crouzier, F. Dupuy, A. Foss, M. Gauthier-Clerc, Y. Kayser, P. Lesclaux, D. Marchal, L. Marion, P. Marion, Y. Montan, D. Montfort, N. Sadoul, F. Sueur, and their organizations: Bretagne Vivante, CNERA ONCFS Birieux, Conseil Gnral Gironde, CNRS-Universit Rennes1, CPIE Seignanx et Adour, FDC Landes, Parc du Marquenterre, LPO Charente-Maritime, LPO Anjou, LPO Loire-Atlantique, RN Courant dHuchet, RN dOrx, SESLG, Syndicat mixte gestion milieu naturels des Landes, Tour du Valat. References Benmergui M, Crouzier P. 2006. La Spatule blanche Platalea leucorodia nicheuse en Dombes. Ornithos 13, 378-381. Blanchon T, Kayser Y, Arnaud A, Gauthier-Clerc M. 2010. La Spatule blanche Platalea leucorodia en Camargue: nidication et hivernage. Ornithos 17: 217-222. Clergeau P, Fourcy D, Reeber S, Ysou P. 2010. New but nice? Do alien sacred ibises Threskiornis aethiopicus stabilize nesting colonies of native spoonbills Platalea leucorodia at Grand-Lieu Lake, France? Oryx 44: 533-538.

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Crouzier P, Rimbert P. 1997. Deux tentatives de nidication de Spatules blanches Platalea leucorodia en plaine du Forez (Loire) et en Dombes (Ain). Nos Oiseaux 44: 109-110. IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 02 June 2013. Marion L. 1994. La Spatule blanche. In: Atlas des oiseaux nicheurs de France. YeatmanBerthelot D, Jarry G (Eds): Socit Ornithologique de France, Paris. pp. 50-51. Marion L. 1996. Nidication de la Spatule blanche Platalea leucorodia en France. Ornithos 3: 14-21. Marion L. 1999. La Spatule blanche Platalea leucorodia. In : Oiseaux menacs et surveiller en France. Rocamora G., Yeatman-Berthelot D (Eds). Socit dEtudes Ornithologiques de France, Paris: 114-115. Marion L. 2006. Status of the breeding population of spoonbills in France and relations with Sacred ibis. Eurosite Spoonbill Network Newsletter 4: 36-40. Marion L. 2012. Spatule blanche Platalea leucorodia. In: Les oiseaux nicheurs rares et menacs en France en 2011. Dupuis V. & coordinateurs espces. Ornithos 19: 297 Marion L. In Press. Is the Sacred ibis a real threat for bird biodiversity? Long-term study of its diet in non-native areas compared to native areas. Comptes Rendus Biologies 336 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.crvi.2013.05.001). Marion L, Marion P. 1982. La Spatule blanche Platalea leucorodia niche au Lac de Grand-Lieu. Alauda 50: 241-249. Marion L, Marion P. 1994. Premire installation spontane dune colonie dIbis sacr Threskhiornis aethiopicus au lac de Grand-Lieu. Donnes prliminaires sur la production en jeunes et sur le rgime alimentaire. Alauda 62: 275-280.

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Breeding success of the only Belgian Spoonbill colony with an exploratory diet study
Geert Spanoghe *, Hilbran Vertstraete, Ralf Gyselings
Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Kliniekstraat 25, 1070 Brussel, Belgium Corresponding author: geert.spanoghe@inbo.be

Keywords: Spoonbill; breeding success; otoliths. Introduction The rst proven Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia breeding in Belgium occurred in a coastal site in 1999, where one pair bred in a heronry located in a small Pinus sp. forest at Knokke (Het Zwin). One or two pairs bred there in the following 3 years (Vermeersch et al. 2004). Belgium nowadays hosts only one breeding colony of spoonbills, located in a protected area near Antwerp. The breeding successof this colony was thoroughly studied. In 2009 the diet of non-edglings was investigated by identifying prey remains from faeces on the nests.
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total nests 1 5 11 14 19 19 18 20 32 19 158 edged youngs 2 11 19 21 44 35 45 30 55 30 292 breeding success 2 2.2 1.7 1.4 2.3 1.8 2.5 1.5 1.7 1.6 1.8 Table 1. Breeding success (edged young per pair) and colony size of spoonbills at Verrebroek (B) from 2003 to 2012.

Methods In 2003 the only recent Belgian breeding site was founded at Verrebroek, East-Flanders, now numbering around 20 breeding pairs (Figure 1). The majority, some years all pairs, bred on a pile of branches surrounded by water in an articial freshwater lake created during harbour development. Alternative breeding places were truncated willows Salix sp. in the lake or small vegetated islands in a nearby lake. As all breeding sites are well accessible to researchers the colony was visited fortnightly to estimate breeding success. This way all nests and young could be easily counted on every visit allowing thus a very
44

accurate assessment of the breeding success at the end of the season since no young were overlooked or double counted. From 2008 onwards young spoonbills were ringed and/or PVC-colour ringed (rings were submitted by Werkgroep Lepelaar). The individual recognition, by their colour rings, of a signicant part of the young birds in the colony each year greatly helped in pinpointing the total number of edged birds. Additionally, in June 2009 faeces were collected from the nests. These were analysed for remains of sh (otoliths, Figure 2), crustaceans and other prey items in the laboratory.
Figure 1. Situation of the Spoonbill colony.

Results and discussion Breeding success was measured for ten successive years. On average 1.8 young per pair edged with a range of 1.5-2.5 (Table 1). The rst clutches appear around 25th march. In normal years about 90% of the young edge before the end of May. Breeding success seems to be weather dependent with the lowest values after cold springs. We have only limited evidence of predation in some years presumably by Red fox Vulpes vulpes and Grey heron Ardea cinerea. The year 2010 was exceptional as 20 pairs only managed to produce 5 edglings until mid may, with several nests with abandoned eggs and dead pulli. Fourteen replacement clutches were laid after 20th May, the start of a favourable weather period, adding 25 edglings to the total in July. Compared to literature an average of 1.8 edged young per pair seems low, sincesmall colonies are known to produce more edged chicks on average than big colonies (Triplet et al. 2008; Lok et al. 2009). As in other temperate breeding areas (e.g. Odiel marshes; Aguilera et al. 1996) some sh species typically occurring in the shallow parts of tidal waters constituted a signicantly high proportion of the diet. Common ounder Platichthys esus was the most abundant prey followed by Common goby Pomatoschistus microps, herrings Clupeidae spp. and sticklebacks (Fam. Gasterosteidae). The latter occurs both in tidal as stagnant waters.
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Common Flonder
Platichthys esus

Common Goby
Pomatoschistus microps

Herring spec.
Clupeidae indet.

Stickleback spec.
Gasterosteidae indet.

Figure 2. Otoliths of the 4 commonest sh species found in the faeces of Spoonbill pulli.

Few other species were found of which only one could originate from stagnant water (a carp species; Fam. Cyprinidae). Shrimp remains were not uncommon in the faeces (mostly parts of legs with claws). Data from the faeces could be compared to shing data from the nearby river Scheldt (cooling system of the nuclear plant at Doel, data INBO) during the breeding period of spoonbills. They share three taxa in their top ve: Platichthys esus, Pomatoschistus microps and Fam. Clupeidae. As expected, the shing data contain more and higher percentages of pelagic species which are obviously a less regular prey of spoonbills foraging in the shallow intertidal zone.
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Daily observations of foraging parties and directions of birds leaving the colony suggest adaily use of the estuarine habitat, with the Verdronken Land van Saeftinghe (NL), at least 10 km from the breeding place, as a key site. The results of the diet study conrmed that the tidal habitat is a very important foraging habitat for the spoonbills in this area. Foraging in the abundant stagnant waters around the colony increased over the years, after maturing of some newly developed waterbodies, but still seems limited. Some are however daily used as resting place during high tide after dispersal, from June to September. Compensation plans for harbor development include the restoration of 450 ha of tidal wetland area in the near vicinity of the colony. spoonbills are expected to benet from this additional foraging habitat. Finally, since literature about the breeding success of spoonbills is overall scarce (but see Lok et al. 2009 and references in Triplet et al. 2008), we are interested in participating in a network of researchers to estimate breeding success of colonies, by using the same method we applied in Belgian colonies along the Atlantic yway, to better understand the importance of our data. Acknowledgements INBO wishes to thank the ringers of ringing group Durmefor organising the ringing sessions within the colony. We are also thankfulto WerkgroepLepelaar for providing the colour rings. Ward De Moor helped a lot in identifying otoliths in the laboratory. References Aguilera E, Ramo C, de le Court C. 1996. Food and feeding sites of the Eurasian spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) in Southwetesrn Spain. Colonial Waterbirds 19: 159-166. Lok T, Overdijk O, Horn H, Piersma T. 2009. De lepelaar populatie van de Wadden komt het einde van de groei in zicht? Limosa 82: 149-157. Triplet P, Overdijk O, Smart M, Nagy S, Schneider-Jacoby M, Karauz ES, Pigniczki Cs, Baha El Din S, Kralj J, Sandor A, Navedo JG. (Compilers). 2008. International Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia. AEWA Technical Series No. 35. Bonn, Germany. Vermeersch G, Anselin A, Devos K, Herremans M, Stevens J, Gabrils J, Van Der Krieken B. 2004. Atlas van de Vlaamse broedvogels 2000-2002. Mededelingen van het Instituut voor Natuurbehoud 23, Brussel, 496 p.

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Dispersal and migration of Eurasian spoonbills breeding in Croatia

Jelena Kralj 1, *, Tibor Mikuska 2, Mirko etina 3, Otto Overdijk 4
Institute of Ornithology, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Gunduliceva 24, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia Croatian Society for Birds and Nature Protection, Gunduliceva 19A, 31000 Osijek, Croatia 3 A Barca 38, 35000 Slavonski Brod, Croatia 4 Natuurmonumenten, Knuppeldam 4, 9166 NZ Schiermonnikoog, The Netherlands * Corresponding author: jkralj@hazu.hr
1 2

Keywords: Colour-rings; Dispersion; Migration routes; Wintering areas. Introduction Eurasian spoonbills breeding in Croatia belong to the eastern metapopulation of the nominate subspecies. Compared to the western one, data about wintering areas and dispersal are more lacking. Eastern metapopulation uses two distinct migration routes: one leads over the Adriatic Sea, through Italy to North Africa, and the other leads south-east, through the Balkans, Anatolia, the Middle East to Upper Nile river, but exact yways and wintering grounds are still not well known (Triplet et al. 2008). Between 120 and 280 pairs breed in lowland Croatia. Movements of young and immature birds from southern part of the Pannonian basin were recently studied (Kralj et al. 2012). In this paper we describe the movement of Croatian spoonbills based on resightings of colourringed birds, focusing on geographic distribution patterns throughout the year and possible threats during migration. Methods Colour-ringing in Croatia started in 2003, as a part of a general marking project coordinated by the Working Group for spoonbills (based in the Netherlands). Until 2012, a total of 641 nestlings had been colour-ringed. Colour-ringing scheme had changed during that period (Table 1). We analysed the recovery data of colour-ringed spoonbills, based on observations obtained from the network of professional ornithologists and amateur birdwatchers in Europe and North Africa. In Italy and Tunisia, spoonbills were counted during International Waterfowl Census count and spoonbill monitoring (N. Baccetti and H. Azafzaf/AAO pers. comm.), while data from other areas came from casual observations. Stages of the Eurasian Spoonbills annual cycle were assessed according to Cramp and Simmons (1977), specically: the breeding period lasting from May to July, dispersal and post-breeding migration from August to October, wintering
48

from November to February and spring migration from March to April. Birds were considered as juveniles until the April of their second year, immatures until the April of their fourth calendar year, and adults after that.
Scheme two coloured rings six-rings with ag white rings TOTAL Years Number ringed 2003-2007 344 2008-2009 44 2010-2012 253 2003-2012 641 Table 1. Colour-ringing schemes used in Croatia between 2003 and 2012 and number of spoonbills ringed.

Results and discussion In the period from 2003 to August 2012, a total of 138 birds (26.1% of all colour-ringed birds) were observed, with 443 resightings altogether (i.e. 3.2 observations per reported bird). A total of 46.5% of the birds were observed as juveniles, 32.3% as immatures, and 21.2% as adults. Eleven birds were found dead, with the main reasons identied being adverse weather conditions (for still unedged juveniles) - 3 birds, collision with wires - 2 birds, and shooting - 2 birds. spoonbills ringed in Croatia were observed in ten countries, with the majority of observations reported from Hungary and Italy, apart from Croatia. Croatian spoonbills wintered in North Africa (predominantly Tunisia) and southern Italy (Sicily and Sardinia). From 40 birds observed during wintering period, 60% wintered in Tunisia and 32% in Italy. Some individuals were also reported from Libya (4%), Algeria (2%), and Niger (2%). Similar to spoonbills in the western population (e.g. Navedo et al. 2010; Lok et al. 2011), all birds showed a high delity to wintering areas. The mean distance between wintering locations of the same bird in successive years was 2.1 1.9 km for Italian sites, and 36.5 79.8 km for African sites. Croatian spoonbills y much shorter distances to wintering grounds compared to the Atlantic metapopulation: 7001,100 km to southern Italy and 1,100-1,500 km to Tunisia. Only a fraction of the immature spoonbills spend summer on the wintering grounds. From 17 resightings of 13 second-year birds observed during the breeding period, 53% were from wintering areas. Conversely, none of the 49 observations of third-year birds during the breeding period originated from wintering areas. With increasing age, spoonbills arrived back in their natal area earlier. Post-breeding dispersal of Croatian spoonbills starts in July. Young birds dispersed mostly towards the northwest, or directly migrated in a south-westerly direction. Immature birds were observed in the vicinity of breeding colonies in Hungary, Austria and Italy. First yearlings reached wintering sites in Tunisia and Italy already in August. Smart et al. (2007) stated that Pannonian spoonbills used the central Mediterranean yway to migrate, but probably many of them crossed the Adriatic Sea over its northern part (Kralj et al. 2012). The lack of recoveries along the eastern Adriatic coast (Adriatic yway) might be the result of lower observation effort, scarcity of suitable habitats
49

Figure 1. Ringing (white circles) and nding (black circles) localities of colour-ringed spoonbills from Croatia. Two recoveries from Algeria and Niger were not represented in the gure (see text for more details).

and disturbance resulting from tourism development and hunting at stopover sites (Denac et al. 2010). On the other hand, Adriatic yway could have greater importance for migratory spoonbills in spring. For example, Neretva delta was used by at least 100 250 spoonbills during February and March 2011 and 2012 (B. Ilic pers. comm). Due to the very low observation effort on breeding colonies in Croatia and Serbia, only 16 individuals (34 resightings) have been observed as adults during the breeding season, in Croatia (1 bird), Serbia (two birds), Hungary (10 birds, one of them previously observed in Serbia) and Italy (4 birds), at an average distance of 263 km (maximum 449 km) from the natal colonies. Six birds were observed during the breeding periods in successive years. Distances between observation sites in two breeding seasons were up to 30 km apart for four birds, while the other two were observed at distances of 72 and 333 km. Birds from the Balkans and Carpathian Basin are considered to be the most likely source of colonisation for the Italian and Czech breeding populations (Cepak et al. 2008, Volponi et al. 2008). Maximum distances recorded during both natal and breeding dispersal distances are quite long compared to other populations (Cramp and Simmons 1977, De le Court and Aguilera 1997) and low delity to breeding areas could be an adaptation to frequent changes of local habitat characteristics.
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The continuation of this study and more intensive observation effort, especially around breeding colonies, within the Adriatic yway and in sub-Saharan areas is needed for identication of the exact migration routes used by Croatian spoonbills. A study based on satellite tracking would enable the identication of previously unrecognised migration routes and wintering sites, which may help to ensure better conservation of spoonbills outside the breeding area, especially through improvement of wetland connectivity along their migration routes (Haig et al. 1998). With increasing total number of colour-ringed birds and marked birds reaching maturity, research of the natal and breeding dispersal as well as survival rate and mortality factors is foreseen. Acknowledgements We thank all ringers who took part in spoonbill ringing, and those who collected observations of colour-ringed spoonbills in Europe and Africa. Colour-rings for spoonbills were provided by the Working Group for spoonbills, in the Netherlands. Thanks to Nicola Baccetti and Marco Zenatello (ISPRA) for providing data on IWC in Italy, and to Hichem Azafzaf (AAO - LAssociation Les Amis des Oiseaux) for providing data on the monitoring of the Eurasian Spoonbill in Tunisia. References Cepak J, Klvaa P, kopek J, Schrpfer L, Jelnek M, Hork D, Formnek J, Zrybnick J (Eds.). 2008. Atlas migrace ptku Cesk Republiki a Slovenska. Aventinum, Praha, Czech Republic. Cramp S, Simmons KEL (Eds.). 1977. The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. De le Court, C, Aguilera E. 1997. Dispersal and migration in Eurasian spoonbills Platalea leucorodia. Ardea 85: 193-202. Denac D, Schneider-Jacoby M, Stumberger B (Eds.). 2010. Adriatic Flyway: closing the gap in bird conservation. Euronatur, Radolfzell, Germany. Haig S M, Mehlman DW, Oring IW. 1998. Avian movements and wetland connectivity in landscape conservation. Conservation Biology 12: 749758. Kralj J, uljevic A, Mikuska T, Overdijk O. 2012. Movements of Immature Eurasian spoonbills Platalea leucorodia from the Breeding Grounds of the Eastern Metapopulation in the Pannonian Basin. Waterbirds 35: 239-247.

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Lok T, Overdijk O, Tinbergen JM, Piersma T. 2011. The paradox of spoonbill migration: most birds travel to where survival rates are lowest. Animal Behaviour 82: 837-844. Navedo JG, Orizaola G, Masero JA, Overdijk O, Snchez-Guzmn JM. 2010. Longdistance travellers stop over for longer: a case study of spoonbills staying in North Iberia. Journal of Ornithology 151: 915-921. Smart M, Azafzaf H, Dlensi H. 2007. The Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) in Africa. Ostrich 78: 495-500. Triplet P, Overdijk O, Smart M, Nagy S, Schneider-Jacoby M, Karauz ES, Pigniczki Cs., Baha El Din S, Kralj J, Sandor A, Navedo JG. 2008. International Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia. AEWA Tecnical Series No. 35, Bonn, Germany. Volponi S, Emiliani D, Fasola M. 2008. An overview of spoonbills in Italy. Eurosite Spoonbill Network Newsletter 5: 3-5.

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Stopover sites and migration seasons of Eurasian Spoonbill in the eastern Adriatic region and the Dinaric Karst
Borut Stumberger 1, Peter Sackl 2, *, Luka Boic 3, Gordan Lukac 4, Draen Kotroan 5, Mihailo Jovicevic 6, Metodija Velevski 7, Davorka Kitonic 8, Martin Schneider-Jacoby 1 , Romy Durst 1
EuroNatur, Radolfzell, Germany. Universalmuseum Joanneum, Biowissenschaften, Austria. 3 DOPPS-BirdLife Slovenia, Maribor, Slovenia. 4 Paklenica National Park, Starigrad-Paklenica, Croatia. 5 Ornithological Society Nae ptice - Our Birds, Sarajevo, Bosnia-Hercegovina. 6 Center for the Protection and Research of Birds, Podgorica, Montenegro. 7 Macedonian Ecological Society, Skopje, Macedonia. 8 Opuzen, Croatia. * Corresponding author: peter.sackl@museum-joanneum.at
1 2

Keywords: Migration; Stopover sites; Phenology; Bosnia-Hercegovina; Croatia; Montenegro. Introduction Stopover sites of migrating Eurasian spoonbills Platalea leucorodia in the W Balkans are insufciently known. According to recoveries and resightings of colour-ringed birds, spoonbills which cross the Balkan Peninsula and the Adriatic Sea during spring and autumn migration belong to the Central European population which winters in North Africa (Smart et al. 2007). Most ringed birds found dead or resighted on both sides of the Adriatic Sea originate from breeding grounds in the Carpathian Basin (Mller 1984, Kralj et al. 2012). On the basis of data compiled by EuroNatur throughout the Adriatic Flyway Project (2000-2012), the present paper aims to identify key stopover sites and the main migration seasons of Eurasian Spoonbill in the W Balkans. Methods Our data concern wetland areas situated on the E Adriatic Sea coasts, from Slovenia southwards to N Albania, as well as inland sites in the hinterlands of the Dinaric Karst in Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Hercegovina. A total of 464 records with 8,356 individual birds were compiled. Spoonbills were counted (1) during general eld surveys, (2) waterbird counts (International Waterfowl Census, IWC), (3) all-year counts along the delta front of the Neretva River (Croatia), (4) breeding and wintering bird
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surveys in Bosnia-Hercegovina, Montenegro and Albania, particularly the Ulcinj salina and Skadar lake, and (5) a study on visible bird migration on Ada Island (Montenegro) in March 2010 (Stumberger and Schneider-Jacoby 2010). Since 2003, bird surveys in key wetlands, i.e. Livanjsko polje and Buko Jezero (both Bosnia-Hercegovina), the Neretva river delta (Croatia), and the Bojana/Buna delta and Ulcinj salina in Albania and Montenegro, were performed almost annually from mid-January to June, and less frequently between mid-September and late November. Additionally, occasional observations and count data were provided by different observers and DOPPS-BirdLife Slovenia. To minimize double counts of spoonbills per site in cases of continuous counts only numbers for the rst date (rst date individuals) were analysed. This reduced the dataset to 335 records and a respective total of 7,834 individuals (Table 1).

Site Country n Min. Max. Spring Autumn Total Median Max. Max. (Q25/Q75) Cerkniko jezero Slovenia 4 1 4 4 - 9 (0.1%) 2 (1/3.75) kocjanski zatok (Koper) Slovenia 12 1 6 6 1 26 (0.3%) 1 (1/3.5) Secoveljske soline Slovenia 5 1 8 5 8 17 (0.2%) 2 (1/6.5) Haljinici Bosnia-Hercegovina 7 1 10 10 3 36 (0.5%) 4 (1/9) Livanjsko polje Bosnia-Hercegovina 17 1 138 107 138 506 (6.5%) 18 (6/35) Mostarsko blato Bosnia-Hercegovina 13 2 200 200 - 533 (6.8%) 24 (15/38) Modricko polje Bosnia-Hercegovina 3 1 11 1 11 21 (0.3%) 9 (1/-) Duvanjsko polje Bosnia-Hercegovina 5 1 12 3 12 20 (0.3%) 2 (1.5/7.5) Konavsko polje Croatia 2 2 24 24 2 26 (0.3%) - Solina Nin Croatia 2 1 4 4 1 5 (0.1%) - Otok Pag Croatia 12 1 15 15 - 53 (0.7%) 2 (1/7.75) Palud (Rovinj) Croatia 2 1 8 - 8 9 (0.1%) - Uce Mirne (Novigrad) Croatia 2 1 1 1 - 2 (< 0.1%) - Uce Neretve Croatia 156 1 133 133 4 3862 (49.3%) 14 (5.25/31) Vransko jezero Croatia 7 1 4 3 4 18 (0.2%) 3 (1/4) Solila Tivat Montenegro 3 1 7 7 - 10 (0.1%) 2 (1/-) Skadarsko jezero Montenegro/Albania 2 9 15 15 - 24 (0.3%) - Bojana/Buna Delta 1 Montenegro/Albania 14 1 220 220 - 343 (4.4%) 5 (2/20.25) Solana Ulcinj Montenegro 62 1 147 147 141 2284 (29.3%) 25 (12/50.25) Total 335 1 220 220 141 7834 (100%) 11.5 (3/28)
1

without the Ulcinj salina

Table 1. Numbers of Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) at stopover sites in the eastern Adriatic region and in Bosnia-Hercegovina, 2000-2012. Only sites with > 5 visits are shown.
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Results and discussion From a total of 33 sites ve supported more than 100 Eurasian spoonbills during migration (Fig. 1). While in Slovenia, Istria and along N Dalmatia coasts numbers did not exceed a maximum of 15 birds on Pag Island in March 2006, signicant numbers of at least 200-300 spoonbills per season were found in the Neretva river delta in S Dalmatia and the Bojana/Buna delta on the Montenegrin-Albanian coast. Although eld effort was heavily skewed to coastal sites, approximately 18% of spoonbills (i.e. 15% of all records) were registered in karst poljes (i.e. inland wetlands) in Bosnia-Hercegovina (Table 1). On the coast spoonbills stop over at the delta fronts of main rivers, lagoons and salinas (79% of all birds), while they were mainly found in periodically ooded karst poljes which are grazed by cattle, sheep and other domestic animals in the hinterlands of the Dinaric Karst (12% of total birds). Together with coastal sites in Montenegro and S Dalmatia, the freshwater habitats in the hinterlands of the E Adriatics coast indicate a main migration route of the Central European metapopulation across the W Balkans, Adriatic Sea and S Italy (Fig. 1), as pointed out by Smart et al. (2007). Spoonbill numbers in spring were overall higher than autumn numbers, although eld effort was lower in late summer and autumn at both coastal and inland sites. The Neretva Delta held very low numbers in autumn (Fig 2a), while other main stopover areas (i.e. Livanjsko polje, Mostarsko blato and the Bojana/Buna delta) are used by a maximum of more than 100 spoonbills during spring as well as autumn migration (Table 1) (Fig. 2b,c). At coastal sites spring migration starts in early to mid-February with peak numbers in March, while inland sites in Bosnia-Hercegovina support large numbers in mid-March till late April (Fig. 2b). Resightings of colour-ringed spoonbills in the Bojana/Buna delta, where a small breeding colony of 18 pairs (2012) exists, also revealed that some birds stay till mid-May. In addition, comparatively large numbers were seen in June and early July in the nearby Ulcinj salina. Waterbird surveys throughout the approximately 220 km2 Bojana/Buna river delta in Montenegro and Albania (2003-2004) showed that the Ulcinj salina is the only wetland area that is regularly used for feeding and daytime roosting by adult and juvenile spoonbills of the local breeding population (SchneiderJacoby et al. 2006). December and January records further indicate that some birds and small ocks may occasionally winter in the area (Fig. 2c). In autumn peak numbers between early September and October coincided with the departure from main post-breeding gatherings in Kopacki rit in NE Croatia (SchneiderJacoby et al. 2002, Mikuska et al. 2006). Large autumn numbers at inland sites in Bosnia-Hercegovina and the Ulcinj salina, suggest that they may function as crucial stopover habitats before crossing the Adriatic/Mediterranean Sea during autumn migration (Fig. 2b,c).

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Figure 1. Stopover sites and maximum numbers per site of Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) on the eastern Adriatic Sea coasts 2000-2012.
1 2-4 5-10 11-20 21-50 101-150 151-200 201-250

Present data showed that river deltas on the E Adriatic coasts and the extensive inland-karst wetlands in Bosnia-Hercegovina were used by a signicant fraction of the Central European population during migration. The extension and seasonal duration of ooding of inland karst poljes depends on winter snow conditions in the mountains of the Dinaric Karst and rainfall during late summer and autumn. In contrast, water levels in the Ulcinj salina are articially managed during the annual cycle of salt production. Therefore, spoonbill stop over and migration patterns in the W Balkans and across the central Mediterranean may largely depend on water conditions. Although the W Balkans and the Adriatic Sea are placed in the central part of the C Europe/ Black Sea/Mediterranean Flyway, this area was largely ignored for waterbird protection in the past. Recently, Euronaturs Adriatic Flyway Project has shown massive deciencies in bird and wetland conservation in most E Adriatic countries. Following to historic topographical maps which were compiled by Austro-Hungarian authorities in the late XIX and early XX centuries, the area occupied by coastal wetland habitats in Croatia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Montenegro and Albania has been reduced from a total of 1,765 km2 to 415 km2; this is 76% of its extent during the last century (Stumberger and Sackl 2010). Additionally, more than 2 million birds are shot annually by legal hunters and poachers. Finally, it is remarkable that all important and potential stop over areas for Eurasian spoonbills on the W Balkans, like Mostarsko blato, the Neretva river delta and Ulcinj salina, are currently under tremendous hunting pressure (Schneider-Jacoby and Spangenberg 2010).
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Figure 2. Migration seasons of Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) on the eastern Adriatic Sea coasts in (a) Croatia and (b) Montenegro, and (c) in the hinterlands of the Dinaric Karst in Bosnia-Hercegovina, 2000-2012.

Acknowledgements For contributing data and personal comments we are grateful to: Dare ere, Iztok Geister, Borut Mozetic, Iztok kornik, Jakob Smole, Ane Skoberne, Al Vrezec, Petra Vrh Vrezec, Jani Vidmar, Marjeta Cvetko, Aleksander Kozina, Jure Novak, Tone Trebar, Dejan Bordjan (all Slovenia), Tibor Mikuska, Vlatka Dumbovic, Dubravko Dender, Dean Blaina, Robert Stelko, Kreimir Mikulic, Ivan Budinski, Adrian Tomik, Dario Horvat, Nenad etina,
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Baria Ilic (Croatia), Ilhan Dervovic, Jasminko Mulaomerovic, Behudin Alimanovic, Svjetoslav Obratil, Dejan Kulijer, Mirko arac, Jovica Sijencic, Vedran Vidackovic, Dino Hasanagic, Goran Topic, Mato Gotovac, Nataa Crnkovic (Bosnia-Hercegovina), Andrej Vizi, Nela Vreovic Dubak, Ondrej Vizi, Darko Saveljic (Montenegro), Peter Knaus, Paul Walser and Pascal Parodi (Switzerland). References Kralj J, uljevic A, Mikuska T, Overdijk O. 2012. Movements of immature Eurasian spoonbills Platalea leucorodia from the breeding grounds of the eastern metapopulation in the Pannonian Basin. Waterbirds 35: 239-247. Mikuska T, Mikuska J, etina M, Kralj J. 2006. spoonbills in Croatia during 2005-status, breeding distribution and importance of Kopacki rit wetlands during post-breeding dispersal and fall migration. Eurosite Spoonbill Network Newsletter 4: 15-21. Mller CY. 1984. Bestandsentwicklung und Zugverhalten der Lfer (Platalea leucorodia) im sterreichisch-ungarischen Raum. Egretta 27: 45-67. Schneider-Jacoby M, Mikuska T, Kovacic D, Mikuska J, etina M, Tadic Z. 2002. Dispersal by accident: the Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia population in Croatia. Acrocephalus 22: 191-206. Schneider-Jacoby M, Schwarz U, Sackl P, Dohra D, Saveljic D, Stumberger B. 2006. Rapid Assessment of the Ecological Value of the Bojana-Buna Delta (Albania/Montenegro). Euronatur, Radolfzell, Germany. Schneider-Jacoby M, Spangenberg A. 2010. Bird hunting along the Adriatic Flyway-an assessment of bird hunting in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Serbia. In: Adriatic Flyway-Closing the Gap in Bird Conservation. Denac D, Schneider-Jacoby M, Stumberger B (Eds). Euronatur, Radolfzell, Germany. Smart M, Azafzaf H, Dlensi H. 2007. The Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) in Africa. Ostrich 78: 495-500. Stumberger B, Sackl P. 2010. Wetlands of the eastern Adriatic coast-perspectives for waterbird conservation. In: Adriatic Flyway-Closing the Gap in Bird Conservation. Denac D, Schneider-Jacoby M, Stumberger B (Eds). Euronatur, Radolfzell, Germany. Stumberger B, Schneider-Jacoby M. 2010. International importance of three Adriatic Flyway priority sites: Livanjsko Polje, the Neretva Delta and Lake Skadar-Shkoder with the Bojana-Buna Delta. In: Adriatic Flyway-Closing the Gap in Bird Conservation. Denac D, Schneider-Jacoby M, Stumberger B (Eds). Euronatur, Radolfzell, Germany.
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Movements of Eurasian Spoonbill based on metal- and colour-ringing recoveries between 1908 and 2012 in Hungary
Csaba Pigniczki 1, *, Zsolt Karcza 2
1 2

Directorate of Kiskunsg National Park: H-6000, Kecskemt, Liszt Ferenc u. 19, Hungary. BirdLife Hungary, H-1121, Budapest, Klt u. 21, Hungary. * Corresponding author: csaba.spoonbill@gmail.com

Keywords: Hungary; Ringing recovery, Spoonbill. Introduction The Spoonbill population of Hungary belongs to the Central European Spoonbill population, which has a subpopulation in the Carpathian Basin (Triplet et al. 2008). The migration route and wintering area of the Central European population is clearly different from that of the East Atlantic Spoonbill population (Pigniczki 2010; Kralj et al. 2012). Although the results of metal ringing recoveries have already been published (Mller 1984; Pigniczki 2010), there are only some preliminary studies on the results of the Hungarian colour-ringing project (Pigniczki and Karcza 2006; Pigniczki 2009; Pigniczki 2010). The main goal of this paper is to provide a general view of Hungarian Spoonbill population movements by analysing their recoveries, spanning 104 years of ringing in Hungary. Furthermore, a review on recoveries of spoonbills in Hungary ringed abroad is given. Methods The ringing of the Hungarian Spoonbill population started in 1908 with metal rings, while colour ringing began during 2003 (Pigniczki 2010). Resighting data were collected by different observers in Hungary and abroad. Specically, we conducted three PVC-ring reading expeditions outside Hungary: one to Serbia (2005), and two to Tunisia (2010, 2012). This paper contains all recoveries obtained until 31st October 2012.

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 Country Number of metal Number of colour Total number of Month of ringed recoveries ringed recoveries recoveries recoveries Albania 1 0 1 V Austria 0 7 7 VIII, IX Bosnia & Herzegovina 1 5 6 III, VIII, IX Bulgaria 2 0 2 VI, IX Croatia 13 33 46 V, VII-X, XII Egypt 6 0 6 I, III, XI, XII France 1 0 1 X Greece 3 2 5 II, VI, IX, XI, XII Hungary 12 645 657 II-XII Israel 0 2 2 X Italy 17 41 58 I-XII Libya 3 5 8 I, II, IX-XI Mali 1 0 1 V Malta 0 1 1 VI Mauritania 0 2 2 I, VI, XI, XII Montenegro 1 3 4 V, VI, IX, X Morocco 0 1 1 XI, XII Niger 1 0 1 II Nigeria 0 1 1 II Romania 2 4 6 IV, V, VIII, IX Serbia 13 12 25 I, IV, V, VII-XI Slovakia 1 3 4 IV, IX Slovenia 0 1 1 IX Sudan 2 0 2 X, XI The Netherlands 0 1 1 VI, VII Tunisia 12 86 98 I-XII Turkey 1 2 3 I, II, IX Table 1. Recoveries of Spoonbill from Hungary in different countries. The given numbers mean the number of individuals.

Results At least 2,158 spoonbills were ringed with metal rings between 1908 and 2011 within the present-day borders of Hungary (database of Hungarian Bird Ringing Center; Warga 1951). The exact number of ringed birds nowadays is not known because the ringing center and their data records were burned down twice: during World War II and during
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 Country Number of metal Additionally, Number of colour Month recoveries the Revolution in 1956 (Pigniczki 2010). 1,185 spoonbills wereof ringed ringed recoveries ringed recoveries in Hungary Austria 10 0 V, VII, VIII, X Croatia 0 55 III-X Czech Republic 0 16 IV-IX Italy 0 12 III-IX Romania 0 1 IV, IX Serbia 0 121 II-X The Netherlands 0 2 VI, VII Table 2. Recoveries of spoonbills from other countries in Hungary. The given numbers indicate the number of individuals.

the Revolution in 1956 (Pigniczki 2010). Additionally, 1,185 spoonbills were ringed between 2003 and 2012 with colour-rings. Thus the total number of ringed spoonbills in Hungary amounts to at least 3,343 individuals. The recovery rate of the metal ringed Hungarian spoonbills is 4.4%, involving 94 recoveries, while the recovery rate of colour-ringed ones is 59.8%, representing the recovery of 708 individuals. All together, there are 802 spoonbills from Hungary with resightings. Since 1908, ringed spoonbills from the Hungarian population have been found in 27 different countries (Table 1). On the other hand, there are 216 recoveries of spoonbills in Hungary belonging to 7 different countries (Table 2). Discussion Hungary has the largest number of ringed spoonbills in the Carpathian Basin as well as the largest proportion of recoveries in this region, even larger than the 29.9% recovery rate in Croatia and Serbia combined (Kralj et al. 2012). This is primarily the effect of differences in relocation effort, as Hungary has a well organized network of observers and ring readers with telescopes. Young (1cy old) spoonbills regularly visit Hungary from Austria, Serbia and Croatia (Mikuska et al. 2006; Kralj et al. 2012). Based on ringing recoveries it is proven that Hungarian yearlings also move all over the country during the post-breeding dispersion (Pigniczki 2010). Spoonbills from the Czech Republic regularly migrate through western Hungary (Cepak 2008; Pigniczki 2010). Young spoonbills from Italy may occasionally reach Hungary during post-breeding dispersion.
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Figure 1. Recovery locations of Eurasian spoonbills ringed in Hungary.

Immature (2cy, 3cy) spoonbills may return to Hungary during the summer (Pigniczki 2010). Croatian, Dutch, Italian and Serbian ringed immatures have been also recorded in Hungary in the summer season (Pigniczki 2010; Kralj et al. 2012). Adult (4cy or more) spoonbills from Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Italy, Romania (Danube Delta) and Serbia are present during the breeding season in Hungary, suggesting that some individuals from those countries may breed in Hungary (Pigniczki 2010). There is a metal ringed individual from Kis-Balaton, Hungary which may have bred in Eastern Romania (Pigniczki 2010). These recoveries support the meta-population theory. In rare cases, spoonbills from the Netherlands may reach Hungary during summer and there are also a few observations of Dutch spoonbills in Italy too (Volponi et al. 2008). Our results showed that the main route of Hungarian migrating spoonbills follows a SW direction to Italy, Tunisia and Libya. spoonbills from Hungary overwinter both in Italy and Tunisia, and immatures may oversummer in both countries. The importance of Tunisia and Italy for wintering Hungarian spoonbills was discussed by Pigniczki (2010), and the recoveries of Croatian and Serbian individuals showed similar results (Kralj et al. 2012). However, the recoveries of Czech spoonbills showed that only Tunisia was important (Cepak 2008). Tunisia is a very important area for spoonbills from the Carpathian Basin and from Italy (Isenmann et al. 2005; Azafzaf et al. 2006; Smart et al. 2007). Libya has only a small number of wintering spoonbills, mainly in the Gulf of Gabes, close to the Tunisian border, and only a few in the Gulf of Sirt (EGA-RAC/SPA waterbird census team 2012).

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Figure 2. Ringing locations of Eurasian spoonbills resighted in Hungary.

Hungarian recoveries clearly showed that part of the population winter in Greece, Turkey and along the Nile (Egypt and Sudan), while they are observed during autumn migration in Israel. These recoveries indicated that some individuals use a south-eastern migration route (Pigniczki 2010). Winter recoveries along Nile, in Montenegro, Albania and Greece show that spoonbills from Austria also winter in that area (Mller 1984). There are also some recoveries of Hungarian ringed birds in Egypt but the location and the date of ringing remain unkown (Mulli et al. 1989). Colour-ringed recoveries without exact ring readings also suggested that a few spoonbills from the Carpathian Basin still winter along the Nile (D. Hoek and H. Ibrahim pers. comm.). The ring reading effort is much lower in the south-eastern migration route than in the south-western one, so we expect that some ringed individuals have never been reported from those south-eastern areas. Noticeably, some spoonbills from Hungary crossed the Sahara and they were re-sighted in Niger, Nigeria and Mali. These immature (2cy old) individuals wintered there, and at least one started to oversummer in that area (Pigniczki 2010). Ringing recoveries from the southern part of the Carpathian Basin showed that spoonbills also crossed the Sahara, and reached Niger (Kralj et al. 2012; Pigniczki 2010), while Italian spoonbills, which use roughly the same migration route to south-western direction, reached Mali and Nigeria (Volponi et al. 2008). Crossing the Sahara is a risky journey, as shown by one individual from Austria (Mller 1984; Pigniczki 2010) and another one from Croatia that were found dead in the middle of the desert.

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Spoonbills from Hungary may reach the Atlantic coasts and Mauritania through Morocco (Pigniczki 2010), and have even been observed in the Netherlands. spoonbills from Croatia have been found in Morocco and Scotland as well (Mikuska et al. 2006; Kralj et al. 2012; Pigniczki 2010), and some rst winter spoonbills from Hungary have attempted to overwinter in the Carpathian Basin (Pigniczki 2010). Brouwer (1964) supposed that the Central European and the East Atlantic Spoonbill population do not mix with each other. Our results showed that a few individuals from Central Europe could reach the main areas used by the East Atlantic population, and we had observations which showed that a few individuals from the East Atlantic population may reach Central Europe and Tunisia, the main areas of the subpopulation living in the Carpathian Basin. Finally, some spoonbills from the Central European population still reach historic wintering areas south of the Sahara after long migratory journeys. Acknowledgements We would like to express our gratitude to every ring reader, who sent us their recoveries. We thank Otto Overdijk for supporting us with rings between 2003 and 2009. We would like to thank Zsolt Vgvri for his comments and review of the manuscript. References Azafzaf H, Smart M, Dlensi H. 2006. Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia in Tunisia. Eurosite Spoonbill Newsletter 4: 22-30. Brouwer GA. 1964. Some data on the status of the Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia L., in Europe, especially in the Netherlands. Zoologische Mededelingen 39: 481-523. Cepak J. 2008. Kolpk bly. In: Atlas migrace ptku Ceske Republiki a Slovenska. Cepak J, Klvana P, Skopek J, Schrpfer L, Jelinek M, Hork D, Formnek J, Zrybnicky J. (Eds.). Aventinum, Praha, Czech Republic. EGA-RAC/SPA waterbird census team. 2012. Atlas of wintering waterbirds of Libya, 2005-2010. Imprimerie COTIM, Tunisia. Isenmann P, Gaultier T, El Hili A, Azafzaf H, Dlensi H, Smart M. 2005. Oiseaux de Tunisie. Groupe Horizon, Paris, France. Kralj J, Zuljevic A, Mikuska T, Overdijk O. 2012. Movements of immature Eurasian spoonbills Platalea leucorodia from the breeding grounds of the Eastern Metapopulation in the Pannonian Basin. Waterbirds 35: 239-247.
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Mikuska T, Mikuska J, etina M, Kralj J. 2006. spoonbills in Croatia during 2005-status, breeding distribution and importance of Kopacki rit wetlands during post-breeding dispersal and fall migration. Eurosite Spoonbill Newsletter 4: 15-21. Mulli WC, Khounganian EE, Amer MH. 1989. A Preliminary List of Egyptian Bird Ringing Recoveries 1908-1988. Foundation for Ornithological Research in Egypt, Wageningen, The Netherlands & Giza, Egypt. Mller CY. 1984. Bestandsentwicklung und Zugverhalten der Lfer (Platalea leucorodia) im sterreichisch-ungarischen Raum. Egretta 27: 45-67. Pigniczki Cs. 2009. Kanalasgm. In: Magyar madrvonulsi atlasz. Csrg T, Karcza Zs, Halmos G, Magyar G, Gyurcz J, Szp T, Bankovics A, Scmidt A, Schmidt E. (Eds.). Kossuth Kiad, Budapest, Hungary (with English summary). Pigniczki Cs. 2010. Magyarorszgi kanalasgmek (Platalea leucorodia) kborlsa s vonulsa fmgyrs megkerlsek alapjn. Aquila 116-117: 17-32 (with English summary). Pigniczki Cs, Karcza Zs. 2006. First results of Spoonbill colour-ringing project in Hungary (2003-2005). Eurosite Spoonbill Newsletter 4: 8-9. Smart M, Azafzaf H, Dlensi H. 2007. The Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) in Africa. Ostrich 78: 495-500. Volponi S, Emiliani D, Fasola M. 2008. An overview of spoonbills in Italy. Eurosite Spoonbill Newsletter 5: 3-5. Warga K. 1951. Elzetes jelents a Kisbalaton madrvilgnak kutatsrl. Aquila 5558: 169187.

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Enhancing the role of emergency sites for the conservation of migratory waterbird populations: a tribute to Martin Schneider-Jacoby
Juan G. Navedo 1, 2, *, Otto Overdijk 3
Conservation Biology Research Group, Zoology, University of Extremadura. Spain. Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnolgicas, Universidad Austral de Chile. 3 Natuurmonumenten, Working-Group spoonbills International, Knuppeldam 4, 9166 NZ Schiermonnikoog, the Netherlands. * Corresponding author: juangnavedo@yahoo.es
1 2

Keywords: Birds; Conservation evaluation; Ramsar Criteria; Migration; Special Protection Areas; Wetlands. Migratory movements can be very long, energetically costly and often take place in stochastic dynamic conditions. The existence of emergency sites could reduce the mortality rate associated with stochastic adverse weather events (or annual environmental conditions) experienced by long-distance migratory birds, especially for long-lived species adapting to a changing climate (Knudsen et al. 2010). The emergency stopover strategy is a facultative response to unpredictable environmental conditions and can be seen as an example of an emergency life-history stage (Shamoun-Baranes et al. 2010): rapid behavioural and physiological responses to short-term unpredictable events (Wingeld 2003). However, since emergency sites are not regularly used by signicant fractions of migratory populations, they are neither consistently designated as migratory hotspots nor accurately integrated within conservation strategies. An accurate denition and further identication of the emergency sites would represent a proactive conservation measure for the protection of migratory species and the migratory phenomenon (Wilcove and Wikelski 2008). After describing an unusual massive stopover of Eurasian spoonbill Platalea leucorodia driven by bad weather conditions (i.e. consecutive front winds and rain) encountered once en route at three nearby coastal wetlands in northern Spain during three consecutive days in September 2011, Overdijk and Navedo (2012) proposed that: ... when updating the importance of wetland areas during migration for waterbirds by means of Criterion 6 of the Ramsar Convention, we recommend the inclusion of an additional category to identify Areas of International Importance: a wetland regularly supports a population of a given size if the maximum number of birds that stopover during migration exceeds 5 % in a given year, during the last 10 years. However, the Ramsar criteria framework already allow via Criterion 4 for the designation of emergency sites for migratory animals.
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Existing Criterion 4 stated that A wetland should be considered internationally important if it supports plant and/or animal species at a critical stage in their life cycles, or provides refuge during adverse conditions (www.ramsar.org). Guidelines for its application for migratory species (4a) state that Critical sites for mobile or migratory species are those which contain particularly high proportions of populations gathered in relatively small areas at particular stages of life cycles. This may be at particular times of the year or, in semi-arid or arid areas, during years with a particular rainfall pattern. Thus Criterion 4 was especially designed to account for natural variability in the conditions experienced by migratory species. Nevertheless its application is based on the qualitative rather than specic quantitative assessments (e.g. Criterion 6). Furthermore, in practice it accounts basically for isolated wetlands located within extreme environments for migratory species, such as oasis within deserts for waterbirds. Therefore, current Criterion 4 is very difcult to apply out of those extreme areas, and there are some examples of emergency strategies developed by migratory waterbird populations (e.g. Shamoun-Baranes et al. 2010; Overdijk and Navedo 2012) pointing out the obvious gap that such Criterion would miss important sites that serve as refuges for waterbirds during incidental circumstances. Moreover, even for large and conspicuous species, the chance of distinguishing an emergency stopover episode from a regular increase in numbers during migration is rather low. This adds another handicap for the identication of emergency stopover wetlands by means of the current Criterion 4. Apart from stochastic meteorological events that could lead to mass mortalities within a migratory population (e.g. Jehl 1996), other factors such as unforeseen pollution events, diseases and/or human conicts can also drive the use of emergency sites. For example, because of social, logistic and/or other constraints derived from the ancient and recent conicts in the Balkans (e.g. Schneider-Jacoby 2008), it will be difcult to calculate the number of spoonbills using any wetland in the Balkans along the Adriatic yway during migration, even by using a surrogate based on a daily count (Navedo and Garaita 2012). In fact only two sites, Livansko Polje and Bojana-Buna delta currently reach 1% level for spoonbills (Stumberger and Schneider-Jacoby 2010), but there are other wetlands that could be used during special circumstances by migratory spoonbills, especially the Neretva Delta as well as several coastal wetlands in Albania (Stumberger and Sackl 2010; Stumberger et al. this publication). With actual criteria, it will be hardly difcult to estimate if any of these wetlands at the south-eastern Adriatic coast support 1% or more of the spoonbill population, since the average during 5 years is needed to account for a regular support (Criterion 6). However, based on peak counts it would be easier to establish if any wetland was used as an emergency stopover during special circumstances, thus promoting proactive conservation measures for migratory waterbird populations (Wilcove and Wikelski 2008). To distinguish an emergency stopover episode from a regular increase in numbers at a given stopover area based on peak counts during migration (i.e. annual uctuations), using a 5% level is recommended. This proposal is based on the actual required
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amount (regularly support 1%) by means of 5 years at a given area; thus, 5% should be similar for an area during a single season (emergency stopover) (Overdijk and Navedo 2012). Supporting this gure, several wetlands that did not regularly hold 1% of a given population but can surpass that level during a given year because of annual uctuations (i.e. 1-4.9%) will not reach the proposed criteria, hence preventing from misidentication between any regular stopover area and important emergency sites. Furthermore, a ten year evaluation period for the application of new criteria is proposed with aim to take into account natural variability during the long-term period, especially for long-lived birds as spoonbills (Overdijk and Navedo 2012). In conclusion, when updating the importance of wetland areas during migration for spoonbills (i.e. Birds Directive: Special Protection Areas for Birds) by means of Criterion 6 of the Ramsar Convention, we consider that including the additional quantitative category proposed by Overdijk and Navedo (2012) will improve landscape connectivity for spoonbills and associated waterbirds (e.g. Amat et al. 2005), thus better accounting for natural variability as well as uncertainty (Prato 2005) for their long-term conservation. Finally, we suggest take it into consideration for a further development of a quantitative approach of the current Criterion 4 of the Ramsar Convention. Acknowledgements This article is dedicated to the memory of our lovely friend Martin Schneider-Jacoby (1956-2012) for all his efforts for the conservation of spoonbills and associated waterbirds within the Palaearctic, particularly in the Balkans. We thank Mike Smart, Szabolcs Nagy and Tibor Mikuska for their comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. References Amat JA, Rendn MA, Rendn-Martos M, Garrido A, Ramrez JM. 2005. Ranging behaviour of greater amingos during the breeding and post-breeding periods: Linking connectivity to biological processes. Biological Conservation 125: 183-192. Jehl JR. 1996. Mass mortality events of Eared grebes in North America. Journal of Field Ornithology 67: 471476. Knudsen E, Lindn A, Both C, et al. 2010. Challenging claims in the study of migratory birds and climate change. Biological Reviews 86: 928-946. Navedo JG, Garaita R. 2012. Do systematic daily counts reect the total number of birds using stopover sites during migration? A test with Eurasian Spoonbill. Journal for Nature Conservation 20: 242-246.
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Overdijk O, Navedo JG. 2012. A massive spoonbill stopover episode: identifying emergency sites for the conservation of migratory waterbird populations. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 22: 695703. Prato T. 2005. Accounting for uncertainty in making species protection decisions. Conservation Biology 19: 806814. Schneider-Jacoby M. 2008. How to implement the European Birds Directive? Acrocephalus 29: 129135. Shamoun-Baranes J, Leyrer J, van Loon E, Bocher P, Robin F, Meunier F, Piersma T. 2010. Stochastic atmospheric assistance and the use of emergency staging sites by migrants. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 277: 1505-1511. Stumberger B, Sackl P. 2010. Wetlands of the Eastern Adriatic coast perspectives for waterbird conservation. In: Adriatic Flyway Closing the Gap in Bird Conservation. Denac D, Schneider-Jacoby M, Stumberger B (Eds). Euronatur, Radolfzell, Germany. Stumberger B, Schneider-Jacoby, M. 2010. International importance of three Adriatic Flyway priority sites: Livanjsko Polje, the Neretva Delta and Lake Skadar-Shkoder with the Bojana-Buna Delta. Stumberger B, Sackl P, Bozic L, et al. 2013. Stopover sites and migration seasons of Eurasian Spoonbill in the eastern Adriatic region and the Dinaric Karst (this publication). Wilcove DS, Wikelski M. 2008. Going, going, gone: is animal migration disappearing? PLoS Biology 6: 1361-1364. Wingeld JC. 2003. Control of behavioural strategies for capricious environments. Animal Behaviour 66: 807-815.

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Where do spoonbills make the crossing to Africa? The Limes Platalea Project
Francisco Hortas *, Javier Ruiz, Rubn Rodrguez
Sociedad Gaditana de Historia Natural. Madreselva s/n, 11405. Jerez de la Frontera (Cdiz), Spain. * Corresponding author: limes.platalea@gmail.com

Keywords: Migration; Southwest Spain; Platalea leucorodia. Introduction In the southwest of Spain, postnuptial migration towards wintering sites in Mauritania and Senegal usually starts from mid-July until the end of October, being earlier (July September) for Spanish spoonbills and later (SeptemberNovember) for their Western Europe counterparts (De le Court and Aguilera 1997, Authors per. obs.). Currently, the population of the Atlantic migratory route ranges between 4,700 and 6,300 breeding pairs (Overdijk et al. this publication). Although a small part of the population does not reach Africa and remains in Andalusia throughout the winter (Gonzlez and PrezAranda 2011, De le Court and Lorenzo 2012, Garrido et al. 2012), most of the population crosses the Andalusian coasts towards Morocco. Little is known of the exact place and conditions of this migratory jump: studies forming part of the MIGRES programme (De la Cruz et al. 2009) indicate that the number of spoonbills seen crossing the Strait of Gibraltar is fewer than 24 individuals (A. Onrubia pers. comm.). This suggests that spoonbills, at least those grouped into large ocks primarily in Doana and the Bay of Cdiz in late summer, cross the Strait of Gibraltar at night or somewhere north of this area. Previous random observations indicate that from late July until mid-October, large ocks of spoonbills are usually seen in an area of the western coast of Cdiz (southwest of Spain), 60-70 km north of the Strait of Gibraltar crossing towards Morocco (Fig. 1). More than 1,000 birds have been observed in a single day (J. Ruiz pers. obs.). The Limes Platalea project intends to conduct a more detailed study aiming to quantify the migratory population compared with the total European population. In this communication, we present the percentage of Iberian birds crossing to Africa during part of the 2012 campaign.

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Methods and Objectives We used several observatories strategically located on the coast (Fig. 1), and counted all migrating spoonbills from 9 to 20 h. The period considered in this communication only covers from late July until 1 September, before the great majority of birds from north European breeding areas arrived in the Iberian Peninsula (e.g. Navedo 2006). To calculate the percentage of the Iberian breeding population that was observed crossing to Africa as part of the Limes Platalea Project, we estimated the number of breeding pairs in the Iberian population in 2012 and a census carried out during July and August in SW Andalusia (CAPMA 2012a, 2012b; C. de le Court pers. comm.; Equipo Limes Platalea and CAPMA 2012, Equipo de Seguimiento de Procesos Naturales de la Estacin Biolgica de Doana 2012). Preliminary results and Discussion In Andalusia there were approximately 200 breeding pairs during 2012 (CAPMA 2012a). The Iberian breeding population was estimated as low as 250 pairs in 2012 (C. de le Court pers. comm.). Few chicks edged (CAPMA 2012a) probably due to a dry winter and a cool spring (AEMET 2012). Pre-nuptial migration numbers were adversely affected by the lack of rain. There were observations of almost 1,000 birds in the marshes of Morocco in May (C. de le Court pers. comm.). Our hypothesis is that these birds did not return to the European continent in 2012. In fact in our eld work during May, we did not detect migration although there was a concentration of c. 400 spoonbills in the marshes of the Bay of Cdiz (D. Agera pers. comm.). From the 2,000 birds that used to winter in Spain (Gonzlez and Prez-Aranda 2011, Garrido et al. 2012) approximately 40% may be of Iberian origin, as derived from random observations of colour ringed spoonbills (R. Rodrguez unpubl. data). However, this gure was estimated based on January counts, when many Iberian breeding spoonbills are already back from African wintering quarters (De le Court and Aguilera 1997). Therefore, actual number of spoonbills wintering in Spain would be lower than 2,000 birds and the proportion of Iberian spoonbills wintering in Spain would be much lower, as recently stated by De le Court and Lorenzo (2012). We observed 61% of the total Iberian population crossing to Africa. This percentage was calculated from the birds observed until 1th September crossing to Africa (1,720 birds) and the total of 2,820 birds obtained from counts in southwestern Andalusia in July and August.

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However, autumn migration 2012 was abnormally delayed and there were still several spoonbills in the Netherlands on 15th September (O.Overdijk pers. comm.). Therefore, if we add individuals observed until 15th September the total number of spoonbills observed increases to 4,200 spoonbills, and the percentage of the North European population that was registered by our project would be much higher. In this sense, we could consider that nearly all the Iberian spoonbills plus a signicant fraction of the North European birds were registered crossing to Africa by our Limes Platalea project before 15th September. Our objectives for the future and forthcoming campaigns are: (i) to specify the place during postnuptial migration (July-October) where the majority of birds decide to cross to Africa; (ii) to determine the phenology and environmental factors affecting departure from the Iberian Peninsula; (iii) to quantify the total number of spoonbills during migration; (iv) to analyze the composition of the ocks by age; (v) as far as possible, to determine the origin of the spoonbills with reference to PVC rings with colour coding, either through direct observation or digital photography; and (vi) to develop a predictive model of the place and conditions of the crossing to Africa.
Figure 1. Hypothetical place where the spoonbills make the crossing to frica based on previous random observations, showing observatories on the south west coast of Spain used in this project.

Acknowledgements For more information and volunteer inscriptions please visit http://limesplatalea. blogspot.com.es or contact us at 34 657 285372. We wish to thank all participants (in alphabetical order): Jos Alfaro, David Agera, Elsa Asensio, Roco Astasio, Setella Buenavista, Pedro David Cabeza de Vaca, Eloisa Cid, Claudine de le Court, Jos Daz, Jos Mara Fernndez, Jos Ferrera de Castro, Ana Mara Fornell, Rosario Fornell, Rafael Garca, Jos Mara Garca, Jos Antonio Haro, Reyes Heranz, Manuel Hormigo, Manuel
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Jimnez, lvaro Luna, Antonio Macias, Heike Mai, Mara Jos Morales, Elena Moreno, Juan Jos Moyano, Enrique Oliver, Roco Yolanda Palacio, Diana Prez, Francisco Jos Prieto, Sandra Ramchandani, Mara Jess Rodrguez, Paola Romn, Francisco Jos Salamanca, Jos Luis Snchez, Paola Luisa Villaverde. Organizations that are also involved in eld work: The Migres Foundation: Andrs de la Cruz, Javier Elorriaga, Alejandro Onrubia, Blanca Prez, Marta Peris, Micah Scholer, Carlos Torralvo, Julio Utrera, Nicolas Vandestrate. The Ornitohogical Association Cigea Negra: Alejandro Colorado, Juanjo Gonzlez, Jos Luis Lpez-Pozuelo, Adrin Marl, Mariano Martnez, Francisco Jos Montoya, Sandra Moreno, Jos Luis Postigo, Irene Razola, Juan Trevio. Photographers: Jos Anis, Carlos M. Garca, Jos Luque, Javier Milla, Ana Retamero, Mara de la O Padilla. The Cities of Chiclana and Conil (Departments of Tourism and Environment), Chiclana Natural, The Marismas de Sancti-Petri Hotel, The Natural Parks of the Bay of Cdiz and La Brea and the Barbate Marshes, The Provincial Delegation of the Andalusian Environmental Government, The Natural History of Cdiz Society (SGHN), The Zoological and botanical gardens at Jerez de la Frontera, The Cigea Negra Ornithological Association, The Migres Foundation, The Ardea Ornithological Association, Novojet, Loggia, The Veta La Palma Fishfarms, Sierra Trek, Tierra de Linces, The Ofce for Sustainability at Cdiz University. References Agencia Estatal de Meteorologa (AEMET). 2012. Valores climatolgicos de Andaluca. Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentacin y Medio Ambiente. Gobierno de Espaa. CAPMA. 2012a. Programa de Emergencias, Control Epidemiolgico y Seguimiento de Fauna Silvestre de Andaluca. Reproduccin de aves acuticas 2012. Informe Regional 2012. Unpublished report. Consejera de Agricultura, Pesca y Medio Ambiente. Junta de Andaluca. CAPMA. 2012b. Counts of spoonbills in Andalusia. Period summer 2012. Unpublished report. Consejera de Agricultura, Pesca y Medio Ambiente. Junta de Andaluca. De la Cruz A, Onrubia A, Prez B, Torralvo C, Arroyo GM, Elorriaga J, Ramrez J, Gonzlez M, Benjumea R. 2011. Seguimiento de la migracin de las aves en el estrecho de Gibraltar: resultados del Programa Migres 2009. Migres 2: 65-78. De Ie Court C, Aguilera E. 1997. Dispersal and migration in Eurasian spoonbills Platalea leucorodia. Ardea 85: 193-202.

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De le Court C, Lorenzo M. 2012. Esptula Comn Platalea leucorodia. In: Atlas de las aves en invierno en Espaa 2007-2010. Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentacin y Medio Ambiente-SEO/BirdLife, Madrid, Spain. Equipo de Seguimiento de Procesos Naturales de la Estacin Biolgica de Doana. 2012. Counts of waterbirds. Period 2012. www-rbd.ebd.csic.es/Seguimiento/mediosico.htm. Equipo Limes Platalea and CAPMA. 2012. La invernada de la Esptula en la Baha de Cdiz y Suroeste espaol. limesplatalea.blogspot.com.es. Garrido JR, Molina B, Del Moral JC. 2012. Las garzas en Espaa, poblacin reproductora e invernante en 2010-2011 y mtodo de censo. SEO/BirdLife, Madrid, Spain. Gonzlez R, Prez-Aranda D. 2011. Las aves acuticas en Espaa. 1980-2009. SEO/ BirdLife, Madrid, Spain. Navedo JG. 2006. Identifying stopover wetlands for the conservation of an endangered waterbird species: the role of Santoa Marshes for the Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia during autumn migration. Eurosite Spoonbill Newsletter 4: 48-51. Overdijk O, Smart M, Navedo JG. 2013. An overview of Eurasian spoonbill situation. (this publication). Triplet P, Overdijk O, Smart M, Nagy S, Schneider-Jacoby M, Karauz ES, Pigniczki Cs, Baha El Din S, Kralj J, Sandor A, Navedo JG. (Compilers). 2008. International Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia. AEWA Technical Series No. 35. Bonn, Germany.

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Post-nuptial migration of the Eurasian spoonbill in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve

Rafael Garaita 1, *, Sonia Larrabide 2
1 2

Biologist. C/Fernndez del Campo 6, 5C. 48010 Bilbao, Spain. Ocina Tcnica de la Reserva de la Biosfera de Urdaibai. Gobierno Vasco. * Corresponding author: rafagaraita@biologiadecampo.com

Keywords: Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve; Post-nuptial migration; Phenology; Stopover length; Disturbances. Introduction Eurasian spoonbill Platalea leucorodia make use of the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve (22,000 ha, Bizkaia, Basque Country) mainly during their post-nuptial migration. spoonbills use the intertidal marshes of Urdaibai (approximately 245 ha) to forage and rest, but since 2009 they have started to use the small wetland of Baraiz (also known as Orueta lagoon, approximately 13 ha), which is located 6 km inland and 2-3 km south of the marshes. It has been restored and is now an area available for spoonbills and other waterbirds to feed and rest. Urdaibai is one important stopover site in the migratory yway for N European spoonbills (see Navedo and Garaita 2012) because it allows them to make a last stopover before crossing the Iberian Peninsula, where they hardly stop. It is considered an SPA (Special Protection Area for Birds) and a SCI (Site of Community Importance) within the Nature 2000 network. It is also listed as a Ramsar Site, so there is a serious commitment to preserve it. However different human activities in the estuary cause disturbances to the birds that sometimes did not allow the spoonbills to rest and feed efciently, leading them to leave the estuary. Here we describe stop over behaviour of spoonbills including their responses to the main sources of disturbance. Methods In order to assess the use spoonbills make of Urdaibai in the main marsh and the small wetland of Baraiz, an observer was strategically situated at certain observation points. The monitoring was carried out in daylight from 21th August to 10th October. The number of birds that stopped there, the place utilized, the type of activity and the
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time spent there were recorded. The different activities realized by the spoonbills were associated with the tide, and recordings were performed every 15 minutes. Observed disturbances for spoonbills were identied, quantied and assessed by recording their causes and the responses they produced on the birds (Garaita 2011).
Year Number of spoonbills Average time spent
5:12 5:46 6:57 - 6:33 5:27 5:58 7:44 2:14 6:50 7:52 7:56 5:17 9:45 13:11 7:23 17:45

Table 1. Spoonbills counted in Urdaibai during their postnuptial migration and the average time spoonbills spent there (hours and minutes) from 1995 to 2011. In 1998 no gures were available.

1195 421 1996 271 1997 507 1998 - 1999 417 2000 250 2001 470 2002 524 2003 387 2004 574 2005 536 2006 461 2007 1166 2008 799 2009 736 2010 975 2011 1454

Results The phenology varied from year to year, depending on the meteorological conditions. Autumn migration occurs from the end of August until the beginning of October, with the majority arriving in September when changes in the meteorological conditions make them leave the Netherlands and France (cold windy days with a north wind, rain, heavy storms). The number of spoonbills that stop in Urdaibai during post-nuptial migration showed a positive trend through the years (Table 1). The average time spent by the spoonbills in Urdaibai has also increased. A decade ago, the majority of them rested and fed for a short time, less than 6 hours (Del Villar et al. 2007). However, in recent years, this has ceased to be the case, and there are now examples of some spoonbills staying more than 24 hours or even several days. Resting is the main activity during their stopover (62% of the time), the remainder being used for feeding (23%) and ying (15%). Part of the ying time is due to the spoonbills being disturbed on the marshes.

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The proportion of spoonbills being disturbed and leaving Urdaibai varied over the years, ranging between 15 and 56% (Figure 1). Most of the disturbances are caused by humans (Table 2). The number of people using the marsh on sunny days and/or weekends is higher than in bad weather conditions (especially rainy days) and/or working days (Del Villar et al. 2007). Navigation, shellshing and bait-digging, reworks and some walkers are responsible for signicant disturbances and are the reason that lead spoonbills to leave Urdaibai. When located at strategically important sites around the marsh, the presence of people, even in small numbers, dissuades spoonbills from stopping there and/or causes so many disturbances that the birds end up eeing. The presence of boats and canoes was the principal source, as in the nearby Santoa marshes (Navedo and Herrera 2009), and was responsible for the 36% of the overall disturbances to spoonbills, 10% left Urdaibai prematurely and the other 26% ew to other areas of the marsh (Table 2).
Figure 1. Spoonbills counted in Urdaibai and spoonbills that left the marsh because of disturbances.

Discussion At Urdaibai marshes, efforts to prevent human disturbances by regulation of recreational and professional activities are required in order to t the migratory phenology of the spoonbills. The establishment of areas with restricted access in the marsh, the control of boats and canoes, and the regulation of shellshing and baitdigging, at least during September (as proposed by Navedo and Herrera 2009 for Santoa marshes), are essential targets. The restoration of certain areas offers spoonbills and other waterbirds quiet places to rest and feed. The wetland of Baraiz is a good example of a restored area that is becoming important as a stopover site during the migration season (e.g. Arizaga et al. this publication). It demonstrates the importance of quiet places especially for sensitive species such as spoonbills.
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It is also important to support the spoonbill research as it is essential to detect temporal changes in the estuary in relation to migratory spoonbills and, if necessary, to carry out other conservation strategies.

Total disturbances Disturbances without Fleeing from Urdaibai (%) eeing (%) (%) Boats and canoes 36 26 10 Shellshers 21 15 6 Fireworks 10 7 2 Raptors 9 7 2 Walkers 8 6 1 Other reasons 7 7 0 Unknown reasons 6 4 1 Ornithologists 3 1 1 Tours 1 1 0 Fishers 1 1 0 Total 100 75 25 Table 2. Percentages of each disturbance to spoonbills in Urdaibai and eeing as a consequence of them.

Acknowledgements For more information: http://www.ingurumena.ejgv.euskadi.net/r49-orokorra/es/ contenidos/informe_estudio/espatula/es_13604/indice.html References Arizaga J, Azkona A, Cepeda X, et al. 2013. Impact of a recently created wetland on Eurasian spoonbills at Urdaibai (N Iberia) (this publication). Del Villar J, Garaita R, Prieto A. 2007. La esptula en la Reserva de la Biosfera de Urdaibai: Diez aos de seguimiento. Servicio Central de Publicaciones del Gobierno Vasco, Vitoria, Spain. Garaita R. 2011. Migracin postnupcial de la esptula en Urdaibai. Informe 2011. Patronato de la Reserva de la Biosfera de Urdaibai. Departamento de Medio Ambiente, Planicacin Territorial, Agricultura y Pesca del Gobierno Vasco.
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Navedo JG, Garaita R. 2012. Do systematic daily counts reect the total number of birds using stopover sites during migration? A test with Eurasian Spoonbill. Journal for Nature Conservation 20: 242-246. Navedo JG, Herrera AG. 2009. Perturbaciones antrpicas en una zona de sedimentacin clave para las aves acuticas durante la migracin otoal: el caso de las esptulas en las marismas de Santoa. A Carriza 4: 43-52.

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Habitat management and restoration in Hungary and their effects on spoonbills and associated waterbirds
Csaba Pigniczki 1, *, Andrs Rcz 1, Jnos Olh 2, Lszl Tajti 1 , Zoltn Ecsedi 2
1 2

Directorate of Kiskunsg National Park: H-6000, Kecskemt, Liszt Ferenc u. 19., Hungary. Hortobgy Environmental Association, Hungary. * Corresponding author: csaba.spoonbill@gmail.com

Keywords: Hungary; Habitat management; Habitat restoration; Feral animal; Spoonbill; Waterbirds. Background The lowlands of Carpathian Basin were rich in wetlands until 19th century, but nowadays their number is decreasing because of river and water regulation, and global warming (Boros et al. 2008). Sodic pans are one of the most important, and most specic wetlands in Hungary, and they are unique in the European Union. From the XIX and XX centuries until the middle of 1990s changes in land use destroyed many sodic pans to convert them into rice elds and sh ponds. Usually water channels were digged into the middle of the lakes to led water away. Traditional Hungarian land use was grazing those areas with cattles, horses and sheeps, and in some cases around the marshes with grazing heards of pigs. The number of these animals around lakes was getting lower and lower, decreasing grazing pressure caused a negative effect, because those lakes started to overgrow with vegetation (Ecsedi 2004). Sometimes even sewage water was led to sodic pans, which caused fast eutrophication. Habitat management of sodic pans was not uniform in the past. Some of them were ooded to prevent drying out and to ensure water for migrating birds, but due to these activities the overgrowing with vegetation of sodic pans were even faster. The reason of overgrowing vegetation has two components. The water articially led to those areas has different chemical and physical parameters and turbidity than it is in natural way. Another reason is that there wasnt grazing animals to control the overgrowth of vegetation. Those negative effects were clearly recognised by nature conservation managers in Hungary, and there are several projects to restoret those areas. Habitat management is also clearly different than it was some ten years ago. The main goal of this paper is to give an overview about some wetland reconstructions and management of sodic pans in Hungary.

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Reconstruction of shponds A shpond system of Csaj-t was reconstructed from 1998 onwards by the Directorate of Kiskunsg National Park. The mud was swept from the pond, to create a deep part in the middle of the lake. A part of the mud was used to build an articial island, which has become important for breeding gulls. At rst, the water level was held low after the sweeping, so the reed started to spread from the edge of the pond into the middle of it, creating wide reedbed for breeding herons. Later during the following years, the pond was lled up with water to slow down or to stop the reed spreading. A reed harvester machine crossed along the reedbed, and its trampling destroyed the reed on some hundreds line meters, and created a long, open water surface, which is important for spoonbills because they breed close to open water surface. The pond is a part of a shpond system, and it is managed as a bird feeder pond. It is lled up every winter, and small sh are supplied for the sh eating birds. This is useful for shery, because the birds are visiting more frequently that pond than the others, due to the optimal water level and the optimal size of sh, so it is possible to temper the economical damage caused by birds (Tajti 2009). The pond is losing its water, and usually dries out by the end of July or August. Spoonbills are usually foraging on that pond, and chicks stay in that area just after edging. Reconstructions of sodic lake with scraper (Boros and Pigniczki 2001) Fehr-szk is a sodic pan in the Kiskunsg. The open water surface has covered by vegetation, mainly reed and Bolboschoenus maritimus. The ground was removed 10-20 cm deep with the rhyzome of the vegetation from a 7 Ha large area by scraper machines. It was essential not to hurt the impermeable layer of the sodic lake. The ground was used to build three islands, and lling up water channel. During the rst year after construction the islands had breeding Avocets Recurvirostra avosetta and Black-winged stilts Himantopus himantopus together with a colony of Black-headed Larus ridibundus and Mediterranean gulls L. melanocephalus, but in the following years only the gulls started to breed there. The edge of the reconstructed area was covered by Bolboschoenus maritimus, that provides, if the water level is high enough, a breeding site for Whiskered terns Chlidonias hybridus and Black-necked grebes Podiceps nigricollis. The middle of the lake is still open and without vegetation, making an important feeding area for birds, including small ocks of spoonbills up to 60 individuals. Habitat management on sodic pans and on sodic marshes with Hungarian Grey Cattles and Domesticated Water Buffalos There are several examples when sodic pans are overgrowed with vegetation, especially with reed and Bolboschoenus maritimus, so the open water surface disappears. The
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presence of buffalos and cattles could recreate open water surface, because of the trampling, mudbathing and grazing behaviour of these large bodied animals. This kind of habitat management was applied at Vesszs-szk, near Pusztaszer and at Bivalyos, near Flpszlls. These open areas are important feeding sites for spoonbills, and different species of herons and shorebirds. There are all three species of marsh terns above these areas, and they catch prey from the open water surface. The area is important for breeding Avocets and Kentish plovers Charadris alexandrinus, and other shorebirds. Geese and ducks are resting on those areas, and Common cranes Grus grus usually spend their nights on Vesszs-szk. Neither of these species used those areas in spectacular numbers before the restoration. Habitat management on sodic puszta near a shpond A shpond system is in operation at Apaj-puszta, Hungary. It contains smaller, sh wintering ponds that are supplied with enough oxigen water by the water that is owing through the ponds. Passing the ponds this water is led by the gravitation to the puszta, which was a hundred years ago a wetland. Nowadays Water Buffalos are used to control the growing the vegetation. Shorebirds, marsh terns are breeding on that area, and it is a good feeding site for spoonbills and herons. This area is becoming more and more important for migrating ducks and geese. Habitat reconstructions and habitat management in the Hortobgy by Hortobgy Environmental Association There were several habitat management and reconstruction programs in the Hortobgy region. One of them was the revitalisation of Vkonya wetland within the frame of a LIFE project (LIFENAT02/H/8638). The main activities were the followings: elimination of paddy eld banks and channels, removal of sluices; removal of neophyte bushes and scrub from the puszta and recreation of a 210 hectare wetland habitat. The number of feral animals was increased to create a large grazing pressure for the habitat reconstruction. There are 155-600 mangalica wooly pigs, who love to eat the rhizome of the reed and the Bolboschoenus maritimus, and whose rooting and mud bathing behaviour created open areas. There are also 80 Water Buffalos, 480-627 Hungarian Grey Cattles and Hungarian Flecked Cattles, and 6-27 horses. Horses are able to cross the wetland, and their grazing activities and trampling control the growth of vegetation even in the marshes. Further, there are 150-440 racka sheeps, 70 goats, and 16-30 donkeys. The latter species is grazing mainly on the dry grasslands, and is able to control the spiny plant species. The area was ooded, but there wasnt any vegetation overgrowing because of the large density of grazing animals. The restoration activities were very important for the breeding population of shorebirds, ducks, gulls and marsh terns. This site is nowadays a very important feeding area for shorebirds,
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herons and spoonbills (max. 230 individuals). Another LIFE+ project is in progress around Balmazjvros, with similar activities that were used in case of the Vkonya wetland. Acknowledgements We would like to thank Dr. Emil Boros, Tams Nagy and Zsolt Pataki for supporting us with observations. We thank Henrietta Mszros for her help writing this paper. EU LIFE and LIFE+ budget by supporting the following projects: Nagy-Vkonya wetland and grassland habitat restoration (LIFENAT02/H/8638) and Sodic lake habitat restoration in the Hortobgy (LIFENAT07/H/000324). References Boros E, Forr L, Gere G, Kiss O, Vrs L, Andrikovics S. 2008. The role of aquatic birds in the regulation of trophic relationships of continental soda pans in Hungary. Acta Zoologica Academiae Scienriarum Hungaricae 54: 189-206. Boros E, Pigniczki Cs. 2001. Feltltdtt szikes tavak rekonstrukcija s a szikes mocsri vegetci kezelse a kiskunsgi szikes tavaknl. Tzok 6: 8-14. Ecsedi Z. 2004. A Hortobgy madrvilga. Hortobgy Termszetvdelmi Egyeslet, Winter Fair, Balmazjvros-Szeged, p. 588. Tajti L. 2009. A Csaj-t 4-es tegysgnek konmiai rtkelse. Manuscript, p.9.

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How spoonbills benet from measures to combat oods and high water levels in the Biesbosch National Park
Jacques van der Neut
State Forest Service, Warden Biebosch NP, The Netherlands. Correspondence: j.neut@staatsbosbeheer.nl

The Biesbosch National Park (hereafter BNP) is a freshwater-tidal area situated in the southwestern part of the Netherlands. On a global scale, freshwater tidal areas are a rare phenomenon. In the BNP there are lots of creeks, dykes and polders. After the ood disaster of 1953 it was decided to close most of the sea arms in the province of Zeeland (the Delta Works Project). The tidal movement of 2 meters of height was reduced signicantly by the closing of the Haringvliet Dam (November 1970). Fortunately, the tidal difference did not vanish completely. Through the Nieuwe Waterweg there is still a connection with the North Sea, resulting in two different water levels. In the northern parts of BNP a daily tidal difference of 70 to 80 centimeters remained, with 20 to 30 centimeters in the southern parts because of their larger distance to the sea. In 1994 the Biesbosch was appointed as a National Park, and nowadays, shallow lagoons are developing in large areas of BNP. BNP is inuenced by the rivers Rhine and Meuse. In 1993 and 1995 these two rivers ooded, which caused a lot of damage to human developments. In 1995 there were vast evacuations, nearly 200,000 people ed to drier locations. Because of these two events, the Waterboard Authority developed a new policy: Room for the River. At that time the Dutch Government needed lots of clay for re-enforcements of the dykes in the riverine landscapes. After these excavations the landscape changed dramatically from arable land into wetland. All these new excavated wetlands can be considered as a natural buffer area for oodwaters in the near future. In 2015-2016 the last project will be nished in BNP. As a result of this new policy, shrubs and trees will not be allowed to grow in certain areas. Such vegetation would obstruct the disposal of water. Nearly 4,100 ha will get reallocated from farmland to wetland of which nearly 1,000 ha can be considered as the restoration of freshwater intertidal habitat, a very attractive area for the Eurasian spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia). The spoonbills were already present, before the Biesbosch was assigned as a National Park. Before 1970, the spoonbills were dependent on high (and dry) locations. During high tide, birds slept and rested on bundles of reed from reed-cutters and during low tide they foraged in shallow, isolated pools and muddy sandats. When the major part of the tidal difference in BNP disappeared (1970), caused by the Haringvlietdam, spoonbills changed to a day and night rhythm (Lebret 1979). To date, wardens have never found spoonbill nests. If all the changes are taken into account, the chance of breeding
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spoonbills in BNP is currently rising; the new marshes, riverine woods and shallow creeks, in fact all new elements from Room for the River, make it an excellent breeding site. Fortunately today it is not uncommon to observe foraging spoonbills in a group of 250 individuals. In 1999 a small island (called The Sassenplaat) in the Hollandsch Diep, just outside the western boundary of the BNP, was colonised by spoonbills. Although intermittent in the beginning, the number of breeding pairs has increased. Normally all the spoonbills on the island nested in the trees, sometimes in fallen willows Salix spp.. Some birds breed at a height of seven or eight meters, others just at two metrers, sometimes they even breed nearly on the ground. Fortunately for these birds, there are no foxes on the Sassenplaat.

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Number Figure 1. Number of breeding Eurasian spoonbill at Sassenplaat.

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

The spoonbills are present in March, and the rst nests are usually found during April. In order to prevent disturbances there are no ringing activities in this colony, since during a visit to the colony birds could fall out of their nests. The life history of the colony is shown in gure 2. There was a remarkable decline in this colony in 2010, accompanied by the establishment of new colonies at several other locations (Haringvliet) in the delta of the Rhine and Meuse. In other cases the existing colonies expanded (O.Overdijk pers. comm.).
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During recent times, the possibilities for foraging are optimised, because there is another nature development project carried out nearby. On this location, arable land was changed into wetland too (see photo). Sugar beets and corn vanished and were replaced by reedbeds Phragmites spp. and creeks with shallow banks. So the spoonbills now just have to y a few hundred meters to nd a suitable habitat for them (see photo). The colony on the small island has developed itself gradually to a nice example of a so-called mixed colony. On this site, spoonbills breed together with Cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo, Grey Herons Ardea cinerea and Little Egrets Egretta garzetta. This colony is also visited in spring by a few Cattle Egrets Bubulcus ibis in breeding plumage. In June 2013 a Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus was observed between breeding spoonbills. The last 15 to 20 years nearly 15,000 hectares of arable land in The Netherlands (including BNP) were transformed into wetland. All these projects are related to nature development and Room for the River. Thanks to these ecological restoration projects in the river Rhine and Meuse, lots of plants, animals and birds returned. All the plans in the Dutch riverine landscapes have contributed without any doubt to the increase of the Dutch breeding population of spoonbills. In 2012 there were more than 2,000 breeding pairs (O.Overdijk pers. comm.) thus, compared with the situation in the sixties (150-200 pairs) it is undoubtedly a big step forward. References Lebret T. 1979. Biesbosch-vogels, Kosmos. (met een bijdrage van E.P.R. Poorter over Lepelaars).

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Do providing nest sites and materials increase breeding success of the Black-faced spoonbill Platalea minor on an islet with poor vegetation?
In-Ki Kwon 1, Ki-Sup Lee 2, Ji-Yeon Lee 1, Jeong-Chil Yoo 1, *
1 2

Department of Biology, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, South Korea. Waterbird Network Korea, Seoul 110-776, South Korea. * Corresponding author: jcyoo@khu.ac.kr

Keywords: Nest materials; Nest sites; breeding success; Platalea minor; Poor vegetation. Introduction The Black-faced Spoonbill Platalea minor is listed as an endangered species of the IUCN Red List (IUCN 2012) and global population of the species has increased from 300 to 2,700 individuals during the last 24 years (Chan and Yu 2012). The breeding sites are mainly distributed along the west coast of Korea and wintering sites are at southern parts of Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Cambodia and other Southeast Asia countries (Chan et al. 2010). In South Korea, number of breeding pairs did not exceed 10 in 1990s (BirdLife International 2001), while 580 pairs were observed in 2012 survey (I-K. Kwon unpubl. data). According to the increase of breeding population, the breeding distribution has expanded and moved from offshore to inshore areas. Contrary to offshore breeding sites, inshore breeding sites are relatively small rocky islets with poor vegetation. The nests of the Black-faced Spoonbill are built with dried twigs and herbs entirely on the ground or rocky cliff ledge (K-S. Lee pers. comm.). Consequently, inshore breeders may suffer not only shortage of nest materials but also competition for the nest sites with others. Therefore the amount of nest resources could be one of important factor for breeding success of inshore populations. In this study, we examined if providing nest sites and materials affect breeding success of the Black-faced Spoonbill in an articial breeding site. We also suggest conservation efforts to improve the population growth of this endangered species. Methods Since 2009, we have counted the number of Black-faced Spoonbill nesting on a small articial islet (Namdongji) at Incheon, Korea (37 23 30 N, 126 40 32 E). The
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islet is located in a reservoir for the purpose of ood protection and constructed by rocks with 30 m of diameter, 5 m of height and 42 degrees of mean slope. There are industrial and residential areas in the north and tidal ats in the south of the reservoir. Vegetation around the islet consists mostly of annual herbs which are not suitable as nest materials for the Black-faced Spoonbill. Moreover available nest sites are limited because the steepness of the islet. From 2010 to 2012 we provided twigs and leaves at three different breeding stages (before initiation of breeding / hatching period of early breeders / edging period of early breeders) on the islet. We also have atten and enlarged existing nest sites on the slope as well as constructed additional nest sites in advance breeding season every year. Breeding success was determined on the nest that edged at least one young.

2009 2010 2011 2012 Successful 4 24 42 56 Number Failed 20 14 20 22 of nests Total 24 38 62 78 Supplement of nest resources no yes yes Table 1. Summary of the Black-faced Spoonbill nest success and supplement of nest resources on Namdongji from 2009 to 2012. yes

Results Total number of nests increased by more than three times on Namdongji between 2009 to 2012: 24 nests in 2009; 38 in 2010; 62 in 2011; and 78 in 2012 (Table 1). In 2009, there was no supplement of nest resources into the breeding islet and only 4 of 24 nests (16.7%) produced successful edgling. Causes of nest failure during 2009 were shortage of nest materials (n=8), competition for nests (n=2), pair bond break (n=1) and ooding (n=9). Breeding success for three years with nest resources supplement was signicantly higher than 2009 (Chi-square test2 = 22.09, p < 0.001; Figure 1). And there was no signicant difference in breeding success during 2010-2012: 63.2% in 2010; 67.7% in 2011; and 71.8% in 2012 (Chi-square test2,2 = 0.91, p = 0.63).

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Discussion Black-faced spoonbills strengthen their nests during incubation and rearing period. Additional nest materials may ensure that eggs and chicks do not fall out from the nests because they are mostly located on cliff ledge or slope (Chong et al. 1996). On natural habitat with good vegetation, spoonbills can collect nest materials nearby their nests. However, spoonbills on articial habitat with poor vegetation have to take a long trip to obtain suitable nest materials. Also, there is probably a nest site limitation since the majority of late breeders reused early breeders nests on the study site. Easily attainable nest materials and sufcient nest sites may relieve energetic costs to collect nest materials and competition with other breeders for nest sites. In this study, although density-dependent competition for nest resources among breeding pairs has occurred by an increase of population every year, overall breeding success (67.6%) during 2010-2012 was higher than in 2009 (16.7%).

Figure 1. Breeding success of the Black-faced Spoonbill on Namdongji from 2009 to 2012. successful nests failed nests

Flooding was another important factor affecting breeding success in the study site. Because water level of Namdongji reservoir is controlled by human, neglect of drainage management in rainy season can cause drowning of eggs and nestlings. Mortality of juveniles on Namdongji caused by ooding was higher than on other natural breeding sites (I-K. Kwon unpubl. data). In conclusion, we suggest that articial supplement of nest resources and water level management has a positive effect on population growth as well as breeding success in an articial breeding islet.
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Acknowledgements We thank Dr. K.B. Nam for reading and commenting on an early draft of our manuscript. We also would like to express our appreciation to the many enthusiastic volunteers of Incheon Spoonbill Network, Waterbird Network Korea and Ganghwado Peoples Network who have assisted us during the survey. National Institute of Biological Resources and Natural Heritage Center provided technical support. References BirdLife International. 2001. Threatened birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. Chan KT, Yu YT. 2012. International Black-faced Spoonbill Census 2011 & 2012. Blackfaced Spoonbill Research Group, Hong Kong Bird Watching Society. Hong Kong. Chan S, Fang WH, Lee KS, Yamada Y, Yu YT. 2010. International Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the Black-faced Spoonbill (Platalea minor). BirdLife International Asia Division, Tokyo, Japan; CMS Secretariat, Bonn, Germany. 74 pages. Technical Report Series 22. Chong JR, Pak UI, Rim CY, Kim TS. 1996. Breeding biology of Black-faced Spoonbill Platalea minor. Strix 14: 1-10. IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 10 February 2013.

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Impact of a recently created wetland on Eurasian spoonbills at Urdaibai marshes (N Iberia)

Juan Arizaga *, Ainara Azkona, Xarles Cepeda, Jon Maguregi, Edorta Unamuno, Jose Mari Unamuno
Urdaibai Bird Center-Aranzadi Society of Sciences, Orueta 7, E48314 Gautegiz-Arteaga (Bizkaia), Spain. * Corresponding author: jarizaga@aranzadi-zientziak.org

Keywords: Bird counting; Orueta lagoon; Platalea leucorodia; Migration; Colour-ringed birds; Stopover duration. Introduction Urdaibai is one of the main coastal marshes in northern Iberia. Besides Santoa, it is well known for being one of the important stopover sites along the coast of northern Iberia for the spoonbill population moving from the Wadden sea area to southern Iberia or Africa (Galarza 1986). Spoonbills have traditionally used Urdaibai as a stopover, but not refuelling site since birds use to stay for less than one day until resuming their journey towards further south regions (Del Villar et al. 2007). This behaviour contrasts with the one observed in Santoa, where birds use to stay for more than one day (Navedo 2006; Navedo et al. 2010). Causes underlying the possible misuse of Urdaibai as a long-stay stopover site by spoonbills are probably disturbances owing to human activities (Del Villar et al. 2007). These disturbances can be so high as almost 10 disturbances/h at the sites where the spoonbills use to be (e.g. Garaita and Larrabide this publication). In October of 2009, a new lagoon was created in a zone of Urdaibai which was until then largely covered by an exotic bush, Baccharis halimifolia. The lagoon (hereafter, Orueta lagoon) was soon observed to be used by several waterbird species, including spoonbills, which until then used to stop over mostly in an intertidal area some kilometers away within the lower marsh areas of Urdaibai. This work aims to describe the use of the Orueta lagoon by the spoonbills and to preliminary assess its impact on spoonbills settlement at Urdaibai. Methods Data were obtained during 2010 and 2011 at the new lagoon of Orueta (municipality of Gautegiz-Arteaga, Urdaibai, 4321N 0240W). Spoonbills were counted from a single site (Urdaibai Bird Center), just in front of such lagoon. In contrast to other marsh areas,
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the Orueta lagoon is unaffected by the tides, thus providing a permanent, stable water body at this wetland area. Counting was carried out all year-round with a sampling effort ranging from 1 (August 2010) to 27 survey days/month (November 2011), with a mean of 15.2 days/month. Only one count per day was carried out. Additionally, we also looked for colour-ringed spoonbills in order to estimate their staying period at Urdaibai. This was done once a day after the counting, normally lasting for shorter than 1 h.
Figure 1. Mean (95% CI) number of spoonbills seen per day at the Orueta lagoon (data from 2010 and 2011 have been pooled). The 95% CI for September was 57.6 spoonbills. Numbers below each month indicate number of sampling days (note that we pooled data from two years and, therefore, the number of sampling day per month can be >30 days).

Results and discussion Spoonbills were detected all-year-round, with a mean <10 spoonbills per day, except in September (Fig. 1). In this month, when we obtained a sufciently high sample size (>10) of birds in which to estimate the stopover duration (n=77), it lasts 2.3 (SD = 1.4) days. Until 2009, the spoonbill was a bird occurring at Urdaibai only during the autumn migration period and, to a lesser extent, the spring one (Del Villar et al. 2007; R. Garaita unpubl. data). After the creation of the new lagoon of Orueta, the species has been detected during the entire year, with a residual population in winter and summer, i.e. outside peak periods of passage in autumn and spring. This is a new behaviour of the spoonbill at Urdaibai. Spoonbills at stopover sites are often very sensitive to human disturbance (Navedo and Herrera 2009). Noteworthy, this type of disturbance is considered to be the main cause for the short stopover duration of spoonbills at Urdaibai (e.g. Del Villar et al. 2007). Thus, the Orueta lagoon also seemed to become an area with no or marginal disturbances, allowing spoonbills to stay at Urdaibai for longer than one day. Therefore, it can be concluded that the new lagoon has had a positive impact on spoonbills at Urdaibai, since now they can be observed not only during migration period, but all-year round.
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References Del Villar J, Garaita R, Prieto A. 2007. La esptula en la Reserva de la Biosfera de Urdaibai: diez aos de seguimiento. Gobierno Vasco, Vitoria. Galarza A. 1986. Migracin de la Esptula (Platalea leucorodia (Linn.)) por la Pennsula Ibrica. Ardeola 33: 195-201. Garaita R, Larrabide S. 2013. Post-nuptial migration of the Eurasian spoonbill in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve (this publication). Navedo JG. 2006. Identifying stopover wetlands for the conservation of an endangered waterbird species: the role of Santoa Marshes for the Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia during autumn migration. Eurosite Spoonbill Newsletter 4: 48-51. Navedo JG, Herrera AG. 2009. Perturbaciones antrpicas en una zona de sedimentacin clave para las aves acuticas durante la migracin otoal: el caso de las esptulas en las Marismas de Santoa. A Carriza 4: 43-52. Navedo JG, Masero JA, Overdijk O, Orizaola G, Snchez-Guzmn J M. 2010. Long distance travellers stop over for longer: a case study with spoonbills staying in North Iberia. Journal of Ornithology 151: 915-921.

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Networking for spoonbills

Nicole Nowicki
Eurosite, Luijbenstraat 3, 5211 BRs-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands. Correspondence: info@eurosite.org

Keywords: Networking; Spoonbill Action Plan; Natura 2000. In 20 years, a real achievement In the early 90s, Eurosite members wanted to ensure that their investments in protecting and managing sites for migratory birds along the East Atlantic Flyway (EAF) would not be jeopardised by counter action in another country of Europe. The European Birds and Habitats Directives were new legal instruments but were yet unknown to many stakeholders. Eurosite members knew that the success of their work would depend upon the support of the wider public and key stakeholders: local authorities, land owners and land users, along the whole Atlantic yway. In 1991, during the 2nd Eurosite Annual General Meeting in Terschelling (NL), realising that there was a gap between site managers and the public on the importance of wetlands and a lack of information on waterbird populations in Europe, members decided to use the Spoonbill as a agship species. An interesting idea emerged: a European awareness raising campaign, focusing on the Spoonbill as a symbol to protect the coastal areas along the EAF, from the Netherlands to the south of the Iberian Peninsula. During this campaign, the links developed between Spoonbill and waterbird specialists from the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Northern and Western Africa became so strong that they decided to continue meeting regularly, setting up the current International Spoonbill Working Group. Twenty years later, the successful story of the Spoonbill population within the EAF (Triplet et al. 2008) has been shared between experts from different parts of the world during the VII Spoonbill Workshop held in Ecoparque de Trasmiera, located in Santoa Marshes, Spain, such a symbolic place in the history of nature conservation in the European Union (i.e. the now famous Santoa sentence). Extending to other yways in Central and Southeast Europe through the Adriatic, Mediterranean, Africa, it is now extending to Asia. Connecting people, sites and birds At a time when contacts between countries of Europe were rather weak, to initiate a European awareness campaign based on a migratory travelling exhibition was a big challenge. From 1992 to 1995, thanks to the support of the Dutch government,
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the International Migratory Spoonbill Exhibition was implemented in ve countries, involving 19 organisations and 22 visitor centres (Table 1). Working together to organise the exhibition in Marquenterre, France (1992), implement it and gather its results in the rst Spoonbill Worlshop held in Rochefort, France (1995), strong relationships were developed between site managers and spoonbill specialists. They decided to follow the next migrations through - what at that time was quite innovative without internet - a fax network. The Eurosite Spoonbill network was born. Another rendez-vous was then organised in Sn, France (1997), followed by a workshop in Huelva, Spain (2000), where they decided to work along two complementary approaches, still mostly relevant today. On the one hand, a species related approach, working on issues such as the migrating strategy of individual birds, development of standard/similar methods for measuring breeding success, coordination and continuation of PVC-ringing programmes, development of a similar programme for the P.l.balsaci and, more recently, satellite tracking in Central Europe where several aspects of this population were still unknown. On the other hand, a broader habitat related approach on wetland management, working on wetland conservation (breeding, stopover and wintering sites), survey of all potential sites, understanding their carrying capacity for spoonbills, and ensuring their protection and appropriate management. Although the need for national and international coordination to ensure the future of the network was then recognised, the working group has worked on a voluntary and informal basis. During the workshop in Texel, the Netherlands (2002), the group decided (i) to initiate a Spoonbill Action Plan focusing on Central and Southeastern European countries; (ii) to meet in 2005 in Hortobgy, Hungary; and (iii) to publish a regular newsletter under the coordination of Patrick Triplet (SMACOPI, France) and Otto Overdijk (Natuurmonumenten, the Netherlands). Eight issues of the Spoonbill Newsletter has been published to date (http://www.eurosite.org/en-UK/content/spoonbill-working-group). In 2005, the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) tasked Eurosite with the production of an action plan for the Eurasian Spoonbill. Technical and scientic input was provided by Syndicat Mixte Baie de Somme and many representatives of the International Spoonbill Working Group, working in partnership with other organisations from 75 countries all over the world. The working group became more international. The AEWA proposal for the Eurasian Spoonbill Action Plan was discussed during an expert meeting in Doujd, Senegal (2007), being formally approved by the 4th meeting of UNEP-AEWA in 2008 (Triplet et al. 2008). This experience gained in Networking for spoonbills demonstrates (i) the importance of Spoonbill as a agship species with benets for associated waterbirds and wetlands; (ii) working together between managers and scientists, understanding each others needs; (iii) mixing a species scientic approach with a habitat/restoration approach; (iv) practical mutual support by designating nature reserves, buying land, etc; (v)
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sharing methods and training programmes; (vi) strong protected areas strategy and institutional support for their management; (vii) liaising with policy makers at international, European, national and local levels; and, nally, (viii) communicating with all stakeholders and getting the support of the wider public.
Country Sites Netherlands Ameland, Vlieland, Terschelling, Texel, Ysselmeerpolder Belgium Het Zwin France Somme, Seine, Loire, Golfe Morbihan, Marais Sn, Marais Charentais, Bassin dArcachon Spain Marismas de Santoa, Urdaibai, Laguna de la Nava, Marismas del Odiel, Doana Portugal Ria Formosa, Rio Tejo, Paul do Boquilobo, Rio Guadiana Table 1. Countries and sites where the International Migratory Spoonbill Exhibition was exhibited between 1992-1995.

New challenges and ambition for future networking Eurosite stands ready to continue to support the International Spoonbill Working Group by means of communication, promotion, facilitating contacts, etc. However, as with all networking, the energy and enthusiasm of active participants are the life-blood to ensuring that ambitions can be realised-such ambitions include, for example, to further implement the UNEP-AEWA Spoonbill Action Plan in Europe, continue connecting site management organisations, practitioners, people and waterbird populations, and to nd real solutions to practical management problems on a pan-European scale. This work involves working in ways that help to strengthen Natura 2000 as a network of sites, rather than as a collection of separate sites, to realise the enormous potential benets for Europes nature. Eurosite believes that only through networking, with the involvement of practitioners and people, is it possible to come up with meaningful solutions to counter threats from, say, climate change. Networking also fosters exchange of information and experiences to build knowledge, which requires work to be shared. Working in this way can open up potential funding opportunities available at the European and international levels. Acknowledgements Eurosite was founded in France in 1989 by 24 site management organisations in Europe. They believed that there was a need to compare practices and learn from each other
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on the basis of their experience. The aim was to establish a network organisation to exchange knowledge and expertise across Europe. The network is currently composed of 65 site management organisations from 22 countries. References Triplet P, Overdijk O, Smart M, Nagy S, Schneider-Jacoby M, Karauz ES, Pigniczki Cs., Baha El Din S, Kralj J, Sandor A, Navedo JG. 2008. International Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia. AEWA Tecnical Series No. 35, Bonn, Germany.

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Workshop conclusions
1.
The main objective of the Workshop has been achieved: exchange of views and transfer of knowledge between 24 participants from the Atlantic Flyway and 11 from the Central and Southeast European Flyway of the Eurasian Spoonbill. Information on the conservation and status of the Black-faced Spoonbill in Korea was also received. A state of the art updating of the AEWA Action Plan for the Conservation of the Eurasian Spoonbill was carried out; many actions are still needed to achieve the objectives already dened. The Atlantic Flyway has a growing population, in good health (increasing numbers in existing breeding states such as France and Spain, fresh colonies in new countries), though its status remains a matter for concern, because of its dependence on large coastal wetlands, many of them at risk from sea level rise. New research has involved extensive use of satellite transmitters attached to spoonbills, preferably adults because of the high mortality among juveniles, and sophisticated analysis of ringing results, which demonstrate the need for continued ringing. There are still issues for attention in the coming years, including: reduction of wardening in some Nature Reserves (e.g. Santoa marshes), continued illegal hunting; disturbance at colonies of non-native Sacred Ibises in France causing disturbance to nesting spoonbills. Proof was found that collision with high-voltage power lines causes a high percentage of non-natural mortality along this yway. The ISWG admired the conservation measures taken for wetland conservation by the authorities of the Region of Cantabria, in collaboration with the European Commission, at Santoa, a crucially important stopover site for Atlantic Flyway spoonbills, and appreciated the presentation made on behalf of the European Commission at the Institutional Act celebrating the 20th anniversary of the now famous Santoa judgement by a representative of the Commissions DG Environment. There is an urgent need to identify the Flyway(s) used by the Central and Southeast European population (s) more precisely, preferably by using satellite transmitters attached to adults in the nesting grounds. Use of blood sampling is recommended to distinguish different subspecies or populations in the yway. Recent information on spoonbills from southeast Europe (notably round the Black Sea) is lacking. Large scale illegal hunting of spoonbills, mainly in the Balkans, is a very serious cause of mortality in the Central and Southeast European Flyway. Urgent measures should be taken by the authorities concerned to reduce this pressure.

2.

3.

4. 5.

6.

98

7.

In the North African wintering grounds of the Central and Southeast European Flyway, counts and ring-reading have continued; a telescope was provided for additional ringreading. An Atlas of Libyan Wintering Waterbirds has been published, and the Tunisian government has increased its number of Ramsar sites to 40, many of the new ones being important wintering habitats for Spoonbill. At several sites, notably in the Rhine/Maas Delta in the Netherlands, and in the Pannonian Basin in Croatia and Hungary, major projects are under way or planned to restore or recreate Spoonbill breeding and foraging habitat. There is a lack of recent information about the Red Sea subspecies Platalea l. archeri. The Mauritanian subspecies Platalea l. balsaci has decreased recently. Research on the causes has started and results will be available for the next Workshop. A Mauritanian postgraduate student is working on spoonbills at the University of Groningen (The Netherlands). The ISWG thanked Dr. Patrick Triplet, who has recently resigned as Coordinator of the Group, for his past work and leadership. While maintaining its focus on active research, eldwork and conservation of spoonbills, the ISWG wishes to consolidate its organization and extend its range of activities. The ISWG will continue to promote spoonbills as a tool for wetland conservation (agship species), sharing results of the use of transmitters, explaining local projects, and exchanging results of research and management experience between yways. To this end the ISWG is seeking to strengthen existing partnerships and develop new ones. Among possible developments is a large project partly nanced by EU, and co-nanced by local authorities and other partners, in order to nd solutions for all problems identied in the Single Species Protection Plan for spoonbills (AEWA 2007). The ISWG paid tribute to the life and work of Dr. Martin Schneider-Jacoby, who has died after a brief illness. Among many other activities for EuroNatur, he took part in the preparation of the AEWA Spoonbill Action Plan, publicized the status of spoonbills in the Balkans, and arranged for many Balkan Spoonbill workers to take part in the present Workshop. A memorial plaque in his honour was inaugurated at the entrance to the ecomuseum in Santoa.

8,

9. 10.

11.

12.

Arnuero, 30th September 2012 International Spoonbill Working Group

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List of Participants
Family name
Arizaga Arranz Azkona Dakhli de Goeij de le Court Debats Dervovic El Hacen Hortas Garaita Garca Herrera Howe Jovicevic Kotrosan Kralj Kwon Larrabide Marion Mikuska Nagy Navedo Nowicki-Caupin Overdijk Pigniczki Rueda Sackl Salmn Saro Salvador San Emeterio Savary Smart Spanoghe Stumberger van der Neut

First name
Juan David Ainara Mohamed A Petra Claudine Raphaelle Ilhan Mohamed Francisco Rafael Alejandro Aaron Mihailo Drazen Jelena In-Ki Sonia Loic Tibor Szabolcs Juan G Nicole Otto Csaba Eukene Peter Pablo Mikel Cristina Fabienne Mike Geert Borut Jacques

Organization
Sociedad de Ciencias Aranzadi Red Cntabra de Desarrollo Rural Sociedad de Ciencias Aranzadi Assocaition des Amis des Oiseaux University of Groningen (RUG) Agencia de Medio Ambiente y Agua, Junta de Andaluca Syndicat Mixte de Gestion des Milieux Naturels Ornithological Society "Nase ptice" University of Groningen (RUG) Sociedad Gaditana Historia Natural Aves Cantbricas Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Centre for Protection an Research of Birds (CZIP) Ornithological Society "Nase ptice" Institute of Ornithology, Academy of Arts and Sciences Kyung Hee University Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve Technical Ofce Universitte de Rnnes Croatian Society for Bird and Nature Protection (HDZPP) Wetlands International Universidad de Extremadura Eurosite Natuurmonumenten Directorate of Kiskunsg National Park Universalmuseum Joanneum Aves Cantbricas Ecoparque de Trasmiera Syndicat Mixte de Gestion des Milieux Naturels INBO Studia Avium State Forest Service
100

Country
Spain Spain Spain Tunisia Netherlands Spain France Bosnia-Herzegovina Mauritania Spain Spain Spain UK Montenegro Bosnia-Herzegovina Croatia Republic of Korea Spain France Croatia Netherlands Spain Netherlands Netherlands Hungary Spain Austria Spain Spain Spain France UK Belgium Slovenia Netherlands

e mail
jarizaga@aranzadi-zientziak.org davidarranz@hotmail.com aazkona@birdcenter.org ma.dakhli@planet.tn petra@nioz.nl cdelecourt@agenciamedioambienteyagua.es raphaelledebats.milnat@orange.fr produkcija.visoki@gmail.com e.h.m.el.hacen@rug.nl limes.platalea@gmail.com rafagaraita@telefonica.net avescantabricas@gmail.com aaron.howe@rspb.org.uk mihajov@gmail.com kotrosan@bih.net.ba zzo@hazu.hr stryper45@hanmail.net s-larrabide@ej-gv.es loic.marion@univ-rennes1.fr tibor.kopacki.rit@gmail.com szabolcs.nagy@wetlands.org juangnavedo@yahoo.es nnowicki@eurosite.org o.overdijk@natuurmonumenten.nl csaba.spoonbill@gmail.com eukenee02@msn.com peter.sackl@museum-joanneum.at pablo.salmon.saro@gmail.com mochuelo.mochuelo@hotmail.com c_sanemeterio@hotmail.com fabiennesavary.milnat@orange.fr smartmike@btinternet.com geert.spanoghe@inbo.be stumberger@siol.net fotoneut@kpnmail.nl

Proceedings
Eurosite VII Spoonbill Workshop
Santoa, Victoria and Joyel Marshes Natural Park