Protecting the - LIFE Priolo - spea.pt

Protecting thePrioloOnce abundant, the AzoresBullfinch has come close toextinction but has managedto hang on – so far. DominicMitchell looks at its verytroubled past and to thefuture, and reveals whyBirdwatch has chosento become a BirdLifeSpecies Championto help protectthe species.Above: endemic to montane laurelforest in the east of São Miguel, AzoresBullfinch is a top priority case forconservation action. Background photo:the spectacular vista at Pico da Vara.PEDRO MONTEIROEven on a rainy day, the landscapeof the hills towards the easternend of São Miguel is majesticand imposing. Such days arefrequent here, as the verdant landscape ofthis largest island in the Azores suggests.Rich green fields, lush hedgerows,fragments of laurel forest and statelycedars are the main elements of a wellwateredcountryside, which in inclementweather seems permanently hemmed inby a puffy grey ceiling of low cloud.It’s a picture of tranquillity and ruralbeauty, even if the landscape itself is farfrom ‘natural’. A sprawling patchwork offields, divided from each other by stonewalls painstakingly built from lava rock,indicates that large areas of the island havebeen given over to agriculture. Cows are adominant feature these days, thoughhistorically it was orchards; cultivation oforanges was big business on São Miguel inthe 19th century, and therein lies a story.Persecuted ‘pest’Before settlers forever altered its landscape,much of the island was covered in pristinelaurel forest and other native vegetation.The outlook then from the summit of Picoda Vara, the island’s highest point, wouldhave looked very different, probably akinto an evergreen wilderness.And like its relative neighbours in thewarm waters of the Atlantic, Madeira andthe Canary Islands, this habitat was hometo a unique bird: not a species of pigeon,as flourish elsewhere, but a bullfinch.Quite different in plumage and choice ofhabitat from the familiar pink, grey, blackand white Bullfinch of mainland Europe,this pinkish-brown and black speciesthrived in the native vegetation of easternSão Miguel.But as colonisation came, so too thelandscape changed.With a growingpopulation to house and feed, the spreadof settlements brought dramatic changesto the island. Large swathes of forest wereApplying control measures to invasivevegetation involves hard hiking to accessremoter parts of the bullfinch’s range.Commonly thought of as ‘giant rhubarb’,Gunnera develops leaves up to 2 m inlength and can smother the forest floor.Low cloud cloaks a hillside where theproject’s workforce has cleared a largestand of ‘exotic’ Japanese Red Cedars.SPEA-LIFE PRIOLOCARLOS SILVA (SPEA)DOMINIC MITCHELL38 BIRDWATCH • APRIL 2008

Critically Endangered birdsJOAQUIM TEODÓSIO (SPEA)cleared, and by the late 19thcentury orange orchardsproliferated in many places.For a while the AzoresBullfinch, or Priolo to the locals, maynot have been seriously harmed by thechanges, despite the destruction of laurelforest. Indeed, it was perhaps evenprospering, with the buds of the orangetrees providing a new source of food. Butthat newly acquired habitat was to hastenits downfall: mirroring the situation inEngland, where Bullfinches were regardedas pests in orchards and huntedaccordingly, a bounty was placed on thehead of every bird. Many wereslaughtered by the fruit growers, andthose that survived had an ever-shrinkingarea of core habitat within which theycould breed and feed.A further blow was struck when theneed for timber provoked a forestry boom.Japanese Red Cedars were planted in vastswathes across the island’s eastern hills,further swamping the dwindling stands ofnative laurel. Coupled with the voraciousspread of other exotic flora, notably YellowgingerLily, Lily of the Valley and AustralianCheesewood, at the expense of nativevegetation, the bullfinch’s habitat wasvanishing fast – and with it the birds.Today, for all its scenic splendour, verylittle remains of the original landscape ofthe area around Serra da Tronqueira.Thatthere is anything left at all is not down toluck or coincidence: rather, it is a result ofcommon sense prevailing in the nick oftime to try and ensure that what is nowEurope’s most Critically Endangered birddoes not become its first avian extinctionsince the Great Auk.With São Miguel’s orange industrylong since gone and Azores Bullfinch nowafforded full protection, the emphasis ison consolidating the bird’s population inthe remaining core area of habitat whereit still clings on – less than 60 squarekilometres of hillside and valley aroundPico da Vara.The exact number of bullfinches isunknown, having been estimated at 200-300 birds in the 1990s and slightly moresince then; point-countsurveys since 2002have recently indicated a rise toan estimated 340 individuals, asign that perhaps at last thedecline is being reversed.Work in progressMuch has been done already to help thisspecies, but it’s only when you see the scaleof the problem first-hand that you appreciatehow much it is a work in progress. In fact,it will never be completed. I was shownthe daunting task that lies ahead by the coordinatorof the SPEA-LIFE Priolo project,JoaquimTeodósio, who is responsible forthe daily marshalling of a small army ofstaff, labourers and volunteers. He explainedthat the extent to which invasive flora hasspread in this area means that controlmeasures will always be needed to preventit re-establishing a stranglehold on thefragile remnants of native forest. Effectivecontrol on this scale involves a sizeableworkforce, and that in turn means money.Previously, significant funding for thefieldwork undertaken by SPEA, Portugal’sBirdLife partner, has come from the EULife Fund. But after five years that will soonbe running out.With so much alreadyachieved – including the building of aPriolo Environmental Centre which hasworked wonders to raise the species’profile on the island – it would be a tragedyfor the species to suffer another setback now.For this reason, Birdwatch has committedto becoming a BirdLife Species Championfor the Azores Bullfinch.There is a longway to go, but as a first step we have alreadycontributed £10,000 towards work tobenefit the species, and more investmentwill follow over the next two years. Ifyou’d like to help too, you can – please seepage 25 of this issue and also visitwww.justgiving.com/priolo. Updates onthe species and our involvement willappear regularly on the Birdwatch website –watch this space. ■AcknowledgementsThanks to Joaquim Teodósio, Ricardo Ceiaand the rest of the SPEA-LIFE Project onSão Miguel, to David Howlett for his helpfulinput, and to Archipelago Azores Ltd forfacilitating travel (tel: 01768 775672;email: info@azoreschoice.com; web:www.azoreschoice.com).Why the truly rarebirds matter mostWhile common birdsenrich our dailyexistence with theirbeauty, voice andbehaviour, it is usuallyrare birds that fuel ourfascination and addan extra dimension ofinspiration when weare lucky enough to see them.Showing our county recorder Surrey’s40th Firecrest, in the big Yew in my suburbangarden, was a defining moment for me at theage of 13. Celebrating my 400th British tick(a Siberian Thrush at Burnham Overy inNorfolk) was another major milestone 21years later.But when I joined BirdLife InternationalI quickly gained a new perspective on rarity.Learning that more than half the world’s10,000 species were in decline, 12 per centwere threatened with extinction and the 189most Critically Endangered faced imminentextinction really pricked my conscience.Previously, rarity had been my recreationalraison d’être, but now I saw it in anotherlight.Raising funds for the BirdLife PreventingExtinctions Programme is my new mission,and time is of the essence. Our objective isto reverse the fortunes of all globallythreatened birds by appointing a worldwidenetwork of Species Guardians to providespecific conservation action, while recruitinga community of Species Champions toprovide the funds to pay for it.With the generous support of Birdfair –our first international programme sponsor –and a growing number of SpeciesChampions like Birdwatch and many otherorganisations and individuals around theworld, we’re making strides in the rightdirection.Most birders haven’t had the chance tohelp prevent extinctions before, but now weall can. Here’s how:• Visit www.justgiving.com/priolo andmake a donation to help fund AzoresBullfinch conservation.• Attend Birdfair this August – your entryfee will count towards funds raised forCritically Endangered bird conservation.• Purchase Rare Birds Yearbook, anotherworthwhile way of contributing toconservation coffers (a percentage ofeach copy sold goes to BirdLife).To find out how you or your companymight help us by becoming a BirdLifeSpecies Champion, please contact me atspecies.champions@birdlife.org.Bird extinctions affect us all – let’s dosomething about it before it’s too late.Jim LawrenceBirdLife Preventing ExtinctionsProgramme Development ManagerAPRIL 2008 • BIRDWATCH 39

Critically Endangered birdsA volunteer abroadThere’s plenty that birders in Britain and elsewherecan do to help the Azores Bullfinch, including workin the field. Here, Dave Howlett recounts his time asa volunteer on the SPEA-LIFE Priolo Project.Ifirst became aware of theAzores Bullfinch and itspredicament through mystudies in ornithology atBirmingham University. So itwas that while on a familyholiday in São Miguel I took theopportunity of a day’s field trip inthe company of Ricardo Ceia, anornithologist working on the EU LifePriolo project based in Nordeste, in thehope of seeing one of these birds.We were successful, but it turned outthat seeing the bird was just the beginningof my interest.The more I learnt about thespecies and the conservation work beingco-ordinated on its behalf by SPEA(BirdLife in Portugal), the more interestedI became in the possibility of helping onthe project as a volunteer.My appetite was further whetted whenRicardo subsequently sent me details of afull year’s programme of volunteeropportunities.This was wide-ranging and,in addition to working directly with thebirds, offered options to be involved withhabitat management and restoration aswell as education and awareness activitiesassociated with the establishment of aPriolo Environmental Centre in a forestpark near Nordeste.After discussions with JoaquimTeodósio, the Project Co-ordinator, on theSPEA Priolo project stand at Birdfair, wherethe Priolo was being heavily promoted, Iarranged for a two-week stay in the Azoresin October 2007.I had expressed a preference to beinvolved in field work with the birdsthemselves, and a draft plan was availablefor discussion on my arrival. It was agreedthat I would initially undertake monitoringPriolos and their feeding behaviour. Mymentor for this work was Sérgio Timóteo,and the initial task was a botany lesson,followed up in the field, to enable me torecognise the plant species onwhich the birds might40 BIRDWATCH • APRIL 2008be found feeding.The datarecording system was alsoexplained, as was the codingsystem used on Priolos that hadbeen ringed.While monitoringthe birds the following itemswere recorded: site (name and gridreference); time; status of bird; ringdetails, if any; bird behaviour, particularlyfeeding; and if feeding, the plant speciesbeing used.When possible, faecesdeposited by sighted birds were collected.These were subsequently despatched toMadrid for laboratory analysis to assessfern spore germination rates from faeces.After a couple of days I was deemed fitto carry out monitoring in the fieldwithout my mentor. During this period Irecorded Priolos feeding on acacia, whichwas apparently a first – so volunteers canmake discoveries as well as theprofessionals! The monitoring work wascarried out in relatively remote andmountainous terrain, and could at timesbe quite physically demanding; it workedwonders for my waist-line, though!My other main field task was predatormonitoring. Rats and possibly Stoats preyon Priolo eggs and chicks, but beforecontrol measures can be contemplated itis necessary to establish the distributionand relative abundance of these animals.This is undertaken by two-man teamssetting lines of traps which record thepresence of the animal without actuallycatching it.The traps consist of squaresectionplastic tubes measuring 600 x 100x 100 mm and fitted with a central padsoaked in food colouring. Paper sheetsplaced at each end of the tube are usedto record the footprints of the animalpassing over the dye.The tubes werebaited with peanut butter for rats andrabbit meat for Stoats, and set in linesof 10 at 50-m intervals for theformer and in lines of fiveJOAQUIM TEODÓSIO (SPEA)Want to be a Priolo volunteer?If you want to work in the field or knowmore about the project to conserve thisCritically Endangered species, pleasego to the LIFE Priolo micro website atwww.spea.pt/ms_priolo. Click on‘Projectos SPEA’/Life Priolo and thenfollow the link to the English languageversion. The team wants to hear from you!at 100-m intervals for the latter.The records are collected and are thensubjected to statistical analysis to build apicture of distribution and abundance.Preliminary conclusions after summer andautumn monitoring demonstrate ageneral presence of rodents in themountains, but a relatively low abundanceof mustelids for the same area. Furtherresults are awaited.It was an honour and privilege to bethe first overseas (that is non-Portuguese/Azorean) volunteer on the project, and Ihad a very enjoyable and enlightening twoweeks thanks to the hospitality andsupport of my SPEA colleagues. It wasgood to be able to contribute positively tothis important project, and it is gratifyingthat the work can continue thanks in nosmall part to the support of BirdlifeInternational Species Champions such asBirdwatch. ■Volunteering can be demanding if youwant to assist with practical measures inthe field, but very satisfying to know thatyour efforts are making a real difference.