Geen probleem dus👍

@Max, ik heb verslagen gezien van serieuze vogelaars die 'm in juni-juli gemist hebben, dus ik was blij dat het meteen de eerste ochtend lukte :)

Very nice photo of this bustard, Eduard. Congratulations! Tindaya plains are one of the best sites to see the species in the Canaries...

Ik zou daar onder normale omstandigheden ook zijn geweest, maar mijnvlucht ging niet door om bekende redenen. Helaas, maar dan maar een andere keer. Mooie foto, Eduard. Had je nog Kerkuil?

Ik zou daar onder normale omstandigheden ook zijn geweest, maar mijnvlucht ging niet door om bekende redenen. Helaas, maar dan maar een andere keer. Mooie foto, Eduard. Had je nog Kerkuil?

@Rubén, gracias!

@Bert, uiteindelijk langsvliegend gezien ten westen van Lajaras. En een vogel gehoord bij Barranco de las Penitas, een van de drie plekken voor dit taxon, naast de wegen rondom Mount Tindaya en Pajara-Tot (en ten oosten daarvan). Lastig, zeldzaam beest. Op Lanzarote misschien iets minder moeilijk.

Alonso, JC, Palacín, C & Abril-Colón, I 2020. The Lanzarote population of the African Houbara Chlamydotis undulata fuertaventurae: census, sex ratio, productivity, and a proposed new survey method. Ardeola 67: 69-83.  

Lanzarote island, in the Canary archipelago, is the main stronghold of the Canarian subspecies of the African Houbara Bustard Chlamydotis undulata fuertaventurae. Here we present the results of the first complete census of the Houbara population of this island, based on car transects combined with frequent and prolonged scanning stops, and carried out during the mating season, in January-February 2018. Based on a count of 370 birds (161 males, 209 females) we estimate a total population of 440-452 Houbara Bustards on the island."

Ucero, A, Alonso, JC, Palacín, C, Abril-Colón, I & Álvarez-Martínez, JM 2023. Significant decline of an endemic bustard in the Canary Islands. ResearchSquare (preprint).    

We studied the effects of a set of environmental and anthropogenic variables on the disappearance of African houbara bustards Chlamydotis undulata fuertaventurae on Fuerteventura (Canary Islands), once the main stronghold of this endangered bird. Of 83 male display sites detected in 1997-1998, only 29 remained occupied in 2020-2021 (65% decrease in only 23 years).

[A]lthough there has been a notable decrease in the number of houbara birds over the study period in practically all areas of the island, the three areas showing the lowest declines were the Tindaya plains, the Corralejo Natural Park and Matas Blancas. These three areas already had a protected status at the beginning of the study period "    

[A]vailable data suggest that in Fuerteventura the population could have reached a maximum of ca. 460 houbaras in 2004 (Lorenzo et al. 2007). Later on, the species started a signicant decline again, which have brought the population to the brink of extinction nowadays, threatening to represent a first step towards total extinction in the Canary Islands.    

The houbara bustard is currently on the brink of extinction in Fuerteventura. Any further decline is extremely dangerous, as the current population is close to the minimum viability size. In the neighbour island of Lanzarote, where houbara densities are higher (Alonso et al. 2020), display sites abandoned due to the death of a male are immediately occupied by another male (Alonso et al. 2022a), however this is not the case in Fuerteventura where numbers are already too low.

Alonso, JC, Abril-Colón, I, Ucero, A & Palacín, C 2024. Anthropogenic mortality threatens the survival of Canarian houbara bustards. Scientific Reports 14: 2056.

“We estimate that 33–35 houbaras die each year in the Canary Islands due to anthropogenic causes. Population viability models using these data and juvenile productivity values obtained over seven years predicted the extinction of the species in 50 years.”

Abril-Colón, I, Palacín, C, Ucero, A & Alonso, JC 2024. The COVID19 confinement revealed negative anthropogenic effects of unsustainable tourism on endangered birds. Biological Conservation 296: 110707.  

Increasing levels of tourism represent a risk to species susceptible to human-induced disturbance and habitat degradation. With the outbreak of the SARS-COV-2 pandemic (COVID-19), preventive health measures reduced human mobility worldwide. Using high-resolution telemetry, we assessed the influence of tourism on flight frequency and anthropogenic mortality in an endangered endemic island bird, the Canarian houbara bustard. We monitored 51 individuals equipped with GSM-GPRS loggers and accelerometer technology before, during and after the COVID-19 lockdown in Canary Islands. Our results showed a significant correlation between number of tourists and flight frequency of houbaras, which fly rarely, almost only when disturbed. During pre- and post-COVID periods, birds made a 325 % higher flight rate than during COVID confinement. When tourism declined, the number of rental vehicles on the islands also declined, and there was a decrease in houbara fatalities at overhead lines and roadkills. The fact that flights originated closer to roads and tracks than would be expected by chance supports the conclusion that many of these flights were caused by human or vehicle traffic. These results suggest that a high presence of tourists and vehicles in houbara areas was most likely a decisive factor responsible for the increase in anthropogenic houbara mortality. Our study represents a clear example of the negative effects of unsustainable tourism in a fragile and humanized island environment and urges to regulate tourism and vehicle traffic, implement corrective measures on overhead lines and roads, and establish restricted areas for outdoor recreation, especially where human-wildlife conflict involves endangered species.

Hi.

In addition to the good series of interesting and important papers on the Canarian Houbara Bustard included in several posts by Dr. George Sangster, I can add another publication of great interest too:

GEARY, M., J. R. COOPER & N. J. COLLAR (2022). Anthropogenic influences on habitat use by African houbaras Chlamydotis undulata on Lanzarote, Canary Islands. Journal for Nature Conservation 68: 126231. 

There have been many studies about this fascinating and endangered bird in the last few years. 

Best regards from the Canaries.