Bird – Palm Oil Detectives

Southern Ground-hornbill Bucorvus leadbeateri

Territorial and highly social, Southern Ground Hornbills collectively raise their young in groups – a process of parental guidance that can take up to two years – the longest of any bird species known. They are considered to be a culturally important species to many indigenous peoples and are known as rain birds or thunder birds for their folklore association with bringing rain and ending drought.
They are found throughout the thin line of Peruvian rainforest and their range stretches across several countries: Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela and Colombia. Their main threats are habitat loss to mining, logging, cattle farming, palm oil and soy as well as hunting. Protect them each time you shop by boycotting meat and palm oil in the supermarket.

Helmeted Hornbill Rhinoplax vigil

Helmeted Hornbill by Craig Ansiwin, Getty Images (2)

Helmeted Hornbills are spectacular, large and intelligent birds native to SE Asia, known for their substantial helmet-like structure on their head called a casque made of ivory. This hefty head accounts for 11% of their 3kg body weight. They are found on the Malay Peninsula: Sumatra, Borneo, Myanmar and Thailand. They are critically endangered. Their main threats are illegal hunting and wildlife trade for their ivory casques along with palm oil and timber deforestation. Help them each time you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife

Papuan Eagle Harpyopsis novaeguineae

Elusive, forest-dwelling apex predators in New Guinea, Papuan eagles are classified as vulnerable and rapidly declining due to enormous deforestation for mining and palm oil in Papua New Guinea and West Papua along with hunting threats. They are poorly studied birds and therefore estimates of their populations may be severely overestimated, meaning that they are in much more serious strife than we know.

While there have probably never been high densities of the Papuan eagle, evidence indicates that they are declining rapidly. It is possible that the entire population is considerably under 10,000 individuals. There is no evidence that the Papuan eagle is adaptable to the opening of forests and the eagles appear to abandon areas especially where logging roads have been cut into the forests.

Help them every time you shop and be #vegan, #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife

Philippine Eagle Pithecophaga jefferyi

Apex predator and flying royalty of the jungle, Philippine #Eagles are critically endangered from #climatechange, #palmoil, #timber and #cacao #deforestation and illegal #hunting.

There are estimated to be only 180-600 eagles left in the wild. Protecting the Philippine eagle would also protect 780 other plant and animal species in the Philippines. Help them every time you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife
There are estimated to be only 180-600 eagles left in the wild. Help them every time you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife

Climate change is forcing human and non-human beings to become climate refugees

The definition of refugee or displaced person is someone fleeing a life-threatening crisis. The emerging refugees of this century are fleeing unliveable environmental conditions brought about by climate change and other complex interrelated factors including conflict, disease and famine. Humans and non-human beings alike are becoming climate change refugees. The choices are stark and clear – move and live or stay where you are and perish.

The mimics among us — birds pirate songs for personal profit

From Roman classics to British tabloids, humans have long celebrated the curious and remarkable ability of birds to imitate the sounds of humans and other animals. A recent surge of research is revealing how and why birds use vocal mimicry to further their own interests, as we discuss in Biological Reviews. Anastasia Dalziell, Cornell UniversityContinue reading “The mimics among us — birds pirate songs for personal profit”

The Amazonian Royal Flycatcher: A flurry of feathers

September 3rd is Amazon Rainforest Day and The Nature Nook/Palm Oil Detective would like to celebrate. The Amazonian Royal Flycatcher is a member of a family of birds called the tyrant flycatchers, which occur throughout North and South America. This is the biggest family of birds in the world, with more than 400 species. AsContinue reading “The Amazonian Royal Flycatcher: A flurry of feathers”

Knobbed Hornbill Rhyticeros cassidix

Knobbed Hornbill Rhyticeros cassidix Sulawesi, Indonesia Vulnerable Recent analysis has suggested that the Knobbed Hornbill may be declining at a rate approaching 40% over three generations based on recent and ongoing rates of habitat loss on Sulawesi (D. Holmes in litt. 1999, Kinnaird and O’Brien 2007). IUCN red list The Knobbed Hornbill is spectacular andContinue reading “Knobbed Hornbill Rhyticeros cassidix”

Laughs, cries and deception: birds’ emotional lives are just as complicated as ours

Gisela Kaplan, University of New England Birds can certainly get very angry – and the owner of a galah or corella would be well advised not to get near this bird when the head feathers are raised — but birds can be joyful and playful, can get depressed and, as studies have shown, a neglectfulContinue reading “Laughs, cries and deception: birds’ emotional lives are just as complicated as ours”

Sulawesi Hornbill Rhabdotorrhinus exarhatus

Sulawesi Hornbill Rhabdotorrhinus exarhatus Indonesia Vulnerable The Sulawesi Hornbill is threatened with habitat destruction, with forest on Sulawesi being lost at a rate of 16.9% per ten years during 1985-1997; and 36.1% per ten years during 1997-2001 (based on D. A. Holmes in litt. 1999 and Kinnaird and O’Brien 2007). The species’s specialised breeding requirementsContinue reading “Sulawesi Hornbill Rhabdotorrhinus exarhatus”

Channel-billed Toucan Ramphastos vitellinus

Channel-billed Toucan Ramphastos vitellinus Vulnerable Brazil; Colombia; French Guiana; Guyana; Suriname; Trinidad and Tobago; Venezuela The primary threat to the Channel-billed Toucan is accelerating deforestation in the Amazon basin as land is cleared for cattle ranching, palm oil and soy production, facilitated by expansion of the road network (Soares-Filho et al. 2006, Bird et al.Continue reading “Channel-billed Toucan Ramphastos vitellinus”

Saker Falcon Falco cherrug

The Sager Falcon is a majestic and powerful birds of prey that have a wide range throughout much of Southern Europe, the Middle East and parts of Africa. Their plumage ranges from chocolate brown in colour to a pale sandy with brown bars or streaks and can be snow white and off-white.

Rainbow Cliffs: Why Parrots in the Amazon Eat Clay

Our world holds a whole host of glorious natural spectacles, from great starling murmurations to the ethereal display of coral reef spawning. But to me, none is more thrilling than catching a glimpse of a majestic macaw. Screeching their way through the Amazon rainforest, leaving scattered fruit, broken branches, and a considerable quantity of parrotContinue reading “Rainbow Cliffs: Why Parrots in the Amazon Eat Clay”

Ariel Toucan Ramphastos ariel

Ariel Toucan Ramphastos ariel Endangered Brazil No conservation The Ariel Toucan is one of the most iconic birds of the Amazon rainforest, depicted in countless pieces of art and historical renderings. They live in forested lowlands, most often near water, forest edge, swamp forest, clearings, riverine forest, patches in savannas, cerrado and riverine forest, upContinue reading “Ariel Toucan Ramphastos ariel”

Great Green Macaw Ara ambiguus

The extremely rare Pernambuco Pygmy-owl is critically endangered on the @IUCNredlist due to massive logging and deforestation for #palmoil #beef farming in #Brazil support this animal’s survival by making art and joining the #boycott4wildlife

Szabolcs Kókay: Wildlife Artist

Szabolcs Kókay was born in Hungary in 1976, and has been interested in nature, especially birds, since childhood. Although he has been drawing for as long as he can remember, it was only later on in his life, around the age of 20, when these two interests merged. For Szabolcs, watching and sketching nature goContinue reading “Szabolcs Kókay: Wildlife Artist”

Sinu Parakeet Pyrrhura subandina

Rüppell’s Vulture Gyps rueppelli

Rüppell’s Vulture Gyps rueppelli Critically endangered Algeria; Benin; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; Côte d’Ivoire; Djibouti; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Gambia; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Kenya; Mali; Mauritania; Niger; Nigeria; Rwanda; Senegal; Somalia; South Sudan; Sudan; Sudan; Tanzania, United Republic of; Togo; Uganda This vulture frequents open areas of Acacia woodland, grassland and montane regions,Continue reading “Rüppell’s Vulture Gyps rueppelli”

South America: Species Endangered by Palm Oil Deforestation

Dusky Titi Monkey, found in the Amazon rainforest.

As the lush equatorial rainforests of South East Asia are exhausted, increasingly focus is being placed on parts of Central and South America. Oil Palm is a growing commodity there and is found in Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico. The fertile rainforests of Latin America are home to some of the most exotic andContinue reading “South America: Species Endangered by Palm Oil Deforestation”

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