When birds go bad

For those of you who quite like a bit of You've Been Framed, here's an avian version for your pleasure...at times funny and at times rather scary! It serves as a warning. Even the most beautiful birds will defened themselves or their young when they feel threatened. If the birds are wild, it's best to admire them from a safe distance! No birds were harmed in the making of this video, but some small children very nearly were.

World's smallest parrot caught on film

If you've read this week's issue (September 17) you will have seen our news story about the world's smallest parrot being caught on film for the first time.

You can watch the footage via the BBC Earth News website. 

An apartment block for birds

If you thought humans were the only ones to live in communal apartment blocks, think again.

Bird trade and import ban research

A university student has begun a study of the wild bird trade to find out how it affects bird conservation. Cage & Aviary Birds reader Phillip Greenwood, 32, from Wales, is studying Wildlife Management and Conservation as a mature student. His Masters degree thesis will focus on the trade in wild birds, including attitudes to the current EU ban. Mr Greenwood said: “I chose this topic because I wanted to know more about how the pet trade operates and how it influences conservation. My two main areas of interest are aviculture and the ornamental aquatic trade, particularly those species still harvested from the wild. “With ‘sustainability’ be-coming a global buzzword, I wish to see if it is also applicable to the pet trade.” He added: “I have a strong personal interest, because for about 12 years I had a large, productive, mixed collection of exotic birds, which I found incredibly enjoyable and rewarding, and also kept tropical marine fish. “I am curious about how some species are ‘ranched’ in the wild and offer a sustainable income for indigenous people.” Now Mr Greenwood hopes that birdkeepers will be able to help him understand the subject better by taking part in an online survey. Some of the questions that he asks in the survey are: ■ With the ban on import of birds, do you think that it should also be applied to all wild- caught animals? ■ Do you agree with the ban on importing wild birds? ■ If you do not agree with the ban on wild birds, why? ■ What changes, if any, would you like to see take place in aviculture in relation to animal trade or conservation? Mr Greenwood said: “Getting the thoughts of other birdkeepers, bird-lovers and conservationists on the topic will be a huge help. “The thesis has no bias, it has no agenda to fill, and I am certainly not anti-pet-keeping. Hopefully I can derive some interesting insights into the topic.” To take part in the survey, visit www.animalcareresearch.org.uk

Wildlife exhibition

There's currently a beautiful wildlife gallery available to view on the Guardian website.

As well as some stunning photographs of plant life, there's some cracking shots of birds, including a black-headed gull, a blue tit and a great spotted woodpecker.

The photographs were take by William A Bolton,  a remote wildlife camera specialist for the BBC Natural History Unit. They are part of an exhibition running until March 28 at The Brewhouse Arts Centre, Burton on Trent.

Editor's letter (January 22 issue)

We’ve all heard this before: “There are three kinds of lies – lies, damned lies and statistics.”

This quote, which refers to the persuasive power of numbers, sprang to mind when we first heard that a wildlife rehabilitator was casting doubt on the legitimacy of the figures generated by the RSPB’s annual Big Garden Birdwatch (see our news story on page 3 of this week's issue). This event encourages thousands of volunteers to watch the birds in their garden for an hour and record the maximum number of each species seen at one time.

In a letter to the editor of The Times, Andrew Meads questioned the media’s reliance on the figures without first determining whether they were accurate or not. Mr Meads believes that those taking part in the count are amateurs that can’t tell the difference between young blackbirds and young thrushes, among others.

The RSPB has countered the argument by stating that it doesn’t really matter if a handful of volunteers aren’t particularly skilled at bird identification. The resultant figures, it says, are still useful in showing general trends and flagging up potential problems. Its website goes even further: “Our scientists can then use these patterns in bird numbers to help prioritise our bird conservation work.”

While I can understand the merits of the Big Garden Birdwatch – making us all feel warm and fluffy about bird conservation – I believe Mr Meads is right to point out the failings in the resultant figures. If we can’t be sure of their accuracy, how can we regard them as authoritative?

It begs the question that if the RSPB is so reliant on this information, why don’t they offer training to participants along the same lines as the British Trust for Ornithology’s bird survey techniques course? That, surely, would be a step in the right direction…