BirdLife International reports that The Eagle Odyssey, a documentary by its UK sibling, The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, has become the "most successful and acclaimed RSPB film ever made".

Released in April 2004, the 50-minute documentary covers three years of the lives of White-Tailed Eagles, Red Kites, and Ospreys. Availablility is limited. It can be found in the UK at RSPB's reserve shops, but it doesn't seem to be available for ordering online. If you find any websites that have it, let me know.

The Grey-Headed Albatross (Thalassarche chrysostoma, also Diomedea chrysostoma) has been found to travel around the world in 46 days. A recent study conducted by scientists at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge revealed that Grey-Headed Albatrosses can travel more than 25,000 miles in the 18 months between their breeding seasons. Of the 22 birds successfully tracked using electronic leg monitors, they found that 12 of the birds circled the globe at least once, travelling east at a latitude just south of South America and Africa. Three of those made the trip twice.

The 18-month study was designed to help conservationists protect the albatross by imposing tighter restrictions on commercial fishing, as these birds are being trapped, caught in fishing lines, and snagged by baited hooks, where they're dragged under and drowned. With 19 of the 21 subspecies on the Red List as high risk of endangerment, BirdLife International estimates that 100,000 albatrosses die each year through longline fishing and has determined them the bird family most threatened with extinction. Check out their campaign, Save the Albatross.

For results of the study, see "Global circumnavigations: Tracking year-round ranges of non-breeding albatrosses" by John P. Croxall, Janet R.D. Silk, Richard A. Phillips, Vsevolod Afanasyev and Dirk Briggs, published in Science on January 14, 2005.

A pair of critically endangered Campbell Island Teals (Anas nesiotis) has a new addition to their family. With less than a hundred birds in captivity, Wellington Zoo has successfully hatched a new duckling. As first-time parents, the rare breeding pair laid five eggs. One survived and has been granted permission for public viewing. More ducklings could be on the way as the second clutch of eggs is now being incubated and are expected to hatch by the end of the month.

It's been a difficult recovery for the small flightless, nocturnal bird. The Cambell Island Teal was though to be extinct until a small population was found in the mid-70s. The New Zealand Department of Conservation's reintroduction plan(PDF) will hopefully give a boost to allowing these birds to thrive once again on Campbell Island and bring themselves back from extinction.

The Greater Sage Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) has been denied federal protection. After a formal review, the US Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced that it will not gain protection under the Endangered Species Act. A population and habitat status survey was conducted in the eleven US states that the Greater Sage Grouse ranges. Most information was based on monitoring done since 1965. It was found that between 1965 and 1985, populations decreased an average of 3.5% per year. Since 1986, the decline has slowed to 0.37%.

Some feel this omission is purely political and that the Greater Sage Grouse is being sacrificed.

The historic range of the Greater Sage Grouse included 16 US states and three Canadian provinces. Currently, this has dwindled to 11 US states and two Canadian provinces. It is estimated that in 1800, about 1.1 million birds existed. Today, the USFWS estimates the population to be 100,000 to 500,000. The National Audubon Society has their own count, currently at 142,000.

Population decline is greatly attributed to the devastation of habitat. Fires, agriculture, well drilling, plant invasion, and urbanization have all contributed to a decline in sagebrush, which is heavily depended on for food and cover.

Since there will be no federal protection for the Greater Sage Grouse until a further review process, recovery plans are being coordinated at the state level. Canada has already taken action: the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) declared this bird endangered in 1998, and it was listed in the Species at Risk Act (SARA) Public Registry in 2000. The Western Governor's Association has more information on each state's conservation efforts.

One of England's rarest raptors, is facing extinction. Circus cyaneus, commonly known as the Hen Harrier (and other names), is being reported in "disastrous decline" by The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). In 2003 there were 22 pairs in England. Last year only eight were recorded, all located in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire.

The count was so low in 2002 that English Nature set up the Hen Harrier Recovery Project. Their efforts led to a slight increase in population in 2003, but numbers have since declined. The hen harrier faces opposition from landowners and hunters because it eats chicks of the red grouse, a heavily-hunted game bird. English Nature has had reports of hen harriers being shot, some sustaining wing injuries.

The Association of Chief Police Officers launched Operation Artemis to provide information and help enforce current laws protecting the hen harrier. Anyone spotting one of these birds should use their website to report the sighting.

Kuldia, India is an avian utopia. For generations, residents of the West Bengal Midnapore district village have been providing a bird sanctuary, dedicating land to growing peas, grain, and grams specifically for their feathered friends. The birds eat crop-threatening pests and provide natural fertilizer, saving farmers money and providing a more organic harvest.

The egg has hatched! For the past few months, I've been working on getting a website together dedicated to informing, educating, and (hopefully) entertaining those interested in the avian species. And now it's finally live! It may seem a bit strange that the post announcing the launch of the blog isn't the first one, but the bird brains at home (not to be confused with a more common definition) determined that news and information still happens even though the site is still in development, and that a first-time blogger like me could use some practice. Indeed.