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At present, the protection of birds, especially endangered birds, faces major challenges. In the process of protection, birds are often mixed with various drones, and it is difficult to accurately count the number of endangered birds, especially at night, which brings great difficulties to bird protection work. So tracking and identifying birds and drones is essential to ensure the accuracy and efficiency of bird conservation efforts. To solve these problems, this paper proposes a new multi-target tracking (MOT) model based on the combination of YOLOv9 detection algorithm and DeepSORT tracking algorithm. Firstly, the original RepNSCPELAN4 module is replaced by CAM context feature enhancement module in Backbone to improve the model’s ability to extract small target features. Following this, the AFF channel attention mechanism has been integrated with RepNSCPELAN4 in the Head section to create the RepNSCPELAN4-AFF module, which aims to better address semantic and scale inconsistencies. Finally, a new RepNSCPELAN4-AKConv module has been developed using the AKConv dynamic Convolution module to replace the RepNSCPELAN4 module in the original Head section, enabling the model to more effectively capture detailed and contextual information. In the bird-UAV visible light comprehensive dataset proposed in this study, the mAP0.50 and F1 Score of all categories are 81.3% and 71.9% respectively by the improved YOLOv9-DeepSORT model. The mAP0.50 and F1 scores of individual birds are 89.1% and 82.4%, respectively. Compared to the Basic YOLOv9 model, the former improves by 7.9% and 5.3%, while the latter improves by 23.9% and 17.0%. On infrared datasets, compared to the original model, the mAP0.50 and F1 scores of the improved model improved by 3.2% and 1.4% across all categories compared to the original model. The average accuracy of identifying individual birds and similarly shaped fixed-wing drones also improved by 2.2% and 7.5% respectively. Moreover, on the mixed visible light and infrared data sets, the model get mAP0.50 of 81.8% higher 0.9% than that of the YOLOv9. These experiments demonstrate the improved YOLOv9-DeepSORT method can expand the multiscene application range of bird recognition and tracking models, effectively promoting the extraction of video frame features in multi-target tracking.

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In this study, the protection motivation theory (PMT) was used to investigate factors influencing self-reported willingness to donate and actual donations to conserve endangered bird species. The PMT was extended to include sociodemographic factors (gender, age, education, and income), as well as knowledge about and attitudes toward birds. Data were collected in Germany through an online questionnaire (N = 579, MAge = 49.15, SD = 16.93, women = 51.6 %). Regression analyses showed that the cognitive assessment processes of the PMT, (1) threat appraisal of endangered bird species, and (2) coping appraisal of threat toward endangered bird species were significant predictors of an individual’s willingness to donate. An individual’s attitudes toward birds strengthened willingness to donate, but not actual donations. Knowledge about birds had no influence on willingness to donate or actual donation behavior. Women were more likely to donate and higher perceived barriers were associated with lower rates of actual donations. A discrepancy between willingness to donate and actual donations is evident, which indicates an intention-behavior gap. The results suggest that conservation and education campaigns should be used to increase the population's awareness of existing threats toward endangered bird species, including the constructs of PMT, which could positively influence both willingness to donate and actual donations. Similarly, engagement initiatives could target individuals' self-efficacy to engage in bird conservation and possible coping measures should be made transparent and tangible by stakeholders looking to foster bird conservation.

The article discusses a debate between conservationists, entomologists, and agriculturalists in the U.S., Canada, and Europe that lasted between the 1850s until 1914 concerning the agricultural and environmental benefits and hazards of insectivorous birds and their relationship to the protection of agricultural crops. It examines the development of the use of chemicals in agriculture, the relationship between power and the professionalization of knowledge, and ornithological conservation.

The protection and sustainable management of habitat trees is an integral part of modern forest nature conservation concepts such as retention forestry. Bats, cavity‐nesting birds, arboreal marsupials, and many different saproxylic species depend on habitat trees and their great variety of microhabitats and old‐growth characteristics. With a focus on insights from temperate forests, we traced the development of habitat‐tree protection over 200 years. The idea was first conceptualized by foresters and natural scientists in the early 19th century. At that time, utilitarian conservation aimed to protect cavity trees that provided roosts and nesting holes for insectivorous bats and birds. By the second half of the 19th century, habitat‐tree protection was well known to foresters and was occasionally implemented. Knowledge of the protection of large old trees, a special kind of habitat tree, for sociocultural and aesthetic reasons developed similarly. But, many foresters of that time and in the following decades fundamentally rejected protection of habitat trees for economic reasons. Beginning in the 1970s, forest conservation and integrative forest management became increasingly important issues worldwide. Since then, the protection of habitat trees has been implemented on a large scale. Long‐term views on the development of conservation concepts are important to inform the implementation of conservation today. In particular, historical analyses of conservation concepts allow the testing of long‐term conservation outcomes and make it possible to study the resilience of conservation approaches to changing social or ecological conditions. We encourage all conservation ecologists to assess the practical and conceptual impact of the initial ideas that led to modern conservation concepts in terms of long‐term biodiversity conservation. Article Impact Statement: It took 200 years to implement the habitat‐tree protection ideas of far‐sighted, trend‐setting foresters, and natural scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional agricultural measures are still necessary for maintenance of endangered endogenous species of plants and animals in ecologically valuable habitats. Poland is one of the countries of the highest biodiversity of agricultural lands in Europe, however, the intensification of agriculture and farming resulted with regular decrease of valuable wildlife species. Abandonment of agricultural use of traditionally pastoral areas induced the encroachment of species that reduce local biodiversity. To counteract this undesirable process, several organisations re-introduce Konik polski horses into wastelands. The aim of this overview is to share the experiences of institutions which used Konik polski horses as a mean for biodiversity restoration in post-agricultural and forest areas, including expected effects, their implementation and main problems encountered. The aims, positive and negative effects are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

White stork ( Ciconia ciconia L .) population increased dramatically in Portugal over the last decade, leading to an increase in nesting and roosting in the support towers for the electric distribution lines. As a consequence, there are frequent bird fatalities from electrocution and outages in distribution networks are recurrent. Consequently, this causes a poor power quality service and equipment damages, with resulting economic losses for industrial customers and electric distribution companies. To mitigate the risk of stork fatalities and to improve the quality of service, the Portuguese Distribution System Operator (DSO), Energias de Portugal – Distribuição (EDP-D) and Energy Service Regulatory Authority (ERSE) in collaboration with the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF) implemented programs to control white storks activities on power distribution equipment. To control nesting activities several models of electrified structures, based on a micro electroshock discharge system, were developed and applied on the top of the line support towers. The installed structures proved to be successful, since no nesting activities were detected. When landing on the structure, the white stork receives a small shock, which is associated with a negative experience, discouraging further attempts to roost on the support structure. Compared to other technologies tested in the past, taking into account maintenance requirements, equipment costs and power supply requirements, the micro electroshock system proved to be the most reliable and advantageous solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many sedge meadows in western Poland provide suitable habitats for Vertigo angustior Jeffreys and Vertigo moulinsiana (Dupuy) which are regarded as threatened across Europe. Such habitats are often subject to conservation measures aimed at supporting wetland birds in accordance with the European Birds Directive. Such measures, usually involving extensive mowing, may not favour the vertiginids. Both species are protected by another European act - The Habitats Directive. The range of methods used for maintaining the bird habitats is wide: the sites are mowed manually or mechanically in different ways, and the mowing covers the entire site or just selected patches. The aim of this study was to check how the different maintenance methods influenced the vertiginid populations. The abundance of V. angustior and V. moulinsiana was studied at 17 sampling sites along the Ilanka river valley (Lubuskie Province, W. Poland). The sites differed in size, moisture level, vegetation, type of land use and shadiness. The results suggest that extensive land management can be advantageous for both species only when the site is divided in patches which are mowed alternately in consecutive years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY Overhead lines in areas with sensitive populations of large birds raise demands for protection against bird electrocution (mortal current transfer through the bird bodies), particularly for threatened species like the eagle owl. For the decision making of what protection measures to apply, it is important to assess both their environmental benefits and the measures of technical consequences. One of the popular retrofit protection methods is insulation of the aluminium conductors at pin insulated medium voltage overhead line poles. In the present work, we have performed accelerated corrosion tests on aluminium conductors using four different bird protection systems available on the market. The tests were performed in laboratory environment for marine corrosivity indices 4 and 8, and simulated time periods up to 24 years. The results show that the systems influence the degradation of the aluminium conductors, leading to life-time expectancy reductions between 12 and 22% for the investigated corrosivity indices. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Absent as a breeding bird from Britain for at least a century, avocets (Recurvirostra avosetta) began nesting on the east coast of Britain, in Suffolk, shortly after the end of the Second World War, having homed in on two spots on Britain’s coast that had been flooded for war-related reasons. The avocets’ presence was surrounded in secrecy, while a dedicated few kept up a protective watch over them. As the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) took over responsibility for the flourishing colony, they claimed the episode as a symbol of success for British protection, later making the bird their logo. Counter to the RSPB’s story of protecting a British bird, I read the narratives of events in terms of making a bird British. I show how, as postwar Britain slumped economically and spiritually and tried to rebuild itself, the birds became a vehicle for formulating national identity: of Britain as a home to which to return and belong. Exploring the themes of returning servicemen and closed territories, the paper also examines the episode in terms of the naturalisation of the military and the militarisation of nature. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The expansion of renewable energy production is seen as an appropriate way to mitigate climate change. Renewable energies are not free of negative external effects on humans and the natural environment. We analyzed the conflict between wind power production and bird protection through the example of one of the most sensitive species, the red kite (Milvus milvus) in West Saxony, Germany. We investigated a large number of potential land use scenarios, defined by whether or not each potential site contained a wind turbine (WT). Based on meteorological and ornithological data, we evaluated the land use scenarios for their annual energy supply and impact on the red kite. We identified the efficient land use scenarios that maximized energy supply for a given ecological impact. Within the scope of our analysis, the current allocation of WTs in the study region was considered inefficient. The set of efficient scenarios allowed us to draw conclusions on the trade-offs involved. We developed an indicator that measures the severity of the conflict between wind power production and bird protection. Increasing the minimum distance of WTs to settlements beyond the legal requirements in order to minimize the impact on humans further intensifies the conflict. Our results can support planning authorities in their development of longterm regional plans by identifying areas that are most suitable for wind power production from an integrated point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The 26-month study was carried out in 2001–2003 on a network of 15 roads (48.8km) with different traffic volumes (350–10,500carsday−1) and varying structure of the surrounding landscape in farmland of south-western Poland. A total of 862 road-killed birds were recorded. The most abundant group was made up by urban species (50.2%), followed by hedgerow specialists (30.3%), woodland birds (7.7%) and those associated with open areas (3.8%). The total shares of the three most numerous victim species (Passer domesticus, Passer montanus and Hirundo rustica) amounted to 79.3%. The mean (±1S.E.) yearly number of casualties per 100m of road calculated for 15 roads reached 0.91±0.20 for all groups, 0.44±0.14 for urban birds, 0.28±0.07 for hedgerow specialists, 0.06±0.02 for woodland species and 0.03±0.01 for birds of open areas. For the three commonest species the values were as follows: P. domesticus 0.40±1.37, H. rustica 0.07±0.03 and P. montanus 0.13±0.05. A disproportionately high mortality was recorded near tree belts, hedgerows and built-up areas, while it was much lower in open farmland. Traffic volume had a clear negative impact on the mortality of P. domesticus and woodland species. In order to limit the losses among birds due to vehicle traffic the spontaneous bushy vegetation should be removed from the immediate road vicinity. New hedgerows should be made “safe” for wildlife by planting them further away from the roads, i.e., along dirt roads, watercourses and ditches. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article focuses on the major developments in Russia before 1917 regarding the protection of wild birds and issues related to ornithology. The outbreak of the First World War, and the failure of the Draft Husting Law of 1915 greatly hindered Russian advances on both the ornithological and conservationists fronts. Russians developed their own ideas about bird protection and by the late nineteenth century, many of them understood peculiarities of avifauna, climate and geography of Russia and distinctive characteristics of relevant Russian public habits and culture.

This article explores trainee teachers' conceptions and ideas about endangered bird species and their protection. The study involved 191 students majoring in kindergarten education, primary school natural science or secondary school biology education at the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Education, Slovenia. Data analyses showed that the majority of students thought that human intervention is needed to protect endangered bird species. One out of five gave no answer to the question posed, or lacked knowledge to address the issue. Only a few of the answers indicated the importance of education in the protection of endangered bird species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses modelling biological control of feral cats to protect island species from extinction. Topics discussed include effects of feline viruses Feline Immunodeficiency Virus and Feline Leukemia Virus on eradicating cat population, eradication being possible with Feline Leukemia Virus for low natural immunity, and advantages of feline retroviruses over Feline Panleucopenia Virus (FPV).

The expansion of renewable energy production is seen as an appropriate way to mitigate climate change. Renewable energies are not free of negative external effects on humans and the natural environment. We analyzed the conflict between wind power production and bird protection through the example of one of the most sensitive species, the red kite (Milvus milvus) in West Saxony, Germany. We investigated a large number of potential land use scenarios, defined by whether or not each potential site contained a wind turbine (WT). Based on meteorological and ornithological data, we evaluated the land use scenarios for their annual energy supply and impact on the red kite. We identified the efficient land use scenarios that maximized energy supply for a given ecological impact. Within the scope of our analysis, the current allocation of WTs in the study region was considered inefficient. The set of efficient scenarios allowed us to draw conclusions on the trade-offs involved. We developed an indicator that measures the severity of the conflict between wind power production and bird protection. Increasing the minimum distance of WTs to settlements beyond the legal requirements in order to minimize the impact on humans further intensifies the conflict. Our results can support planning authorities in their development of long-term regional plans by identifying areas that are most suitable for wind power production from an integrated point of view.