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The houbara bustard is a medium-sized desert species inhabiting steppes, harsh open plains and scrub desert. There are two different species of houbara bustard, the North African species (Chlamydotis undulata), from North Mauritania to Egypt and the Asian species (Chlamydotis macqueenii) from the Sinai and Arabian Peninsulas, and North Caspian Sea east to Baluchistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia. There is a sub-species of the African houbara bustard (Chlamydotis undulata fuertaventurae), from the Eastern Canary Isles in Spain. The Canary Island and North African houbara bustards are virtually sedentary, while the Asian species migrates from Central Asia in the autumn, south-west, wintering mainly in Pakistan, north-west India, Iran, Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula. Houbara bustards are opportunistic omnivores, feeding on invertebrates, such as beetles, spiders and ants, plant material including leaves, flowers and fruits; and small vertebrates, such as geckos and skinks.

Adult males of the Asian houbara bustard weigh 1.5kg to 2.4kg and adult females 1.1kg to 1.7kg. The breeding season varies according to the latitude of its habitat. In the northern part of its range (Kazakhstan, Mongolia) is between April to June, while in southern areas (Baluchistan, Afghanistan) is between March to May. The female usually lays 2 to 4 eggs. The incubation is carried out only by the female and the chicks hatch after a period of around 23 days. The chicks fledge after a period of 32 - 38 days.

The Asian houbara bustard has been the traditional prey in falconry in the Arabian Peninsula for generations. Sadly, this species is currently considered critically endangered on the European Red List of Birds (BirdLife International 2015) as numbers in the natural habitat has decreased dramatically due to over trapping, hunting and urban development. Studies have been conducted into the status, ecology and migration of the species in various parts of its range, most notably in Kazakhstan.

In an effort to rescue this species from extinction, the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development was the first institution to establish a captive breeding center for houbara bustards near the city of Taif in the Western Region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1986. This was followed by the creation of a further captive breeding center for houbara bustards at the National Avian Research Centre near the city of Sweihan in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in 1993. These were the first centers attempting to mass produce the houbara bustard in large numbers for reintroduction programs.

In recent years, Reneco, a French Company, has designed and built several houbara breeding centers in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. Three of these breeding centers are sponsored by the governments of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, including the Emirates Centre for Wildlife Propagation close to the city of Missour in the Province of Boulmane in Morocco, the Sheikh Khalifa Houbara Breeding Centre in Kazakhstan in Central Asia and currently runs the National Avian Research Centre in Abu Dhabi. In addition, the government of Qatar established and runs the International Foundation for Wildlife Research with a center in Ar Rashidiya in Morocco and the Rawdat Al Faras Houbara Breeding Centre near the city of Al Khor in the state of Qatar and more recently opened a second center in Algeria. Other medium-sized centers are currently under construction in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. These are all centers sponsored, funded and supported by the governments in their respective countries.

Recently, a privately owned center, the Al Baida Research Centre for Houbara and Bird Breeding, opened and started operations in Qatar in October 2020 with the intention of breeding houbara bustards in captivity to reintroduce these species back into their natural habitat in both Qatar and Central Asia. This is one of a handful of privately-owned centers in the Middle East trying to contribute to the decline of the houbara bustard over the years by breeding and releasing specimens back into the natural habitat to ensure its long-term survival.

Fig. 1. Three-day- old houbara bustard chick. In the first stage rearing room. chicks are placed in a plastic round coop lined with artificial turf. An infrared heating light placed over the perimeter of the coop provides gradient temperature.

Fig. 2. Rearing room containing round plastic coops over stainless steel tables and heating lamps over the top to provide adequate temperature. In the first stage, 2 or 3 chicks are housed together and are fed and watered by hand using a pair of forceps 3 or 4 times a day.

Fig 3. A twenty-day-old houbara bustard chick beginning to show the typical coloration and markings of the adult plumage. At this age, chicks are maintained in social groups of 5 to 6 chicks. The coop is much larger and lined with a rubber mat to avoid slipping and prevent rotational deformities of the long bones (tibiotarsus, metatarsus) or dislocations of the coxofemoral joint.

Fig 4. Fully fledged juvenile houbara bustards on socializing indoor enclosures with soft sand as a substrate. Water and feeding troughs are provided. Alfalfa is provided in bundles tied to the fence to stimulate browsing habits. Careful handling of the diet and appropriate nutritional supplements ensure a correct skeletal development.

A unique breeding and reintroduction program

The Al Baida Research Centre for Houbara Breeding is a privately owned center based in the state of Qatar approximately 36 miles from the Capital Doha. This is a medium-sized center established 4 years ago and currently housing 300 females and 200 males houbara bustards in individual pens. The owner and sole sponsor of the center is Misnad Abdulatif Al Misnad, a Qatari national with a deep passion to preserve the houbara bustards for future generations.

The center includes outdoor and indoor quarters and employs a part-time veterinarian, an incubator operator, 2 breeding technicians, one for semen collection and analyses and one for artificial insemination, and 8 bird keepers, allocated for hand rearing the chicks and for cleaning, feeding and watering the juvenile and adult birds. The center is provided with an incubation unit, a veterinary clinic and a pharmacy, a food store and a food preparation area. All breeding is done by artificial insemination due to the highly specialized lek breeding system particular to houbara bustards. Semen is collected from selected males using dummy females houbaras, and females are inseminated when they are judged to be ready to lay eggs based on the appearance of the opening oviduct in the cloaca. Females are also inseminated two times between clutches to ensure maximum fertility. The breeding stock is fed with a pelleted diet, alfalfa, and mealworms (Tenebrio) throughout the year, but during the breeding season, extra food items, such as shredded carrots, minced beef meat, and hard-boiled eggs are added together with vitamin - mineral supplements. Adult breeding houbaras are maintained indoors, housed in individual pens and the temperature and the photoperiod carefully controlled throughout the year. After the breeding season, adult birds are placed in socializing pens outdoors

Fig. 5. Adult males and females are kept separated in single enclosures during the breeding season. Room temperature and photoperiod is carefully controlled to provide optimal environment to reproduce.

Fig. 6. In the wild, houbara bustards breed using a lek system, meaning male houbaras gather to engage in competitive displays and courtship rituals to entice visiting females which are surveying prospective partners with which to mate. The photograph above shows a male in full breeding display typically fluffing the tuft of feather over the head and neck and dancing using rhythmic steps.

Fig. 7. Outdoor pens housing groups of houbara bustards during the summer and autumn. In these pens, the birds complete the moult and are able to socialize after the breeding season.

The initial short-term objective of the center is to breed houbaras to increase the breeding stock and the ultimate objective is to have sufficient number of houbaras bustards to release them back into their natural habitat.

Achievements

The center bred successfully 28 chicks in 2021, 78 chicks in 2022 and 223 in 2023. It is hoped to double the number of chicks for the 2024 season. Some of the offspring has been taken annually to the renowned S’hail Falcon and Falconry Exhibition held annually in Doha to promote public awareness and the conservation effort of the center and the rational use of houbara bustards in the ancient practice of falconry.

In addition, the center has done some pioneering work training captive bred houbara bustards from the center to fly in a close hack large circular aviary so specimens destined for release could obtain the necessary strength prior to release.

Fig. 8. ISO certificates awarded to the Al Baida Research Centre for Houbara Breeding.

In addition, the work carried out by the center has been recognized by receiving three ISO certificates for quality management, occupational health and safety, and for environmental systems.

Fig. 9. This large hacking pen, normally used for falcons, was used for the first time for pioneering work of training captive bred houbara bustards to fly. Birds were encouraged to fly non-stop in such a large circular pen.

The center has also started breeding specimens of the stone curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus) with the intention of releasing captive bred individuals back to its natural habitat. The stone curlew is an Amber Status species which means it has an unfavorable conservation status. Numbers have risen over the past 15 years due to partnerships being created between wildlife conservation bodies and landowners to identify and protect breeding sites. There are no other active captive breeding programs producing specimens for release in the Middle East.

Fig. 10. Adult stone curlews in a breeding cage. This is a monomorphic species. Therefore, in order to create true pairs, the sex of individuals has to be identified either by endoscopy or DNA testing before pairing is successful.

The center has carried out some preliminary houbara bustard releases in Qatar at the end of the winter months with the hope the birds will migrate back to Central Asia and breed successfully next year. More releases are considered in the near future in Qatar but also in Central Asia in collaboration with the Kazakhstan and Mongolian governments until this species is bred in sufficient numbers to maintain a sustainable population and ensure its survival in order to perpetuate falconry as part of the Arab Cultural Heritage.

“The best falconer is not the one who at the end of the day managed to catch the largest number of houbara, but the one who had the wisdom of leaving some for tomorrow.”

In contrast in Africa, the population decimation has been going on for over 50 years, with over 90% of the population now gone and seven of the eleven indigenous species listed as endangered or critically endangered.  Whilst the Asian population collapse happened over a ten-year period, the Africa crisis has been recognised, publicised and ongoing for over 50 years, and still solutions have not been found.  The loss of vulture populations is critically important.   In Asia following the vulture crash, there was a reciprocal increase in wild dogs, resulting in an increase of 600,000 human (mainly children) deaths per annum.  Vultures have the ability to consume and neutralise pathogens, e.g. anthrax, and with 75% of all fallen stock on the Masi Mara being consumed by vultures, a loss of vultures will likewise have a knock-on effect.  The aetiology of the African crash is far more complex than that of Asia.  The level of causal responsibility alters from area to area, but the main aetiologies are similar: 

Accidental poisoning - farmers attempting to control jackal, hyena, and lion that might otherwise take their stock (Virani et al. 2011, Ogada et al. 2012) and vultures consuming lead ballistics from shot carcases (Watson et al. 2009; Delahay & Spray 2015). 

Malicious poisoning - ivory poachers controlling the vultures whose presence would otherwise inform rangers where fresh carcases were and increase the risk of poachers being apprehended, poachers poisoning their victims rather than shooting them (to reduce the risk of being caught) (Ogada 2014, Ogada et al. 2015a, 2015b).  In 2019 in one incident over 600 vultures were poisoned in Botswana by elephant poachers and over 2000 critically endangered Hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus) died in Guinea Bissau in 2020 from malicious poisoning.

Impact with power cable networks - accepted as being responsible for 20% of all vulture deaths in South Africa (Personal communication between author and ESKOM) with significant numbers of additional injured (often crippled) birds.

A Black Future for African Vultures with Expanding Power Networks
Vultures are being killed for black magic, fetish, and bush meat trade (Saidu & Buij 2013, Williams et al. 2014, Buij et al. 2015).  With eighty percent of local people still visiting a sangoma in preference to a western trained doctor, the later interest in black magic is not going to evaporate in the near future.  

So to conclude, vultures in Africa are subjected to tremendous threats. It is currently predicted that White-headed, and Hooded vultures will be extinct in 7-8 years, closely followed by White backed and Cape vultures.  With each of these species, there are believed to be less than 5000 individuals remaining, i.e. each species is more threatened than rhinoceros, and yet little is heard of their plight.  It is terrible when any one rhino is killed, but in this author’s opinion even worse when a poisoned carcase is consumed by vultures resulting in the death of between 50-600 individual vultures.

Neil first visited VulPro in 2015, returning the following spring, to presenti training courses on vulture rehabilitation.  The positive feedback and gratitude on behalf of rehabilitators and vets for this training was amazing and further courses were requested.

In 2017, Neil returned, together with Jemima Parry-Jones MBE, Holly Cale, and Adam Bloch, to provide training in captive raptor management, incubation, and rearing.  This was another wonderfully successful course, the immediate result being a 60% increase in chicks reared from the Vulpro captive breeding colony in the subsequent season.

Neil then turned his attention to improving the rehabilitation process.  In the knowledge that 12-32% (Kenny et al. 2015; Naidoo et al. 2017) of free-living African vultures are suffering from lead poisoning (causing morbidity and likely increased powerline collisions), patient-side lead testing equipment was sourced, funds raised, and equipment purchased and commissioned in the rehabilitation facility.  This test equipment has identified a number of admitted birds suffering from lead poisoning (90% of which are anticipated to be sub-clinical), which have subsequently been successfully treated.  

Many of the wildlife cases admitted are fledgling birds who have failed their initial flight training.  Vultures, like all raptors, need to consume a whole carcase diet. Vultures are unable to eat bones of the size found on the carcases which they ordinarily consume, instead they rely on eating bone chips, created by lion, hyena, and jackal as they break up the bones and consume them.  As farmers control the latter species, Neil suspected that many of these failing fledgling birds might actually be suffering from hypocalcaemia, related to a lack of bone chips in their diet.  With assistance from Quantum Diagnostics (Bristol, UK) and using EPOC test technology, patient-side ionised calcium testing was commissioned and is now in place.  Indeed, hypocalcaemia is shown to be a common issue in these young birds.  As a result of identifying this issue, birds can now be appropriately treated, but more importantly, with knowledge of which colonies have a hypocalcaemia problem in fledgling birds, small carcases (e.g. rabbit and hare), will be available for the colony in subsequent breeding seasons to prevent this problem.  Apart from ionised calcium, EPOC testing has also provided haematocrit and blood glucose levels, which together with the introduction of white blood cell counts, faecal parasite analysis, and ocular examination, it is hoped that a significant increase in rehabilitation rates and reduction of recovery periods will be achieved.  It also became apparent that the availability and lack of specialist avian training was negatively impacting recovery and rehabilitation rates.  Whilst Neil could treat a number of birds when present, the real solution was to improve the standard of local veterinary care.  In subsequent years Neil returned annually, providing avian medicine and orthopaedic surgery lectures and wet labs for vets and further training for lay rehabilitators.  Over time, one hundred vets and two hundred rehabilitators were given specialist training via satellite training sites in Cape Town, Durban, and Pretoria.  A vulture rehabilitation manual was produced in collaboration with the staff of Vulpro, which remains freely available in Africa for anyone working with vultures.

 
Although Vulpro has managed to rehabilitate close to 50% (more than 1000 vultures over a ten year period), of all injured free-living vultures presented, some are inevitably unreleasable.  The breeding expertise and facilities at Vulpro have gone from strength to strength, but inevitably further improvements are required.  Challenges exist, a proper Disease Risk Analysis is required for the release of rehabilitated and captive bred vultures.  In efforts to avoid extinction, ‘Ark Breeding Populations’ of unreleasable birds, should be created on several continents, but political and personal challenges currently block these vital steps.  

Neil continues to work globally with vultures, now acting as a Trustee for the Manfred Horstman Vulture Conservation Trust (MHVCT).  The MHVCT, is based in Wales (UK) holding significant percentages of the world captive populations of several critically endangered vulture and condor species.  The MHVCT approach is to use the best possible science, to optimise conservation breeding, and release back to the wild where appropriate.  All birds in the direct or indirect management of MHVCT, are DNA tested for heritability coefficient, so that optimal breeding pairs can be set up, to ensure that the genetic pool is maintained and broadened, to overcome repeated genetic bottlenecks.  The charity is actively involved in research programmes in the UK, Europe, and Africa.

In undertaking the DNA analysis, it has become readily apparent, that even when birds are residing thousands of miles apart, no one should assume they are not very closely related.  As a consequence of the illegal trapping of birds and theft of eggs from nests (often in consecutive years), with subsequent distribution around the world, when working with endangered species it is vitally important to check on the exact DNA provenance of birds before breeding pairs are put together.

Neil would like to encourage the development of international DNA databases, for all red listed species, with compulsory DNA testing of all individuals prior to import or export, also prior to the issuing of any licence under the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).  It is anticipated that such actions, together with the long-term opportunities and benefits of DNA testing, that criminals would be identified and the theft of such birds from the wild would be reduced.
 

References

• Buij, R., Nikolaus, G., Whytock, R., Ingram, D. J. and Ogada, D. (2015) Trade of threatened vultures and other raptors for fetish and bushmeat in West and Central Africa. Oryx (dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0030605315000514).
  
• Delahay, R. J. & Spray, C. J., eds. (2015) Proceedings of the Oxford Lead Symposium. Lead ammunition: understanding and minimising the risks to human and environmental health. Edward Grey Institute, The University of Oxford, UK.
  
• Kenny, D., Reading, R., Maudea, G., Hancock, P., Garbett, B. (2015) Blood lead levels in White-backed Vultures (Gyps africanus) from Botswana. African Vulture News 68: 25-31.
  
• Naidoo, V., Wolter, K. & Botha, C.J. (2017) Lead ingestion as a potential contributing factor to the decline in vulture populations in southern Africa. Environmental Research ref
  
• Oaks, J.L., Gilbert, M., Virani, M.Z., Watson, R.T., Meteyer, C.U., Rideout, B.A., Shivaprasad, H.L., Ahmed, S., Chaudhry, M.J.I., Arshad, M., Mahmood, S., Ali, A. & Khan, A.A. (2004) Diclofenac residues as the cause of vulture population decline in Pakistan. Nature 427(6975): 630-633.
  
• Ogada, D.L., Keesing, F. & Virani, M. Z. (2012) Dropping dead: causes and consequences of vulture population declines worldwide. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1249: 57–71.
  
• Ogada, D.L. (2014) The power of poison: pesticide poisoning of Africa’s wildlife. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1322: 1–20.
  
• Ogada, D., Botha, A. & Shaw, P. (2015a) Ivory poachers and poison; drivers of Africa’s declining vulture populations. Oryx-15-SC-0155.R1
  
• Ogada, D.L., Botha, A. & Shaw, P. (2015b) Ivory poachers and poison: drivers of Africa’s declining vulture populations. Oryx-15-SC-0155.R1 ref
  
• Virani, M.Z., Kendall, C., Njoroge, P. & Thomsett, S. (2011) Major declines in the abundance of vultures and other scavenging raptors in and around the Masai Mara ecosystem, Kenya. Biological Conservation 144: 746–752.
  
• Saidu, Y. and Buij. R. (2013) Traditional medicine trade in vulture parts in northern Nigeria. Vulture News 65: 4-14.
  
• Watson, R.T., Fuller, M., Pokras, M. & Hunt, W. (Eds.) (2009) Proceedings of the conference on ingestion of lead from spent ammunition: implications for wildlife and humans. The Peregrine Fund, Boise, ID, USA.
  
• Williams, V.L., Cunningham, A.B., Kemp, A.C. & Bruyns, R.K. (2014) Risks to birds traded for African traditional medicine: a quantitative assessment. PLoS ONE 9(8): e105397 

"It is our duty, as human beings, to conserve all living creatures that coexist with man, otherwise we will have failed as a species"
Dr Félix Rodríquez de la Fuente

Introduction and taxonomy

The capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) is a Palearctic species of the Phasianidae family and the largest grouse in the world inhabiting from southwestern Europe to eastern Siberia. In Spain, there are two subspecies, Tetrao urogallus cantabricus (Castroviejo, 1967), in the Cantabrian mountains in the west, and Tetrao urogallus aquitanicus (Ingram, 1915), in the Pyrenees to the east. Its range covers an area of 2,000 km² in the Cantabrian Mountain range and some 5,700 km² in the Pyrenees, in mountain areas with mature, heterogeneous and diverse forests. Although some genetic studies have supported its validity of two separate subspecies, others have suggested that the Cantabrian and Pyrenean populations belong to the same evolutionary branch.

Conservation status

Both subspecies have shown severe population declines in the past 25 years, especially the Cantabrian population. The capercaillie, as a species, is considered to have a status of “Least Concern Red List Threat” for Europe. However, the Cantabrian population conservation status is considered as “Endangered” by the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In 2018, the Cantabrian capercaillie was declared “Critically Endangered” by the Spanish Government.

Distribution

The Cantabrian capercaillie once ranged the length of the Cantabrian Mountains from northern Portugal, through Galicia, Asturias, and León, to Cantabria in northern Spain. Currently, the Cantabrian capercaillie is present almost exclusively in the autonomous regions of Asturias and Castilla and Leon. The natural range has since contracted to the mountains in northwest Spain. In Cantabria and Galicia, there are sporadic sightings, which must survive hidden in the traditional territories of these Autonomous Communities. At present, the range of the Cantabrian capercaillie is divided into two areas, East and West, separated by a large area with low population and confined to the northern slopes of the mountains. It has been estimated that currently only 191 (165–222) capercaillie individuals remain in the whole of the Cantabrian Mountains.

Description

The capercaillie cock typically range from 74 to 85 cm in length, with a wingspan of 90 to 125 cm and an average weight of 4.1 kg. The body feathers are dark grey to dark brown, while the breast feathers are dark metallic green. The belly and undertail coverts vary from black to white. It has a long, rounded tail, an ivory-white bill, and a scarlet crest. There is a bright red spot of naked skin above each eye (Fig. 1). The hen ranges from 54 to 64 cm in length, with a wingspan of 70 cm, and an average weight of 1.8 kg. Feathers on the upper parts are brown with black and silver barring; on the underside they are lighter and more yellow-beige in colour (Fig. 2). Both sexes have a white round spot on the shoulder. They have feathered legs, especially in the cold season, for protection against cold. Their toe rows of small, elongated horn tacks provide a snowshoe effect.

Breeding

At the beginning of spring, male capercaillies use a lek system to attract females (cantaderos in Spanish). Males fan their tails, puff their chests out, and make whistling and clicking sounds in a bid to entice a female (Fig. 3). This is the typical call of the capercaillie (canto in Spanish). The females watch from a perch before flying down to their chosen mate. About three days after copulation the hen begins laying eggs. The average clutch size is eight eggs but may go up to 12, rarely only four or five eggs. Incubation period is between 26–28 days dependent on weather conditions.

Feeding

The Cantabrian capercaillie feeds in deciduous woodlands, specifically mature beech forests and mixed forests of beech and oaks,  at elevations ranging from 800 to 1,800 mt. The capercaillie also uses other microhabitat types such as broom, meadow and heath selectively throughout the year. It feeds on beech buds, birch catkins, holly leaves, and bilberry. 

Conservation threats

Numerous limiting factors influence the population dynamics of the capercaillie throughout its range, including habitat degradation, loss, and fragmentation. Forest structure plays an important role in determining habitat suitability and occupancy. Open forest structure with well-distributed bilberry shrubs were the preferred habitat type of Cantabrian capercaillie. Management of forest resources for timber production has caused and continues to cause significant changes in forest structure such as species composition, density and height of trees, forest patch size, and understory vegetation.
Currently hunting of the Cantabrian capercaillie is illegal in Spain, however, illegal hunting still occurs. Due to this, individuals congregating in leks are particularly easy targets. It is unknown what the incidence of poaching is or what impact it is having on this subspecies. However, given the limited number of birds remaining and the reduced genetic variability already evident at current population levels, the further loss of breeding adults could have substantial impact on the subspecies.

Fundación Urogallo Cantábrico

The Fundación Urogallo Cantábrico was created in 2022 as an initiative of biologists, conservationists, veterinarians, and scientists from the city of León, Spain to preserve and propagate the Cantabrian capercaillie. The Fundación has proposed the Strategy for the Conservation and Recovery of the Capercaillie under four clearly differentiated aspects, the establishment of a Visitor Center, the construction of a Captive Breeding Complex, the design and implementation of a Field Reintroduction Program, and the creation of an Information and Public Awareness Campaign.

The Fundación is unique in Castilla and León as it brings together interested professionals working in private sectors and universities. The Visitor Center would act as a focal point for visitors and students to obtain information through videos, and through interactive and pedagogic displays on the biology of the Cantabrian capercaillie as a species, the precarious conservation status, and the efforts made by the Fundación to protect it. 

The creation of a Captive Breeding Complex and the production of captive breeding stock would act as a genetic reservoir with the greatest possible genetic diversity, in order to produce suitable individuals for reintroduction programs into protected areas of the Cantabrian Mountain Range. The Breeding Complex will house specimens mainly from stock that currently exists in captivity and through the partial removal of clutches and the incubation of the eggs obtained from the wild. 

The Captive Breeding Complex would also serve as a center of excellence for the veterinary care of capercaillie including the design and implementation of a comprehensive preventive medicine program, with clinical diagnostic and therapeutic protocols, and the creation of a database of publications of the capercaillie in health and disease.

The Fundación intends to promote public awareness of the conservation status of the Cantabrian capercaillie and the effort made by the local and regional governments to protect and propagate this Cantabrian capercaillie as an integral part of the natural patrimony to present and future generations through intensive campaigns using presentations, poster displays in schools, universities, and government institutions, and press releases using social media, and local, regional, and national press.

References

• International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). 1979. Cantabrian capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus cantabricus). Compiled by W.B. King on behalf of the International Council for Bird Preservation and the Survival Service Commission of IUCN, 1110 Morges, Switzerland.

• Martínez, A. 1993. Contribución al conocimiento de la ecoetología del urogallo cantábrico (Tetrao urogallus cantabricus). León University, Spain.

• Ministry of Environment of Spain. 2005. Orden MAM/2231/2005, de 27 de junio, por la que se incluyen en el Catálogo Nacional de Especies Amenazadas las especies Astragalus nitidifloru  y el Lagarto gigante de La Gomera y cambian de categoría el urogallo cantábrico y el Visón europeo. (BOE nº 165, de 12 de julio de 2005)

• Obeso J R, et al, 2000. Intestinal parasites in the Cantabrian capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus cantabricus); A coprological study. Ardeola 47(2), 2000, 191-195

• Pollo, C.J. 2001. El urogallo cantábrico: situación actual y actuaciones de futuro. Medio Ambiente en Castilla y León, 16: 14-26.

• Pollo, C.J., L. Robles, J.M. Seijas, Á. García-Miranda, and R. Otero. 2005. Trends in the abundance of Cantabrian Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus cantabricus at leks on the southern slope of the Cantabrian Mountains, north-west Spain. Bird Conservation International 15:397–409.

• Quevedo, M., M.J. Bañuelos, and J.R. Obeso. 2005. The decline of Cantabrian capercaillie: How much does habitat configuration matter? Biological Conservation 27(2): 190–200.

• Quevedo, M., J.M. Bañuelos, O. Sáez, and J.R. Obeso. 2006. Habitat selection by Cantabrian capercaillie Tetrao urogallus cantabricus at the edge of the species’ distribution. Wildlife Biology 12(3): 267–276.

• Garcia-Rodriguez A, et al. 2023. Mortality Causes in Captive Cantabrian capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus cantabricus) in Spain. Animals (Basel). 2023 Apr; 13(7): 1255.

• Storch, I., M.J. Bañuelos, A. Fernández-Gil, J.R. Obeso, M. Quevedo and R. Rodríquez-Muñoz. 2006. Subspecies Cantabrian capercaillie Tetrao Urogallus cantabricus endangered according to IUCN criteria. Journal of Ornithology 147:653–655.

• Suárez-Seonae, S. and P. García-Rovés. 2004. Do disturbances in surrounding areas affect a core population of Cantabrian Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus cantabricus? The case of the natural reserve of Muniellos (Asturias, NW Spain). Ardeola 51(2): 395–409

Over the coming months, AAV will feature articles on birds and their cultural significance in societies around the world. We hope you enjoy this series as we explore the extensive diversity of avian species and the importance, history and traditions surrounding birds around the globe.

By: Vanessa Hernandez Urraca, MVZ. Hons. MS

Hummingbirds are distributed exclusively in the Americas; around 330 species have been described to date. Up to 57 species can be found in Mexico; 13 of them are endemic to the country and 18 species are at risk, or even in danger, of extinction.

These birds are unmistakable for their morphology and unequaled flying abilities. They can hover and can fly in any direction, even sideways or backwards. 

Their pectoral muscles are extremely developed, and this allows them to beat their wings very rapidly, between 80 to 200 wing beats per second. In addition, this allows them to fly at great speeds from 50 to 95km/hr.

Hummingbird feathers are iridescent, because of this the plumage may look completely brown or dark when viewed in the shadows, but shine with extremely bright metallic colors when seen in the sunlight. 
These birds feed on nectar and they are known to pollinate the flowers of more than 1000 species, therefore playing a very important role in ecosystem health. 

Hummingbirds have been admired not only for their beauty and elegance, but also for their exceptionally small size, their speed, their lightness and their ferocity when facing bigger birds (including raptors) to defend their territory and nests. All these characteristics have inspired both pre-Columbian and modern Mexicans to ascribe to the hummingbird, and value in themselves, attributes such as authenticity, braveness, intrepidness, skill, readiness and strength of will. 

In the Popol-Vuh (the Mayan sacred book) it is written that “the wife of one of the founders of the Mayan culture is “The home of all hummingbirds”: The source from which that nerve can be drunk”.  Colloquially, the Maya people still say that “God saved pieces of the best that he was creating, and from that supreme material hummingbirds emerged” (Mires 2000).

A book of pre-Columbian Mexican stories recovered by Father Barón (1994), tells that a God realized that smoke was rising from the Earth and sent a bird to see what was happening, but the bird did not return. The God then sent another bird that also did not return, the God then sent a third bird, which quickly went to Earth and returned. This bird informed the God that the humans were still alive and that the other two birds he sent had stayed there, one to eat dead birds and the other to eat rotten meat. So the God then told the third envoy that since he had fulfilled his order, He would give him all the flowers on Earth so that he could feed himself with pure flower water and that He would also dress him more beautifully than the others.

The hummingbird’s legend has transcended their mere physical appearance. The Hummingbird’s torpor is well known as a metabolical adaptation to conserve energy at night or when food is not readily available. This characteristic has been associated with resurrection by pre-Columbian Mexican cultures, “The Aztecs used to say that these birds die during the dry season to revive at the beginning of the rainy season, and also stated that hummingbirds were resurrected warriors” (Mires 2000), “and, for belonging to both worlds, it was respected as a divine creature, never chased nor hunted” (Staz 1994 in Mires 2000).

The Mayan legend of the creation of the hummingbird tells that after creating all things on Earth, the Gods noticed that they were missing someone to take their wishes and thoughts from one place to another. As they didn’t have more corn nor clay to create another animal, they took a jade stone, carved a small arrow and blew on it to bring it to life. That is how they created the hummingbird. “In the Mexican pre-Columbian cultures it was known as the courier of the Gods” (Mires 2000). The humans, astonished by the beauty of the bird, tried to hunt them to poses their feathers, but the Gods saw that and stated that anyone who dared to catch a hummingbird would receive death as punishment. 

The Aztecs recognized in the hummingbird all the attributes necessary to be a good warrior and this bird became the main symbol of their principal god, called Huitzilopochtli, “who predicted an imperial destiny for them” (Mires 2000) and who guided them through a journey to a promised land.

The name Huitzilopochtli derives from the nahuatl words huitzilli (hummingbird) and opochtli (left). “This god was a solar divinity belonging to the fertile and warm southern areas, relative to central Mexico” (Mires 2000). ‘Left’ referred to the South always appearing to the left of the rising Sun (from the perspective of the rising Sun).

It was around the year 1168, when the Aztecs started the long journey that after approximately a century, would see them reach the valley of Mexico. The chosen place (according to prophecy) had to be on the shores of a lake where they would find an Eagle perched on a cactus sprouting from a rock and holding a snake. The symbol that became the shield of the Mexican flag. 

“During the pilgrimage to the promised land, Huitzilopochtli encouraged the journey and punished those who became discouraged along the way. He appeared with the form of a hummingbird that endlessly repeated ‘Let’s march, let’s march!’” (Mires 2000).

In a story collected for Bernardino de Sahagún in the middle of the 16th century, the birth of Huitzilopochtli is told. His mother was Coatlicue (The mother God), also mother of the Centzonhuitznahua (deities of the Southern stars) and Coyolxauhqui (deity related with the night). Coatlicue was sweeping as a penance when a ball of feathers fell from the sky. She kept it between her breasts and became pregnant. Her sons (Centzonhuitznahua) and daughter (Coyolxauhqui) became aware of their mother’s pregnancy and flew into a rage, thinking that she had dishonored them. The son that she carried in her womb told her not to be afraid because he knew what he had to do. The brothers and sister decided to kill their mother, but one of them warned Huitzilopochtli as they approached and the warrior God of Excellence, associated with the Sun, was born. Huitzilopochtli beheaded his sister and persecuted his brothers until he had annihilated them, appropriated their attire and incorporated them into his destiny.

The myth of Huitzilopochtli’s birth is part of the Aztec cosmogony. It is the mythologized conception of the Sun as a warrior that is born from the Earth and fights against the nocturnal powers, the stars. After making them his victims and dispersing them, making them disappear, he shines victorious during his diurnal journey; but those nocturnal powers, the stars, are necessary for him, otherwise there would be no antagonism, nor war, which was the fundamental principle of the Aztec worldview (Fernández 1965).

The Hummingbird God Huitzilopochtli appears as the late adaptation of an image of the soul; an entity that represented the Sun only at the moment of its birth and during its ascending movement. This entity expresses the instant of the transformation of a human being into luminous energy, and has the purpose of underlining the continual effort indispensable for the success of an operation that, conceived as a victory of the spirit, was transposed to be used as the ideal of the warrior. “It is therefore clear that the Aztecs forged a myth that reflects the hostile environment in which they lived and in which only a fierce strength of will…(like that attributed to the hummingbird)…allowed them to make a place for themselves” (Séjourne 1971).

The stories cited above are just a glance at the presence of hummingbirds in the Mesoamerican cultures. Their presence in all of these cultures is notable and makes obvious the admiration held for these birds.

Nowadays in some parts of Mexico, these wonderful birds are still culturally linked to magical properties. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to find mummified hummingbirds sold as love charms on the Mexican black market. They are often packaged in a red cloth with rose petals and a prayer that calls upon the bird to give the owner “the powers to possess and enjoy any man or woman they want”.

Over the last two decades in North America, increasing numbers of people have been attracting hummingbirds to their homes using artificial bird feeders. Arizmendi and Berlanga (2014) mention that it has been estimated that, for a hummingbird, a medium sized bird feeder represents the energy contained in about 2,500 flowers. It is thought that the availability of artificial feeders have favored a considerable increase in hummingbird abundance and diversity, particularly in some cities. However the availability of more and more feeders, from which it is easy to extract energy in large quantities, diverts the hummingbirds from visiting and pollinating flowers, and could be causing a reduction in the number of fruits and seeds generated and thus altering the reproductive success of the plants and the ecology of the hummingbird. 

Given the vital ecological role of hummingbirds  - with myriad plant species dependent on them for pollination - the importance of the hummingbird in the pre-Columbian Mexican pantheon could be leveraged to protect these majestic, reincarnated warriors from extinction and honor the beliefs of our ancestors, especially considering the current fashion for traditional Mexican beliefs and motifs in global popular culture.

References

• Barón, José. 1994. Tradiciones, ritos, cuentos y creencias nahuas. Compilador José Barón Larios. Consejo estatal para la cultura y las artes de Hidalgo. Pachuca, Hidalgo. 1994. p. 108.
  
  
• Mires, Alfredo. 2000. Así en las Flores como en el fuego. La Deidad colibrí en la amerindia y el dios alado en la mitología universal. Ediciones Abya-Yala. Quito, Ecuador. 2000. Pp 217
  
  
• Fernández, Justino. 1965. Una aproximación a Coyolxauhqui. Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl, México, UNAM, IIH, v. 4, 1965, p. 37-53.
  
  
• Séjourne, Laurette. 1971. América Latina I. Antiguas culturas precolombinas. Historia Universal Siglo XXI. Vol 21. Pp 326
  
  
• Arizmendi, M.C. y H. Berlanga. 2014. Colibries de Mexico y Norteamerica. Hummingbirds of Mexico and North America. Conabio. Mexico. Pp.160

By: Jaime Samour MVZ (Hons), PhD, Dip ECZM (Avian), FRSB, AAV Member-at-Large and member of the AAV International Committee

Falconry saw its early beginnings in the Arabian Peninsula during pre-Islamic times in the Al Jaheliya era with Al Harith bin Muawiyah bin Thor bin Kindah. One day while he was watching a man setting up a net to trap birds a falcon appeared and attacked a bird already caught in the net, but the falcon soon became entangled. Al Harith marvelled at this and ordered that the falcon be brought to him. He took the falcon to his house and appointed a servant to feed and train the falcon for hunting. Al Harith used to carry the falcon on his wrist, and then one day during a trip, the falcon saw a pigeon. The falcon flew from the wrist of his master and killed it. Al Harith, fascinated by this display, ordered that the falcon should be given further training. On a second occasion a hare broke cover from behind a bush. The falcon chased it and killed it, filling Al Harith with admiration at the abilities of the falcon to chase hunt prey. In a short time, Bedouins became aware of the experiences of Al Harith and his falcon and soon the trapping and training of falcons for hunting became part of life in the desert.

Then came Islam. One of the most famous hunters during the period that witnessed the rising of Islam was the renowned Hamza bin Abdulmutallab bin Hashem (54 before Hejri - 3 Hejri, 556 - 625 AD). He was greatly admired for his courage and was dubbed “The Lion of God”. It is said that he embraced Islam after returning from a hunting trip while holding a falcon on his wrist. The falcon Al Harith trapped and trained to hunt and the falcon carried by Abdulmutallab on his wrist coming from a hunting trip were both saker falcons. 

In the ensuing period, falconry continued to flourish during the Al Umauwiya era in post-Islamic times. One of the most famous falconers of this era was the Caliph Yazid bin Muawiyah bin Abisofian Al Umauwy (26 - 64 Hejri, 646 - 683 AD). Abu Al Hassan Ali Al Hussein Ali Al Masaudi once said “Yazid loved music, birds of prey, salukis and cheetahs, and was an enthusiastic hunter, a sport in which he excelled. He was the first man to carry a cheetah on horseback. Yazid, when appointed Caliph of Damascus in 60 Hejri (679 AD), ordered the construction of falconry hunting lodges for his own personal use. Subsequent Caliphs thereafter used these lodges. Caliph Hisham bin Abdulmalik Al Umauwy (92 - 125 Hejri, 710 - 742 AD, appointment date 105 Hejri, 723 AD) was also a keen hunter. While on a hunting trip, he observed his party from an elevated point. Some hunters used birds of prey, while others hunted with cheetahs and bows and arrows. Later he commissioned a drawing of the hunt, where he and some of his aides were portrayed by the distinguished artist Al Ghatrif bin Khudama from the tribe of Ghassan. Hisham also instructed Al Ghatrif to care for his birds of prey. He was to train and prepare them for hunting and to cure them when they were ill. Hisham also bestowed upon him the title “Hunt Master of Hisham bin Abdulmalik”. A special department was set up within his court to deal with issues related to his falcons and falconry.

During the rule of the first Caliph of the Al Abbasiya era, Abu Al Abbas As Saffah Al Abbasi (104 - 136 Hejri, 722 - 753 AD), falconry continued to thrive, since As Saffah was very fond of birds of prey and a devoted hunter who practised falconry from an early age. His interest and enthusiasm for hunting were legendary and he was a source of inspiration to all his people. Yet, there were other eminent Caliphs in this era with a great passion for hunting that promoted falconry to the status of art. In succeeding years, falconry was not only a well-established entertainment of the Caliphs, but it was also considered an affair of the State. During the reign of the 6th Caliph (appointment date 193 Hejri, 808 AD) Mohammed Al Amin bin Harun Al Rashid Al Abbasi (170 - 198 Hejri, 786 - 813 AD) one percent of the total daily budget of the Caliphate was allocated to maintain the sport of falconry. Thus, salaries of up to seventy dinars a day were paid to falconers and falcon keepers. 

The saker (Falco cherrug) was the favorite falcon amongst Arabs in the art of falconry for centuries. Arab falconers have traditionally favored this species on account of its remarkable endurance in flight, great strength and the ability to cope with the rigorous environment of the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. Through trapping, training and hunting using migratory saker falcon species to supplement their basic diet, falconry became deeply entrenched in the desert way of life.

The use of hybrid falcons came to replace the use of wild-caught saker falcons in some countries, notably the United Arab Emirates (UAE), after the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) legislation was reinforced in the country on April 26th 2003 and the import of wild-caught falcons was prohibited. Wild-caught saker falcons are still popular in some countries in the Middle East notably Saudi Arabia and Qatar where saker falcons are still highly valued. With the advent of hybrid falcons and the reinforcement of the CITES convention, the saker falcon lost its position as the most favoured falcon in falconry.

Nowadays, falconry is still widely practiced in the Middle East, using mainly captive bred falcons, and it is considered by many a sport. Yet to Arab falconers, falconry is not a sport, but a matter  of pride and honour. Falconry is an integral part of the cultural heritage handed over from generation to generation. Falcons and falconry are also an excuse to go back to the desert where they once belonged. It is an opportunity to sit with friends around a campfire and to enjoy life in the desert once again. Fast cars and fast-food restaurants in a fast-changing world have displaced traditions and customs, but falconry remains deeply rooted in the heart of Arab falconers as a way of communion with the past.

Greenslopes, Queensland, Australia

	Situated in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, this practice was established in October 2006.  Seeing exclusively avian and exotic patients, it has grown from a sole veterinarian practice to an endeavor with five veterinarians and seven full-time veterinary nurses. Birds make up 55% of the caseload at Brisbane Bird & Exotics, with chickens being 13% of the total patients seen.
	“My favourite two pieces of equipment are our ventilator and our inspired anaesthetic gas heater”, says head veterinarian, Deborah Monks, BVSc (Hons) CertZooMed, FACVSc (Avian Health) DECZM. “I couldn’t do long procedures without them!”

Get to Know AAV International Member, Dr. Deborah Monks

After graduating from the University of Queensland, Deborah started her journey in avian and exotic animal medicine. In the following years, she worked in a variety of practices (general, emergency, 50% avian/50% small animal practice), before finally moving to the United Kingdom to start an avian residency. While in England, she obtained her Certificate of Zoological Medicine (CertZooMed). This qualification encompasses zoo animals, birds and exotic pets and wildlife. Deborah received this qualification in 2004. Her case book was of such a high standard that the Royal College of Veterinary Surgery in London requested a copy for their library. There are only 3 people in Australia with this qualification.

DipECZM (Avian) signifies that Deborah is a Diplomate (Specialist) of the European College of Zoological Medicine and Surgery, in the Avian Section, which is the European organisation responsible for training and assessing veterinarians who wish to become avian specialists. Deborah was given Diplomate status in 2006 and is the only Australian veterinarian with this qualification having undertaken the necessary training and study required between 2003 and 2006.

In addition to her Zoological Medicine Certificate and European Diplomate qualification Deborah achieved Membership of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists in Avian Health in 1999 (MACVSc [Avian Health]) and improved on this initial qualification by achieving her Fellowship (Specialist) status in July 2006 (FACVSc [Avian Health]). Although there are now a number of Members of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists in Avian Health, Deborah is only the fifth person to have attained Fellowship level and is one of only two in Queensland, the other being Dr Bob Doneley who practices at the University of Queensland Small Animal Hospital at Gatton.

Images from Brisbane Bird & Exotics Veterinary Service