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Falcons are stunning and iconic birds. Australia has six falcon species, with two endemic to the continent and two others endemic to the Australasian region. They are important indicators of the health of our ecosystems, due to their position at the top of the food chain. But several species are declining, with two species threatened in some states.In Australian Falcons: Ecology, Behaviour and Conservation, Dr Stephen Debus provides a 30-year update of knowledge on these six species, as well as a falcon-like hawk, the Black-shouldered Kite. This book is based partly on the author's field studies, as well as being a supplement to the Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds (HANZAB) and recent global treatises. It offers up-to-date information on the Australian species, including their behaviours, ecology and biology. It reviews their population status and threats, and suggests what needs to be done to ensure the future of these spectacular birds.Australian Falcons is an invaluable resource for raptor biologists, birdwatchers, wildlife rescuers and carers, raptor rehabilitators and zookeepers.FEATURESCovers the biology, ecology, behaviour, conservation and management of the six falcon species, and one falcon-like hawk.Reviews the population status and threats of the Australian falcons.First comprehensive book on Australian falcons since the 1993 publication of HANZAB Volume 2.Features striking colour photos by photographer David Whelan.

Parameter identification of chaotic systems such as Lorenz, Chen, and Rössler has long been recognized as a challenging inverse problem, since even slight perturbations in system coefficients can yield qualitatively different trajectories. Conventional time-domain error formulations are often ill-conditioned under these conditions, which has motivated the design of more robust objective functions and the adoption of metaheuristic optimization strategies. In this study, a hybrid birds of prey-based optimization with differential evolution (h-BPBODE) is introduced to address these challenges. The method enriches the four canonical behavioral phases of BPBO (individual hunting, group hunting, attacking the weakest, and relocation) by embedding DE mutation and crossover operators after each candidate update. This design injects recombinative diversity while retaining BPBO’s adaptive and collective search mechanisms, thereby improving the balance between exploration and exploitation. The algorithm is validated on Lorenz, Chen, and Rössler systems, where the task is to recover unknown parameters by minimizing trajectory mismatches between true and simulated models. Comparative simulations against standard BPBO, starfish optimization, hippopotamus optimization, particle swarm optimization (PSO), and DE confirm that h-BPBODE consistently achieves exact parameter recovery with negligible residuals, faster convergence, and markedly lower run-to-run variance. Statistical analyses, convergence traces, and parameter evolution curves further demonstrate its robustness and precision. These findings establish h-BPBODE as a reliable and efficient framework for chaotic system identification and suggest its potential for broader nonlinear estimation tasks.

This book contains 17 chapters on medicine, surgery and rehabilitation of raptors. The book is intended as a helpful and concise, day-to-day clinical handbook for seasoned veterinarians, technicians, rehabilitator and anyone new to raptor rehabilitation who needs a refresher or a quick reference.

Raptors are formally classified into five families and include birds-such as eagles, ospreys, kites, true hawks, buzzards, harriers, vultures, and falcons-that are familiar and recognized by many observers. These diurnal birds of prey are found on every continent except Antarctica and can thrive in seemingly inhospitable spots such as deserts and the tundra. They have powerful talons and hooked beaks for cutting and tearing meat, and keen binocular vision to aid in their hunting prowess. Because of their large size, distinctive feeding habits, and long-distance flight patterns, raptors intrigue humans and have been the subject of much general interest as well as extensive scientific research. Keith L. Bildstein has watched and studied raptors on five continents and is well prepared to explain their critical importance, not only as ecological entities but also as inspirational tokens across natural and human-dominated landscapes. His book offers a comprehensive and accessible account of raptors, including their evolutionary history, their relationships to other groups of birds, their sensory abilities, their general natural history, their breeding ecology and feeding behavior, and threats to their survival in a human-dominated world. Biologically sound but readable,Raptorsis a nontechnical overview of this captivating group. It will allow naturalists, birders, hawk-watchers, science educators, schoolchildren, and the general public, along with new students in the field of raptor biology, to understand and appreciate these birds, and in so doing better protect them.

Until recently, surprisingly little has been known about the biology and behavior of tropical forest raptors, including such basic aspects as diets, breeding biology, habitat requirements, and population ecology, information critical to the development of conservation efforts. The Peregrine Fund conducted a significant eight-year-long research program on the raptor species, including owls, in Tikal National Park in Guatemala to learn more about Neotropical birds of prey. Impressive and unprecedented in scale, this pioneering research also involved the development of new methods for detecting, enumerating, and studying these magnificent but often elusive birds in their forest home. Beautifully illustrated with photographs of previously little-known species, the resulting book is the most important single source for information on the lowland tropical forest raptor species found in Central America. Neotropical Birds of Prey covers twenty specific species in depth, including the Ornate Hawk-Eagle, the Barred Forest-Falcon, the Bat Falcon, and the Mexican Wood Owl, offering thorough synopses of all current knowledge regarding breeding biology and behavior, diet, habitat use, and spatial needs. Contributors to this landmark work also show how the populations fit together as a community with overlapping habitat and prey needs that can put them in competition with reptiles and mammalian carnivores as well, yet differ from one another in their nesting or feeding behaviors and population dynamics. The work's substantive original data offer interesting comparisons between tropical and temperate zone species, and provide a basis for establishing conservation measures based on firsthand research. Making available for the first time new data on the biology, ecology, behavior, and conservation of the majestic owls and raptors of the New World tropics, this book will appeal to a wide ornithological readership, especially the many raptor enthusiasts around the world.

ContextTheoretical models propose that the spatial extent at which landscape structure best predicts species responses (scale of effect, SoE) depends on habitat and dietary specialization, landscape metrics, and response variables. However, empirical support for such models is scarce, especially for apex predators.ObjectivesTo determine SoE for diurnal raptors, and test for differences among ecological traits of habitat and dietary specialization, landscape metrics, and response variables.MethodsWe conducted 1.5 km transect surveys of diurnal raptors at 26 sites in a tropical dry forest from western Mexico. We measured four landscape metrics (forest cover, matrix hardness, forest patch density, edge density) in 16 concentric landscapes (400 to 3400 ha) around each survey site. We then assessed the landscape size at which each landscape metric best predicted each response variable (abundance, species richness, temporal beta diversity). Finally, we tested for differences in SoE among ecological traits of raptors, landscape metrics, and response variables.ResultsLandscape composition metrics of forest cover and matrix hardness decreased with increasing landscape size, and were the main landscape predictors influencing diurnal raptors. SoE differed significantly among landscape metrics, being larger for forest cover (2433.3 ha) than matrix hardness (1500 ha). However, SoE did not differ significantly among ecological traits of raptors, or response variables.ConclusionsSoE was mainly driven by spatial metrics, with diurnal raptors being more strongly associated with forest cover measured over larger scales. This supports findings for other taxa and suggests that forest cover influences dispersal success across larger scales.

Diurnal raptors show a wider distribution compared to other groups of birds including passerines, woodpeckers, and seriemas, but occur at lower-than-expected densities. Estimating the precise abundance is essential to achieve conservation goals but the methods used to estimate the populations of birds need to be appropriate to arrive at meaningful conclusions. We compared the two survey methods: roadside point count and strip transects, for estimating species richness and abundance of raptors in the arid landscape of Rajasthan. Roadside point counts and roadside strip transects were done on 50 transects between December 2019- February 2020 (with an average length of 20 km and a total distance of 3000 km) to assess the species richness and abundance of raptors. A total of 2954 observations of raptors belonging to 35 species were recorded using both methods. Mann Whitney U test result showed no significant difference in species richness and abundance estimates between both methods (p = 0.206). The point count method yielded a higher relative abundance of 2.79 individuals [10 km2]-1h-1 than the 1.90 individuals [10 km2]-1h-1 obtained during the strip transect. Also, the number of unidentified species were less for point counts. Extrapolation values indicated that both the methods do not differ much for the detection of unsampled species. The choice of survey method depends on the objectives of the study, but our results favor the use of point counts rather than strip transects to survey raptors in open habitats. The information generated from this study is expected to provide the most efficient method to study the abundance and distribution of raptors in similar landscapes.