By Cecilia Derrick, 1st April 2026
Latest issue: Bird conservation
The latest issue of Oryx features a selection of articles on bird conservation, bringing together studies that span multiple continents, species and conservation challenges. In the lead article, Risi et al. highlight the importance of Aldabra in the Seychelles for the red-footed booby, following an atoll-wide survey that for the first time combined boat-based counts with drone flights. Other articles in the section examine trends in bird body mass reported by Indigenous Peoples and local communities across three continents, document community‑led efforts to conserve Myanmar’s white‑bellied heron, explore hybridization as a threat to the Eurasian spoonbill population in Mauritania, and celebrate the successful introduction and breeding of Bali starlings in the Besikalung Wildlife Sanctuary in Bali, Indonesia.
Explore the full contents and our Editor’s picks below:
Editor’s picks
- Indigenous Peoples and local communities report a consistent decline in the body mass of birds across three continents — Fernández‑Llamazares et al.
- Bali starlings and the journey towards happiness: introduction and breeding in the Besikalung Wildlife Sanctuary, Bali, Indonesia — Parikesit et al.
- Can we learn from the UK’s guerrilla rewilding movement? — Glentworth et al.
- Re-establishment of Partula tohiveana tree snails in French Polynesia after 40 years of extinction in the wild — Gerlach et al.
Bird conservation
- Red-footed booby population thriving at globally significant Aldabra Atoll: insights from unmanned aerial vehicle surveys — Risi et al.
- Indigenous Peoples and local communities report a consistent decline in the body mass of birds across three continents — Fernández‑Llamazares et al.
- Is the resident subspecies of the Eurasian spoonbill in Mauritania, Platalea leucorodia balsaci, threatened by introgression of genes from the migratory nominate subspecies leucorodia? — Piersma et al.
- Conservation in response to a crisis: initiating community-led conservation for the white-bellied heron Ardea insignis in northern Myanmar — Soe et al.
- Bali starlings and the journey towards happiness: introduction and breeding in the Besikalung Wildlife Sanctuary, Bali, Indonesia — Parikesit et al.
Behind the cover
Aldabra Atoll, a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Seychelles, is a marine protected area and an important breeding site for several seabird species, including the red-footed booby Sula sula (pictured). An atoll-wide boat-based survey in 2022–2023 recorded a total of 36,720 breeding pairs, a considerable increase compared to the count of c. 6,500 pairs in 1968–1969. An additional survey in 2023 using an unmanned aerial vehicle resulted in a similar count to the boat-based survey along the shoreline but located an additional 5,574 pairs breeding inland in areas that were not visible from the boats. The study by Risi et al. highlights the global importance of Aldabra as the most significant red-footed booby colony in the Indian Ocean. (Photograph © David Tipling/NaturePL.com)
Locations of red-footed booby colonies on Aldabra, Seychelles. This aerial photograph shows shoreline colonies that were visible during traditional boat-based surveys as well as hitherto unknown inland colonies that were only discovered through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones. Image from Risi et al.
Editorial
Welcoming microbes to the community of conservation action—the Microbial Conservation Specialist Group of the Species Survival Commission — Redford et al.
The editorial introduces the new IUCN Microbial Conservation Specialist Group, arguing that microbes—despite underpinning ecosystem function and species health—remain largely absent from conservation policy. With recent advances in multi‑omics and AI revealing their immense diversity and ecological importance, the authors call for microbial perspectives to be integrated across the IUCN Species Conservation Cycle. They emphasise that protecting microbial communities is essential for ecosystem resilience, effective restoration and the long‑term success of global conservation efforts.
Other content
- Can we learn from the UK’s guerrilla rewilding movement? — Glentworth et al.
- Environmental crimes are overlooked in global enforcement: an analysis of Interpol Red Notices — Sinclair et al.
- Measuring pro-environmental behavioural determinants using closed-answer surveys — Doughty et al.
- Re-establishment of Partula tohiveana tree snails in French Polynesia after 40 years of extinction in the wild — Gerlach et al.
- Rediscovery of Meconopsis florindae Kingdon-Ward, a Critically Endangered alpine species endemic to China — Li et al.
- Wildlife Atlas of Sabah: a long view between 1980 and 2020 — Shabrani et al.
- Social structure and ‘situationships’ in Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin Sousa chinensis societies in north-western Peninsular Malaysia: conservation implications within an Important Marine Mammal Area — Teoh et al.
- Visual census versus citizen science: which is the best method for surveying an elusive and threatened snake? — Cavalcante et al.
- Camera traps placed to detect predators underestimate prey densities — Khanyari et al.
- Recovery of African rhinoceroses since Covid-19 despite poaching — Ferreira et al.
- Spatio-temporal variation in the distribution of great apes in the Dja-Ngoyla Complex in Cameroon, and implications for conservation — Fankem et al.
Conservation news
- A new chapter for soil biodiversity: launch of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Woodlouse Specialist Group — De Smedt et al.
- Database update shows biodiversity data sources are proliferating — Stephenson
- Grassroots action removes five bird species from Poland’s game list — Marchowski & Chara
- Ex situ conservation of the thermal rudd Scardinius racovitzai — Horváth et al.
- Community-led conservation for the Endangered golden mahseer in Nepal — Bahadur K.C. et al.
- New mature individuals and seedlings of the Critically Endangered Magnolia zenii discovered in China — Qian et al.
- First record of the Indian star tortoise Geochelone elegans in Nepal — Subba et al.
- Conservation workshop in Okinawa: urgent action needed for land hermit crabs — Hsu et al.
- Monitoring of Amazona rhodocorytha (Psittacidae) reveals new population of Handroanthus riodocensis (Bignoniaceae) in the Rio Doce basin, Brazil — Ribeiro et al.
Book reviews
- Beautiful Beasts, Beautiful Lands: The Fall and Rise of an African National Park — Newing
- Discovering the Okapi: Western Science, Indigenous Knowledge, and the Search for a Rainforest Enigma — Hodgkinson
