The nesting period of the Spotted Munia is from July to November, a period with frequent rains. Built of grass, nests (n = 60) were spherical or dome-shaped, with a lateral entrance-hole oriented mainly along the most frequent wind direction. They were mostly built on twigs within the tree canopy, the majority of them on thorny plant species. The mean depth and diameter of the nests were 12.32 cm and 4.18 cm respectively. Nesting activities were shared by both sexes. Four to six eggs were laid. The incubation period in 17 pairs varied from 10 to 15 days. All the nests (n = 60) were situated on four plant species only, the greatest preference being for Toddalia asiatica (50%), followed by Gymnosporia montana (25%) and Acacia chundra (20%). Although 50% of the nests were found on T. asiatica, this plant is a straggler and no nest was built on it if it was not present in association with G. montana. For constructing nests the Spotted Munia selected short and small trees in a microhabitat with low canopy cover.

445 eggs of the Collared Flycatcher from 82 clutches were measured during three breeding seasons (1997–1999). The mean length was 17.82 ± 0.80 mm, breadth — 3.45 ± 0.37 mm and volume — 1.65 ± 0.14 cm³. Egg dimensions were positively correlated. No significant differences in egg sizes during the three seasons were found. This suggests that the environmental conditions in the Białowieża Forest during the study period did not change or had no influence on egg size. Laying sequence had no influence on egg dimensions; only egg length depended on clutch size. Some characteristics of the females did affect the size of eggs: heavier birds and those with longer tarsi laid larger eggs. Older females did not lay significantly larger eggs than younger females. In conclusion, egg size in the Collared Flycatcher from the Białowieża Forest appears to be influenced more by the characteristics of the female than by environmental conditions.

The work was carried out in the villages of the łomianki commune near Warsaw, Poland (52°20′N, 20°50′E) in 1994 and 1995. From among 315 clutches of Tree Sparrows studied, 20 exhibited one-day interruptions in the laying of first and second broods, while 2 were characterised by two-day interruptions. Amongst third broods, there was just a single one-day interruption noted in each year of the study. Interruptions did not occur immediately prior to the laying of the last egg in a clutch. Only in the case of the first brood in 1995 could a period of cold account for interruptions; in the remaining cases, the phenomenon must have been influenced by non-meteorological factors. The Tree Sparrow resembles the House Sparrow Passer domesticus in having far fewer interruptions to laying than other small hole-nesting birds, such as tits Parus spp. This is probably a reflection of the genus Passer having evolved in dry areas, where the accumulation of body reserves in the female prior to laying is an adaptation reducing the length of the breeding period to match the time associated with the rainy season, when food is abundant.

This study was carried out in Rome city from 1991 to 1999. In a total of 47 urban parks and suburban woods, 22 wooded areas were occupied by Great Spotted Woodpeckers during the breeding period. All woods greater than 50 ha in area were occupied by woodpeckers. On a five year scale, territorial stability was positively correlated with woodland size. The requirement of wooded area per territory was slightly higher in urban parks (6.7 ± 2.7 ha, n = 10 wooded areas) than in suburban woods (5.7 ± 1.3 ha, n = 5), and was negatively correlated to the vegetation cover. The area of woodland per territory in Rome was higher than in neighbouring deciduous oak woods. This suggests that urban habitats are of inferior quality for breeding Great Spotted Woodpeckers, probably owing to features of their vegetation and their isolation from other woodland patches. Maintaining mature stands of natural vegetation with old and dead trees in larger urban parks could be useful to encourage the occurrence of Great Spotted Woodpecker in cities.

In 1990–1995, 12–15 pairs of Sparrowhawks (9.1/100 km²) and 7–9 pairs of Hobbies (5.6 pairs/100 km²) inhabited the forest-lakeland area of the Wigry National Park (NE Poland). The diet composition of the two species was studied by the analysis of pellets and prey remains. Sparrowhawks fed on birds (97% of prey items, 99% of food biomass), especially Turdus spp., Parus spp. and Fringilla coelebs. Hobbies consumed birds (52% of prey, 94% of biomass) and insects (43% of prey, 1% of biomass). Sparrowhawks specialized in forest birds, positively selecting Parus spp., Turdus spp., Picidae and Ficedula spp. Hobbies hunted mainly birds of open habitats (Alauda arvensis) and woodland (Anthus trivialis).

As a result of intensified agriculture, farmland in Europe is the habitat where the most pronounced changes have occurred in recent decades. In parallel, breeding populations of birds have been declining over much of Europe. Today, farmland has the largest proportion of Red-List species. This paper reviews studies on the impact of agriculture on birds breeding in the farmland ecosystems of Europe: breeding bird density in relation to farming practice, effects of agriculture on foraging and feeding ecology while rearing young, and consequences for breeding success.

Specialised bird species are most affected by farming practice. They are rare or even absent in intensively managed farmland with a much reduced habitat and structural diversity. As crops grow fast and as their vegetation is very dense, large fields become inaccessible to or unprofitable for ground feeding birds. To exploit alternative food resources, parents feeding nestlings have to cover larger distances to isolated and distant food patches. Reduced food availability in modern farmland and increased time and energy costs of foraging may result in lower body conditions of parent birds and their broods, in a reduced breeding success and lower survival. Some species breeding in intensively farmed areas are at least locally unable to produce sufficient recruits to maintain their numbers in the long term.

Our knowledge of the breeding ecology and population dynamics of farmland birds is growing, but it is still based mainly on short-term and small-scale case studies on a few species. Little is known about whether measures to improve habitat quality (e.g. set-asides) are adequate to halt negative trends in bird populations. Hence, there is a need for internationally coordinated scientific work with important implications for conservation.

In 1950s the Common Eider was a very rare species in the Black Sea region, migrating there only irregularly. A decade later, 9–14 males wintered in Black Sea bays. A few pairs attempted to breed there but their nests were flooded by storms. The first records (2 pairs) of successful breeding come from 1975. By the mid-1990s, the total number of breeding pairs had reached almost 1000.

This point-count based study (1995–99) provides information on the avifauna of different farmland habitats in Latvia. Ordinations identify the main gradients within the species composition pattern: from arable land to natural habitats and from woodland across open, dry areas to wet meadowlands with rivers and ponds. Regression models describing the relationship between species richness and habitat show that the best positive predictors of species richness are woodland, scrub, natural meadows, unfarmed patches such as piles of stones or brushwood, and ponds. Regression models of the habitat affinities of the 30 most frequently recorded bird species are used to describe the present-day situation and to predict the effects of possible changes in Latvian farmland. The current high bird diversity is largely upheld by a non-intensive agriculture and large set-aside areas. Both further abandonment and development towards western standards of agricultural production may have adverse effects on populations of several species of conservation concern. Environmental considerations should therefore become an integral part of the development of Latvian agriculture.

Over fifteen years (1985–1999) waterfowl were counted during one day in January on 33 permanent routes with a total length of c. 310 km along the banks of all rivers and ponds throughout the city. 23 species (apart from gulls) were recorded. The number of species varied from 3 to 10 in different years and increased significantly during the study period. Mallard Anas platyrhynchos was the most numerous species (98–99% of individuals). The proportion of male Mallards varied from year to year within the range 54–63%. The number of Mallards gradually increased from c. 17 300 in the winter of 1984–1985 to c. 28 000 in the winter of 1989-90 but then declined to c. 7500 in the winter of 1997–1998. These changes appear to depend on both air temperatures during the winter and the prosperity of the city's inhabitants, who feed ducks with bread and scraps of food. It is highly probable that the change in the socio-economic situation has been the main cause of the decline in waterfowl observed during the 1990s.

With a population of probably less than 50 individuals, the Slender-billed Curlew is one of the most seriously endangered species in Europe. The scarcity of information on its biology and the fact that its breeding grounds are still unknown are major constraints on its conservation. This paper presents the activities of the Working Group established under the Bonn Convention. Recent intensive efforts to locate breeding areas are described. All records are kept in a specific BirdLife International database. Although hunting is considered to have been the major reason for the species' dramatic decline and is still an important threat, overgrazing of steppes and drainage of wetlands in northern Kazakhstan and south-western Siberia have caused the loss of a number of possible breeding sites recently identified.

Studies were carried out in 23 rural sample plots in NW Poland in 1985–1995 (total study area —5 117 km², including 635 villages and other settlements). The density of the breeding population in the overall landscape varied between 2.2 and 16.2 nests/km², and in built-up areas from 207 to 1303 nests/km². In the first brood, begun in mid-May, the average clutch was 3.99 eggs; 47% of clutches contained 4 eggs, 23% – 3 eggs and 21% – 5 eggs. In the second brood the average clutch was 3.61 eggs. Clutches of 4 and 3 eggs accounted for 49% and 26% respectively of the total number of clutches.

49% of pairs from the first broods were also involved in second ones. Hatching success (number of young hatched compared with the number of eggs laid) was 94.3% in the first brood and 95.8% in the second. Fledging success (number of young fledged compared to the number hatched) was 97.5% and 95.1% respectively and final breeding success (number of fledglings compared to the number of eggs laid) was 91.9% and 91.2%. A statistical pair produced 5.3 young per breeding season.

From late April to the second 10-day period of June 1994–1999, in 76 unmated males the time-budget was measured during 304 hours in a 6.6 km² area of mature mixed and coniferous forests near Moscow. In 1999, territorial males were counted at least once per pentade throughout the breeding season in a 35 ha plot with 180 nest-boxes. Dark (grades 2–3 on Drost's scale) and pale (grades 5–7) males had similar levels of singing activity, but in cold weather the former had higher song rates than the latter. The singing activity of all the males was relatively low at the beginning of the season (by the mid-May). Dark males sang mainly from open perches (67.6% of songs, compared with 23.2% for pale males). In dark males visual stimulation compensated for the relatively low acoustic activity in early spring when trees were still lacking leaves. The immediate vicinities of nest-boxes occupied by dark males were visited by females significantly more frequently than those of pale ones.

The lifetime breeding success of male Pied Flycatchers was evaluated over a period of nine years (1991–99). The breeding success of males recorded in at least two breeding seasons, and nesting at least once in the study area, was analysed. The lifespan number of offspring was positively and significantly correlated with longevity. The reproductive investment in the first year of life did not correspond with longevity, and hence nonbreeding males in the first year did not compensate for the losses in fecundity. There were no differences in longevity between dark, intermediate and female-like coloured males. Darker males were less successful in their breeding attempts in the first year than paler birds. Breeding in the first year of life positively influenced the future number of fledglings, and the greater investment in reproduction in this year positively affected future brood size in dark males. Among males successfully breeding in the study area from their first season, dark males reared significantly more offspring during their lifetime, and in the first year of life, than paler ones. Nevertheless, in the total sample, lifetime brood size did not vary between differently coloured males, perhaps because dark males are more vulnerable to predators. The general difference between differently coloured males lay in how breeding efforts were distributed during life. Dark males can maximise reproductive investment from the first breeding year, while paler males increased average brood size in the following years of life only.

In the XIX century the Ruddy Shelduck was regarded as a common species in Ukraine. Now it is in the Red Data Book of Ukraine and on the Berne Convention List. In 1885 it appeared in the Ascanian Zoo, and a year later there were 16 birds. Nowadays, in the summer and autumn their numbers range from 700 to 1200. The territorial centre of the population are the zoo ponds and the botanical garden, where 48–65 pairs nest. This semiwild population has been formed as a result of successive acclimatization measures: forming broods with foster parents (Tadorna ferruginea, Cairina moschata, Anas platyrhynchos), creating artificial nests, regular feeding, and the availability of unfrozen water in the pond. Free-living birds migrate from Ascania Nova to other places, even to distant regions.