1. Principles for update of Art. 12 checklist
Rob Pople, for Ecosystems LTD
THE N2K GROUP
European Economic Interest Group

2. Introduction Proposed changes aim to:
Harmonise Art. 12 checklist with new EU bird list
Focus reporting on key taxa/seasons needed to carry out EU-level status assessments and monitor implementation of Directive
Minimise unnecessary reporting burden and streamline taxonomic units used for national reporting and EU-level assessments.
‘List of birds of European Union’ (August 2015), adopted at April 2015 meeting of Expert Group on the Birds and Habitats Directives.

3. Introduction Updates focus on three main areas:
Taxonomy and nomenclature
‘Subspecific units’ (subspecies or other distinct populations) requiring separate bird reports
Taxa requiring bird reports for winter season.
Return to these three areas in more detail in following slides...

4. Taxonomy and nomenclature
Update of species names to reflect taxonomy and nomenclature in del Hoyo & Collar (2014), taxonomic reference followed by the EU Bird List
Most changes purely nomenclatural (e.g. change of genus or gender of species name)
Minority (<10) relate to changes in taxonomy (e.g. ‘splits’ or ‘lumps’)
Minimal impact on reporting burden.
del Hoyo & Collar (2014) HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Vol. 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
e.g. Philomachus pugnax to Calidris pugnax and Aquila fasciatus to Aquila fasciata.
e.g. Calonectris diomedea split from Calonectris borealis and Falco pelegrinoides lumped with(in) Falco peregrinus.

5. Subspecific units (2008–2012)
Reporting at subspecific level (subspecies or ‘distinct’ populations) requested for >190 taxa in But…
Several subspecies/subpopulation names redundant (only one occurs regularly in EU anyway)
Problems separating (data for) certain subspecific populations that occur sympatrically
Lack of clarity when presenting data (e.g. in Art. 12 web tool) for species with multiple subpopulations...
e.g. Tachybaptus ruficollis ruficollis orVanellus vanellus ‘Europe, W Asia/Europe, N Africa & SW Asia’.
e.g. two flyway populations of Calidris maritima maritima, when wintering.
e.g. Ardea purpurea (illustrated in next slide)…

6. Example: Ardea purpurea
Eastern European population only totals c. 1,800 – 3,300 pairs, and only small (15–25 pairs) SK population declining in short-term.
Western European population (c. 10,800 – 12,400 pairs) makes up majority of EU population, with overall short-term decline driven by trend in ES.

7. Subspecific units (2013–2018)
Proposal to restrict subspecific reporting in 2019 to taxa meeting following criteria (plus ‘counterparts’):
Subspecies listed in Annexes I, II or III of Directive
Subspecific populations with SAPs, MPs or BMSs
Introduced subspecies of species also occurring naturally within EU
Subspecies whose taxonomic status under review
63 subspecific units (Table 1 in document).
e.g. Phalacrocorax aristotelis desmarestii (Annex I) plus Phalacrocorax aristotelis aristotelis (non-Annex counterpart).
e.g. Anser brachyrhynchus [Svalbard/North-west Europe] (subpop. with MP) plus Anser brachyrhynchus [East Greenland & Iceland / UK].
e.g. Porphyrio porphyrio poliocephalus (non-native spp.) and Porphyrio porphyrio porphyrio (native ssp). [also C. l. livia and domestica]
e.g. Subspecies of Corvus corone (not currently recognised as full species in EU Bird List, but may be upgraded in vol. 2 of HBW–BirdLife checklist).

8. Winter reporting (2008–2012)
Winter reports requested for “regularly occurring wintering waterbirds, especially migratory wildfowl (ducks, geese and swans) and waders, whose population size and trend are often best monitored in winter, when they congregate in large numbers”.
But inconsistent interpretation resulted in:
Incomplete EU dataset for some species for which status assessment of winter population intended
Data from 1 or 2 Member States for (widespread) species where winter assessment not appropriate...
e.g. Calidris minuta (data from FR missing?).
e.g. Turdus iliacus (illustrated in next slide)….

9. Example: Turdus iliacus
Breeds mainly in Russia, Fennoscandia and Baltic (c. 2–3 million pairs in EU); winters throughout western, central and southern Europe (tens of millions?).

10. Winter reporting (2013–2018)
Proposal to specify taxa for which winter reports are essential or highly desirable in 2019, according to following criteria:
Do not breed (regularly) in EU, but regularly winter
Breed and winter in EU, but wintering population significantly (>2×) larger and monitored across EU
Breed and winter in EU, but wintering population of similar size, and better / as well monitored in winter
42 taxa meeting first two criteria (Table 2), plus indicative list of 30+ taxa meeting third, in document.
e.g. Pluvialis squatarola (breeds in Russian tundra, but >100,000 birds winter in EU).
e.g. Cygnus cygnus (breeds in north of EU [<20,000 pairs], but supplemented by birds from RU and IS in winter [>90,000 individuals].
e.g. Cygnus olor (largely resident, but data quality for winter population size and trends as good or better in winter than breeding season).

11. Feedback requested Now:
On general principles proposed – particularly criteria for subspecific and winter reporting
After meeting (in writing):
On detail of proposed lists of taxa meeting criteria
Thank you!