From Projecto Bico-vermelho (Pyrrhocorax Project)

Since the first International chough workshop (Choughs and Land Use in Europe) in 1988 there have been regular meetings to discuss all aspects related to the biology, ecology and conservation of the red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax). The species is a valuable indicator of sustainable agricultural systems and the connection to traditional farming methods. The red-billed chough is a species with an unfavourable conservation status on a global level, being listed as endangered in several countries including Portugal. In this context, after the 2007 and 2010 International Chough Workshops (in Glasgow and La Palma, respectively), Vila Real (North Portugal) is playing host to the 4^th International Chough workshop on 10-12 October 2013. Two days of workshop will be followed by a day’s excursion.

As underlined in previous meetings, there is still a priority for chough research to understand the influence of the land-use/land-cover trends on the species’ distribution, taking into account on-going landscape changes, genetic diversity, fragmentation and isolation of peripheral populations. At these meetings all specialists agreed to further advance knowledge on the chough populations outside Europe, such as those in Asia and Africa, due to their particular threats and conservation requirements.

Although a considerable amount of information has been compiled and discussed at previous workshops about the chough ecology, all colleagues that are interested in choughs are invited to participate and share their expertise in the 4^th International Workshop on the Conservation of the Chough.

The Workshop will be held at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD) in Vila Real, northern Portugal. Everyone interested in attending should  complete the automated registration form to confirm your participation. The submission deadline for contributions is 31 May, 2013. The organisers look forward to hearing from you.

Read more and register here