Dear all,

Following a few months of (southern) winter torpor I have relocated
to the Northern Territory in Australia's tropical north. I'm
posting this update on the progress of the Ethnoornithology Research
& Study Group (the ERSG) and its members over the past few months.

For those who haven't visited for a while the ERSG webgroup page is
at http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/Ethnoornithology/ - please have
another look or send the link on to anyone you think might be
interested in the work of the group.

Since we started the group earlier this year, we have attracted
members from across the globe – Chile, Iran, Wales and London in the
UK, at least 6 of the United States, Bolivia, Colombia, South
Africa, Kenya, India, Pakistan, Canada, Italy, Morocco, Poland,
France, Germany and many more.
Just as important is the diversity of interests our members bring to
the ERSG – our members include ethnobiologists working on birds and
other taxa, professional ornithologists, non-government agency
workers, conservation biologists and ecologists working in the
field, academics, members from research institutions, libraries and
museums and indigenous people interested and concerned about how
their knowledge is used and recorded.

We've had a lot of postings to date but we need more from you!
Please send in any material that may be of interest to the group – a
proposal for a project, some research you've completed but never
published, ideas for reinterpretation of previous projects or just a
note about something you've seen or thought about and want to share
with ERSG members. Any photographs or images of birds, people,
culture and tradition are especially welcome.

I'm putting a few new postings on the ERSG site today – there are
some exciting proposals from Mercy Njeri and her colleagues from
KENRIK and the National Museums of Kenya and a short note about the
Ethnoornithology Roundtable held at the International Ornithology
Congress held at Hamburg in September this year and a short note
about the upcoming ICE 2006 at Chiang Rai, Thailand, that starts
next week. There are also some notes on new work being done around
the world and some new links to sites of interest. I'll also post a
paper detailing the background, nature and preliminary results on my
work on the bird knowledge of the Warlpiri people living in
Australia's arid central deserts.

I think it is important to spread the word about the progress of
ethnoornithological research and the potential for the future
application of ethnoornithology – particularly in bird diversity
monitoring, landscape ecology and management and development and
conservation activities involving local people.

Finally, the release of the Stern Review in the United Kingdom gives
us all cause to stop and think about the work we do and the context –
particularly what might happen in the increasingly near future.
I've put a link to the Stern Review and links to other sites that
look at recent research on climate change, birds and indigenous
peoples.

I hope that this update sparks your attention and interest in this
most fascinating area – and a reminder – please send any information
about your work, interests or news of ethnoornithological interest
so that I can post it on the website.

I'm off to ICE 2006 (The 10th International Congress of Ethnobiology
(ICE): "Ethnobiology, Biodiversity and Community Development",
Chiang Rai Province, Thailand, November 5-9, 2006) in the northern
mountains of Thailand on Friday this week. For more information on
this Congress please go to
http://botany.kku.ac.th/ice2006/index.php.

I'm looking forward to presenting my work and catching up with
members of the broader ethnobiological community.

Cheers and best wishes,

Robert Gosford
Darwin, Australia