WHITE-HEADED DUCK - RUDDY DUCK HYBRIDS 
The North American Ruddy Duck Oxyura jamaicensis became naturalised in 
Great Britain in the 1950s by escapes from waterfowl collections. The population 
has increased exponentially at about 10% per year with a projected population in 
January 1991 of 3,400. The species spread to Europe in the 1960s and has been 
recorded in Spain, Portugal and Morocco and as far east as Switzerland and Italy 
but with a recent unconfirmed report from the Ukraine. It now threatens the 
survival of the White-headed Duck O. leucocepliala because the Ruddy Duck is 
socially dominant to White-headed Duck and rapes White-headed Duck females. 
This has led to the production of fertile hybrids in the wild in Spain. An 
international workshop held in Great Britain in March 1993 agreed the following 
goal for urgent implementation: "To stop and reverse the population and range 
expansion of the introduced Oxyura jamaicensis in the Western Palearctic, in order 
to safeguard populations of the globally threatened Oxyura leucocephala." We 
hope that the goal is achieved and that the Ruddy Duck does not spread to the 
OSME region. 
SIBERIAN CRANE 
The Western and central Asian populations of the Siberian Crane Grus leucogeranus 
are on the brink of extinction, having been reduced to about 20 birds. The bird's 
range includes Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. In June 1993 a Memorandum of 
Understanding on conservation measures for the affected populations was 
signed by a number of states including Pakistan. The Iranian Department of the 
Environment has requested the text for review. Hopefully they will feel able to 
sign it in due course. 
BALD IBIS 
Following the demise of the wild Bald Ibis Geronticus eremita at Birecik, Turkey 
in 1989 (see OSME Bull. 24: 22) there have been a number of reports of the species 
elsewhere in the Middle East although no other breeding site has yet been 
reported. In 1992 Saudi Arabia's National Wildlife Research Centre recorded 25 
in about 8 km 2 in the south-west of the country. A research programme is now 
underway to discover the conservation status of the Bald Ibis in Arabia. OSME 
will pass on any relevant information or sightings to the relevant authorities. 
DIARY DATES 
20-25 August 1994. 21 st International Ornithological Conference. Vienna, Austria. 
Further information from IOC Interconvention, Friedrichstrasse 7, A-1043 Vienna, 
Austria. 
UAE 
The first meeting of the newly formed Emirates Bird Records Committee (EBRC) 
was held on 1 7 October in Abu Dhabi under the chairmanship of Erik Hirschfeld. 
Other Committee members are Colin Richardson (Secretary), Simon Aspinall, 
John Bannon and Steve James. 
The duties of the Committee will include the assessment of rare bird reports in 
the United Arab Emirates and the reviewing of a number of old reports. The most 
recent list of UAE species (Richardson and Richardson 1991 in Tribulus 1) will 
continue as the country's official bird list. It is the intention to publish all newly 
accepted records and updates to the country list in the Emirates Bird Report 
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