Blog

Blog

Field notes, publication alerts, conservation reflections, and science communication.

The rivers that hold everything: what twenty years of White-bellied Heron surveys reveal about Bhutan’s most important wild places

Research
White-bellied Heron
Bhutan
Biodiversity
Rivers
Conservation

Since 2003, annual surveys tracking the world’s rarest heron have quietly documented something far larger — a picture of extraordinary river biodiversity that deserves far more attention than it gets.

May 13, 2026
16 min

A heron on the edge: what ten years of nest watching tells us about one of the world’s rarest birds

Research
White-bellied Heron
Bhutan
Breeding Biology

Our new study tracking White-bellied Heron nests in Bhutan over a decade reveals something troubling — and urgent.

May 9, 2026
5 min

How smart are our climate-smart projects?

Conservation
Climate
Bhutan
Policy

The term ‘climate-smart’ has become a marketing label. Here is what it actually takes for a project to earn that name — and why Bhutan should care.

Sep 21, 2025
5 min

How do you save a bird with fewer than 60 individuals? We built a model to find out

Research
White-bellied Heron
Population Modelling
Conservation

Using integrated population modelling and Bayesian viability analysis, our new study identifies which conservation actions give the White-bellied Heron its best chance of survival.

Mar 15, 2025
5 min

Ten years to turn the tide: Bhutan’s plan to save the White-bellied Heron

Conservation
White-bellied Heron
Bhutan
Policy

With fewer than 60 birds left globally, the White-bellied Heron needed more than goodwill — it needed a plan. Here is what Bhutan committed to doing, and why the next ten years matter more than any before.

Jan 1, 2022
5 min

A new home for the world’s rarest heron: inside Bhutan’s White-bellied Heron Conservation Center

Conservation
White-bellied Heron
Bhutan
Ex-situ Breeding

In 2021, RSPN established the world’s first dedicated conservation breeding facility for the White-bellied Heron — collecting wild chicks, hand-raising them, and building the foundation for a species’ future.

Dec 1, 2021
8 min

Three birds, one nest: an unexpected drama on the Mangdechhu

Research
White-bellied Heron
Bhutan
Breeding Biology
Behaviour

Watching a White-bellied Heron nest in Bhutan, we witnessed something never before recorded in the species — a persistent intruder, prolonged conflict, and a decision by a parent that shocked us all.

Jul 1, 2021
6 min
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