Simon Cook The Azores Bullfinch - uplisted to Critically Endangered in the 2005 IUCN Red List update Zoom In

More birds slipping towards extinction

01-06-2005

BirdLife International's annual evaluation of how the world’s bird species are faring shows that the total number considered to be threatened with extinction is now 1,212, which when combined with the number of near threatened species gives a total of exactly 2,000 species in trouble – more than a fifth of the planet’s remaining 9,775 species.

Of the species currently in trouble, 179 are now categorised as Critically Endangered, the highest level of threat. These include the Azores Bullfinch Pyrrhula murina, one of Europe's rarest songbirds, which has been in decline since the early 1990s, with fewer than 300 individuals left. However, the entire home-range of the species has recently been declared a Special Protection Area (SPA) by the Portuguese Government, following work by BirdLife Partners SPEA (BirdLife in Portugal) and the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK).

Several species from Europe appear in the list for the first time, like European Roller Coracias garrulus, for which key populations in Turkey and European Russia have declined markedly; Krüper’s Nuthatch Sitta krueperi, a mainly Turkish species that has declined because of tourism development of its key habitats; and Red Kite Milvus milvus, which has suffered large declines across Europe, despite a highly successful reintroduction programme in the UK. All three move from the Least Concern category to Near Threatened.

"Despite the recent rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, overall more species are currently sliding towards oblivion. One in five bird species on the planet now faces a risk in the short or medium-term of joining the Dodo, Great Auk and 129 other species that we know have become extinct since 1500." —Ed Parnell, Communications Officer, BirdLife

In spite of the best efforts of conservationists in New Zealand, two more of its species have taken a step closer to joining the long list of previous extinctions there, largely because of introduced rat population explosions in 1999 and 2000. These resulted in the loss of two populations of Yellowhead Mohoua ochrocephala and its uplisting from Vulnerable to Endangered. Malherbe's Parakeet (also known as Orange-fronted Parakeet) Cyanoramphus malherbi fared even worse, with its numbers reduced to tens and the species now classified as Critically Endangered.

However, it is not all bad news: five species have been downlisted to lower categories of threat, mostly because populations have recovered following successful implementation of conservation measures. These include Kirtland’s Warbler Dendroica kirtlandii, a brightly-coloured songbird which breeds in the US State of Michigan, winters in the Bahamas, and has been downlisted from Vulnerable to Near Threatened.

Carmela Española The Calayan Rail was newly discovered in 2004 Zoom In

"We face a huge challenge in improving the status of the 1,212 threatened and 788 near-threatened species. But the success stories show that concerted conservation action can save these birds from extinction." —Dr Stuart Butchart, BirdLife's Global Species Programme Coordinator

Europe has a success story too with White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla, one of the continent’s largest birds of prey, increasing roughly two-fold during the 1990s, moving it from Near Threatened to Least Concern.

Several new species were also found in 2004 including the much-publicised Calayan Rail Gallirallus calayanensis from the Philippines. Each was examined by BirdLife for validity, and to evaluate its threat status.

"Overall, the number of species that have slipped further towards extinction is greater than the number we have pulled back from the brink," said Butchart.

BirdLife’s revisions to Red List categories, and the associated documentation, are released on their website today and will be incorporated into the 2005 IUCN Red List, released in Autumn 2005. They can be found at: www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html