More than 350 newly recognised bird species have been assessed by BirdLife International for the first time on behalf of The IUCN Red List of Threatened Speciesâ„¢. Worryingly, more than 25% of these newly recognised birds have been listed as threatened on The IUCN Red List – compared with 13% of all birds – making […]
Category: birdlife
White-winged Flufftail Sarothrura ayresi is on the very edge of extinction
White-winged Flufftail Sarothrura ayresi, a secretive and unobtrusive sub-Saharan bird, is the latest species to join the growing list of those on the very edge of extinction. Destruction and degradation of its high altitude wet grassland habitat, including wetland drainage, conversion for agriculture, water abstraction, overgrazing by livestock and cutting of marsh vegetation, have driven […]
Red List for Birds 2013: Number of Critically Endangered birds hits new high
The number of bird species listed as Critically Endangered has reached an all-time high with the release of this year’s Red List for birds by BirdLife International. White-winged Flufftail Sarothrura ayresi, a secretive and unobtrusive sub-Saharan bird, is the latest species to join the growing list of those on the very edge of extinction. Destruction […]
Searching for Pacific Petrels
Until recently, Becks Petrel Pseudobulweria becki was only known from two specimens: a female taken at sea east of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea in 1928, and a male taken in the Solomon Islands in 1929. After a long gap of nearly 80 years it was only definitively re-recorded when, in July and August 2007, […]
A voyage for Caribbean Seabirds
Documenting new seabird-colony Important Bird Areas, finding previously undocumented colonies and colonies thought to be extirpated: these are just some of the exciting discoveries reported within Environmental Protection in the Caribbeans (EPICs) ground-breaking Seabird Breeding Atlas of the Lesser Antilles. read more at birdlife>
Alaotra Grebe extinction – Do you care?
Today we announced that Alaotra Grebe, a waterbird from Madagascar, is officially extinct on the Red List. The Dodo is the undoubted ‘celebrity’ among extinct species with its depiction in books, cartoons and the well-used expression ‘Dead as a Dodo’. Less well known about the Dodo is that it heads up a group of single […]
Emergency conservation work pays off: Zinos Petrel bounces back!
Zinos Petrel was Europes rarest seabird even before a ravaging wild fire hit the heart of Madeiras central massif, where this globally endangered bird breeds. The fire, in August 2010, had dire consequences: 25 young and 3 adults were found burnt to death, and of the 13 young birds found alive, only one survived to […]
First assessment of Endangered Northern Rockhopper Penguins since 2011 oil spill
Almost a year since thousands of endangered penguins? lives were threatened by an oil spill on Nightingale Island ? part of Tristan da Cunha, a UK Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic a survey to assess the birds population has taken place. The bulk carrier, MS Oliva, ran aground on 16 March last year, a […]
BirdLife welcomes passing of law to secure transboundary ecosystems in East Africa
The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) has passed a crucial law that could transform how transboundary ecosystems and resources in East Africa are managed. EALA is the legislative arm of the East African Community, a regional block bringing together five countries, namely, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Hon. Dr. George Nangale, the former Chairman […]
Cook Islanders decide next steps for their IBAs
The pacific islands of Mauke and Mangaia have been identfied as Important Bird Areas (IBAs) and Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) by Te Ipukarea Society (TIS; BirdLife in the Cook Islands) and BirdLife International. TIS Programme Manager Jacqui Evans recently travelled to the two islands to raise awareness in the community about the importance to the […]