Many bird species are still close to extinction

Many bird species are close to extinction

It’s a race against time. Once, vultures were an integral part of the savannah landscape and the predator-prey food chain; now they are fighting for their lives. Once, Grey Parrots were counted in the thousands at their roosts in the forest; now there are only a handful.

STATE: What we know about the changing state of birds

Many bird species are still close to extinction

BirdLife International is the Red List Authority for birds and classifies the extinction risk of all the world’s birds using the criteria and categories of the IUCN Red List. In 2017, BirdLife also completed a taxonomic review of birds that distinguished 11,122 species worldwide, a quarter of which (2,477) are found in Africa. The 2017 assessment concluded that 276 of the species in Africa are globally threatened with extinction, because they have small and/or declining populations and/ or ranges. Of these, 29 species are considered Critically Endangered, meaning that they face an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

Amongst the bird groups represented by high numbers and/or proportions of globally threatened species in Africa are vultures, albatrosses, cranes, picathartes (rockfowl), cuckoo-shrikes, whiteeyes and finches, as well as two bird families endemic to Madagascar, the mesites and ground-rollers.

a.

Least Concern 2,040 (82%)

b.

Data Deficient 18 (1%)

Near Threatened 143 (6%) Threatened 276 (11%)

White-breasted Mesite endemic to Madagascar. (PHOTO: ©Ken Behrens)

Endangered 102 (37%)

Vulnarable 145 (53%)

Critically Endangered 29 (11%)

FIG 5: IUCN Red List status for (a) all birds in Africa, (b) globally threatened birds in Africa.

SOURCE Analysis of BirdLife’s data (2016).