Turtle doves, a regular visitor to the English countryside and a fixture in literature and folklore for centuries, have plunged 96 per cent since 1970, making it the UK’s fastest declining migrant bird.
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Both United Kingdom bird species are more endangered that the humpback whale, experts said. The eider is one of a number of coastal ducks which have declined in recent years. Consequent to those changes this week, we also have the news that over 50% of African vultures could disappear thanks to targeted poaching and widespread poisoning.
Eight more birds from India have been added to the global Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of threatened species for 2015 indicating increased threat to avian habitats like grasslands and wetlands.
Condition of birds are often considered one of the most obvious indicators of the state of the natural environment.
Pochards have declined significantly in recent years across Europe, leading it to be listed as vulnerable.
The reasons for turtle dove’s inclusion in the red list will come as little surprise to birdwatchers. It is most commonly found from Northumberland to northern Scotland.
But time could be running out to see the Atlantic puffins. A further 14 United Kingdom species are considered “near threatened”.
They have been listed as vulnerable to extinction, the lowest of three categories behind critically endangered and endangered.
RSPB conservation director Martin Harper today said the “global wave of extinction is now lapping at our shores”.
Puffins are among four United Kingdom bird species now at risk of extinction, according to latest data. But now the crisis is beginning to exact an increasingly heavy toll on temperate regions too, such as Europe. The status of vultures in India continues to be precarious, even as efforts are on at various levels (with active BNHS participation) to conserve them, such as captive breeding, carcass surveys, advocacy, ban on veterinary diclofenac, reduction in vial size of human diclofenac and identification of vulture safe zones for future release of captive birds.
One study done on a Scottish colony of puffins showed that young birds weren’t returning to the island to breed, possibly because of a lack of enough fish to feed on.
A turtle dove in Suffolk, England. There might be many more threatened birds whose data is less accessible.
As a migratory bird across two continents, it is vulnerable to being hunted while migrating.
Hunting is also a problem for turtle doves.
The bar-tailed godwit, knot and curlew sandpiper are species which nest in the high Arctic and spend the winter on coasts further south, including in Britain. Globally, the pochard has been uplisted to Vulnerable. “Poachers are putting out poison to try and ensure the vultures don’t give away their crime”, the RSPB spokesman said.
Mr Sharpe added: “The good news is that we have seen similar population declines reversed, so there is still hope”.
The location was included in National Geographic’s list of the top 10 places to see wildlife.
The addition of the four new birds to the Red List takes the total count of birds facing risk of global extinction from the United Kingdom to eight, the IUCN notes.
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The research revealed that, since the 1980s, nine out of ten turtle doves have been killed off.
