Atlantic Puffins and European Turtle Doves are amongst the species that have been named as the endangered species for birds by the global Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
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Now, a total of eight United Kingdom species are at the risk of global extinction, while another 14 United Kingdom species are considered to be near threatened, which means that further decline in their population will soon bring them under the threat of extinction.
“The announcement means that the global wave of extinction is now lapping at our shores”, said Martin Harper, the RSPB’s Conservation Director. 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.
In 2013 winter storms took the lives of up to 5,000 puffins in West Wales – about 25% of the colony at the time.
There are loads left, though, so they’ve got a few years to go before the decline in young birds starts to have a serious impact on population numbers.
The decline in breeding has led to the birds being listed as vulnerable to extinction – the category behind critically endangered and endangered, which denotes a species is at risk of dying out globally.
Turtle doves were already a UK Red List species due to the loss of more than nine out of ten birds in this country over the last 50 years. Only one species has moved out of the Red List.
Nesting birds in the Scottish Highlands have also declined here – although populations overwintering on the coast have increased.
Pochard is a duck that breeds across Europe and Asia but has now been classed vulnerable because of its marked declines.
Both United Kingdom bird species are more endangered that the humpback whale, experts said. Four of the species have been uplisted to Critically Endangered the highest category of threat before extinction. The list is published every year. These include Northern Lapwing (a grassland bird) and four wetland birds, viz. Red Knot, Curlew Sandpiper, Eurasian Oystercatcher and Bar-Tailed Godwit. Surprisingly, the additions in India are one-fifth of the 40 birds worldwide added to the list.
These birds are threatened because of habitat loss and unsustainable development, according to a press statement by the Bombay Natural History Society. Steppe Eagle (a raptor from grasslands), which is a regular winter visitor to the Indian subcontinent, has been uplisted from Least Concerned to Endangered. For instance, Red Knot, which is usually found in coastal areas, mudflats and sandy beaches, is facing several threats like destruction of coastal ecosystems, land reclamation, pollution, over-exploitation of its main prey – shellfish – and illegal hunting. He said: “Today’s assessment is a warning that nature is in trouble, but with funding and the right conservation measures threatened species can recover”. Our conservation efforts are inadequate.
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On a positive note, the IUCN has said that the European Roller bird is lesser vulnerable to extinction compared with past year. The island was purchased by the global Council for Bird Preservation (the forerunner to BirdLife International) in that year.
