News | Thursday, 5th May 2022

Global bird populations in decline, says research

Scientists have identified climate change, loss of habitats and overexploitation of species as key threats

Staggering declines in bird populations are taking place around the world, says new research.  

Loss and degradation of natural habitats and direct overexploitation of many species have been identified by researchers as the key threats to avian biodiversity.

Climate change is also identified as an emerging driver of bird population declines in research published today (May 5) in the Annual Review of Environment and Resources.

Led by Manchester Metropolitan University, the review, State of the World’s Birds, found that approximately 48% of existing bird species worldwide are known or suspected to be undergoing population declines.

Populations are stable for 39% of species, says the review, with only 6% showing increasing population trends, and the status of 7% still unknown.

The research reviewed changes in avian biodiversity using data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s “Red List” to reveal population changes among the globe’s 11,000 bird species. 

Dr Alexander Lees, Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, and lead author of the study, said: “We are now witnessing the first signs of a new wave of extinctions of continentally-distributed bird species, which has followed the historic loss of species on islands like the Dodo.

“Avian diversity peaks globally in the tropics and it is there that we also find the highest richness of threatened species.”

Despite their findings, study authors say there is hope for avian conservation efforts, but transformative change is needed.

Dr Lees added: “The fate of bird populations is strongly dependent on stopping the loss and degradation of habitats. This is often driven by demand for resources, including food.

“The decisions about what we have for lunch, where and how it was produced reverberate across the planet and in the future. We need to better consider how these commodity flows can contribute to biodiversity loss and seek to mitigate them.” 

The study was conducted by scientists from Manchester Metropolitan University, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Birdlife International, the University of Johannesburg, Pontifical Xavierian University, and the Nature Conservation Foundation.

“The fate of bird populations is strongly dependent on stopping the loss and degradation of habitats. This is often driven by demand for resources, including food."

Dr Simeon Bezeng, Regional Conservation Programme Manager at BirdLife South Africa, said: “We show in this review that despite the increasing threats and associated loss of avian biodiversity, we can be part of the solution in reversing the steady deterioration in the conservation status of global avifauna.

“This can be achieved by working collaboratively with government, non-government organisations (NGOs), private sector, local communities and other, using innovative tools and on the ground solutions for conserving and restoring avian biodiversity.”

Dr Ken Rosenberg, Conservation Biologist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, added: “Because birds are highly visible and sensitive indicators of environmental health, we know their loss signals a much wider loss of biodiversity and threats to human health and well-being.

“Fortunately, the global network of bird conservation organisations taking part in this study have the tools to prevent further loss of bird species and abundance, from land protection to policies of sustainable resource use that depend on the will of governments and society to live side by side with nature on our shared planet earth.”