The future of Australian birds is bleak, according to a new report called The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2010, which was carried out by researchers from Birds Australia (formerly the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union), Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory and the national science agency CSIRO. It classifies every Australian species and subspecies of bird according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List guidelines, which is the international standard for measuring risk of extinction. Birds moving into the danger zone include the western ground parrot, the regent honeyeater and orange-bellied parrot. The grey-headed albatross from Macquarie Island in the southwest corner of the Pacific Ocean is listed as 'critically endangered'. In total, 13% of bird species in Australia are under threat. The report applies current knowledge to change the conservation standing of 66 birds since the last action plan report in 2000. It lists 27 as extinct, 20 as critically endangered, 68 as vulnerable and 63 as near threatened.
Source: Cosmos, 1 November 2011
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/4916/australian-birds-extinction-cri…
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