Tot enkele decennia geleden kwamen talrijke klutenpopulaties tot broeden op de kale kwelders in het waddengebied. Na de jaren negentig van de vorige eeuw namen de aantallen echter constant af. In 2015 bedroeg het aantal broedparen nog maar een derde van het gemiddelde rond 2000. Het actuele aantal ligt ver onder de instandhoudingsdoelstellingen die voor Natura 2000 zijn geformuleerd.
Er zijn steeds minder insecten. Uit onderzoek blijkt dat de hoeveelheid insecten in de natuurgebieden rond het Duitse Krefeld met bijna 80% is afgenomen in 25 jaar van 1989 tot 2014. Een afname die volgens een publicatie in Science niet alleen in Duitsland geconstateerd wordt, maar ook in andere landen. Zo daalde het aantal insecten in Schotland met 60%. Het onderzoek in Krefeld werd uitgevoerd in natuurgebieden waar niet zo extreem veel was veranderd in het beheer van die gebieden zelf. Maar in de omgeving is wel veel veranderd.
Populations of farmland, woodland and marine birds have all fallen dramatically over the past 50 years, according to new government figures. In all bird species, populations have declined by six per cent since 1970, but some species saw stunning declines over the past five decades, as pesticides, the intensification of farming and the removal of hedgerows wreaked havoc. Bird populations are seen as a key indicator of the health of the natural world as they tend to feed on small insects that are the basis of the food chain.
For Numeniini, a family of birds that includes Curlews and Godwits, new research indicates that these birds are at risk. A recent study by Royal Society for the Preservation of Birds (BirdLife in the UK), British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), and the International Wader Study Group suggests they could actually be one of the most threatened families of birds on earth. The study consulted over 100 experts who assessed the threats to Numeniini throughout their migratory regions and found that seven of the thirteen species are threatened with extinction.
A conservationist has called on the Scottish government to act to protect the much-loved puffin (Fratercula arctica) amid warnings that populations of the iconic bird are in terminal decline. Philip Lymbery, chief executive of Compassion in World Farming, points to a population crash of Scottish puffins due to overfishing in the North Sea.
Van de 263 onderzochte vogelsoorten die Nederland aandoen als doortrekker of wintergast zijn er 39 op de nieuwe ‘Rode Lijst’ van bedreigde vogels terecht gekomen en negen op de oranje lijst. De oranje lijst is een lijst van vogels die de afgelopen tien jaar constant in aantal zijn afgenomen en dus ook in de gevarenzone dreigen te komen. Van de wintergasten en doortrekkers die in ons land achteruit zijn gegaan, broeden er zo’n dertien op de toendra.
Immer weniger Weißstörche (Ciconia ciconia) brüten im Landkreis Nordwestmecklenburg. Gerade einmal 27 Paare wurden im vergangenen Jahr von den aktiven Weißstorchschützern des Naturschutzbundes (Nabu) gezählt. 1996 waren es noch 95 Paare. Die Schuld an dem Rückgang geben die Naturschützer der veränderten Kulturlandschaft in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Hecken und blütenreiche Ackerrandstreifen suche man mittlerweile vergebens. Feuchtwiesen werden entwässert und als artenarme, intensiv genutzte Grünländer genutzt.
The research, published in the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) journal Bird Study, looked at the breeding populations of three species of large gull; Herring Gull (Larus argentatus), Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) and Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus) on the Hebridean island of Canna, and the relationship between these gull populations and the fall in the quantity of fish landed in the nearby harbour of Mallaig. Between 1985 and 2000 an annual average of 13,726 tonnes of fish was landed in Mallaig. However, between 2007 and 2014 this had fallen to 4,456 tonnes.
Shorebird populations have shrunk, on average, by an estimated 70% across North America since 1973, and the species that breed in the Arctic are among the hardest hit. The crashing numbers, seen in many shorebird populations around the world, have prompted wildlife agencies and scientists to warn that, without action, some species might go extinct. Although the trend is clear, the underlying causes are not. That’s because shorebirds travel thousands of kilometres a year, and encounter so many threats along the way that it is hard to decipher which are the most damaging.
As a species, the eastern black rail (Laterallus jamaicensis) tops the list for avid bird-lovers the world over who are eager to catch a glimpse of this reclusive, secretive little creature. That’s because most birders have never actually seen one in the flesh. And most of them never will. In just a few short years the night calls of the eastern black rail have gone silent in many coastal states. In Virginia, for instance, there have been no recorded sightings in two years.