Coast birds

North American birds declined by 29% since 1970

A recent study concludes that the birds of Canada and the United States have taken a substantial hit in the last 49 years. Researchers from several institutions in the U.S. and Canada, including the American Bird Conservancy, the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, and Environment and Climate Change Canada, joined forces for the study.

Irish bird populations suffering serious decline

Birdwatch Ireland's research has shown that the country has lost half a million waterbirds or almost 40% in less than 20 years. Among species in decline are Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus), Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula), Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) and Pochard (Aythya ferina). It says that there has been an "almost complete extermination" of farmland birds such as the Corncrake (Crex crex).

Canada’s grassland birds have plummeted in number since the 1970s

The North American Bird Conservation Initiative in Canada released the second State of Canada’s Birds report last week. The report, a joint project of Environment Canada and numerous government and conservation organizations, looks at the status of Canada’s bird populations going back to 1970.The study found that shorebirds, grassland birds, and aerial insectivores were in rapid decline across Canada, with numbers down 40, 57, and 59 per cent since 1970.

New Zealand's North Island sea bird population is in serious decline

An estimated 90 percent of seabirds in the North island are at risk of extinction according to the Northern New Zealand Seabird Trust report. More than 28 species, including five that are found nowhere else in the world, live in northern New Zealand with very little known about the status of them and the specific threats to them, the report said.

Bird populations under stress

At least 314 species of American birds are expected to lose 50 per cent or more of their range by the end of the century, and have been listed by the Audubon Society as endangered. A United Nations science report says 1 million species of plants and animals are at risk of going extinct. Most at risk are sea birds and grasslands birds, experts say. Birds known as aerial insectivores, like swifts (Apus apus) and nighthawks (Chordeiles minor) , are at risk because the insects they depend on are getting harder to find.

Wildlife species in danger of disappearing from East Anglia

Experts from Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Buglife and the RSPB have all pointed to species in danger of disappearing from East Anglia. They include stone curlew - only 202 pairs nested in the East of England last year; the shrill carder bee - common in the region 25 years ago but now found only in the Thames Gateway area; and the crested cow-wheat - a plant limited to a small number of roadside verges because grassland has disappeared to farming or construction. Indeed, habitat destruction and human disturbance are cited as the two most common reasons these species are on the brink.

De Tapuit verdwijnt als broedvogel uit de Veluwe

De tapuit Oenanthe oenanthe heeft het in Nederland en de ons omringende landen moeilijk. Dit jaar is er zelfs geen enkel broedgeval op de Veluwe gevonden. Daarmee is deze vogel in Gelderland als broedvogel vermoedelijk uitgestorven. Tapuiten leven in duinen, open grasland, heide en stuifzand. Ze eten insecten en broeden in holen, meestal oude konijnenholen. In dertig jaar is het aantal broedparen in Nederland met 90% afgenomen: van ruim 2000 naar ongeveer 200.

Lachmöwen zieht es immer seltener an den Bodensee

Möwen gehörten lange Zeit zum bekannten Bild des Bodensees und gelten für manche noch immer als Quälgeister. Doch wie bei vielen anderen Vogelarten am größten Binnengewässer Deutschlands ist ein markanter Artenschwund eingetreten. Die oft riesigen Schwärme von Möwen, die einst die Schiffe und Fähren umkreisten, scheinen Vergangenheit zu sein. Ornithologen und Naturschützer gehen davon aus, dass von früher 30 000 bis 40 000 Lachmöwen – der am Bodensee häufigsten Art – zurzeit gerade mal noch etwa 10 000 hier überwintern.