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Study flags population decline in 5,245 bird species

The state of 7 per cent was unknown, it said, noting that details on common birds were patchy
Last Updated 09 May 2022, 02:13 IST

An estimated 5245 bird species (48 per cent) across the world are suspected to be undergoing population declines, a study by nine researchers has warned, stating that the existing conservation efforts were inadequate to check the loss of avian biodiversity.

The study 'State of the World's Birds' was published in the Annual Review of Environment and Resources, a peer reviewed academic journal. It took into consideration the data from the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and a report on the State of India's Birds released in 2020 while looking into the state of the about 11000 living birds classified as the 'best-known class of all living organisms.

"There is emerging evidence for major changes in the abundance of the common bird species globally," the study said, citing data from North America, Europe, India and parts of Africa. It said 48 per cent of the birds (5245) were known or suspected to be undergoing population declines while 39 per cent (4295) showed stable trends and 6 per cent (676) showed an increase in populations. The state of 7 per cent was unknown, it said, noting that details on common birds were patchy.

Researchers also pointed to BirdLife International's latest assessment for the IUCN which put 1,481 species on the Red List, to suggest that they were threatened with global extinction. Most of the threatened bird species (1278) were found in tropical than in temperate latitudes. "The majority of threatened species (817) are endemic to single countries or territories but some species have large ranges spanning many countries," they said.

The study, involved scientists from Manchester Metropolitan, Cornell University, Birdlife International, the University of Johannesburg, Pontifical Xavierian University and Nature Conservation Foundation, India.

Dr Alexander Lees, Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, and lead author of the study, said in a statement: “Avian diversity peaks globally in the tropics and it is there that we also find the highest richness of threatened species. We know a lot less about the fortunes of tropical bird species than we do about temperate ones, but 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”.

Dr Ashwin Viswanathan, a researcher at the Nature Conservation Foundation, India said “If unique ecosystems like grasslands are to retain their diverse birdlife into the future, both Governments and research groups must prioritise such landscapes and their inhabitants for conservation and ensure that they do not become plantations or woodlands.”

The study flagged that the lack of progress in conserving the bird species reflects a lack of resources or political will, rather than a lack of knowledge of what needs to be done.

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(Published 08 May 2022, 23:11 IST)

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