Climate Change Strikes Again. Bird Species in Danger

According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, climate change is now severely affecting the population of birds around the world. The IUCN meeting taking place this week in Bonn, Germany, has updated the catalogue of 1226 species of threatened birds in the Red List of endangered bird species released this week by the organization.

The paper reveals that the situation of 26 species of birds has worsened, while only two species have experienced improvement.

One of the species of birds whose conservation status has worsened since last year is the Australian Mallee Emuwren, Stipiturus mallee, a 15 centimeter long wren with males having bright blue faces and throats. The habitat of this particular Australian species is severely affected by drought and forest fires. Currently, the largest known population of birds consists of only 100 wrens, living in an area of about 100 square kilometers.

The IUCN believes that a single forest fire could bring the species on the endangered list.

Eight other species living only in the Champion and Gardner-by-Floreana islands of the Galapagos, amongst which the Floreana Mockingbird, Nemomimus trifasciatus, have now been declared critically endangered, reaching populations lower than 60. The most likely cause for this could be extreme weather events such as extremely dry La Niña years, when death rates are highest.

Bird populations in Papua New Guinea are also decreasing in number as a result of intense palm oil cultivation, used to produce biofuels, and accelerated deforestation. Such plans to deal with the effects of climate change affected a variety of bird species, including the New Britain Goshawk, Accipiter princes.

"Species are being hit by the double whammy of habitat loss and climate change. As populations become fragmented the effect of climate change can have an even greater impact, leading to an increased risk of local extinctions", says Stuart Butchart, of BirdLife International.


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