The World's Rarest Birds: 55 (WILDGuides) - Hardcover

Hirschfeld, Erik; Swash, Andy; Still, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691155968 ISBN 13: 9780691155968

Publisher: Princeton University Press – WILDGuides, 2013

Synopsis

This illustrated book vividly depicts the most endangered birds in the world and provides the latest information on the threats each species faces and the measures being taken to save them. Today, 571 bird species are classified as critically endangered or endangered, and a further four now exist only in captivity. This landmark book features stunning photographs of 500 of these species--the results of a prestigious international photographic competition organized specifically for this book. It also showcases paintings by acclaimed wildlife artist Tomasz Cofta of the 75 species for which no photos are known to exist. The World's Rarest Birds has introductory chapters that explain the threats to birds, the ways threat categories are applied, and the distinction between threat and rarity. The book is divided into seven regional sections--Europe and the Middle East; Africa and Madagascar; Asia; Australasia; Oceanic Islands; North America, Central America, and the Caribbean; and South America. Each section includes an illustrated directory to the bird species under threat there, and gives a concise description of distribution, status, population, key threats, and conservation needs. This one-of-a-kind book also provides coverage of 62 data-deficient species.

About this title

About the Author

Erik Hirschfeld works in air traffic control management and is a freelance writer, guide, and consultant in ornithology. Andy Swash is managing director of WILDGuides and a professional wildlife photographer, naturalist, author, and guide. Robert Still is an ecologist, widely traveled naturalist, and graphic artist who designs books that encourage people to take a greater interest in the natural world.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

THE WORLD'S RAREST BIRDS

By Erik Hirschfeld Andy Swash Robert Still

Princeton University Press

Copyright © 2013 Erik Hirschfeld, Andy Swash & Robert Still
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-691-15596-8

Contents

The World's Rarest initiative.............................................................7Introduction to the world's birds.........................................................8The world's rarest birds..................................................................11The threats birds face....................................................................25The need for conservation.................................................................48Threats without borders...................................................................50The Regional Directories(see overleaf for full listing)...................................54Acknowledgements..........................................................................332APPENDIX 1 – Extinct Species........................................................336APPENDIX 2 – The bird families with globally threatened species.....................339Index.....................................................................................347

Chapter One

The world's rarest birds

This book focuses on the 197 Critically Endangered and 389 Endangered bird species listed by BirdLife International on the 2012 IUCN Red List. 'The World's Rarest' should be taken as shorthand for 'the most threatened', noting that some of these species may still be quite abundant, but declining extremely rapidly, and hence qualifying as Critically Endangered or Endangered under the 'A' criterion of The IUCN Red List (see page 13).

Conversely, some rare birds are not globally threatened. The Powerful Owl Ninox strenua, with a global population of 2,200–2,800 mature individuals, is naturally sparsely distributed, with huge home ranges of up to 5,000 hectares in eastern and south-eastern Australia. There are fewer than 10,000 Madeira Laurel Pigeons Columba trocaz within an area of just 160 km², but they have reoccupied all areas of suitable habitat on the island, following a ban on hunting. Both species are currently considered of Least Concern.

Going or gone?

While this book focuses on Critically Endangered and Endangered species – those believed to be on the brink of extinction – at least 130 species are known already to have gone Extinct since 1500. Four more species are Extinct in the Wild (and another is probably so), and now only exist in captivity. A list of the Extinct species and the date each was last recorded is included in Appendix 1 on page 336.

Listing a species as Extinct has significant conservation implications, because conservation funding is, justifiably, not targeted at species that are believed no longer to exist. Conservationists are therefore reluctant to designate a species as Extinct if there is any reasonable possibility that it may still be extant.

For this reason, authorities such as BirdLife International and IUCN take a precautionary approach to classifying extinctions in order to encourage continuing conservation efforts until there is no reasonable doubt that the last individual of a species has died. It also minimizes the danger of 'crying wolf' and reducing confidence in the accuracy of the label Extinct.

However, this approach means that the number of recent extinctions documented on The IUCN Red List is likely to be a significant underestimate. The tags 'Possibly Extinct' and 'Possibly Extinct in the Wild' have therefore been developed to identify those Critically Endangered species that are in all probability already Extinct (or are believed only to exist in captivity), but for which confirmation is required. Fourteen species (see table on page 18) are tagged in this way. Although these species are, on the balance of evidence, likely to be Extinct, they can not be formally listed as such until adequate surveys have failed to find them and local or unconfirmed reports have been investigated and discounted.

For example, the last confirmed record of the near-flightless Alaotra Grebe Tachybaptus rufolavatus, confined to the Lake Alaotra area of Madagascar, was in 1982. After extensive surveys failed to find it, it was described as Possibly Extinct in 2006, and declared extinct in 2010. On the other hand, the Madagascar Pochard Aythya innotata, which had also disappeared from Lake Alaotra, and was also was placed in the new 'Possibly Extinct' category in 2006, was rediscovered later the same year, 300 km north of the lake.

Four species are now Extinct in the Wild but survive as captive populations: Hawaiian Crow Corvus hawaiiensis, Guam Rail Gallirallus owstoni, Alagoas Curassow Mitu mitu and Socorro Dove Zenaida graysoni. They are described as Critically Endangered (Extinct in the Wild). With the disappearance of the last known wild individual in 2000, a fifth species, Spix's Macaw Cyanopsitta spixii, is listed as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct in the Wild).

One-third of the Possibly Extinct species have not been recorded for more than 50 years, which is in itself strong evidence that they may well be Extinct. For example, Hooded Seedeater Sporophila melanops is known only from the type specimen collected over 180 years ago. The Turquoise-throated Puffleg Eriocnemis godini has not been seen since 1850, and the habitat at the type-locality has been almost completely destroyed. However, it cannot yet be presumed to be Extinct because there was an unconfirmed record in 1976. Introduced mammalian predators are the prime candidates for the possible extirpation of the Jamaican Pauraque Siphonorhis americana and the Jamaica Petrel Pterodroma caribbaea. Similarly, the Guadalupe Storm-petrel Oceanodroma macrodactyla has not been recorded since 1912 despite several searches, following a severe decline owing to predation by introduced cats and habitat degradation by goats. Only the difficulty of detecting petrels and storm-petrels at their breeding colonies at night, and the continued survival of other petrels and storm-petrels on these islands, keeps alive the hope that these species still survive. Hunting and logging, and deliberate poisoning by timber companies, drove the Imperial Woodpecker Campephilus imperialis to possible extinction, but the possibility that some survive in regenerating forest cannot be ruled out. The once-abundant Eskimo Curlew Numenius borealis declined rapidly more than a century ago because of industrial-scale hunting, followed by destruction of most of its breeding habitat in the Prairies and its wintering grounds in the Pampas. Similarly, Bachman's Warbler Vermivora bachmanii may have gone extinct as a result of habitat destruction on its breeding and wintering grounds, but not all remaining swamp breeding habitat has yet been searched. In the Hawaiian Islands, the Olomao Myadestes lanaiensis, Ou Psittirostra psittacea, Oahu Alauahio Paroreomyza maculata and Nukupuu Hemignathus lucidus were seen for what may have been the last times between 1988 and 1996, and the last known Poo-uli Melamprosops phaeosoma died in captivity in 2004. Not recognised until 2004, the Ua Pou Monarch Pomarea mira was declared extinct in 2006, but an unconfirmed report in 2010 raised hopes that it may survive.

The known unknowns

For 60 bird species, there is insufficient information available to evaluate them against The IUCN Red List criteria, and they are therefore categorized as 'Data Deficient'. Many of these species will probably be found to be Least Concern once further information is available, but some could prove to be to Critically Endangered or Endangered. This suite of birds encompasses a number of different sorts of cases, including:

Mysterious origins: two hummingbirds – Bogota Sunangel Heliangelus zusii and Coppery Thorntail Discosura letitiae – are known only from one or two specimens taken 100–150 years ago, labelled as 'Bogota' and 'Bolivia' respectively, but could quite possibly come from any of the Andean countries. Black-browed Babbler Malacocincla perspicillata, known from a single specimen taken in the 1840s, probably in Kalimantan (but possibly from elsewhere in the region), has a similarly mysterious origin.

Taxonomic tangles: in some cases, the lack of information that precludes a Red List assessment may be a consequence of taxonomic uncertainty. For example, Bluntschli's Vanga Hypositta perdita was named from two specimens collected in 1931 in south-east Madagascar. The specimens are juveniles, and may refer to juvenile Nuthatch Vanga H. corallirostris, which would explain why none have ever been recorded since (although some taxonomists think that the apparently far longer tarsi and shorter toes make this unlikely).

Papuan enigmas: the island of New Guinea (shared by Indonesia and Papua New Guinea) and its satellite islands host the greatest concentration of Data Deficient species – 17 in total. This reflects the paucity of information on the distribution, sensitivity to hunting and habitat loss, and ecology of many of the species of this region, resulting from the limited number of birdwatchers and ornithological researchers visiting the area. Starry Owlet-nightjar Aegotheles tatei is a typical example, with the voice of this nocturnal species only recently being described for the first time.

Congo conundrums: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon and adjacent West African countries host another 12 species that are too poorly known in terms of distribution, ecology and threats to determine their status, including for example, Emerald Starling Coccycolius iris. This species is found from Equatorial Guinea to Cote d'Ivoire, but its abundance, sensitivity to habitat degradation and susceptibility to the impact of collection for the cagebird trade are all very poorly known. Somalia, Colombia and the Philippines are additional hotspots for Data Deficient species, with five such species each. The poor security situation in some of these countries in recent decades is part of the explanation for the lack of fieldwork, and hence knowledge of these species.

The distribution of threatened birds

Nearly all countries and territories worldwide support at least one globally threatened bird. Some regions and countries stand out as having particularly high densities of threatened species: for example, the tropical Andes, Atlantic Forests of Brazil, the eastern Himalayas, eastern Madagascar, and the archipelagos of South-East Asia.

The majority of threatened birds (60%) occur only in one country (and hence are termed single-country endemics), and have small ranges and small populations. Areas of importance for these endemic birds have suffered much more from agricultural expansion than the rest of the world, and 20% of all bird species now occur in a total area of less than two million square kilometres (1% of the world's area), down from 4 million square kilometres in historic times.

Conversely, the ranges of some threatened birds may cross the borders of several countries: the globally Endangered Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus tops the list, occurring regularly in 82 countries across Europe, Asia and Africa. In total, 22 threatened species have ranges that encompass 30 or more countries, and 184 are recorded from five or more countries.

On continents, the numbers of threatened birds to some extent reflects the species richness. Of the countries with the most threatened species, four of the top five are also among the top five for the overall number of species: Brazil, Peru, Indonesia and Colombia. But nine of the 'top 20' countries for threatened bird species are in Asia, with Indonesia in third place, China in sixth, and India seventh; all these countries have suffered from the rapid clearance of their lowland forests.

Although just 2% of bird species are found on the islands of the Oceanic realm, compared to 83% from the continental land masses, these islands have a disproportionately high number of threatened species. When continental shelf islands are added to oceanic islands, the total number of threatened bird species reaches 583, compared to 613 for all the continental land masses combined.

For example, Gough Island, one of the world's most important breeding sites for seabirds, has seven threatened species, including a penguin, three albatrosses and a petrel, as well as both its endemic species (a moorhen and a bunting). French Polynesia, the Cook Islands, St Helena and Pitcairn each have fewer than 100 bird species, but 40% are either threatened or already Extinct.

Three-quarters (76%) of threatened birds are found in forests of different kinds. Marine, inland wetland and grassland habitats each support 16% of threatened bird species. Only 31% of threatened species tolerate human-modified habitats, compared with 50% of all birds. Threatened forest birds are highly dependent upon intact habitat for their survival. Overall, 18% of bird species can be found in degraded forest, but only 3% of threatened birds use such habitat, and for the majority it is of marginal importance.

Seabirds are now more threatened than any other group of birds. Of the 346 seabird species, 97 (28%) are globally threatened, and a further 10% are Near Threatened. Nearly half of all seabird species are known or suspected to be experiencing population declines. Of the main seabird families, which together account for 87% of species, the most threatened are the penguins, and the albatrosses and petrels. Of 22 albatross species, 17 are globally threatened and the rest Near Threatened. The next most threatened group of seabirds are the gadfly petrels of the genera Pterodroma and Pseudobulweria.

Last chances to save

Of the 586 Endangered and Critically Endangered bird species, exactly 200 are now restricted to single sites. In other words, for each of these species, the entire global population (or, in a few cases, over 95% of it) is restricted to a single Important Bird Area (IBA), National Park or patch of forest. The Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE), a joint initiative of 76 biodiversity conservation organizations, has identified 588 such sites for 920 highly threatened bird, mammal, amphibian, reptile, conifer or coral species globally.

An AZE site must contain all or the vast majority of the global population of at least one Endangered or Critically Endangered species, either resident, or during part of its life history (breeding or wintering). Protecting AZE sites is an absolute priority for the conservation of these species. Although to survive in the long term, some species will require larger areas than currently covered by AZE sites, it is hoped that preserving such sites will help to at least halt the decline of the species, providing a refuge from which they will be able expand into restored habitat in the future.

The threats birds face

To understand the factors that result in species being threatened with extinction, and to allow comparisons between different species, BirdLife International and other organizations classify these factors using a standard classification scheme. This is hierarchical, with some broad, high-level classes, each of which is divided into more specific categories. For each threat, a score is assigned for its timing (current, future, past, and for the latter a judgement made as to whether it is likely to return in the short or long term), scope (the proportion of the population affected by the threat), and severity (the rate of population decline driven by the threat within the area it affects). These scores are combined to produce a score for threat impact – the magnitude of its effect on the species as a whole.

These data show that a broad range of factors threaten Endangered and Critically Endangered species, with agriculture, logging, invasive species and unsustainable levels of hunting and trapping being most important. A review of each of the main threats is provided on the following pages, with illustrated examples from around the world. The only threat which is not covered in any detail is ecosystem modifications.

The threats faced by globally threatened birds

This chart shows the total number of Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable species affected by each of the 15 threat types. It is important to note that many species are affected by more than one threat, and some face many threats. For this reason, the cumulative total is much greater than the actual number of species involved.

[AGR] Agriculture and aquaculture

The conversion of natural habitats to agricultural land is the most serious threat to globally threatened birds. Across the world, the area of land used for agriculture has increased six-fold during the past 300 years. Much of the usable land that has not yet been developed, but is likely to come under pressure as human populations and levels of consumption grow, is in areas that are important for biodiversity.

In Africa, habitat clearance for agriculture threatens over 50% of Important Bird Areas (IBAs), and almost one third of Europe's IBAs are damaged or at risk from agricultural intensification and expansion.

The growing demand for commodity crops is leading to the rapid and large-scale destruction of tropical forests and grasslands. Brazil alone has over 20,000 km² of coffee plantation, most of it replacing primary rainforest. According to the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), more than 80% of the world's existing oil palm plantations are in Indonesia and Malaysia, where they have replaced lowland forest. World demand for palm oil is predicted to at least double by 2020. Most remaining lowland forest in Myanmar has already been allocated to oil palm concessions, threatening the last stronghold of the Endangered Gurney's Pitta Pitta gurneyi, which also faces a bleak future in tiny habitat remnants in Thailand. Studies in Thailand found that bird species richness was 60% lower in oil palm than primary lowland forest, and that following conversion to plantations, 15 out of 16 globally threatened or Near Threatened species disappeared.

The temperate grasslands of southern South America originally covered an area of over one million square kilometres in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul state, and southern Paraguay. Only a tiny percentage remains in a natural state, and even this remnant is threatened by agricultural intensification. Traditional beef producers, whose grazing livestock helped maintain the natural grasslands, have seen their markets captured by intensively-reared 'feedlot' beef, and pasture has instead been turned over to crops such as soya. Endemic grassland-dependent bird species such as Marsh Sporophila palustris and Chestnut S. cinnamomea Seedeaters, Saffron-cowled Blackbird Xanthopsar flavus, Strange-tailed Tyrant Alectrurus risora and Ochre-breasted Pipit Anthus nattereri have all become globally threatened.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from THE WORLD'S RAREST BIRDSby Erik Hirschfeld Andy Swash Robert Still Copyright © 2013 by Erik Hirschfeld, Andy Swash & Robert Still. Excerpted by permission of Princeton University Press. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Princeton University Press – WILDGuides
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0691155968
• ISBN 13: 9780691155968
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 360