World's common birds 'declining'

by LotusFlower | September 21, 2008 at 10:33 pm

1578 views | 49 Recommendations | 56 comments

Great Spotted Cuckoo (Clamator glandarius)

We have heard about rare birds heading towards extinction but now a report tells us that even our most common birds are dwindling in numbers as their habitats are lost. These common birds though not in danger of extinction at the moment are a good barometer of the world's environmental health. The prospect of a spring in England without the sound of a cuckoo is fast approaching if measures aren't taken soon to adress the problem of habitat loss in some way.

The once-common cuckoo is among British birds in serious decline, conservationists warn today.

The turtle dove and nightingale are also identified by Birdlife International as suffering large falls in numbers, despite Government pledges to halt the loss of wildlife.

The organisation blames pollution, agriculture, fishing and the impact of climate change.

An analysis of 124 of Europe's common bird species over a 26-year period found almost half had declined across 20 countries. Cuckoo numbers have dropped by 17 per cent and the turtle dove by almost two thirds.

Bird species across the world are also in decline. The international conservation organisation issued the warning at the launch of its new State Of The World's Birds study at its world conference in Buenos Aires.

The populations of the world's common birds are declining as a result of continued habitat loss, a global assessment has warned.

The survey by BirdLife International found that 45% of Europe's common birds had seen numbers fall, as had more than 80% of Australia's wading species.

The study's authors said governments were failing to fund their promises to halt biodiversity loss by 2010.

The findings will be presented at the group's World Conference in Argentina.

The State of the World's Birds 2008 report, the first update since 2004, found that common species - ones considered to be familiar in people's everyday lives - were declining in all parts of the world.

In Europe, an analysis of 124 species over a 26-year period revealed that 56 species had declined in 20 countries.

Farmland birds were worst affected, with the number of European turtle-doves (Streptopelia turtur) falling by 79%.

In Africa, birds of prey were experiencing "widespread decline" outside of protected areas. While in Asia, 62% of the continent's migratory water bird species were "declining or already extinct".

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mchawk

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 02:22 on September 22nd, 2008

LotusFlower, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Barbara McPherson

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 08:39 on September 22nd, 2008

LotusFlower, I like this story. It's good stuff. Never mind about that canary in the coalmine, this is a looming disaster. Birds are an important factor in maintaining a healthy ecosystem.

Insane Designz

at 16:19 on September 22nd, 2008

Just decided to take a photo of Anguilla's National Bird

Insane Designz has contributed a photo to this story.

Jarrett Martineau

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 17:28 on September 22nd, 2008

LotusFlower, I like this story. It's good stuff.

jess116

at 17:30 on September 22nd, 2008

Nice story!

I actually took this photo at the zoo. I wasn't intending to take photos of wild birds while I was there but this lovely bird was posing so nicely, so I thought why not!

jess116 has contributed a photo to this story.

patgarcia

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 18:10 on September 22nd, 2008

LotusFlower, I like this story. It's good stuff. I love to hear birds singing by my window!

Ravivaidya

at 19:56 on September 22nd, 2008

We took the photograph of the oriental turtle dove just outside the gates of the Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary which is a special sanctuary for the malabar giant squirrel.. It was walking around digging the mud for seeds and ants

Candle Tree

at 20:06 on September 22nd, 2008

My friend and I were taking a walk in this resort called 'Vedic Village', found this beauty perched on a branch like a statue. Once it saw my camera, immediately started posing! The whole place has many of it's friends, relatives and family members and are absolute fun to watch.

Candle Tree has contributed a photo to this story.

febenodsigns

at 20:42 on September 22nd, 2008

This photograph was taken from my dining hall patio .The bird was sitting in a Tamarind tree next to my apartment .Now I am happy that this photo has the attention of so many people .

febenodsigns has contributed a photo to this story.

nigel.addecott

at 21:36 on September 22nd, 2008

Guiara cuckoo Bahai Brasil July 2008.

nigel.addecott has contributed a photo to this story.

Lance V Nix

at 21:37 on September 22nd, 2008

Several Ringed Turtle Doves showed up in Port Orford on the southern Oregon coast. They were first noticed about 3 years ago. Since then they seem to have increased in number and some are apparently inbreeding with the local native doves as numerous color variations are now seen. Some are very pale (almost white) grey. Others are near the colour of our native Mourning Doves. In the future I am hoping to get more pictures of these newer Turtle Dove variations.

Lance V Nix has contributed a photo to this story.

Dimiter Popoff

at 21:39 on September 22nd, 2008

My local observations match the claim of the article, this year there were a lot less birds to be seen in the vicinity than the years before...

Dimiter Popoff has contributed a photo to this story.

aviceda

at 21:57 on September 22nd, 2008

Just to let you know that there are many other species of Cuckoo around the world....many facing similar problems as the Eurasian. Have a look here at my 'Flickr' group (http://www.flickr.com/groups/613290@N20/)

aviceda has contributed a photo to this story.

Lid Licker

at 22:43 on September 22nd, 2008

I saw this in my garden and hastily took a photo through the glass not expecting it to come out!

Lid Licker has contributed a photo to this story.

Johnnizam

at 23:05 on September 22nd, 2008

It come to my knowledge that many birdwatchers around the world regard this bird as a myth bird of Borneo. As far as I know now, the only possible place to see this bird in the wild, is in Several location along the Kinabatangan River of Borneo (where photo taken). Very fortunate, that the area where this bird usually seen is on way of several effort of conservation by NGO's and local government, despite the agricultural activities sprees. Benefit of the doubt, this bird could be still around for another 100 years in Borneo.

Johnnizam has contributed a photo to this story.

arquell01

at 23:11 on September 22nd, 2008

Hi Pouping

This is a common Turtle Dove that we see regularly in our back garden with his mate. I saw it sitting on the bird bath and had to get a photo of it. I an not sure if the number of Doves is declining in Australia or not as we see them all the time.

I have allowed you to use this photo on your site only. It would be appreciated if you are asked to post it elsewhere that you seek my permission first via email. Also please link it back to my flickr page so others can see all my photos if they wish.

Regards Ashley.

arquell01 has contributed a photo to this story.

shakes555

at 23:27 on September 22nd, 2008

Its a common Hawk-Cuckoo shot at the outskirts of Mysore,Karnataka,India.

shakes555 has contributed a photo to this story.

Jed B

at 00:24 on September 23rd, 2008

Turtle dove photographed in Norfolk, England.

Jed B has contributed a photo to this story.

royleader

at 00:42 on September 23rd, 2008

these prehistoric cuckoos live in captivity on the isle of wight in Hampshire in England

royleader has contributed a photo to this story.

RamblingMan1

at 01:06 on September 23rd, 2008

We've had Ringed Turtle-Doves coming to our feeders for three years now (2008). We think they are nesting in our area but so far haven't seen any nests. We also have Eurasian Collared-Doves nesting in our yard and have observed two nests with young birds in them.

RamblingMan1 has contributed a photo to this story.

June Grinath

at 01:09 on September 23rd, 2008

We were fortunate to see these red billed cuckoos at Blue Mash in Maryland. We believe this is pre-mating behavior.

June Grinath has contributed a photo to this story.

Maria Rego

at 01:18 on September 23rd, 2008

I saw this Streptopelia turtur once, near River Douro- Portugal.
Rarely , today, I saw a bird like this!

Maria Rego has contributed a photo to this story.

Vinod Sohanlal

at 01:56 on September 23rd, 2008

Bulbuls (Pycnonotidae) are a family of medium-sized passerine songbirds resident in Africa and tropical Asia. There are about 130 species.

These are mostly frugivorous birds. Some are colorful with yellow, red or orange vents, cheeks, throat or supercilia, but most are drab, with uniform olive brown to black plumage. Some have very distinct crests.

Many of these species inhabit tree tops, while some are restricted to the undergrowth. Up to five purple-pink eggs are laid in an open tree nests and incubated by the female.

The word bulbul may derive from Persian(بلبل), or from Turkish (bülbül), meaning nightingale.

Vinod Sohanlal has contributed a photo to this story.

aneeta

at 01:57 on September 23rd, 2008

I don't know if this bird is now in the endangered species or not. i just watch them singing in their mirthful tunes. But they are not so friendly, it was not so easy to take a pic of this bird it was just chance that it was sitting on a branch very near to my room window and I captured this pic almost stealthily.

Aneeta

Aneeta Mirza. has contributed a photo to this story.

sarainoz

at 02:46 on September 23rd, 2008

White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike (Coracina papuensis)

A common resident of the Wet Tropics of Queensland Australia. More information can be found on Wikipedia here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-bellied_Cuckoo-shrike

sarainoz has contributed a photo to this story.

Mendis

at 02:55 on September 23rd, 2008

This is a little bronze cuckoo (Chrysococcyx minutillus).

Mendis has contributed a photo to this story.

ericbronson

at 03:06 on September 23rd, 2008

I spotted this rare bird as I was doing some photography near my estate. It was looking for some smaller fishes in the canal -Sungei Tampines, Pasir Ris Estate. I am not aware that these birds are heading towards extinction.

ericbronson has contributed a photo to this story.

CarmoPolice

at 03:39 on September 23rd, 2008

a good story and required to heighten the plight of our supposed "common" birds. There is a sharp decline globally in our small birds due to changes in farming methods and the rocketing human population. Our planet can not take much more of the strain we, as a species, have put on it.

rmaum

at 03:44 on September 23rd, 2008

This Yellow-billed Cuckoo was photographed at the Red River National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters Unit in Northwestern Louisiana. Yellow-billed Cuckoos are common to our area throughout the summer months. Many people are more familiar with their distinct call than the bird itself. Also locally known as a rain crow.

Ronnie Maum
Nature Photographer

rmaum has contributed a photo to this story.