Endangered Animals: Birds

Endangered Animals: Birds — page 3 — the Galápagos penguin pp 10 11 Seabirds are also threatened by overfishing and huge numbers are killed when they are accidentally caught on the hooks of longlines as with the wandering albatross Poisoning both deliberate and accidental also affects threatened birds such as the Cape griffon vulture as do wars and the disturbance of wary birds especially at their breeding colonies by tourists ramblers climbers watersports enthusiasts and even conservationists The Present Situation Of the 10,027 or so species of birds in the world today 1,240 species almost one in eight are threatened with global extinction unless something is done to save them Of them 190 are Critically Endangered A further 372 species are Endangered another 678 species are Vulnerable and 838 species are Lower Risk near threatened Many subspecies are also in danger The Cape Verde race of red kite p 26 for example is now extinct Already over 120 other species of birds are known biologists mainly in the tropics Many are rare with tiny ranges and in threatened habitats and so were in peril even before they were known to science Few birds are found over all or most of the world the barn owl and cattle egret are the only species to have been recorded on every continent Worst off are the parrots with more species globally threatened than any other family Trapping for the cage-bird trade is a major threat at both local and worldwide levels made even more serious by habitat loss Where the Dangers Lie Of the 12 countries that contain the greatest concentrations of threatened bird species seven are in the Americas The highest densities of threatened birds occur in the Atlantic forests of Brazil and the northern Andes of Colombia and Ecuador Almost half of all the extinctions of birds recorded since 1650 have been from species living in Oceania the islands of the central and south Pacific Ocean and adjacent seas including Australia New Zealand New Guinea New Caledonia the Solomons Fiji and the to have become extinct since the last dodo died in the 1660s almost all of them as a result of human impact Given the natural rate of evolution we would expect one bird species to go extinct every 100 years so 103 in the last 200 years is 50 times the expected rate Each year one or two new bird species are discovered by rest of Melanesia Micronesia and Polynesia Although there are relatively few threatened birds exclusively found in Europe and the Middle East most of the species at risk in these regions make yearly migrations between summer breeding grounds and wintering areas In many cases that pattern of behavior exposes them to a wide range of threats Birds face many threats including introduced predators as with this brown kiwi above and pollution This jackass penguin left is covered in oil from a sunken cargo boat Most-Threatened Habitats Threatened birds are mainly restricted to specific habitats 74 percent depend almost completely on a single type of habitat Of them forest birds form 75 percent of which 93 percent are found only in the tropics and 82 percent are restricted to moist forests 6

Endangered Animals: Birds — page 4 — WHAT IS A BIRD Percentage of birds threatened 0 2 2 3 3 7 7 42 no data The next most important habitats are grasslands scrublands and savannas with 32 percent of all the world’s threatened species Wetlands too especially freshwater ones are also of great significance holding 12 percent of all threatened birds Conservation There are many reasons for conserving birds They are fascinating creatures that have inspired people over the centuries and people care about them Most importantly birds are good indicators of the state of our environment places that are rich in bird species are also rich in the biodiversity of other classes of animals So where birds are threatened with extinction is often a good indication of general biodiversity loss and damage to ecosystems The task of saving species such as the spoon billed sandpiper whose journeys take them across the globe recognizing no international boundaries requires careful coordination of efforts among nations BirdLife International a global partnership of conservation organizations in over 100 countries is one organization that is dedicated to saving birds and their habitats Threatened birds worldwide Less than 5 percent of the earth’s land surface contains almost 75 percent of threatened bird species Since the greatest threat is habitat destruction and degradation BirdLife International has created a program that will identify about 20,000 Important Bird Areas IBAs throughout the world The most effective way of saving threatened birds is to protect such sites before they suffer threats but sometimes as in Madagascar Hawaii or New Zealand the problems caused by habitat loss introduced animals and other factors mean that the affected species require intensive and costly conservation programs Another problem facing conservationists is that they simply do not have enough information about the range numbers or ecology of many threatened bird species Gaining such knowledge is an important part of their work Knowledge about threatened birds and their habitats is also vital for persuading governments business interests and other decision makers to act in ways that will benefit the birds and for the drawing up and enforcement of agreements at local national or international levels 7

Endangered Animals: Birds — page 5 — EW Northern Brown Kiwi EX CR EN VU NT LC O Apteryx mantelli The mainland populations of the unique northern brown kiwi found only in New Zealand have suffered huge declines in the 20th century mainly due to plundering by introduced predators W ith its shaggy hairlike plumage a plump round body a lack of visible tail or wings and an ability to track down food in the dead of night kiwis resemble nocturnal mammals rather than typical birds Like many mammals they also rest and shelter their young in burrows and mark their boundaries with strong smelling droppings the bristly modified feathers at the base of the bill serve as whiskers for feeling in the dark Isolated for millions of years on New Zealand where there are no native mammals except bats the brown kiwi has occupied a niche that elsewhere would be filled by a mammal Kiwis are the smallest living ratites a group of flightless birds that includes the ostrich rheas cassowaries and the emu none of which are nocturnal Until recently ornithologists recognized three species of kiwi the little spotted kiwi the brown kiwi and the great spotted kiwi Genetic research has led to the brown kiwi being split into two distinct species the northern brown kiwi and the tokoeka of a few areas in South Island The Maori name kiwi comes from the shrill call of males which punctuates the night especially during the breeding season Long Term Decline Northern brown kiwis were once widespread throughout North Island Although they were hunted by the Maori who had colonized New Zealand from the Pacific by the 12th century this probably had little effect on overall numbers It was not until the European settlers arrived in the mid 19th century that persecution of the birds began in earnest as hunters 8 The female northern brown kiwi lays large eggs Each egg weighs as much as 20 percent of her body weight tried to satisfy the demand for kiwi plumage by the clothing trade A law banning the hunting capture or killing of kiwis was passed in 1908 but the pace of land clearance for agriculture and settlements destroyed much of the kiwi’s forest habitat The birds fate was further sealed by the introduction of predatory mammals such as cats dogs and stoats As a result of the combined threats large scale losses of brown kiwis occurred Researchers think that numbers of brown kiwis have fallen by at least 90 percent over the last 100 years and continue to decline at about 6 percent every year in studied sites This represents the halving of the population each decade However the species overall decline is probably below 80 percent thanks to the stability of the populations introduced to islands where predators are removed and also to effective predator control in mainland sites The main threat facing the northern brown kiwi is still introduced predators especially since it evolved with no native predators At least 94 percent of kiwi chicks die before they reach breeding age about 14 months for males and two years for females Half of this mortality is due to predation The other main cause of decline is the clearance of native forest which threatens small isolated populations Many

Endangered Animals: Birds — page 6 — NORTHERN BROWN KIWI DATA PANEL Northern brown kiwi Apteryx mantelli Family Apterygidae World population About 35,000 birds Distribution North Island in Northland Coromandel Peninsula from Gisborne to northern Ruahine Range and Tongariro to Taranaki Introduced to Little Barrier Kawau and Pounui Islands Habitat Subtropical and temperate forests regenerating forest shrubland pine plantations and pastureland Size Length 16 in 40 cm Weight male 3 6 5 lb 1 4 3 kg female 4 5 8 lb 2 3 8 kg Form Bird the size of a small dog small head long slightly downcurved bill with bristles at base long neck usually drawn in rotund body covered with coarse hairlike plumage that is dark gray-brown with red-brown streaks rudimentary wing stubs in plumage strong legs 4 toes on each foot Diet Invertebrates in soil and leaf litter especially earthworms spiders and insects also fruit seeds and leaves Breeding Female lays 1 or 2 very large eggs in August September in burrow or natural cavity egg s incubated by male for 11 12 weeks chick s independent at 14 20 days fully grown by 20 months Related endangered species Great spotted kiwi Apteryx haastii VU little spotted kiwi A owenii NT tokoeka A australis VU Status IUCN EN 9 The northern brown kiwi is nocturnal and has tiny poorly developed eyes that enable it to see only a few yards ahead Unusually for a bird it detects its prey by smell kiwis also used to die in traps set to catch predators or possums animals reached plague proportions in some areas Today this is avoided by raising traps above the ground so that the kiwis do not stumble upon them Conservation Conservationists have an accurate picture of kiwi populations thanks to an intensive nationally coordinated program of monitoring By culling introduced predators and by removing eggs and hand-rearing the young to an age when they can fend off attacks key populations have been helped Continued protection is needed to save the northern brown kiwi North Island NEW ZEALAND South Island

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