30 September 2011, 1.56pm AEST
List of critically endangered Australian birds swells
A new report on Australian birds has added four more species to the
critically endangered list and found that a total of 39 species or
sub-species are more threatened now than they were a decade ago. The Action
Plan for Australian Birds 2010, compiled by researchers from Charles Darwin
University and…
Author Sunanda Creagh
The Regent Honeyeater has been moved from endangered to critically
endangered. This means that it is now facing an extremely high risk of
extinction in the wild. Population decline has greatly accelerated in the
last decade. Dean Ingwersen
A new report on Australian birds has added four more species to the
critically endangered list and found that a total of 39 species or
sub-species are more threatened now than they were a decade ago.
The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2010, compiled by researchers from
Charles Darwin University and published today by the CSIRO, is an update on
the previous report released in 2000.
This 2010 report lists 27 taxa (which means species or sub-species) as
Extinct, 20 as Critically Endangered, 60 as Endangered, 68 as Vulnerable and
63 as Near Threatened as at 31 December, 2010.
“Of bird taxa known to have been present or to have occurred regularly in
Australia when Europeans settled in 1788, 2.2% are Extinct and a further
11.8% are threatened,” said a statement released by conservation group Birds
Australia to accompany the report’s launch.
The four taxa that that were added to the Critically Endangered list are the
Grey-headed Albatross, the Western Ground Parrot, the Regent Honeyeater and
the Norfolk Island Tasman Parakeet.
However, seven taxa have been downlisted because conservation efforts have
improved population numbers.
The seven are the Gouldian Finch (which went from Endangered to Near
Threatened), the Southern Cassowary, the Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle,
Albert’s Lyrebird, Abbott’s Booby, the Christmas Island Hawk-Owl (which
shifted from Critically Endangered to Vulnerable as a result action to
control invasive ants) and the Southern subspecies of Western Corella (which
shifted from Endangered to Least Concern).
The report is based on interviews with experts around the country and a
review of scientific literature on Australian bird populations that has been
released since 2000, said report author Judit Szabo, a research fellow at
Charles Darwin University’s Research Institute for Environment and
Livelihoods.
“The situation would be worse without the conservation efforts of the last
ten years but there is still a lot of work to do,” said Dr Szabo.
“There needs to be more money going into conservation. Australia is not
doing well compared to the rest of the world.”
Dr Szabo also called for more coordinated efforts between agencies
responsible for controlled burning and action on overseas threats such as
long line fishing, which is driving down albatross numbers.
Many of the birds added to the list in 2010 have faced habitat loss along
their migratory pathways in East Asia, introduced predators or land
clearance.
Domestic and feral animals, including herbivores that contribute to habitat
loss, remain a major threat, the report found.
http://theconversation.edu.au/list-of-critically-endangered-australian-birds-swells-3647?utm_source=The+Conversation+Daily+updates&utm_campaign=a121594395-DailyNewsletter&utm_medium=email
PS I saw a copy of the 2010 Action Plan in the Botanical Bookshop for
$49.95.
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