Hi everybody
Last year there was a lot of discussion generated by some posts by Mark Clayton commenting on his view that there had been a widespread decline in birds in the Canberra region, which some people
doubted was true. I promised then that once it was published, I would circulate a paper we were working on suggesting that our fairywrens in the ANBG were in desperate straits.
As ever, this took longer than anticipated, but here it is. The Methods are admittedly rather intense, but I hope the main text can be followed.
Lest you think this is a one-off, this analysis can only be done with heaps of detailed data on performance throughout the year, which will remain unavailable for almost all the birds in the world
– hence the canary in the coalmine metaphor. Indicative of its likely generality, the USA has lost 3 billion birds since the 1950s, virtually all among insectivores. However, dramatic declines of seemingly secure species are being reported worldwide.
Sadly, Andrew Cockburn
