The World's Rarest Birds

361 Pages·2013·175.28 MB·English

by  Erik Hirschfeld

The World's
raresT Birds
erik hirschfeld, andy swash & robert still
With contributions by Nick langley, stuart Butchart, Brian Clews & Gill swash
and illustrations by Tomasz Cofta
WILDGuides
Published by Princeton University Press,
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in the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 oxford street,
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requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be sent to Permissions, Princeton University Press
Copyright © 2013 erik hirschfeld, andy swash & robert still
Copyright in the photographs remains with the individual photographers.
Copyright in the illustrations remains with Tomasz Cofta.
The species data and range maps in this publication are developed and maintained by Birdlife international.
all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
British library Cataloging-in-Publication data is available
library of Congress Control Number 2012945960
isBN 978-0-691-15596-8
Production and design by WILDGuides ltd., old Basing, hampshire UK
Printed in singapore
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Images on Title Page (left-to-right, from top line):
Marbled Murrelet Brachyramphus marmoratus. Photo: Tom Middleton (reflectingthewild.com).
Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus. Photo: Tom Brereton.
Spoon-billed Sandpiper Eurynorhynchus pygmeus. Photo: Pavel Pinchuk (aqua-wader.blogspot.com).
Chinese Crested Tern Brachyramphus marmoratus. Photo: Michelle & Peter Wong.
Palila Loxioides bailleui. Photo: Eric VanderWerf (pacificrimconservation.com).
Ivory-billed Woodpecker Campephilus principalis. Illustration: Tomasz Cofta.
Red-crowned Crane Grus japonensis. Photo: Huajin Sun (birdnet.cn).
Okinawa Rail Gallirallus okinawae. Photo: Ambrosini.
Long-whiskered Owlet Xenoglaux loweryi. Photo: Dubi Shapiro (pbase.com/dubisha).
Banded Cotinga Brachyramphus marmoratus. Photo: Ciro Albano (nebrazilbirding.com).
Amber Mountain Rock-thrush Monticola erythronotus. Photo: Dubi Shapiro (pbase.com/dubisha).
Philippine Eagle Pithecophaga jefferyi. Photo: Rich Lindie.
Masafuera Rayadito Aphrastura masafuerae. Photo: Peter Hodum (oikonos.org).
Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophrys. Photo: David Monticelli (pbase.com/david_monticelli).
Kakapo Strigops habroptila. Photo: Shane McInnes.
Golden White-eye Cleptornis marchei. Photo: Jack Jeffrey (jackjeffreyphoto.com).
Contents

The World's Rarest initiative .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 7
Introduction to the world's birds ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Diversity and distribution ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 8
Endemic Bird Areas ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 8
Important Bird Areas ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 9
Birds and humans .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 10
The world's rarest birds .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 11
The IUCN/BirdLife species category assignment process ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 12
Going or gone? .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16
The known unknowns .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 20
The distribution of threatened birds ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 22
Last chances to save .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 24
The threats birds face ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 25
Agriculture and aquaculture ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 28
Logging/plant harvesting ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 30
Invasive and other problematic species ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 32
Hunting and trapping ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 34
Residential and commercial development ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 36
Fire and fire management ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 38
Climate change and severe weather ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 39
Geological events .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 40
Human disturbance ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 41
Pollution ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 42
Transport and other infrastructure ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 44
Energy production and mining ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 45
Dams and water abstraction ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 46
Fishing ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 47
The need for conservation ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 48
Threats without borders .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 50
The Regional Directories (see overleaf for full listing) ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 54
Structure of the regional sections ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 54
Glossary of terms .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 56
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 332
appendix 1 – Extinct Species ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 336
appendix 2 – The bird families with globally threatened species ........................................................................................................................................... 339
Index ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 347
The Regional Directories
Europe and the Middle East ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 58
The conservation challenges .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 62
Regional Directory ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 64
Africa and Madagascar .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 68
Africa and Madagascar – the conservation challenges ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 72
threatened bird hotspot – Madagascar ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 74
threatened bird hotspot – Angola ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 76
conservation challenge – Grassland Management .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 78
Regional Directory ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 80
Asia .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 100
Asia – the conservation challenges .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 104
threatened bird hotspot – The Philippines ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 106
threatened bird hotspot – Indonesia ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 108
conservation challenge – Vultures .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 110
conservation challenge – Bustards ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 112
conservation challenge – Hornbills ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 114
conservation challenge – The world’s most threatened flyway ................................................................................................................................................................................... 116
Regional Directory ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 118
Australasia ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 150
Australasia – the conservation challenges ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 154
threatened bird hotspot – Australia ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 156
threatened bird hotspot – New Zealand ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 158
threatened bird hotspot – Australasian Islands ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 160
threatened bird hotspot – New Caledonia ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 162
Regional Directory ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 164
Oceanic Islands .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 180
Oceanic islands – the conservation challenges ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 186
threatened bird hotspot – Hawaii .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 190
threatened bird hotspot – Polynesia & Micronesia ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 194
threatened bird hotspot – Galápagos ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 196
threatened bird hotspot – Indian Ocean Islands .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 198
threatened bird hotspot – Atlantic Ocean Islands ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 200
conservation challenge – The albatross conundrum .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 202
Regional Directory ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 206
The Caribbean, North and Central America ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 236
The threatened birds – an overview ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 240
threatened bird hotspot – The Caribbean ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 242
threatened bird hotspot – North America ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 244
threatened bird hotspot – Central America .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 246
Regional Directory ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 248
South America ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 264
South America – the bird continent ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 268
threatened bird hotspot – Chocó (Colombia and Ecuador) ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 270
threatened bird hotspot – Peru .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 272
threatened bird hotspot – The Amazon Basin ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 274
threatened bird hotspot – The Atlantic Forest ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 276
conservation challenge – Hunting and trapping ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 278
Regional Directory ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 280
Data Deficient Species ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 322
4
Let the birds
speak for
themselves…
Araripe Manakin
Antilophia bokermanni
Photo: Ciro Albano (nebrazilbirding.com)
5
Winning photographs from The World's Rarest Birds photo competition:
CRITICALLy ENDANGERED species (above left top to bottom)
1st Kakapo Strigops habroptila: Shane McInnes – see page 151.
2nd Brazilian Merganser Mergus octosetaceus: Sávio Freire Bruno
(uff.br/biodiversidade) – see page 26.
3rd Christmas Island Frigatebird Fregata andrewsi: David Boyle – see page 45.
ENDANGERED or DATA DEFICIENT species (above right top to bottom)
1st Asian Crested Ibis Nipponia nippon: Quan Min Li (birdnet.cn) – see page 101.
2nd Red-crowned Crane Grus japonensis: Huajin Sun (birdnet.cn) – see front cover.
3rd Marvellous Spatuletail Loddigesia mirabilis:
Daniel Rosengren (scutisorex.se) – see page 265.
Migratory CRITICALLy ENDANGERED species (right)
1st Orange-bellied Parrot Neophema chrysogaster: David Boyle – see page 53.
6
Th e World's Rarest initiative
In 2008 and 2009, the Rare Birds Yearbooks were published. These were produced in
order to put a spotlight on the 190 or so most threatened birds in the world – those
that are Critically Endangered – and to present the latest information about them in
a form that was readily accessible to everyone. The aim was to increase awareness
of the often dire situations faced by many of these species, and to show what each
looks like with an accompanying photo or painting. With the rapid development of digital cameras
aanndd iinnccrreeaasseedd iinntteerreesstt iinn pphhoottooggrraapphhyy aammoonngg bbiirrddeerrss,, sscciieennttiissttss aanndd eexxpplloorreerrss aalliikkee,, mmaannyy ffaannttaassttiicc iimmaaggeess
were becoming available – and so the time seemed right to present these birds with stunning colour pictures.
The publication of the Yearbook was intended to be annual in order to refl ect changes in threat status and to
summarize the most recent fi ndings from dedicated researchers across the world.
BirdLife International, the global partnership of conservation organizations that acts as a ‘watchdog’ over bird species,
was supportive of the Rare Birds Yearbook concept from the outset. BirdLife's exhaustive compilation of scientifi c
information on each species, augmented with thousands of emails to researchers worldwide for updates, provided the
authoritative basis for the Yearbooks. A photo competition was arranged in order to obtain images and the fi rst Rare Birds
Yearbook was published in 2008. This was followed a year later by the 2009 edition, which was also underpinned by a
photo competition. Both photo competitions were mainly sponsored by the quality optics company Minox.
The Rare Birds Yearbooks were sold in over 40 countries. They were produced by a small team in Sweden and were
successful in generating funds to support BirdLife's Preventing Extinctions Programme. However, the impact of the
books outside Europe could have been greater. A fortuitous meeting between Erik Hirschfeld, editor of the Rare Birds
Yearbooks, and Andy Swash, Managing Director of the British publisher WILDGuides, led to a proposal to change the
scope of the project to encompass the species that are categorized as Endangered or Data Defi cient, in addition to
those that are Critically Endangered. WILDGuides have recently joined forces with Princeton University Press in the USA
and this will help to ensure that the books they produce are available to more people, particularly in the Americas.
Given the increasing number of excellent bird photographs that are being taken, it was decided to produce a large
format book featuring as many images of Endangered and Critically Endangered species as possible. This would also
provide an opportunity to summarize their current status and the reasons for their being threatened, and to provide
some information about their distribution and ecology. In order to make the book as accessible to as many people as
possible, regardless of where the reader lives, the decision was made to divide it into eight sections: an introduction to
the world's birds and the threats they face; and seven ‘regional directories’ covering all the species that are found there.
A comprehensive review of the threat status of every bird species is undertaken every four years by BirdLife International,
as the Red List authority for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The outcome of the most recent
review was published in May 2012, and publication of this book has been timed to refl ect the new categories. Sadly, 197
species are now categorized as Critically Endangered and 389 as Endangered, and four now only exist in captivity. In
addition, 60 species are so poorly known that they are classifi ed as Data Defi cient.
The challenge in producing this book was to obtain photographs of as many of these 650 species as possible. To achieve
this, an international photo competition was organized and run, with an attractive range of prizes on off er through
the generous sponsorship of Minox, the publishers Lynx Edicions, WILDGuides and Princeton University Press, BirdLife
International and World Migratory Bird Day. The response was astonishing, with over 3,500 photos submitted by over
300 photographers from around the world. The winning images all appear in this book, together with over 800 others.
With these images, and the kind agreement of the photographers to re-use photos
submitted for the Rare Birds Yearbooks, photos of 515 of the threatened species to be
featured (87%) and 21 of the Data Defi cient species were obtained and are presented
here. For the threatened species that have never been photographed, either because they
have rarely been seen or may in fact be extinct, or for which publishable photos could not
be obtained (76 species), the highly acclaimed Polish artist Tomasz Cofta kindly agreed
to produce an illustration. These amazing works of art are the result of many hours of
painstaking attention to detail and provide, for the fi rst time for many species, an indication
of how they may appear (or have appeared) in life.
New information about the species covered in this book is coming to light every day.
For this reason, readers are encouraged to visit the BirdLife website – www.birdlife.org –
for the latest information and to subscribe to their newsletters.
7
Introduction to the world's birds

Diversity and distribution
No. of species
Over 10,000 species of bird are 10–50
currently recognized by
50–100
BirdLife International, which
100–250
is the IUCN (International
Union for Conservation of 250–500
Nature) Red List authority 500–750
for all birds. As of May 2012, 750–1000
when BirdLife International's
1000–1250
four-yearly update of the
1250–1500
status of all the world's birds
for The IUCN Red List was 1500–1750
released, there were 10,064 1750–1810
birds species (9,934 extant
BirdLife International
and 130 extinct since 1500),
and NatureServe (2012):
The number of bird species in each of the world's countries
with a number of others bird species distribution
maps of the world
awaiting decisions on their
validity. These species are not distributed evenly across the world: 3,370 species are concentrated in the American
tropics (Neotropics), compared to just 937 in the largest of the world's ecozones, the Palearctic (Europe, Asia north of the
Himalayas, North Africa and the Middle East).
The number of species currently known to breed or to occur as regular migrants to each of the world's countries is
shown on the map above. Six of the seven countries with the most bird species are in Neotropical South America, led
by Colombia with 1,810 species. Indonesia, the only non-Neotropical country among the top seven, comes in fifth place
with 1,559 species. The first African country in the league table, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, comes in tenth
place, with 1,081 species, behind China with 1,237 and India with 1,166. Yet the Afrotropical realm as a whole holds 21%
of the world's bird species.
Birds are found in all major habitat types. Although some species occur in two or more habitats, many are confined to
just one. Grasslands, savanna and inland wetlands are all important habitats for birds, each supporting about 20% of
species, and shrublands support 39% of birds. Around 45% are found in ‘artificial’ habitats: those that have been modified
by humans, such as agricultural land. But by far the most significant habitat is forest, supporting 75% of all species. Birds
occur in all forest types, from subantarctic woodland to equatorial rainforest. The most important types are tropical/
subtropical lowland and montane moist forest, which support 50% and 35% of species respectively, with tropical/
subtropical dry forest supporting 18%.
Endemic Bird Areas
Most bird species are widespread and have large ranges. However, over 2,500 (about one-quarter of all species) are
restricted to an area of less than 50,000 km2, within which they are said to be endemic (i.e. not found anywhere else).
BirdLife International has identified regions of the world that include the entire global distributions of two or more of
these restricted-range species, and refers to them as Endemic Bird Areas (EBAs). Worldwide, there are 218 EBAs covering
a total area of 7·3 million square kilometres – that is just 4·9% of the Earth's land surface. These are shown on the map
opposite. A further 138 areas have been identified as Secondary Areas, which support one or more restricted range
species, but do not contain the entire ranges of two or more of them.
EBAs are found around the world, but most (77%) are located in the tropics and subtropics. There are approximately
equal numbers of island (105) and mainland EBAs (113). Of the island EBAs, 70% are on oceanic islands and 30% on
continental-shelf islands. Of those on the mainland, 42% are largely in montane areas, 35% in lowland areas and 24%
span both. The natural habitat in most EBAs (83%) is forest.
The number of restricted-range landbirds occurring in EBAs varies from two to over 50, and they encompass 93% of the
world's restricted-range bird species, as well as many other species that are more widespread. Half of all restricted-range
species are globally threatened or near threatened and the other half are vulnerable to the loss or degradation of habitat
due to the small size of their ranges. EBAs are, therefore, the highest priority for habitat-based conservation.
8
Important Bird Areas
BirdLife International operates the global Important Bird Area (IBA) Programme, which aims to identify, protect and
manage a network of sites that will ensure the survival and long-term viability of bird species for which a site-based
approach to conservation is appropriate. IBAs are selected using standard, internationally recognized criteria based on
the species and populations of birds they support. Among other criteria, an IBA may be recognized because it regularly
holds significant numbers of a globally threatened species, or of a group of species whose ranges define an Endemic Bird
Area. To date, over 11,000 IBAs have been identified and these are shown on the map below.
The IBA network may be considered as the minimum suite of sites required to ensure the survival of the bird species
across their ranges, should other habitat be lost. BirdLife's IBA Programme aims to guide the implementation of national
conservation strategies through the promotion and development of national protected-area programmes. It also
aims to inform the conservation activities of international organizations and to promote the implementation of global
agreements and regional measures.
BirdLife
International
(2012) Important Bird
Areas of the World
The global distribution of Important Bird Areas (IBAs)
Secondary Areas
The global distribution of Endemic Bird Areas (EBAs) and Secondary Areas
From: Stattersfield, A.J., Crosby, M.J., Long, A.J. and Wege, D.C. (1998) Endemic Bird Areas of the World. Priorities for biodiversity conservation.
BirdLife Conservation Series 7. Cambridge: BirdLife International 9