Slender-billed Curlew (Numenius tenuirostris), a migratory shorebird that once bred in western Siberia and wintered around the Mediterranean (including in our country) is now EXTINCT according to scientists. This is the first known global bird extinction from mainland Europe, North Africa and West Asia.
Scientists have today published an objective analysis that indicates the extinction of the Slender-billed Curlew, a migratory shorebird that once bred in western Siberia and wintered around the Mediterranean.
The IUCN Red List currently recognises 164 birds to have become extinct since 1500, from more than 11.000 species that have had their conservation status assessed by BirdLife International, the global Red List Authority for birds. Αmong these species are the Passenger Pigeon, the Dodo, the Atitlán Grebe, the Great Auk, the Moas, and others. Slender-billed Curlew is the first known global bird extinction from mainland Europe, North Africa and West Asia.
Slender-billed Curlew is one of the most iconic endangered species that has been studied by the Hellenic ORNITHOLOGICAL Society. Greece has proven to be a region of global importance for the species: since the first recorded observation (Corfu, 1857), a total of 104 observations have been recorded, the majority of which occurred during migration, primarily in Evros Delta, Porto Lagos, and Axios Delta.
The last confirmed (photographic) observation of the Slender-billed Curlew was in Northern Morocco in 1995. During the 1990s, there were various reports of the species in Greece, although these were not fully confirmed. One Slender-billed Curlew observed in Messolonghi on May 3, 1999 (by J. Y. Guillosson) marks the last recorded observation of the species in Greece, while over the past nearly two decades, no Slender-billed Curlew have been recorded anywhere in the Western Palearctic.
The causes of the Slender-billed Curlew’s decline may never be fully understood, but possible pressures included extensive drainage of their raised bog breeding grounds for agricultural use, the loss of coastal wetlands used for winter feeding, and hunting, especially latterly, of an already reduced, fragmented and declining population. There could have been impacts from pollution, disease, predation, and climate change, but the scale of these impacts is unknown.
Alex Berryman, Red List Officer at BirdLife International, and a co-author of the study, said: “The devasting loss of the Slender-billed Curlew sends a warning that no birds are immune from the threat of extinction. More than 150 bird species have become globally extinct since 1500. Invasive species have often been the culprit, with 90% of bird extinctions impacting island species. However, while the wave of island extinctions may be slowing, the rate of continental extinctions is increasing. This is a result of habitat destruction and degradation, overexploitation and other threats. Urgent conservation action is desperately needed to save birds; without it we must be braced for a much larger extinction wave washing over the continents.”
The scientific publication is available at the following link:
Global extinction of Slender-billed Curlew (Numenius tenuirostris)
The publication was a collaboration between the RSPB, BirdLife International, Naturalis Biodiversity Center and the Natural History Museum.
The chronicle of the search for the rarest curlew in the world
The first coordinated efforts to record and study the Slender-billed Curlew in Greece began by the Hellenic ORNITHOLOGICAL Society in Evros Delta in 1987-1988, as part of a special program (with the target species also including the Lesser white-fronted Goose) funded by RSPB / BirdLife UK.
The research continued with the support of BirdLife International, followed by the intervention of the EU, which funded further surveys as part of the EU/ACNAT Program (1993-1994), now with the active involvement of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (IRSNB).
The most significant step for the protection of the species was the international LIFE Program for the Slender-billed Curlew (LIFE95 NAT/GR/001111), which lasted four years (1/10/1995 – 30/6/1999) and successfully led to clear conservation measures for the species and comprehensive management of its habitats in Greece and beyond. Although the Hellenic ORNITHOLOGICAL Society did not officially participate in the program as a partner, it contributed significantly to its implementation through its network of birdwatchers. A few years later (2009), the Scientific Committee of the Hellenic ORNITHOLOGICAL Society, in collaboration with the Bird Observation Assessment Committee, formed a special Volunteer Working Group for the Slender-billed Curlew, which processed the existing database for the species and created targeted informational material. For example, in the first quarter of the program, a total of 24 birdwatchers conducted 51 field trips, "scouring" 22 wetlands, and although no Slender-billed Curlews were recorded, valuable data was collected for other shorebirds and their habitats.
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