NEARLY HALF OF MIGRATORY BIRD SPECIES IN DECLINE WORLDWIDE

Sun 13 September 2026:

BirdLife report warns one in nine migratory species faces extinction as human pressures intensify

Nearly half of the world’s migratory bird species are experiencing population declines, while about one in nine faces the threat of extinction, according to a global assessment released Friday.

BirdLife International’s State of the World’s Birds 2026 report found that 45% of the 1,843 migratory species assessed were declining worldwide. Another 30% had stable populations, 14% were increasing and trends for 11% remained unclear.

The sixth edition of the assessment focuses on migratory birds and the routes connecting their breeding, feeding and wintering grounds. It combines BirdLife’s own data with findings from wider scientific research.

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200 Migratory Species Face Extinction

The report identified 200 migratory species, representing 11% of those assessed, as threatened with extinction. Of these, 32 were classified as critically endangered, 57 as endangered and 111 as vulnerable.

Another 111 species were categorized as near threatened, meaning roughly 17% of the world’s migratory birds are now considered to face significant conservation concerns.

The steepest declines were recorded among species dependent on marine and coastal wetlands. Around 54% of migratory shorebirds and 49% of migratory seabirds are experiencing population decreases.

Between 47% and 51% of species associated with marine environments, forests and coastal wetlands were also found to be declining.

The East Asian-Australasian Flyway recorded the highest share of declining species among the four major land-based migration routes, at 53%. Half of the species using the world’s six marine flyways were also in decline.

Billions of Birds Lost

Regional monitoring showed that long-distance migratory birds traveling between Europe and Africa have declined by about 35% since 1980.

In North America, research cited by the report found that 419 migratory species suffered a combined net loss of approximately 2.5 billion birds between 1970 and 2017.

Shorebirds have been particularly badly affected. Of the 28 North American shorebird species monitored between 1980 and 2019, 26 recorded population declines, with more than half losing over 50% of their numbers.

The slender-billed curlew, a migratory shorebird last reliably recorded in Morocco in 1995, has now been declared extinct. Researchers described it as the first documented global extinction of a bird species native to mainland Europe, North Africa and West Asia.

Globally, seven migratory bird species have been confirmed or are suspected to have disappeared over the past 150 years.

Human Activity Driving Declines

The assessment found that extinction risks for migratory birds continue to rise. A total of 102 species were moved into higher-risk categories because of genuine deterioration in their conservation status, compared with only 34 species that shifted into lower-risk categories following improvements.

Human activity accounted for nearly all the major pressures identified.

Invasive species and diseases affected 139 threatened migratory species, while agriculture and climate change each affected 103. Hunting and trapping were identified as threats to 99 species, followed by pollution at 96.

Other pressures included urban development, affecting 71 species; human disturbance, 65; fisheries, 62; energy infrastructure, 55; and logging, 39.

“Migratory birds are sentinels, and their declines reveal growing pressure on the natural systems that sustain us,” said Stuart Butchart, BirdLife International’s chief scientist.

Butchart said coordinated conservation programs had prevented extinctions and helped certain bird populations recover. However, he stressed that conservation measures needed to cover entire migration routes rather than being limited to individual countries.

Call for International Action

Flyways connect breeding, feeding and wintering areas across national borders and continents. As a result, the destruction of a single critical wetland, forest or coastal stopover can have consequences for an entire bird population across its range.

BirdLife called for stronger international cooperation to protect and restore habitats, combat illegal killing, reduce seabird deaths linked to fishing, control invasive species and make farming, forestry and infrastructure safer for wildlife.

The report warned that progress toward biodiversity goals agreed upon by 196 countries for 2030 remained “far too slow.”

The assessment was launched at the Global Flyways Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, where governments, scientists, conservation organizations and financial institutions adopted the Nairobi Flyways Declaration.

The declaration commits countries and organizations to greater cooperation along migratory routes. It was accompanied by plans involving the Asian Development Bank, the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, and the World Bank to incorporate flyway conservation into development financing.

The initiatives aim to mobilize approximately $6 billion for habitat protection and restoration.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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