Birdwatchers and conservationists in dozens of countries will mark World Migratory Bird Day on the weekend of 10-11 May 2008 with concerts, films and other public events to draw attention to the rising threat to migratory birds and global biodiversity.

The events will be focussing on one of the world’s most magnificent natural phenomena - bird migration and the birds’ journeys of thousands of miles between their breeding and wintering grounds. However, the global celebrations are being overshadowed by a series of recent reports indicating that the numbers of migratory birds are declining globally.

The decline in numbers is currently being recorded for many of the migratory bird species along all of the world’s major flyways - the main migration systems, or corridors, used by various groups of migratory birds in different parts of the world.

For example: 41% of the 522 migratory waterbird populations on the African-Eurasian Flyways are declining and there are reports that numbers of migratory songbirds using the same flyways are also decreasing. A study carried out in Australia shows that populations of 36 species of migratory shorebirds traveling along the East Asian - Australasian Flyway have plummeted by up to 75% over the last 25 years. At the same time Boreal birds in the Western Hemisphere, like the CanadaWarbler, which migrate from the northern tip of Canada to South America are declining due to the loss of their forest breeding grounds.

While the exact reasons for the global declines are complex and vary from species to species and from flyway to flyway, the overall decline in bird numbers may be signaling a wider environmental problem linked to the loss of habitats and biodiversity worldwide.

Migratory birds and in particular long distance migrants are very vulnerable to environmental changes. To complete their annual migrations, they require breeding and wintering areas but also a network of stop-over sites along their flyways where they can rest and refuel before continuing on their journeys. Yet these important natural habitats and sites, which also host numerous other threatened species of plants and animals, are increasingly being lost globally with agricultural, urban, infrastructural and industrial development. For migratory birds, this means fewer sites are left for them to use throughout their migration cycle and that the network of sites they depend on to complete their annual journeys is getting thinner.

The loss and fragmentation of essential habitats is being further compounded by the effects of climate change: rising global temperatures lead to expanding deserts and more frequent storms which impact bird migration and subsequent sea-level rise threaten tidal and wetland areas which are important for many migratory birds – all factors scientists are also linking to their decline.

Both the theme and the timing of this year’s World Migratory Bird Day coincide with the forthcoming 9th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to be held in Bonn, Germany later this month. In this context, the message of this year’s World Migratory Bird Day is a clear signal to world leaders that more needs to be done to halt the loss of biodiversity and to increase national and international efforts to protect the network of sites required by migratory birds. Protecting these important sites for birds will be beneficial for other biodiversity as well.

Quotes from key partners

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director, UN Environment Programme (UNEP), said: ”Migratory birds are some off the most extraordinary creatures on the planet and in many countries bird watching is an economically important leisure and tourism activity. But migratory birds are more than this. Their dependence on healthy habitats and ecosystems makes them among the key indicators as to whether the international community is truly addressing the decline and erosion of the planet’s nature-based assets”.

“We had a breakthrough last year at the UN climate convention meeting in Bali. We now need a similar breakthrough this month in Bonn at the biodiversity convention meeting. Otherwise we will continue to squander and degrade the planet’s life support systems upon which countless species including birds like the sociable lapwing to the wandering albatross, but also Homo sapiens ultimately depend,” he said.

Robert Hepworth, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS): “Migratory birds play a key role as biodiversity indicators. Any impact on ecosystems resulting from climate change, habitat degradation or availability of prey is reflected in the migration patterns and timing and breeding output of migratory birds. Both CMS and AEWA work towards addressing these threats to enhance conservation efforts aimed at preventing further declines in populations of these ambassadors of biodiversity.”

Bert Lenten, Executive Secretary of the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA): “Migratory birds are not only part of biodiversity they are also good indicators of the state of biodiversity. Many species show a long-term decline which is caused e.g. by the transformation of biodiversity-rich meadows into monocultures. The message of World Migratory Bird Day is that we need to do more to protect their habitats and to do so both for the sake of migratory birds and biodiversity.”

Mike Rands, Chief Executive of BirdLife International: “Migratory birds cross many borders each year, linking different ecosystems. Being beautiful, inspirational and international they are excellent ambassadors for biodiversity. By conserving the birds and their habitats, we safe-guard biodiversity on a much wider scale.”

Jane Madgwick, Chief Executive Officer of Wetlands International: “People, all around the world, are not only touched by birds and their migration, they live with them in the same environment. Wetlands are shared by birds and people and both depend on a network of healthy sites and their ecosystem services. Birds with their amazing and very visible migration bring this home ever so clearly. It is time that the notion of the need to conserve ecosystems and their biodiversity, with birds as ambassadors, becomes core to development in our world.”

Examples of declining species on major flyways:

Migratory waterbirds along the African-Eurasian Flyway

• According to the latest Conservation Status Report (CSR4) of Migratory Waterbirds in the African-Eurasian Flyway the overall trend status of African-Eurasian waterbird populations is declining. Of those internationally protected under AEWA (see description above), less waterbird populations are estimated as increasing (22%) and more estimated as declining (41%) in comparison to 1999. Of the 235 waterbird species protected by AEWA, 19 species are classified as Globally Threatened and a further 15 as Near Threatened; 4 species are classified as Critically Endangered and 5 as Endangered. The four most endangered species covered by the Agreement in the Critically Endangered category, are Northern Bald Ibis, Siberian Cane, Sociable Lapwing and Slender-billed Curlew.
  (www.unep-aewa.org/about/csr4_report.htm)

Migratory shorebirds along the East Asian - Australasian Flyway

• A recent study carried out in Australia on the number of shore birds shows a dramatic development: the populations of 36 species of migratory shorebirds have plummeted by up to 75% over the last 25 years. The main reason for this loss has been traced back to the degradation and disappearance of wetlands and resting places along the migration routes from Australia to Northern Asia and Alaska.
  (www.abc.net.au)

Migratory songbirds along the African-Eurasian Flyway

• A yet unpublished compilation of statistical accounts conducted by the British Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) reveals alarming declines in many migratory bird species in Britain, especially songbirds. Of the recorded species, almost two thirds have experienced significant losses; some even more than 80 per cent. Furthermore, experts of the RSPB assume that this trend is not confined to Britain, but appears Europe-wide and might indicate problems for the whole African-Eurasian migratory system.
  (www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/the-great-migration-crisis-812640.html)

Boreal birds in the Western Hemisphere

• The effects of the ongoing destruction of the Canadian boreal forest will be felt as far away as Central and South America. Many migratory birds breed in these forests – the loss of their breeding grounds brings down their numbers. This is sadly highlighted in the Canada Warbler, whose population has declined by 45% over the last forty years.
  (www.birdlife.org/news/news/2008/03/boreal_birds.html)

Vultures in Asia affected by diclofenac

• Within 10 years, many migratory vultures in Asia will be extinct in the wild unless the sale of the veterinary drug diclofenac is stopped. The population of the White-rumped Vulture has dropped to one thousandth of its population size in 1992. Similar declines are observed in other Asian vulture species.
  (www.birdlife.org/news/news/2008/04/vulture_declines.html)

The Sociable Lapwing – one of Eurasia’s most threatened birds

• The population of one of Eurasia’s most threatened bird species, the Sociable Lapwing, has shrunk to 95% of its former size during the last 15 years. It is suggested that this decline is caused by changes in land use. An International Action Plan has been set up under the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) to prevent the extinction of the species and to help promote international conservation efforts.
  (www.birdlife.org/news/news/2004/05/sociable_lapwing.html)