359 seabird species worldwide endangered- BirdLife scientists

Birds are endangered. Sea birds are more in trouble. Birds are one of the most independent vertebrates on earth but their freedom is being threatened by several factors.

From the North Pole to the South, even the species in abundance are not spared.

Recently, vultures in Africa are not finding it easy and quite a lot of species of these large birds are going on extinction because of man’s activities.

Pollution has been a major factor. About 8 million metric tons of plastics are washed into the oceans yearly and this is a major danger for sea birds which recent studies have identified as not as alarming.

A recent survey by BirdLife scientists in collaboration with researchers from the British Antarctic Survey, the Centre for the Environment, Fishery and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), the University of Washington and the Global Penguin Society, has revealed  threats to all 359 seabird species worldwide.

The study has also identified the main drivers of seabird declines and quantified the magnitude of the impact of each threat.

“This study builds on work done in 2012, when we published a global analysis of threats to globally threatened seabird species – those listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable on the Red List,” says Cleo Small, Coordinator of the BirdLife International Marine Programme.

Small added that, “Not only have we updated these results, but we have also assessed threats to the other 249 seabird species that are not currently globally threatened, as these are potentially the threatened species of the future unless we act now.”

The study also gave that hunting, egg collection and disturbance at breeding colonies are also responsible for declines in many species. Over fishing is affecting fewer species, but with high impacts on the species it affects, Birdlife reported.

Meanwhile, the study contradicts popular opinion which says plastics are major threats. It concludes that plastic pollution is not yet a major cause of population declines of seabirds globally.

“Plastic ingestion is predicted to have a higher impact on small species that spend most of their time on the open ocean,” says Lizzie Pearmain, Marine Technical Officer at BirdLife International. “Many of these species’ population sizes and trends are poorly known, which makes it difficult to understand the real impact of plastics at population level.”

The study also gave that many popular species are equally facing same dangers endangered species face and something deliberate must be done to solve the problem.

According to the study, an estimate of more than 170 million individual birds (over 20% of all seabirds) are currently exposed to the individual impacts of bycatch, invasive alien species and climate change/severe weather, and that together over 380 million (around 45% of all seabirds) are exposed to at least one of these three threats.

However, the dangers are known and efforts must be in place to address them. Plastics in oceans, bycatch, over fishing, climate change and its effects, many more factors must be addressed if the oceans must continue to support sea birds and other bird species.