With 12% of the total bird species listed as critically endangered, it’s no surprise that this year three more joined the list.
The Ethiopian Sidamo Lark could potentially become the first African bird to be declared extinct with the Savanna getting thronged with more bushes. Then there are the medium tree finch from Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands and the gorgeted puffleg from the Columbian Islands. All these birds have been categorized as critically endangered in the Red List formulated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
What’s funny (in a wrong way) is that the puffleg has only been recently discovered (in 2005), but as a consequence of coca farming in the Columbian mountains, it’s now on the verge of extinction.
Call it a relief, but there are some bird species where things improved. The Chatham petrel from New Zealand, the Mauritius fody and the Brazilian Lear’s macaw (increased four times in number), all moved from the critically endangered to the endangered bracket. Which is great!