Migratory Bird Numbers Plummeting Globally

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World Migratory Bird Day will be celebrated on May 10-11 this year. The year’s theme “Migratory Birds - Ambassadors for Biodiversity" has a dual purpose; it draws attention to the link between migratory birds and wider biodiversity as well as the overall state of our environment.

Birds are one of the best indicators for the status and trends of wider biodiversity as they connect, and are inhabitants of, virtually all ecosystems in the world.

The various events will all focus 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.

A series of recent reports indicating that the numbers of migratory birds are declining globally are casting a shadow over the celebrations.

Migratory bird numbers are declining according to records being made 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.

Boreal birds in the Western Hemisphere, like the Canadian Warbler, which migrate from the northern tip of Canada to South America, are declining due to the loss of their forest breeding grounds.

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. The travelers need not only 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.

Suitable habitats are under threat and in addition to the birds the plants and animals that live in them are increasingly being lost globally with agricultural, urban, infrastructural and industrial development.

From the birds’ view this results in fewer sites being 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.

Climate change compounds t he loss and fragmentation of essential habitats: 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 that scientists are also linking to the birds decline.

The timing and the theme 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.

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.