The World's Rarest Birds

The World's Rarest initiative 7
Introduction to the world's birds 8

- Diversity and distribution 8

- Endemic Bird Areas 8

- Important Bird Areas 9

- Birds and humans 10

The world's rarest birds 11

- The IUCN/BirdLife species category assignment process 12

- Going or gone? 16

- The known unknowns 20

- The distribution of threatened birds 22

- Last chances to save 24

The threats birds face 25

- Agriculture and aquaculture 28

- Logging/plant harvesting 30

- Invasive and other problematic species 32

- Hunting and trapping 34

- Residential and commercial development 36

- Fire and fire management 38

- Climate change and severe weather 39

- Geological events 40

- Human disturbance 41

- Pollution 42

- Transport and other infrastructure 44

- Energy production and mining 45

- Dams and water abstraction 46

- Fishing 47

The need for conservation 48
Threats without borders 50

The Regional Directories (see overleaf for full listing) 54

- Structure of the regional sections 54

- Glossary of terms 56

Acknowledgements 332
Appendix 1 - Extinct Species 336
Appendix 2 - The bird families with globally threatened species 339
Index 347

The Regional Directories

Europe and the Middle East 58

- The conservation challenges 62

- Regional Directory 64

Africa and Madagascar 68

- Africa and Madagascar - the conservation challenges 72

- Threatened bird hotspot - Madagascar 74

- Threatened bird hotspot - Angola 76

- Conservation challenge - Grassland Management 78

- Regional Directory 80

Asia 100

- Asia - the conservation challenges 104

- Threatened bird hotspot - The Philippines 106

- Threatened bird hotspot - Indonesia 108

- Conservation challenge - Vultures 110

- Conservation challenge - Bustards 112

- Conservation challenge - Hornbills 114

- Conservation challenge - The world's most threatened flyway 116

- Regional Directory 118

Australasia 150

- Australasia - the conservation challenges 154

- Threatened bird hotspot - Australia 156

- Threatened bird hotspot - New Zealand 158

- Threatened bird hotspot - Australasian Islands 160

- Threatened bird hotspot - New Caledonia 162

- Regional Directory 164

Oceanic Islands 180

- Oceanic islands - the conservation challenges 186

- Threatened bird hotspot - Hawaii 190

- Threatened bird hotspot - Polynesia & Micronesia 194

- Threatened bird hotspot - Galápagos 196

- Threatened bird hotspot - Indian Ocean Islands 198

- Threatened bird hotspot - Atlantic Ocean Islands 200

- Conservation challenge - The albatross conundrum 202

- Regional Directory 206

The Caribbean, North and Central America 236

- The threatened birds - an overview 240

- Threatened bird hotspot - The Caribbean 242

- Threatened bird hotspot - North America 244

- Threatened bird hotspot - Central America 246

- Regional Directory 248

South America 264

- South America - the bird continent 268

- Threatened bird hotspot - Chocó (Colombia and Ecuador) 270

- Threatened bird hotspot - Peru 272

- Threatened bird hotspot - The Amazon Basin 274

- Threatened bird hotspot - The Atlantic Forest 276

- Conservation challenge - Hunting and trapping 278

- Regional Directory 280

Data Deficient Species 322