One in eight of world's birds facing extinction

One in eight of the world's birds - more than 1,200 species - faces extinction because of a crisis affecting habitats, according to a report today.

One in eight of the world's birds - more than 1,200 species - faces extinction because of a crisis affecting habitats, according to a report today.

About 12 per cent of the 10,000 known bird species are seriously threatened and of these 179 are critically endangered with a serious possibility of imminent extinction, according to a survey by BirdLife International.

Some 400 species of endangered birds are still waiting for conservation action three years after they were formally identified as being in serious danger, the charity says.

But in its State of the World's Birds 2004, BirdLife International also describes how nearly a quarter of the globally threatened birds - 280 species - have begun to benefit from protection measures introduced by governments and conservation bodies.

In 4 per cent of these species, the benefit has already resulted in "significant" improvements in the outlook for birds that would otherwise almost certainly become extinct, it says.

Nevertheless, the wider prospects for the world's birds are not good, said Michael Rands, the organisation's chief executive. He added: " State of the World's Birds presents firm evidence that we are losing birds and other biodiversity at an alarming rate."

The survey found that about 80 per cent of the globally threatened birds - 966 species - have populations below 10,000 individuals with 41 per cent (502 species) below 2,500 individuals.

BirdLife found that 77 threatened species of birds were teetering on the edge of existence with populations of fewer than 50 individuals capable of breeding.

"The state of the world's birds is deteriorating. This signifies deeper problems in our environment and in the way we look after our world," the report says.

The BirdLife survey was carried out by more than 100 organisations from around the world, including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. It is the most extensive review of bird habitats and numbers, and has demonstrated a global problem of major proportions, said Leon Bennun, the senior editor of the report.

" State of the World's Birds shows that birds are excellent environmental indicators, and what they are telling us is that there is a fundamental malaise in the way we treat our environment," Dr Bennun said. Despite the pessimism, there are some signs of success. For instance, BirdLife has identified more than 7,500 areas in the world covering 170 countries that are important conservation sites where measures can be introduced to preserve viable breeding populations and important migratory routes.

Among those species that have benefited from recent conservation measures co-ordinated by BirdLife are:

¿ Four species of lowland forest bird - the dwarf olive ibis, the maroon pigeon, the Sao Tome scops owl and the Sao Tome oriole - have benefited from preservation measures introduced on the island of Sao Tome on the west coast of Gabon.

¿ The short-tailed albatross, which was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered on Torishima off Japan. Now there are about 1,200 breeding pairs as a result of measures to limit long-long fishing in the region.

¿ The Vanuatu megapode, a chicken-like bird found only on the Pacific island of Vanuatu, which was almost extinct until an awareness campaign was launched among local people to prevent over-harvesting of eggs.