A new scientific paper led by the RSPB, documents the catastrophe of the first bird extinction since records began from the mainland Western Palearctic region, covering Europe, North Africa, northern and central parts of the Arabian Peninsula, and part of temperate Asia west of the Ural Mountains.
Graeme Buchanan, Head of International Conservation Science writes on this devastating news.
This bird, the Slender-billed Curlew, had a distribution spanning central Asia to the Middle East, the Mediterranean basin, and the Atlantic coast of north Africa. Spanned in the past tense as an analysis of past records and threats to the species published in IBIS suggests very strongly that the species is extinct (IBIS). Yes, a species of bird that historically was a regular visitor to the Mediterranean, a region that many of us are familiar with from holidays, is very likely to be extinct.
The final decision on the status of the species in terms of the IUCN Red List, the authority on species conservation status, will depend upon the assessment of the IUCN, but if they recognise the species as extinct, perhaps in a year’s time, it joins the likes of the Great Auk and the dodos in being gone forever.
There have been no records of Slender-billed Curlew with unequivocal evidence since February 1995, when birds were watched for the last time at Merja Zerga in Morocco. This site had become the most reliable place to see the species. A record from Hungary in 2001 is not incontrovertible.
Slender-billed Curlew, Morocco Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com)
The species was formerly widespread though, with many museum skins from birds shot during the late 19th and on into the 20th century coming from across Europe and north Africa. The last skin was collected in 1983 in Algeria. There are many sightings of the species too, but these slowly decline over time until the last birds in Morocco. Despite being so widespread, photographs are known from only two places in addition to Morocco (Yemen and a vagrant bird in France).
Many have speculated that the species was extinct, but the absence of records does not necessarily mean that it is gone. Numerous species of birds, as with other organisms, are cryptic or have extensive ranges with low observer effort. If they occur in places that are seldom visited, in conditions which makes it difficult to survey, or pose identification challenges, they can go undetected for long periods.
Withdraw conservation efforts too soon and you risk consigning a species to extinction, but too late and you risk using up limited conservation resources which could potentially be targeted elsewhere more productively. Recognising this, conservationists developed a standardised statistical approach that can use threats to a species together with past records of it to estimate the chance that a species remains extant, and it’s this framework we deployed for Slender-billed Curlew.
The Slender-billed Curlew has long been an enigma. First recognised as a species in 1817, the breeding areas are largely unknown apart from an area near Omsk where birds were found at the beginning of 20th Century. Back then concerns were raised about whether the species was in decline. The alarm was further raised about its status in 1943, but with the world’s attention elsewhere, no action was taken.
It wasn’t until the 1980s that action began to be taken in relation to the worrying status of the specie he limited knowledge about it hindered conservation efforts, but a species action plan was published in 1996, a year after the last birds were seen, and around the time our analysis indicated the bird went extinct.
Oddly we have learnt a quite a bit about the species since the mid 1990s, largely from the museum skins collected by early naturalists. Analysis of chemicals in the feathers of juveniles suggest its breeding grounds were in northern Kazakhstan rather than southern Russia Chasing isotope 'ghosts' - British Ornithologists' Union (bou.org.uk). Museum records have indicated the species could potentially have bred west of the Ural mountains. Study of museum skins has also increased our understanding of identification of the species which is more complex than appreciated 40 years ago.
Slender-billed Curlew from the Natural History Museum, London (c)
Unfortunately, the drivers behind the declines and modelled extinction of the species remain unconfirmed, though our analysis did collate what evidence we could come by. This included the widespread drainage of the potential breeding areas through the 19th and 20th century, together with agricultural intensification at much the same time. Widespread drainage and wetland loss could have impacted the passage and wintering areas too; only small pockets of wetland remained on the Pannonian Plain of Hungary and surrounding Central European countries.
Agricultural intensification and expansion is also identified as a pressure on wintering areas, together with hunting (think of all those museum skins). As the population dwindled and became confined to a smaller number of areas, high localised hunting could have had even greater pressures. Finally, tragically, it could have been that too few birds remained for them to successfully pair up across extensive breeding areas.
Besides lamenting the loss of the species, it is essential that lessons are learnt. The Slender-billed Curlew is one of eight species in the genus, Numenius, curlews and whimbrels. Most of the others are in trouble too Concern for curlew: A recent published paper shows that 7 out of the 13 species from the curlew and godwit group face extinction - Saving Nature With Science - Our work - The RSPB Community With the Eskimo curlew, American cousin of the Slender-billed, already classed as Probably Extinct, the last definite record decades more than 30 years earlier. The far-eastern curlew of the East Asian Australasian Flyway, is the next most threatened, classified by IUCN as Endangered. Even our own Eurasian Curlew is classed as Near Threatened with global extinction, in significant part due to declines here in Britain, driven especially by damage to its breeding habitats, making it of high conservation concern.
In a further wake up call, four other species of shorebird that regularly visit the UK have just been uplisted on the IUCN Red List: Grey Plover and Curlew Sandpiper as Vulnerable to global extinction, and Dunlin and Turnstone as Near Threatened rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/four-uk-shorebirds-moved-to-iucn-red-list-following-latest-review.
Our understanding of what is needed for successful conservation has developed in recent years. To start with, we need monitoring to identify when species are declining. . If declines are detected, it is essential to diagnose the causes and then test prescriptions to provide solutions to these problems. Both these stages require rigorous research. On the basis of this robust evidence, action can be planned and implemented effectively. Actions not based on evidence will potentially waste money and time.
For migratory species such as the curlews, the challenges are greater as one must understand the conditions where they are throughout their annual cycle to pinpoint where the problems may be. Advances in technology means it is easier now to track species to determine where these places are. About 15 years ago we mounted a search, undertaken by expert volunteers, spanning some 30 countries of the Slender-billed Curlew non breeding range Searches for slender-billed curlews by volunteer birders benefits conservation (osme.org). The aim, besides hoping to prove the continued existence of the species, was to attach satellite tags to any Slender-billed Curlews found so as to track them to breeding areas and other sites used during the non-breeding season. Tragically by the time the technology was suitable, it was too late; we found no definite Slender-billed Curlews (though happily, some years later, the tagging team was deployed to track a Steppe Whimbrel, a subspecies thought to be extinct, from where it was discovered on its wintering grounds in Mozambique).
Successful conservation depends on conservationists working together, each contributing different skills be they, for example, scientific, on the ground management and restoration, policy or communication. Such collaboration is especially essential for species that migrate between multiple countries, where people working at site, national, flyway and global levels all have vital contributions to make. It will usually need to involve civil society organisations, academic institutions and governments. No one organisation or government alone is going to be able to achieve success and different organisations can bring different sets of skills and experiences.
The UN Convention on Migratory Species and its daughter and affiliated intergovernmental agreements exists to facilitate conservation of species through bringing governments and other stakeholders together to deliver concerted, cooperative action. Indeed in 1994 it established a multilateral Memorandum of Understanding on the Slender-billed Curlew. It is a very sad fact that of its 26 daughter agreements, this is the first, and hopefully last, to face the ultimate failure: extinction of its target species.
Nonetheless, to support governments to work together to avoid any further such extinctions, continued engagement in these conventions is essential by governments and civil society groups; without such cooperation conservation investments for such species being made in one country, may be undermined by threats elsewhere on the flyway. Equally, conservation action needs to involve local communities.
One notable example of where evidence-led, prioritised, inclusive flyway conservation is working effectively, delivering an agreed intergovernmental action plan, involving people operating at all geographical levels, from national governments to local communities, involving the whole range of skills necessary for conservation, is the spoon billed sandpiper, the most threatened migratory wader after the Slender-billed and Eskimo Curlews. Along the East Asia-Australasian flyway actions are underway to prevent this charismatic species. Lessons have been learnt, but there remains a long way to go to secure a future for the spoon billed sandpiper and the other wader species of the world’s flyways. It would be inexcusable to allow a repeat of what has happened to the Slender-billed Curlew. We have the opportunity for this species for an evidence based action plan to be agreed and adopted by all key stakeholders before it is too late, but we need to get moving on this one. And it’s not just spoon-billed sandpiper we need implemented action plans for either – the recent revision of the IUCN Red List highlighted the plight of shorebirds, with 20 species of shorebird being uplisted. Perhaps it is time for a global call to action for coastal shorebirds as flagships for the conservation of coastal wetlands, sustainable management of grassland and farmland breeding areas, ensuring any hunting is sustainable and legal and combatting the impacts of climate change?
Talk of intergovernmental action plans is good, but you might be asking what you can do to help prevent any more wader species being consigned to history? Well, you can support the nature conservation organisations fighting for shorebirds and other biodiversity, and their habitats all along. their migratory flyways. That could range from membership and financial support and participating in waterbird counts to physically helping manage and maintain key habitats for waders by volunteering at your local wetland nature reserve. You can support decision makers who advocate for wader-friendly policies with your vote. And you can tell others. Pass the message on. “Here’s a story about a bird that didn’t make it – what can we do to help prevent another going the same way? Quite a lot actually.”