EDITORIAL
Together we are BirdLife International
Partnership for nature and people
P. 38
WHICH
MIGRATORY BIRD
FLIES THE
HIGHEST?
COMMON PROBLEMS
A recurring theme this issue is one of common birds no longer being quite so common. In our cover story [p. 12] we
address the threats faced by birds that use the Atlantic Americas Flyway — a popular migration route connecting the
Canadian Arctic with South America. While affected species such as Canada Warbler and Red Knot are widespread and (still)
numerous enough to be classified as Least Concern, their decreasing population trends should alarm us all. Left unchecked,
they could easily go the same way as the Eskimo Curlew — a once abundant wader that today, thanks to overhunting and
the near-total loss of its prairie habitats to agriculture, is a ghost that seemingly no longer haunts the flyway.
The key is to identify the cause of decline swiftly. By the time we had discovered the once superabundant Yellow-breasted
Bunting was on the slide, it was almost too late [p. 34]. And even if we are successful in tackling the threats, some species
face a long road to recovery — see the slow progress being made to repopulate the Blue-throated Macaw in Bolivia, over
three decades removed from the ban on trapping [p. 58]. All these cases illustrate the importance of BirdLife’s work in
gathering population trend data on all species — and ensuring we keep common birds common.
Enjoy the issue,
Alex Dale, Editor
CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE
www.birdlife.org
BirdLife International is the world’s largest nature conservation partnership.
Through our unique local-to-global approach, we deliver high impact
and long-term conservation for the benefit of nature and people
STEPH WINNARD
Steph is BirdLife’s International Marine Project
Officer. She leads on engagement with High Seas
fisheries to reduce the numbers of threatened
albatross being killed incidentally in longline
fisheries. On page 60, she shares with us some of the
stunning photography she’s taken during her travels.
SEPTEMBER 2017 • BIRDLIFE
SIMBA CHAN
As Senior Conservation Officer of BirdLife
International Asia Division based in Tokyo, Simba
has been working on conservation issues of the
flyways in Asia and wetland conservation since
1995. On page 34, he examines the frightening
decline of the Yellow-breasted Bunting.
CONNIE WARREN
As BirdLife Australia’s Shorebird Conservation
Coordinator, Connie leads on migratory shorebirds
related advocacy and is also the Coordinator in the
East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership’s Far
Eastern Curlew Task Force. Read the latest on this
Endangered wader’s status on page 30.
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