The status of our bird populations: the 5th Birds of Conservation Concern in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Isle of Man and 2nd IUCN Red List assessment of extinction risk for Great Britain

Abstract

The fifth review of Birds of Conservation Concern (BoCC5) in the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man assessed and assigned 245 species to updated Red, Amber and Green lists of conservation concern and showed a continuing decline in the status of our bird populations. In total, 70 species (29% of those assessed) are now on the Red list, up from 36 species in the first review in 1996. Since the last review, in 2015, Golden Oriole Oriolus oriolus has been lost as a breeding species. Eleven species have been moved to the Red list, while only six species moved from Red to Amber. Newly Red-listed species include Common Swift Apus apus, House Martin Delichon urbicum, Greenfinch Chloris chloris and the globally threatened Leach's Storm-petrel Oceanodroma leucorhoa. There has been no improvement in the overall status of species associated with farmland and upland, or Afro-Palearctic migrants; indeed, more such species have been Red-listed. Concerns over the status of our wintering wildfowl and wader populations have also increased. As a direct result of targeted conservation action, White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla has been moved from Red to Amber. We also present the separate, and distinct, second IUCN Regional Red List assessment of extinction risk for Great Britain, which shows that 46% of 235 regularly occurring species, and 43% of 285 separate breeding and non-breeding  populations, are assessed as being threatened with extinction from Great Britain.