More Birds at Risk of Extinction

More than 200 bird species in six rapidly developing regions are at risk of extinction despite not being included on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of at-risk species, according to a new study. Researchers at Duke University in the US used remote-sensing data to map recent land-use changes that are reducing suitable habitat for more than 600 bird species in the Atlantic forest of Brazil, Central America, the western Andes of Colombia, Sumatra, Madagascar and Southeast Asia, The Indian Express reported. Out of these 600 species, only 108 are currently classified by the IUCN Red List as being at risk of extinction. The new analysis, however, shows that 210 of the species face accelerated risks of extinction and 189 of them should now be classified as threatened, based on the extent and pace of habitat loss documented by recent remote sensing. The study was published in the journal Science Advances.