Environmental News Network - Scientists Predict Songbirds’ Striking Colours Put Them at Risk of Extinction

Details: By Durham University; 16.Sep

A pioneering scientist from our Department of Biosciences along with colleagues from University of Florida, USA, Centre for the Synthesis and Analysis of Biodiversity (CESAB), France, and Massey University, New Zealand have found that brightly and uniquely coloured songbirds are in greater danger of extinction and are more likely to be traded as pets.

Julie Swatson

A pioneering scientist from our Department of Biosciences along with colleagues from University of Florida, USA, Centre for the Synthesis and Analysis of Biodiversity (CESAB), France, and Massey University, New Zealand have found that brightly and uniquely coloured songbirds are in greater danger of extinction and are more likely to be traded as pets.

The researchers also predict that almost 500 additional bird species, most of them living in the tropics, are at risk of future trade based on their unique and desirable coloration.

Envisaging Risk of Extinction

The researchers made predictions of species not yet traded but of high likelihood of future trade based on the association of colour with human decisions to select species for trade.

Their analysis shows that the tropics are the epicentre of bird colour, with 91% and 65% of the world’s most diverse and uniquely coloured assemblages of songbirds, respectively.

Magazine menu

Scientists Predict Songbirds’ Striking Colours Put Them at Risk of Extinction