African birds of prey are in decline, a new study shows

Silhouettes of patrolling birds of prey filled the skies across Africa just a few decades ago, but today it is much less common to spot these birds of prey. Now new research gives an indication of how sharp the decline of the birds has been

According to a study published Thursday in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Ecology & Evolution88 percent of Africa’s 42 raptor species have experienced declines over the past 20 to 40 years, and 69 percent are either more endangered than previously thought or now meet the criteria for being threatened with extinction.

“We’re looking at really iconic species in Africa that are in significant decline,” said Darcy Ogada, the African program director at the Peregrine Fund, a nonprofit conservation group focused on birds of prey, and author of the study. “It’s a wake-up call.”

Birds of prey, carnivorous birds that feed on other vertebrates, play a crucial ecological role as apex predators that keep the populations of other species in check, and as scavengers that recycle nutrients back into the food web and limit the spread of disease around carcasses. “Losing any of these groups will have major consequences for the rest of the ecosystem,” said Dr. Ogada.

Eagles, vultures and other birds of prey are particularly vulnerable because many species are long-lived, reproduce slowly and have large ranges. In Africa, as in most other places, habitat loss is the greatest threat to their survival. The decline is also caused by poaching for food and ritual use, poisoning, electrocution, striking power lines and wind turbines, and climate change.

One of the most concerning findings from the new study, said Dr. Ogada, was that population losses were significant even in national parks. Although the decline of birds of prey outside protected areas was more than twice as great as within them, many species in parks are still in “significant decline”, said Dr. Ogada.

This finding may be partly explained by the existence in Africa of so-called paper parks, said Dr. Ogada, or places where protection “exists in name only and where lack of management or mismanagement is a major problem for wildlife.”

The new article collects data that Dr. Ogata and her colleagues had previously collected in four regions in Sub-Saharan Africa. The researchers conducted hundreds of surveys by driving slowly along the roads and recording every bird of prey they saw. Other scientists began examining the same pathways as early as 1969, allowing researchers to draw conclusions about how populations have fared over the past three generations of raptors.

The extent of the losses was “shocking,” said Dr. Ogada. These included an estimated 85 percent decline in the number of secretary birds and a 90 percent decline in the number of martial eagles, one of the largest and most powerful eagle species in the world.

According to the findings, populations of only five species increased over the study period, including African dwarf falcons and pale singing hawks. The authors only examined birds of prey that are active during the day and live in savannas.

But they said they suspect the continent’s other 60-odd raptor species, including nocturnal animals such as owls and species that live in other ecosystems such as forests and swamps, are likely to fare just as badly, if not worse.

Owls are sometimes persecuted out of superstition, Dr. Ogada said, and many areas on which birds of prey depend are being lost at an alarming rate.

Of the species identified by the authors as being in severe decline, almost half are currently categorized on the list of species in severe decline Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature as ‘least concern’, a conservation status reserved for species that are common and widespread.

The fact that supposedly common species are now disappearing across Africa “suggests that habitat loss, environmental degradation and other threats have reached a tipping point,” said Amanda Rodewald, an ecologist at Cornell University who was not involved in the study.

Stuart Butchart, the chief scientist at BirdLife International, a nonprofit organization responsible for maintaining the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s status lists for the world’s 11,000 bird species, said he and his colleagues would review the information and, where necessary, would revise. the status of each species included in the new article.

Conservation status is important for setting priorities for action by governments and other stakeholders, said Dr. Butchart, who was not involved in the investigation. Such action, he continued, would ideally include working with local communities to protect more land in areas of high biodiversity, increasing efforts to protect birds of prey and ensuring that new infrastructure such as wind turbines are installed with minimal impact for birds.

One key to achieving these things, said Dr. Ogada, is to involve more Africans in bird of prey research and conservation. “It is extremely important that Africans lead these studies in the future,” she said.

To further this, the researchers launched a new education and mentorship initiative called the African Raptor Leadership Grant, which supports emerging scientists across the continent.

“If you open young people’s minds to what is happening and the potential they can contribute, they are very eager to learn about birds,” said Dr. Ogada. “There are so many interesting topics to explore and so much to do.”