BirdLife Conservation Series No. 7 ENDEMIC BIRD AREAS OF...
Transcript of BirdLife Conservation Series No. 7 ENDEMIC BIRD AREAS OF...
BirdLife Conservation Series No. 7
ENDEMIC BIRD AREASOF THE WORLD
Priorities forBiodiversity Conservation
Alison J. Stattersfield, Michael J. Crosby,Adrian J. Long and David C. Wege
Maps by Andrew P. Rayner
© 1998 BirdLife InternationalWellbrook Court, Girton Road, Cambridge CB3 0NA, UKtel. +44-(0)1223-277318 fax +44-(0)1223-277200 email [email protected]
BirdLife International is a UK registered charity
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval systemor transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying orotherwise, without the permission of the publisher.
ISBN 0 946888 33 7
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Series editor Duncan BrooksDesign Duncan Brooks and CBA (Cambridge)Layout, text preparation and graphics Duncan Brooks, Regina Pfaff, Michelle BerryCover (design and graphics) Andrew Rayner
Text set in Times (9/11 pt) and Optima
Printed on 90 gsm Sequel Satin, made from sustainable forest by a totally chlorine-freeprocess
Imageset, printed and bound in Great Britain by The Burlington Press (Cambridge) Ltd.
Dedication Endemic Bird Areas of the World: Priorities forBiodiversity Conservation is dedicated to Robert B. Wallace –in recognition of his vision of, commitment to and support forBirdLife International’s Biodiversity Programme.
Mario AlbekMrs Hortense Anda-Bührle
André BaarBarlow Rand Limited
Jacques BembergMrs James Bond
Henk BrusseClub 300
Henry CoeberghBruce Coleman
W. Baron van DedemStephen D. EcclesEdinburgh Trust
Mr & Mrs John FlemerJ. E. FrancisFritz Gerber
HRH Prince Bernhard ofthe Netherlands
HRH Princess Juliana ofthe Netherlands
Gerard J. M. Nieuwe WemeJacques Ormond
Jaime Ortiz-PatiñoDrs G. G. W. M. Peters
Mrs J. M. RellyThe Dr Mortimer and
Theresa SacklerFoundation
HSH Prince SadruddinAga Khan
Dr Peter WallenbergAlan N. WeedenR. E. van Zuylen
André C. A. van GilsTom Gullick
Dr Cynthia O. HarrisJuan de Herrera, Marqués de
Viesca de la SierraMr & Mrs André Hoffmann
Luc HoffmannM. F. KeeleyA. P. Leventis
Mr & Mrs H. K. LeventisHRH the Grand Duke of
LuxembourgWill Marx
Mrs Vera Michalski-Hoffmann
Christopher B. Mitchell
Specially bound copies of Endemic Bird Areas of the World have been presented toHis Royal Highness Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, Honorary President of
the Rare Bird Club, and to Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, Honorary President ofBirdLife International
Rare Bird Club
The publication of this book has been generously supported by
the Government of the NetherlandsMinistry of Foreign Affairs,
Directoraat Generaal Internationale Samenwerking (DGIS)
and by the following members of BirdLife International’s
Rare Bird Club
This book is an output from the BirdLife International Biodiversity Programme,which has been generously supported by
Conservation, Food and Health FoundationThe Education Foundation of America
The IBM CorporationThe John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
The Pew Charitable TrustWallace Genetic Foundation, Inc.
The World Bank
BirdLife International is grateful to the following individualswho also supported this programme
Mr and Mrs Howard P. Brokaw, James Cadbury, Mrs Jean W. Douglas, Wallace C. Dayton,John Hunting, Mrs Bremner H. Jackson, Stephen C. Rockefeller,
Mr and Mrs Roger Sant, Robert B. Wallace, Thomas J. Watson, Jr.
653 SECONDARY AREAS
Appendices679 1: Restricted-range bird species listed by family725 2: EBAs and restricted-range bird species listed by country779 3: Unique EBA codes of the previous analysis781 4: Changes in the EBA analysis, 1992–1997784 5: Publications which have used information from BirdLife’s Biodiversity
Project
785 References816 Index of restricted-range species
CONTENTS
5 Foreword
6 Acknowledgements
10 Summary
13 BIODIVERSITY AND PRIORITY-SETTING
19 IDENTIFYING ENDEMIC BIRD AREAS
27 GLOBAL ANALYSES
39 THE PRIORITIZATION OF ENDEMIC BIRD AREAS
45 THE CONSERVATION RELEVANCE OF ENDEMIC BIRD AREAS
53 ENDEMIC BIRD AREAS AS TARGETS FOR CONSERVATION ACTION
57 REGIONAL INTRODUCTIONS
ENDEMIC BIRD AREAS
94 Interpretation of a sample EBA account
96 NORTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA
168 SOUTH AMERICA
300 AFRICA, EUROPE ANDTHE MIDDLE EAST
400 CONTINENTAL ASIA
462 SOUTH-EAST ASIAN ISLANDS,NEW GUINEA AND AUSTRALIA
576 PACIFIC ISLANDS
FOREWORDby
Her Majesty Queen Noor of JordanHonorary President of BirdLife International
PLANNING for the wise use of naturalresources is an investment with per-petual rewards. To do this, we need to
know how biodiversity is distributed and whatthe priorities are for its conservation. Ourknowledge of birds and the popular enthusiasmfor their survival is a most powerful combina-tion. In a previous publication, the award-winning Putting biodiversity on the map,BirdLife mapped concentrations of birds withsmall ranges—many of them threatened withextinction. This new book follows this ap-proach through with an abundance of support-ing detail and demonstrates clearly the valueof birds as indicators of places which areimportant for biodiversity conservation overall.
The publication of this up-to-date material,and the advocacy programme which will de-liver its message to decision-makers around
the world, is funded by an innovative colla-boration between the Dutch Government(Directoraat-Generaal voor InternationaleSamenwerking) and members of BirdLifeInternational’s Rare Bird Club. It shows whatcan be achieved when the commitment of agovernment and the enthusiasm of individu-als are combined with the common goal offocusing world attention on some of the mostthreatened birds and the fragile habitats onwhich they depend. The result is a unique,effective and valuable contribution to bio-diversity conservation.
I hope and believe that this book will unitegrass-roots support and environmental deci-sion-makers and so help meet one of thegreatest challenges facing mankind: the con-servation and sustainable development of ourbiological natural resources.
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Endemic Bird Areas of the World
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
THIS BOOK is the culmination of 10 years ofwork at BirdLife International’s Secretariat, buthas only been possible through the guidance and
support of BirdLife’s Partner organizations and world-wide network of contacts. We have relied on the firsthandexperience of hundreds of ornithologists and conserva-tionists who during the evolution of the project have, inmany cases, been asked for information and clarifica-tion several times. We very warmly and gratefully thankthese people who have freely given us the benefits oftheir knowledge and of their time (see list of names,below). We simply would not have been able to com-plete the task without their contributions.
In addition, we have drawn on data from severalother BirdLife research projects, and contributors tothese may not be personally acknowledged here. Wetherefore also extend thanks to the many people whoprovided information to these, notably to Puttingbiodiversity on the map: priority areas for global con-servation (ICBP 1992)—the first publication of theresults of this project—but also to Threatened birds ofAfrica and related islands (Collar and Stuart 1985),Threatened birds of the Americas (Collar et al. 1992),Birds to watch 2: the world list of threatened birds(Collar et al. 1994) and Key areas for threatened birdsin the Neotropics (Wege and Long 1995), publicationswhich have all contributed significantly to our under-standing of Endemic Bird Areas and their birds.
We acknowledge our many colleagues whom wefeel privileged to have worked with. We are honoured tobe the authors of this book for we are very aware that intruth its publication represents a mighty team effort byall the staff. In particular we thank Nigel Collar (Re-search Fellow, BirdLife) who was the main instigator ofthis project and who is, for all of us, both a mentor andfriend. His own work has laid the foundations andstandards for most of BirdLife’s research, and he hasread all the Endemic Bird Area accounts and the intro-ductory sections, and commented extensively. We alsothank Colin Bibby (Director of Science and Policy,BirdLife) for generally overseeing our work and forproviding us with scientific guidance, and our otherdirectors, Lindsay Derry, Christoph Imboden and MikeRands who worked hard against the odds to keep us toschedule.
We are especially appreciative of Andrew Rayner(our Geographic Information System expert) whosemaps are such a key element of this book and whosegeneral computer wizardry has been invaluable over thelast three years. We also remember Mike Adams, whowas our original GIS expert and who helped us to
establish our mapping and database protocols at a timewhen the software was decidedly unfriendly. Other keyplayers include Martin Jenkins (World ConservationMonitoring Centre, UK) who took the lead in writingthree of the introductory chapters and whose insight intooverall biodiversity conservation has helped us tobroaden our bird perspective, and Andrew Balmford(University of Sheffield, UK), Tom Brooks (Universityof Tennessee, USA) and Tony Payne (Research Assist-ant, BirdLife) who helped to guide us through thepitfalls of numerical evaluation.
We draw special attention to our co-authors of Puttingbiodiversity on the map—Colin Bibby, Nigel Collar,Melanie Heath, Christoph Imboden, Tim Johnson andSimon Thirgood. They helped to lay the foundations forthis book and we have made extensive use of their ideasand information in our introductory chapters. We espe-cially thank Melanie Heath who, along with the four ofus, was one of the main data-gatherers and who preparedsome of the early drafts of the EBA accounts. We alsoacknowledge the other people who helped us to gatherthe bird distribution data on which the analyses arebased including Paul Andrew, Mike Barker, LeticiaBrandão, George Green, Frank Lambert, Craig Robsonand Tony Stones, and many of the people listed belowand members of the BirdLife staff. We have been helpedalong the way by a stream of willing volunteers includ-ing Tim Allwood, David Butler, Francis Brearley,Jonathan Ekstrom (who organised the picture research)and Tony Payne, and we thank them all for their enthu-siastic commitment.
We thank all the staff in BirdLife’s regional teamsand offices for their input and support, in particularGary Allport, Bas van Balen, Yusup Cahyadin, NonieCoulthard, Nguyen Cu, Guy Duke, Jonathan Eames,Mike Evans, John Fanshawe, Lincoln Fishpool, RichardGrimmett, Paul Jepson, Martin Kelsey, James Lowen,Jane Lyons, Richard Porter, Michael Poulsen, PeterRobertson, Rudyanto and Sujatnika.
We applaud Duncan Brooks (Scientific Editor,BirdLife) who guided us through a lengthy and compli-cated publication process. His attention to detail andlogical approach has greatly improved the quality of thetext and we thank him, in particular, for remaining calmthroughout despite so many requests for changes. Wealso thank Regina Pfaff and Michelle Berry who wereresponsible for much of the layout and graphical presen-tation in the book, and who have done such an excellentjob in dealing with our messy manuscripts.
We acknowledge John Fanshawe, Jane Fenton andJudi James who successfully sought funding for the
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Endemic Bird Areas of the World
project and turned publication and advocacy into real-ity. We also thank Peter Herkenrath (Biodiversity Of-ficer, BirdLife) for help with the policy aspects of theintroductory chapters, and wish him success in using theinformation which we have compiled to good conserva-tion effect through its application to the BiodiversityConvention. We also thank our library staff, Sue Squireand Christine Alder, who kept us fuelled with newinformation right up to going to press. We thank the
staff at the many other libraries which we used, includ-ing the Edward Grey Institute (and especially LindaBirch), the Natural History Museum at Tring and theMap Room in the University Library, Cambridge.
Finally we thank our partners, John Croxall, Lin-ping Crosby, Melanie Heath and Nicky Wege for givingus home support throughout this lengthy project, espe-cially at times when we didn’t believe that we wouldever finish this book.
W. J. Adsett, PanamaAudubon Society
P. D. Alexander-Marrack,Netherlands
D. G. Allan, AvianDemography Unit, SouthAfrica
D. Allen, JapanO. Al-Saghier, BirdLife
YemenP. Alström, SwedenM. A. de Andrade, Intituto
Estadual de Florestas,Brazil
P. Andrew, AustraliaG. Angehr, Smithsonian
Tropical Research Institute,Panama
N. Arlott, UKJ. S. Ash, UKThe late D. Aspinwall, ZambiaA. Aspiroz, GUPECA,
UruguayJ. Atkins, UKP. W. Atkinson, UKC. Attié, CBC-CNRS,
RéunionN. E. Baker, TanzaniaD. J. Baker-Gabb, Royal
Australasian Ornithologists’Union
C. Balchin, UKE. Bani, Environment Unit,
VanuatuM. A. Barker, UKK. Barnes, Avian
Demography Unit, SouthAfrica
N. Barré, EMVT-CIRAD,France
J. Barrio, PeruM. Beaman, UKB. M. Beehler, Office of
Ecology and TerrestrialConservation, USA
A. J. Begazo, PeruB. D. Bell, Wildlife
Management InternationalLtd., New Zealand
L. A. Bennun, KenyaA. Berruti, Durban National
Science Museum, SouthAfrica
B. J. Best, UKR. Beyers, BelgiumP. C. Bhattacharjee, Gauhati
University, IndiaB. Bhushan, Smithsonian
Institution, USAM. Biscoito, Museu
Municipal do Funchal,Madeira
K. D. Bishop, AustraliaP. Bison, Ornithological
Society of the Middle East,UK
W. V. Bleisch, New YorkZoological Society, USA
P. Boesman, VenezuelaN. Bostock, UKM. Boulet, Service de
l’Environnement et de laGestion des Parcs etRéserves, New Caledonia
C. G. R. and L. Bowden,Mount Kupe Forest Project,Cameroon
J. Bowen, UKJ. Bowler, UKR. C. Brace, University of
Nottingham, UKH. Bregulla, GermanyV. Bretagnolle, CNRS,
FranceN. Brickle, UKM. de L. Brooke, University
of Cambridge, UKP. J. Bubb, Pronatura, MexicoA. Burbidge, Royal
Australasian Ornithologists’Union
N. D. Burgess, ZoologicalMuseum, Copenhagen,Denmark
H. Burn, UKI. Burrows, University of
Papua New GuineaR. Burrows, UKS. M. H. Butchart, UKD. J. Butler, Department of
Lands and Environment,Western Samoa
P. J. Butler, RARE Center forTropical Conservation,USA
C. Byres, UK
P. Canevari, Red Hemisféricade Reservas de Aves,Argentina
M. Carswell, UKA. Challenger, MexicoJ. C. Chebez, Delegación
Técnica Regional NEA,Argentina
P. Clarke, Frontier Tanzania,UK
R. P. Clay, UKB. J. Coates, AustraliaJ. Collie, Division of the
Environment, SeychellesJ. A. Colon, USAJ. Cooper, Percy FitzPatrick
Institute, South AfricaP. Coopmans, BelgiumH. Corrigan, Department of
Forests, VanuatuB. Cox, EcuadorC. Cox, Forest and Lands
Department, St LuciaN. Cricks, Island Resources
Foundation, Antigua andBarbuda
Nguyen Cu, IBER, VietnamD. Cunningham, Department
of Conservation, NewZealand
E. Curio, Ruhr-UniversitätBochum, Germany
R. L. Curry, VillanovaUniversity, USA
R. Daniels, OrnithologicalSociety of India
P. Davidson, UKM. Davies, Royal Society for
the Protection of Birds, UKS. Davis, BoliviaW. R. J. Dean, Tierberg
Karoo Research Centre,South Africa
R. W. R. J. Dekker,Natuurhistorisch Museum,Leiden, Netherlands
R. Demey, BelgiumJ. M. Diamond, University of
California, USAE. Dickinson, UKDing Chang-qing, Chinese
Academy of SciencesR. Donaghey, Australia
Contributors to the project The names and organi-zations listed below (and the countries of residence)give some indication of the amount and breadth of helpthat we have received. However, it has been difficult tomaintain accurate records during the course of this long
project, and we sincerely apologise if we have inadvert-ently missed any of our supporters from this list.(Organizations and countries relate to time of corre-spondence and may not be current. The list does notinclude contributors mentioned in the main text above.)
R. J. Douthwaite, UKS. D. Dowell, Partridge Quail
and Francolin SpecialistGroup, UK
A. C. Downer, JamaicaR. J. Dowsett, Tauraco,
BelgiumF. Dowsett-Lemaire,
Tauraco, BelgiumC. Dranzoa, UgandaJ. W. Duckworth, UKD. J. Du Puy, Royal Botanic
Gardens, UKA. Duncan, Ligue pour la
Protection des Oiseaux,France
G. C. L. Dutson, UKP. Dutton, Oceanographic
Research InstituteM. F. Ebreo, PhilippinesU. Ekanayake, Sri LankaG. Ekstrom, SwedenC. Elphick, UKJ. Engbring, Fish and Wildlife
Service, USAE. C. Enkerlin, MexicoP. Evans, University of
Oxford, UKT. D. Evans, UKE. Faull, UKP. Feldmann, CIRAD-CA,
GuadeloupeB. W. Finch, KenyaA. and J. Fitter, UKC. Fitzgibbon, KenyaK. Fitzherbert, Royal
Australasian Ornithologists’Union
J. Fjeldså, ZoologiskMuseum, Copenhagen,Denmark
A. Flamenco, CIES, MexicoB. Fletcher, UKJ. Flynn, UKP. S. M. Fonseca, BrazilI. S. Francis, Royal Society
for the Protection of Birds,UK
M. W. Fraser, South AfricaS. Garnett, Queensland
Department of Environmentand Heritage, Australia
M. C. Garnett, UK
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K. L. Garrett, Natural HistoryMuseum of Los AngelesCounty, USA
O. Garrido, Museo Nationalde Historia Natural, Cuba
P. J. Garson, PheasantSpecialist Group, UK
A. J. Gaston, NationalWildlife Research Centre,Canada
R. Gerlach, Nature ProtectionTrust of Seychelles
D. Gibbs, UKP. Glass, Fish and Wildlife
Service, USAL. P. Gonzaga, Ararajuba,
BrazilC. Gonzalez, Universidad de
la Laguna, Canary IslandsS. M. Goodman, Field
Museum of Natural History,USA
M. L. Goodwin, SociedadConservationista Audubonde Venezuela
M. E. J. Gore, GovernmentHouse, Cayman Islands
P. D. Goriup, The NatureConservation Bureau Ltd.,UK
A. Grajal, NYZS, TheWildlife ConservationSociety, USA
P. Gregory, Papua NewGuinea Bird Society
A. Gretton, UKP. Hall, UKF. Hannecart, Service de
l’Environnement et de laGestion des Parcs etRéserves, New Caledonia
L. A. Hansen, DenmarkC. Harcourt, UKS. Harrap, UKG. N. Harrington, Royal
Australasian Ornithologists’Union
J. Harrison, AvianDemography Unit, SouthAfrica
J. Harrison, WorldConservation MonitoringCentre, UK
A. F. A. Hawkins, WWFMadagascar
P. V. Hayman, UKC. J. Hazevoet, Universiteit
van Amsterdam,Netherlands
He Fen-qi, Chinese Academyof Sciences
C. J. Heij, Natuur MuseumRotterdam, Netherlands
S. Henson, UKR. Hill, Royal Australasian
Ornithologists’ UnionJ. C. Hillman, Ethiopian
Wildlife ConservationR. K. Hills, Vanuatu Protected
Areas Initiative, UKS. L. Hilty, USAT. Hjarsen, University of
Copenhagen, Denmark
P. A. R. Hockey, PercyFitzPatrick Institute, SouthAfrica
T. W. Hoffman, Ceylon BirdClub, Sri Lanka
D. A. Holmes, IndonesianOrnithological Society(Kukila)
D. T. Holyoak, UKJ. Hornbuckle, UKJ. Hornskov, DenmarkS. N. G. Howell, Point Reyes
Bird Observatory, USAT. R. Howell, USAG. R. Hunt, Massey
University, New ZealandS. A. Hussain, BirdLife Asia
Council, IndiaM. A. Hutt, Barbados, West
IndiesN. Ichida, Wild Bird Society
of JapanC. Inskipp, UKT. P. Inskipp, World
Conservation MonitoringCentre, UK
M. P. S. Irwin, ZimbabweI. Isherwood, UKM. Isler, USAL. Jammes, Fundación
Armonía, BoliviaS. Javed, Aligarh Muslim
University, IndiaJ. J. Jeffrey, USAM. C. Jennings, UKA. Jensen, Dansk
Ornitologisk ForeningB. Jiménez Ruiz, Asociación
Nacional para laConservación de laNaturaleza, Panama
N. Jivan Shah, ENVIRO,Seychelles
L. John, Forest and LandsDepartment, St Lucia
M. A. Johnston, University ofthe West of England, UK
C. G. Jones, MauritiusM. J. Jones, Manchester
Metropolitan University,UK
P. J. Jones, University ofEdinburgh, UK
S. Kanyamibwa, WorldConservation MonitoringCentre, UK
M. Katti, University ofCalifornia San Diego, USA
R. Kaul, IndiaK. Kazmierczak, UKA. Keith, USAC. Kennedy, UKL. F. Kiff, Peregrine Fund, USAB. King, KingBird Tours Inc.,
USAJ. Komdeur, National
Environment ResearchInstitute, Denmark
E. Kosaka, Fish and WildlifeService, USA
S. W. Kotagama, FieldOrnithology Group,University of Sri Lanka
N. Krabbe, EcuadorU. Lachungpa, Wildlife
Department, Government ofSikkim, India
F. R. Lambert, IUCN,Thailand
M. Lammertink, NetherlandsT. Leary, Nature
Conservancy, SolomonIslands
A. Lees, Maruia Society, NewZealand
M. Lentino, ColecciónOrnitológica Phelps,Venezuela
Y. Létocart, Service del’Environnement et de laGestion des Parcs etRéserves, New Caledonia
C. Levy, Gosse Bird Club,Jamaica
A. D. Lewis, UKA. Lieberman, Peregrine
Fund, USAM. Linsley, UKJ. A. Lorenzo, Universidad de
la Laguna, Canary IslandsM. Louette, Koninklijk
Museum voor Midden-Afrika, Belgium
J. Lovett, Botanical Museum,Denmark
A. Luy, SociedadConservacionista Audubonde Venezuela
G. Mackey, UKJ. MacKinnon, Asian Bureau
for Conservation, UKG. Maclean, University of
Natal, South AfricaG. Magnin, DHKD (Society
for the Protection ofNature), Turkey
N. A. D. Mallari, HaribonFoundation, Philippines
A. Marogh, Gosse Bird Club,Jamaica
C. Martin, WWF, SwitzerlandR. P. Martins, UKG. McCormack, Cook Islands
Natural Heritage ProjectN. McCulloch, Royal Society
for the Protection of Birds,UK
K. McDermond, Fish andWildlife Service, USA
P. McGowan, Partridge Quailand Francolin SpecialistGroup, UK
D. McNiven, Royal Societyfor the Protection of Birds,UK
D. V. Merton, Department ofConservation, New Zealand
J. Meza, ChileB. and C. Miller, Wildlife
Conservation Society,Belize
J. Minton, Wild Bird Societyof Japan
A. Mitchell, UKR. Mittermeier, Conservation
International, USA
C. W. Moeliker, NatuurMuseum Rotterdam,Netherlands
T. V. Mora, Departamento deVida Silvestre, DominicanRepublic
S. Mori, New York BotanicalGarden, USA
P. Morris, Birdquest, UKD. C. Moyer, Louisiana State
University, USAJ. T. Moyer, Mijake-jima
Nature Center, JapanA. G. Navarro, Museo de
Zoologa, MexicoA. J. Negret, Museo de
Historia Natural,Universidad del Cauca,Colombia
M. Nogales, Universidad deLa Laguna, Canary Islands
M. Nores, UniversidadNacional de Cordoba,Argentina
R. Noske, Northern TerritoryUniversity, Australia
C. M. C. Nozawa, HaribonFoundation, Philippines
Y. Ntiamoa-Baidu, GhanaWildlife Society, Ghana
D. A. S. Nuñez,Departamento de VidaSilvestre, DominicanRepublic
J. Oglethorpe, KIRCP, KenyaL. G. Olarte, ColombiaW. L. R. Oliver, Flora and
Fauna International, UKU. Olsson, SwedenJ. A. Ottenwalder, Florida
State Museum, USAR. Paalan, Silliman
University, PhilippinesThe late T. A. Parker,
Louisiana State University,USA
J. and H. Parrot, UKM. Pearman, UKN. B. Peet, University of East
Anglia, UKC. Perennun, Wetlands
International, NetherlandsJ. Pérez del Val, SpainP. K. D. Perng, Taiwan
Endemic Species ResearchInstitute
A. H. Perry, TREX, USAA. T. Peterson, University of
Kansas, USAS. L. Pimm, University of
Tennessee, USAM. A. Plenge, PeruD. E. Pomeroy, Makarere
University, UgandaR. Pople, UKR. Potapov, Zoological
Institute, RussiaG. V. N. Powell, RARE
Centre for TropicalConservation, Costa Rica
S. N. Prasad, SACON, IndiaH. D. Pratt, Lousiana State
University, USA
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T. Pratt, USAR. P. Prys-Jones, Natural
History Museum, UKR. Pyle, Bishop Museum, USAA. Rahmani, Bombay Natural
History Society, IndiaM. Rank, UKB. Raynor, Nature
Conservancy, MicronesiaN. J. Redman, UKB. Reed, UKH. Rienhard, Bruce Coleman
Ltd., UKJ. van Remsen Jr., Louisiana
State University, USAL. M. Renjifo, University of
Missouri–St Louis, USAR. S. Ridgely, Philadelphia
Academy of NaturalSciences, USA
D. Rinke, Brehm-FondsSudsee Expedition,Germany
D. Riven, EnvironmentPlanning Group, Barbados
M. R. Robbins, Museum ofNatural History, Universityof Kansas, USA
T. J. Roberts, UKA. Robertson, UKH. Robertson, Department of
Conservation, New ZealandS. A. Robertson, KenyaC. R. Robson, UKG. Rocamora, Division of the
Environment, SeychellesP. Rodewald, University of
Arkansas, USAC. Rose, UKL. A. Ruedas, Cincinati
Museum of Natural History,USA
P. Ryan, Percy FitzPatrickInstitute, South Africa
R. J. Safford, Royal HollowayInstitute for EnvironmentalResearch, UK
P. Salaman, Edward GreyInstitute, UK
T. Salathé, Tour du Valat,France
R. S. Sankaran, SACON,India
D. E. Sargeant, NetherlandsA. Schubert, Departamento de
Vida Silvestre, DominicanRepublic
T. S. Schulenberg, FieldMuseum of Natural History,USA
P. Scofield, RoyalAustralasian Ornithologists’Union
J. M. Scott, IdahoCooperative Fish andWildlife Research Unit,USA
N. Seddon, UKR. Seitre, FranceL. L. Severinghaus, Chinese
Wild Bird Federation,Taiwan
V. Sharma, State College,India
C. J. Sharpe, VenezuelaT. W. Sherry, Cooperación
Técnica, HondurasC. G. Sibley, USAB. Simpson, UKP. Singh, Wildlife Institute of
IndiaS. Sirgouant, Service de
l’Environnemnent et de laGestion des Parcs etRéserves, New Caledonia
A. Skerrett, SeychellesE. Smith, UKN. G. Smith, Smithsonian
Tropical Research Institute,Panama
T. Smith, San Francisco StateUniversity, USA
D. W. Snow, Natural HistoryMuseum, UK
G. J. Speight, UKC. Spottiswoode, South
AfricaD. W. Steadman, New York
State Museum, USAJ. Stevenson, Royal Society
for the Protection of Birds,UK
T. Stevenson, KenyaF. G. Stiles, Instituto de
Ciencias Naturales,Colombia
D. W. Stinson, Department ofNatural Resources,Northern Mariana Islands
T. Stokes, Great Barrier ReefMarine Park Authority,Australia
F. C. Straube, Museu deHistoria Natural ‘Capão deInbúia’, Brazil
N. Stronach, IrelandS. N. Stuart, IUCN Species
Survival Commission,Switzerland
S. Subramanya, University ofAgricultural Sciences,Bangalore, India
M. and S. Sulley, UKA. and R. Sutton, JamaicaJ. O. Svendsen, DenmarkP. Sweet, American Museum
of Natural History, USAP. O. Syversten, University of
Oslo, NorwayB. Tabaranza, Haribon
Foundation, PhilippinesL. Tacconi, University of
New South Wales, AustraliaB. Taylor, University of
Natal, South AfricaR. Taylor, Natal Parks Board,
South AfricaJ.-C. Thibault, FranceJ.-M. Thiollay, École
Normale Supérieure, Paris,France
G. and V. Thompson,Windrush, UK
R. Thorpe, New ZealandR. J. Timmins, UKB. Torres, BrazilP. W. Trail, Department of
Marine and WildlifeResources, AmericanSamoa
D. A. Turner, KenyaJ.-P. Vande weghe, UgandaJ. P. Vannini, Guatemala
Photographs We thank the following people for send-ing us, or allowing us to use, their photographs or copiesof their paintings free of charge. These have helped tobring the text alive by showing readers the amazingrange of habitats and birds (and other wildlife) whichoccur in Endemic Bird Areas, and also some of thethreats which face some of these places.P. Alström, J. K. Archer, J. S. Ash, C. Balchin, B. Beehler, A. J.Begazo, B. D. Bell, K. D. Bishop, P. Bison, P. Boesman, R.Brace, M. de L. Brooke, D. J. Brooks, T. Brooks, S. Butchart,A. Challenger, N. J. Collar, B. Cox, J. Croxall, M. Davies, R. J.Douthwaite, G. Duke, G. C. L. Dutson, M. Edwards, G. Ekstrom,J. M. M. Ekstrom, P. G. H. Evans, J. H. Fanshawe, E. Faull,A. and J. Fitter, C. Fitzgibbon, J. Fjeldså, J. Flynn, B. Forester,P. D. Goriup, R. F. A. Grimmett, C. T. Hanashiro, C. Harcourt,S. Harrap, F. Hawkins, M. F. Heath, R. Hill, T. Hjarsen, S. N. G.
Howell, I. Isherwood, L. Jammes, J. J. Jeffrey, P. Jepson, P. J.Jones, C. Kennedy, M. Lammertink, C. Levy, J. Lowen,G. Mackey, G. Magnin, A. Marogh, R. P. Martins, S. Miller,R. Mittermeier, P. Morris, J. Moyer, C. Mullen, R. Noske,U. Olsson, J. P. O’Neill, R. Pople, R. F. Porter, M. K. Poulsen,H. D. Pratt, T. Pratt, T. Pridham, H. B. Rajao, H. Reinhard,C. Robson, G. Rocamora, R. J. Safford, P. G. W. Salaman, T.Salathé, N. Seddon, R. Seitre, C. Sharpe, B. Simpson, C.Spottiswoode, K. Takehara, H. Taylor, J. Tobias, J. Watson,S. Webb.We are especially grateful to Norman Arlott, HilaryBurn, Peter Hayman, Chris Rose and Clive Byers forallowing us to reproduce their paintings which werespecially commissioned for members of the Rare BirdClub, many of whom have sponsored this book (seep. 3).
P. Verbelen, BelgiumC. J. Vernon, East London
Museum, South AfricaL. Vijayan, SACON, IndiaF. J. Vilella, US Fish and
Wildlife Service, PuertoRico
P. Villard, CIRAD-CA,Guadeloupe
J. Vincent, South AfricaWang Sung, Chinese
Academy of SciencesWang Xian-pu, China Plant
Specialist GroupD. Watling, FijiJ. Watson, Nature
Conservancy Council, UKH. P. Webb, USAS. Webb, USAD. R. Wells, UKD. Weyer, BelizeB. M. Whitney, Field Guides
Inc., USAA. J. Whitten, World Bank,
Washington, USAG. J. Wiles, Department of
Agriculture, GuamJ. W. Wiley, USAJ. C. Z. Woinarsksi,
Conservation Commission,Australia
P. Wood, Royal Society forthe Protection of Birds, UK
The late Wu Zhi-kang,Guizhou Institute ofBiology, China
J. M. Wunderle, Institute ofTropical Forestry, PuertoRico
Xu Wei-shu, ChinaOrnithological Society
V. J. Zacharias, Project Tiger,India
Zhang Zheng-wang, BeijingNormal University, China
Zheng Guang-mei, ChinaOrnithological Society
Zhou Fang, Guangxi, ChinaF. Zino, Madeira
10
Endemic Bird Areas of the World
SUMMARY
The problemBiodiversity—the total variety of life on earth—is being lost at an increasing pace.Despite growing popular support to stem this loss, conservation is hindered becausefinancial resources are limited and the knowledge of the distribution of most organisms ispoor.
Towards a solutionBirdLife International’s Biodiversity Project makes a unique contribution to theidentification of priorities for biodiversity conservation by using birds—one of the best-known groups of animals—as indicators of areas of high endemism. Limitedconservation resources can most effectively be directed at these places.
The Biodiversity Project’s results
• Over 25% of all birds (2,561 species) have restricted ranges,being confined to areas of less than 50,000 km2 (the size ofCosta Rica).
• These small areas overlap to form Endemic Bird Areas(EBAs), such that the majority of restricted-range species (93% of
them) are encompassed by 218 EBAs.
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• The restricted-range birds include 816 species that are currentlyclassified as threatened—74% of all threatened bird species.Most (80%) of the 62 species that have gone extinct in the last 200years also had restricted ranges.
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• EBAs are found around the world, but most (77%) of them arelocated in the tropics and subtropics. The top countries for
EBAs are Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Papua NewGuinea and China, all of which have more than 10 each. Page 37
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Endemic Bird Areas of the World
• The natural habitat in most EBAs (83%) is forest, especiallytropical lowland and montane moist forest.
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• EBAs vary considerably in size (from a few squarekilometres to more than 100,000 km2) and in the numbers of
restricted-range species that they support (from two to 80).
• Historically, some 20% of the world’s birds were totally confined toEBAs whose area covered 2% of the earth’s land surface. Todayalmost half of the EBAs have lost more than 50% of their key habitats,and 20% of the world’s birds can be found in only 1% ofthe earth’s land surface where these habitats still remain.Page 33
• Most EBAs (85%) have one or more threatened or extinctrestricted-range bird species. Many restricted-range species are atrisk—even in EBAs where the habitat remains relatively intact—
owing to the intrinsic vulnerability of having a very smallrange and/or population. Page 35
What can be done now?• These findings show that the conservation of a major part of the earth’s terrestrial
biodiversity can indeed be ensured by focusing conservation resources and actions withina relatively small total area. The EBAs of the world are clearly priorities for conservationaction.
• At the national level, information on EBAs can be used directly in the implementation ofconservation agreements, notably the Convention on Biological Diversity which amongother things requires member states to identify important areas and ecosystems.
• At the local level, representative key sites within EBAs can be targeted, such as inBirdLife’s Important Bird Areas programme, which makes recommendations for specificconservation action, ranging from the establishment and management of protected areas tothe sustainable use of natural resources.
• The majority of EBAs are important for restricted-range speciesfrom other wildlife groups. For example, there is a closesimilarity (an overlap of more than 60%) between the location ofEBAs and areas which are similarly important for plants.Page 51
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Endemic Bird Areas of the World