On the first weekend of October each year we celebrate Bird Day, a date promoted by BirdLife International to raise awareness about the status of these species and highlight their ecological value, this year under the slogan “Enjoy and get to know the birds that surround you”.

Currently, there are more than 11,000 recognized species of birds in the world, each of them being unique in its appearance, in its habits and customs and in the regions and ecosystems where it is found. Birds act as key indicators of the health of the planet and the degree of biodiversity conservation. Likewise, according to SEO/BirdLife, they provide a wide variety of ecosystem services of different kinds: they contribute to seed dispersal, pollination and other services for regulating natural processes, but they also provide other “immaterial” benefits, related to people’s health and well-being, since some studies indicate that birdwatching helps to alleviate anxiety and depression.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, the status of the world’s birds has been steadily deteriorating since the first assessments were made in 1988. Currently, about 13% of the world’s birdlife is threatened, and it is estimated that 40% of bird species globally (3,967) have declining population trends, and even several of those that were once common are disappearing today.

The 2022 update of the annual report on the state of the world’s birds by BirdLife International, adds that 34 species have been included in higher threat categories on the IUCN Red List in the last year, due to the increase in threats such as deforestation or overexploitation of habitats. However, this analysis also highlights that a further 94 species were reduced to lower threat categories compared to 2021, due to the success of reintroduction and captive breeding programmes carried out with some of these species.

At the national level, our avifauna reaches the figure of 622 species, according to the latest edition of the List of Birds of Spain (2019), of which 572 could be considered to be of natural presence in our country. In addition, the presence of 462 species of birds during spring has been detected in our country, of which 63% (293) are native birds that breed in Spanish territory, according to the III Atlas of Birds in the Breeding Season in Spain. This publication also states that eight of these species are unique worldwide and another 10 are unique on a European scale.

The data collected in the SEO/BirdLife programme for the monitoring and study of common birds in spring (Sacre) indicate that 37% of common bird species in Spain are in an unfavourable situation. In addition, the Red Book of Birds of Spain (2021) concludes that 25% of the Spanish avifauna assessed is threatened, while 56% of the species have conservation problems.

This document also describes the main factors that threaten Spanish ornithological fauna, with pollution (urban, industrial, garbage, etc.) severely affecting a greater number of bird species (76.29%), followed by the alteration of ecosystems (70.10%). Among the remaining risk factors, climate change appears for the first time (65.98 %), together with other threats such as the existence of invasive alien species and other problematic native species (60.82 %) or hazards due to electrocution, being run over and collisions with buildings and other infrastructure (46.39 %).

In this context, the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has contributed, since its inception, to the protection and improvement of the conservation status of birdlife, through more than 180 projects and initiatives that, directly or indirectly, are in line with this purpose, and of which 8 are currently being executed.

In this way, work has been done on the application of the European Directives on Birds and Habitats and on the promotion of new tools for biodiversity conservation, such as Land Stewardship. Likewise, the conservation of natural ecosystems, geological diversity and the landscape has been reinforced, and actions have been carried out to restore natural habitats and wild species, including some of the most threatened.

Thus, SEO/BirdLife is developing two projects aimed at improving the conservation status of two species listed as “Critically Endangered” in the Red Book of Birds. On the one hand, it is working on updating the knowledge of the population size and distribution of the two nesting subspecies of marsh bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) in Spain. In this line, they are carrying out genetic studies and studies of connectivity and fragmentation of the landscape between populations, as well as an analysis of population viability and definition of the fundamental ecological requirements for the subsistence of the species. The initiative will provide the necessary knowledge to improve the management and conservation of the marsh bunting and the habitats and wetlands where it is present, and for a future drafting of the Conservation Strategy for the species in Spain.

The Balearic shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus) is another bird that is at greater risk of extinction. In order to improve their conservation status, SEO/BirdLife is compiling updated information on the status of their populations and their main threats. Population censuses and surveys are also being carried out in possible nesting areas of the Balearic shearwater and three other seabirds, also threatened: the Mediterranean Cory’s shearwater (Calonectris diomedea), the Atlantic Cory’s shearwater (Calonectris borealis) and the Mediterranean shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan). In this sense, it is planned to develop a joint conservation strategy for the four species, through participatory processes.

On the other hand, within the framework of the Pleamar Programme, co-financed by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), the Centre for University Extension and Environmental Dissemination of Galicia (CEIDA) is executing the ARTABRO 3 project, an initiative aligned with the objectives of the LIFE INTEMARES project, coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation. It represents an advance in the knowledge of the environmental values of the Golfo Ártabro, which has been proposed as a Special Protection Area for Birds (SPA). It also aims to provide new information on seabirds in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, by carrying out censuses and population estimates and ringing and monitoring campaigns to obtain as much information as possible about their areas of activity in the marine environment, with a view to their management. In addition, it carries out work of dissemination, awareness and enhancement of the importance of the conservation of marine biodiversity through the delivery of informative talks, travelling exhibitions and conferences.

New projects with PRTR funds for the conservation of our birds

In addition, in 2022, various projects related to birdlife are supported by the Biodiversity Foundation within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (RTRP), funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU. Thus, Cory’s – Research and Biodiversity Conservation has promoted the Cormiños initiative, which aims to address the lack of existing knowledge about the conservation status of marine SPAs in the Cantabrian Sea, as well as to propose the expansion of the surface area of the marine Natura 2000 Network. It is also collecting information on the nesting seabirds in this area, the shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) and the European storm petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus) for the environmental improvement of these spaces.

For its part, the Association for the Defence and Study of Native Fauna and Flora (ADEFFA) is undertaking a project to expand and improve the facilities of the CAMACA centre, in Santa Maria de Merlès (Barcelona), one of the places for the rescue, reception and recovery of psittacine birds and birds of prey included in the CITES agreement (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). The initiative also includes environmental awareness and education actions and aims to establish new synergies with other centres and sectors, in addition to the collaboration agreement signed with the Centre for the Recovery of Amphibians and Reptiles of Catalonia (CRARC).