The global lockdown to mitigate COVID-19 pandemic health risks has altered human interactions with nature. Here, we report immediate impacts of changes in human activities on wildlife and environmental threats during the early lockdown months of 2020, based on 877 qualitative reports and 332 quantitative assessments from different studies. Hundreds of reports of unusual species observations from around the world suggest that animals quickly responded to the reductions in human presence. However, negative effects of lockdown on conservation also emerged, as confinement resulted in some park officials being unable to perform conservation, restoration and enforcement tasks, resulting in local increases in illegal activities such as hunting. Overall, there is a complex mixture of positive and negative effects of the pandemic lockdown on nature, all of which have the potential to lead to cascading responses which in turn impact wildlife and nature conservation. While the net effect of the lockdown will need to be assessed over years as data becomes available and persistent effects emerge, immediate responses were detected across the world. Thus, initial qualitative and quantitative data arising from this serendipitous global quasi-experimental perturbation highlights the dual role that humans play in threatening and protecting species and ecosystems. Pathways to favorably tilt this delicate balance include reducing impacts and increasing conservation effectiveness.

Supplementary File S1: Questionnaire sent to individuals and organisations involved with parrot research and conservation soliciting information on conservation status and opinions on threats, and priority actions for research and conservation within their area of expertise. Categories for scope, severity and impact of different threats adapted from the IUCN-CMP Unified Classification of Direct Threats version 3.1 THE CONSERVATION STATUS OF AFRICAN PARROTSThis survey is being conducted as part of an initiative of the Parrot Researchers Group (PRG) / Research Coordination Committee on Parrots (RCCP) of the International Ornithologists' Union (IOU), to review the conservation status of African Parrots and identify conservation and research priorities. Your assistance is greatly appreciated and your contribution will be acknowledged in all reports.

The poor survival rate of immature northern bald ibises Geronticus eremita during their first years spent outside the natal site is driving the last known wild colony of the migratory eastern population to extinction. To inform emergency conservation action for this Critically Endangered species we investigated the distribution range and behaviour of immature birds in passage and wintering areas, and the threats to which they are subject. We integrated recent satellite telemetry data with visual observations spanning 130 years. We assessed threats across the range, using satellite tracking and field surveys. Our results show that during the years before they return to the natal site in Syria, immature northern bald ibises reside away from the recently identified adult wintering site in the central Ethiopian highlands. They occur mainly across the northernmost 70-80% of the adult migratory range. Historical records suggest that immature birds spend more time along the western Arabian Peninsula now than in the past. This range shift exposes them for longer periods to threats, such as hunting and electrocution on power lines, which are absent from the wintering site used by adult birds. We suggest that other threatened and declining bird species sharing the same flyway probably face the same threats during migration.

Since its discovery in 2002 the small colony of northern bald ibis Geronticus eremita in the central Syrian desert remains at perilously low numbers, despite good productivity and some protection at their breeding grounds. The Syrian birds are migratory and return rates of young birds appear to have been poor but because the migration route and wintering sites were unknown little could be done to address any problems away from Syria. Satellite tracking of three adult birds in 2006-2007 has shown they migrate through Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen to the central highlands of Ethiopia. The three tagged birds and one other adult were found at the wintering site but none of the nine younger birds that also left Syria were with them. At least four birds wintered elsewhere because they returned to the colony the following spring. The return migration followed the western shore of the Red Sea through Eritrea to Sudan before crossing the Red Sea into Saudi Arabia, then northwards to Syria. The adults appeared to be at low risk on the wintering site although we recommend protection. Threats along the migration route now need to be assessed and mitigated, and further effort made to determine the movements of subadults and young birds.

Rangeland degradation by livestock threatens several restricted-range species, but is largely overlooked by conservation biologists. The Sidamo lark Heteromirafra sidamoensis, confined to the Liben Plain grassland in southern Ethiopia, is critically endangered by bush encroachment, permanent settlement and agricultural conversion. Its global range was previously estimated at 760 km2, but in 2007-2008 available habitat covere