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 Endangered Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus congregates in communal roosts in the wintering areas and where food availability is high, where even a single threat might lead to substantial population declines. Thus, more research on the congregation sites is needed for timely detection of threats and effectively directed conservation measures. We studied bird numbers, use of roosting substrates and roosting habitat of wintering Egyptian Vultures in Ethiopia. Vultures were counted using the road-count technique in 2009, 2010 and 2013 along c. 600 km of roads in the Afar region. Over 1 000 individuals were counted each year and the sites with the highest congregations were identified. Nearly half of the birds were adults and the majority roosted on bird-safe types of electric pylons. Most of the Egyptian Vultures were found below 500 m above sea level, in bare areas, open savannas or grasslands, and their abundance was negatively related to the amount of cover of bush vegetation. The distribution of roosting birds was not affected by distance to human settlements. To avoid disasterous effects on the population of the Egyptian Vultures, we strongly recommend that the sites sheltering the highest numbers of roosting birds should be included in the Important Bird Area network, the use of poisons should be banned, and dangerous power lines should be insulated or substituted with safer types.

Climate may influence the distribution and abundance of a species through a number of demographic and ecological processes, but the proximate drivers of such responses are only recently being identified. The Ethiopian Bush-crow Zavattariornis stresemanni is a starlinglike corvid that is restricted to a small region of southern Ethiopia. It is classified as Endangered in the IUCN Red List of globally threatened species. Previous work suggested that this range restriction is almost perfectly defined by a climate envelope that is cooler than surrounding areas, but the proximate mechanism remains unexplained. The heavily altered habitats which the species inhabits are widespread across Africa, and recent work has shown that the Bush-crow is behaviourally adaptable and has a catholic diet. We assess whether its enigmatic distribution can be explained by behavioural responses to the higher temperatures that surround its current range. Using environmental niche models and field observations of thermally mediated behaviour, we compare the range restriction and behavioural thermoregulation of the Ethiopian Bush-crow with those of two sympatric control species that are similar in size and ecology, but have much larger ranges that include hotter environments. White-crowned Starling Lamprotornis albicapillus and Superb Starling L. superbus occupy similar habitats to the Ethiopian Bush-crow and all three frequently forage together. We found that the Bush-crow's range is limited primarily by temperature, with a secondary effect of dry season rainfall, whereas the ranges of the two starling species are better predicted by wet season rainfall alone. Bush-crows exhibited panting behaviour and moved into the shade of trees at significantly lower ambient temperatures than did the starlings, and their food intake declined more steeply with increasing temperature. These results indicate that the limited geographical range of the Bush-crow reflects an inability to cope with higher temperatures. This suggests that a species' response to climate change might not be easily predicted by its ecological generalism, and may represent an inherited debt from its evolutionary history.

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

SummaryThe Critically Endangered Liben Lark (formerly Sidamo Lark) is known only from the Liben Plain of southern Ethiopia, where rapid grassland deterioration is driving the species towards extinction. Fieldwork on the Liben Plain in May 2009 to assess changes in habitat and population since June 2007 recorded a significant deterioration in habitat and decline in numbers. In both 2007 and 2009, birds were associated with areas with greater than average grass cover, and in 2007 with areas of higher grass. However, between 2007 and 2009 there was a significant decline in grass cover and height, a 40% decline in number of birds recorded along repeated transects, and a contraction of 38% in the occupied area of the Liben Plain. Moreover, the cover of bare ground increased more in areas where the species was recorded in 2007 than at random points, suggesting a more rapid degradation of the best sites. There was also a loss to arable agriculture of 8% of the grassland present in 2007. Invading fennel plants increased in number and area on the plain but did not appear to influence the distribution of the lark. An analysis of NDVI showed that grassland deterioration could not be explained by drought, and the most likely explanation is that grassland quality is suffering from overgrazing. Predictive modelling suggests that, apart from a smaller and politically insecure area some 500 km to the north-east near Somalia, there is no suitable habitat for this species elsewhere in the Horn of Africa. As a matter of extreme urgency, cattle exclosures need to be established on the Liben Plain to allow grassland regeneration. This may require the ploughing of land to reduce soil compaction and re-sowing with local grass species. In the longer term, further degradation of the plain should be prevented by, for example, clearing encroaching scrub to increase grassland area and reduce grazing pressure, and by developing sustainable rangeland management practices. These actions have the full and active support of local pastoralists.