Global population collapse in a superabundant migratory bird and illegal trapping in China

Abstract

Persecution and overexploitation by humans are major causes of species extinctions. Rare species, often confined to small geographic ranges, are usually at highest risk, whereas extinctions of superabundant species with very large ranges are rare. The Yellow-breasted Bunting (Emberiza aureola) used to be one of the most abundant songbirds of the Palearctic, with a very large breeding range stretching from Scandinavia to the Russian Far East. Anecdotal information about rapid population declines across the range caused concern about unsustainable trapping along the species' migration routes. We conducted a literature review and used long-term monitoring data from across the species' range to model population trend and geographical patterns of extinction. The population declined by 84.3-94.7% between 1980 and 2013, and the species' range contracted by 5000 km. Quantitative evidence from police raids suggested rampant illegal trapping of the species along its East Asian flyway in China. A population model simulating an initial harvest level of 2% of the population, and an annual increase of 0.2% during the monitoring period produced a population trajectory that matched the observed decline. We suggest that trapping strongly contributed to the decline because the consumption of Yellow-breasted Bunting and other songbirds has increased as a result of economic growth and prosperity in East Asia. The magnitude and speed of the decline is unprecedented among birds with a comparable range size, with the exception of the Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius), which went extinct in 1914 due to industrial-scale hunting. Our results demonstrate the urgent need for an improved monitoring of common and widespread species' populations, and consumption levels throughout East Asia.

Unravelling the drastic range retraction of an emblematic songbird of North Africa: potential threats to Afro-Palearctic migratory birds

“…The species is probably extinct or very scarce in the wild in the eastern part of the study area, that is, in Tunisia and Algeria (except for the western part). In our knowledge, such rapid range fragmentation is rare in Palearctic passerines 31 . According to BirdLife International 17 , the population trends of the species since 1980 have been stable based on provisional data for 21 European countries.…”

Partial migration and decreasing migration distance in the Hungarian population of the Common Blackbird (Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758): Analysis of 85 years of ring recovery data

“…Similarly, hunting in Mediterranean countries contributes a significant number of ring recoveries for migratory bird species breeding in Germany (Fiedler et al 2004) and in the Netherlands (Visser et al 2009, Hegemann et al 2010. It is well known that hunting and illegal trapping of migratory birds can drastically reduce population size (Kamp et al 2015), and alter migratory behavior and routes (Béchet et al 2003). Thus, it is important to consider the contribution of hunting, along with climate change, when interpreting ringing recovery data and the associated decrease in recovery distances.…”

Effective Poyang Lake Conservation? A Local Ecology View from Downstream Involving Internationally Migratory Birds When Trying to Buffer and Manage Water from HKH with ‘Modern’ Concepts

“…net/article/show/ single/en/839-Poyang-Lake-savingthe-finless-porpoise; Fang et al 2006 for context). Songbirds are in generic decline in Asia, especially in China (Jiao et al 2016; see Kamp et al 2015 for 90% population crashes). Another widely forgotten side-aspect are the millions of unnamed migratory waterbirds that make use of Poyang Lake as a resting and winter grounds.…”