Bad news about European breeding birds according to the 2012 IUCN Red List for birds.

The Saker Falcon - Falco cherrug - was uplisted to Endangered because a revised population trend analysis indicates that it may be undergoing a very rapid decline. This negative trend is a result of unsustainable capture for the falconry trade, as well as habitat degradation and the impacts of agrochemicals, and the rate of decline appears to be particularly severe in Central Asian breeding grounds. The status revision is based on careful review of the latest available evidence from across the range but the situation is dynamic with still large gaps in the information to be filled. Surveys are urgently needed to produce more robust and less uncertain population estimates, in particular for China, Russia and Mongolia.

Yelkouan Shearwater - Puffinus yelkouan - which breeds only in the central and western Mediterranean, was uplisted to Vulnerable as it is estimated to be undergoing a rapid population decline, caused by extremely low breeding success and adult survival owing to fisheries bycatch and predation by introduced mammals.

Another European endemic, Rock Partridge - Alectoris graeca - was uplisted to Near Threatened since the species is likely to be undergoing a moderately rapid population reduction owing to habitat degradation and hybridization in some areas of its range, which is limited to Sicily, Italy, the Alps and Balkans.

The involvement of BirdLife Europe doesn’t stop at collecting the scientific data for the Red List. We are now promoting the further development and implementation of the species action plans and a better protection for the biodiversity of the Baltic Sea.