This image gallery displays my collection of images – good, bad and mostly indifferent – of birds I have personally encountered that are also on the IUCN Critically Endangered List (2020). Call it, if you like, my Trophy Cabinet. But I don’t present it as a celebratory display. The fact that I have got these rare birds on my world list is a cause for celebration only in so far as it shows they are still extant in the wild, and accessible to birders.
The images are presented in IOC taxonomic order. The thumbnails can be expanded to a full size image (with subtitle) with a single click; arrows on these full size images take one through the whole series.
Over time, I will post other image galleries of vulnerable, threatened and endangered species. And I will endeavour to update the Galleries to take account of birds that are re-classified, and any images from new encounters.
At the foot of the gallery is a set of notes, image by image, describing my sightings of these birds in the wild. The IUCN Red List page can be accessed by following the link above and typing in the species name.
Links are provided to information about the conservation measures behind those which are being protected and/or rescued, at the place where I saw them.
Mistaken IDs? Happy for your feedback!
Blue-Billed Curassow: 17/9/16, El Paujil Reserve, Boyaca, Colombia. El Paujil is a Pro Aves Bird Reserve. A female was hand-reared and hung about the lodge. It attracted a wild male (the one in the image gallery above) which partook of the handouts, along with a pet rabbit.
Siberian Crane: 14/2/17 Mai Po, Hong Kong. Siberian Crane is a rare winter visitor to Mai Po. A solitary bird hung around for a while in the winter of 2016/17. Mai Po is managed by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF).
Sociable Lapwing: 30/5/17, Korgalzhyn Nature Reserve, Kazakhstan. Drive-by. A small group spotted near the road, one landed briefly on the bitumen for a quick record shot.
Chinese Crested Tern: 13/5/15 Shan Yu Tan, Fujian, China. A pair, some distance away over the mud on the Min Jiang Estuary, amidst a mixed flock of Terns and Gulls, all enjoying the point where a fresh water stream met the incoming tide. The ducks nearly stole the show. The Terns breed on islands off the Fujian and Zhejiang coast. Estimates put the surviving population around 50. The Min Jiang Estuary is a province-level nature reserve. Birdlife International is helping coordinate a conservation program.
Christmas Frigatebird: 3/4/16, Jakarta Bay, Java, Indonesia. Along with several Frigatebirds and Cormorants, perched on posts in the Bay. Unprotected at this site.
White-shouldered Ibis: 11/12/16, Tmatboey, Preah Vihear, Cambodia. See ‘Rescued Species and Extinction Birding’. The World Conservation Society(WCS) is involved in a coordinated conservation program.
Giant Ibis: 12/12/16: Tmatboey, Preah Vihear, Cambodia. See previous entry.
Red-headed Vulture: 12/12/16, Dong Phlet Vulture Restaurant, Preah Vihear, Cambodia. One of three endangered Vulture species also found in the Indian Sub-continent, with disjoint populations in Cambodia. The Vulture Restaurant is a project funded and coordinated through several international and local NGOs and the Cambodian government.
Philippine Eagle: 21/1/14, Siluban, Davao City, Southern Mindanao, Philippines. Distant record shot with ‘snapshot’ camera. Nesting site protected by local villagers who levied a ‘viewing fee’ on visiting birders.
Madagascan Fish Eagle: 16/11/2016, Ankarafantsika NP, Madagascar. Regular at Ravelobe Lake. 250 left in the wild.
Yellow-crested Cockatoo: 23/9/15 Komodo, Nusa Tengarra, Indonesia (ssp. parvula). Protected on the island and at other, scattered sites in the Lesser Sundas. Rapid population decline due in large part to trapping and pet trade. Feral population established on Hong Kong Island, reportedly originating when the Governor released his pet birds during the Japanese invasion in 1941 (comprises about 10% of total population of 2000).
Swift Parrot: 1/2/2017, Brady’s Lake, Tasmania, Australia. Migratory, breeding in Tasmania old growth forest, migrating north to the mainland. Population in decline due to logging of its forest nesting sites. There is a National Recovery Plan and a range of voluntary conservation efforts, but logging continues, approved by Tasmanian state authorities under a Forestry Agreement with the national government.
Norfolk Parakeet: 22/12/2018, Norfolk Island, Australia. Not hard to observe in the National Park in the north of the island, in small parties foraging in trees or on the ground. Endemic to Norfolk Island. Considered a subspecies of Red-fronted Parakeet in the IUCN Red List, but has species status in the IOC taxonomic list. Once common across most of the Island, but habitat loss and predation led to decline. Population reduced to around 250 in the early 2000s but has been stabilised through efforts to trap introduced rats and cats in the National Park, provide additional nesting holes and reduce competition from the introduced Crimson Rosella, which is common on the island.
Orange-bellied Parrot: 2/2/17, Southwest National Park, Tasmania. Single breeding site at Melaleuca, accessible only by small plane or by overland trek through the Park. Birds at feeders can be seen five minutes after landing, at the end of the runway. Captive birding and release and on-site protection by a Government of Tasmania conservation team have arrested imminent extinction, with population in the wild around 50. The species is migratory, wintering on the mainland of Australia. Habitat loss in Tasmania and predation on the mainland are considered the main reason for population decline. Young, captive-bred birds are released each year on the mainland to join the migrating flocks. Losses on migration and in wintering feeding grounds have cast doubts on the adequacy of the strategy of in situ protection of breeding grounds plus bolstering of the breeding population with young, captive-bred birds.
Chestnut-capped Piha: 7/9/2016, Piha Reserve, Antioquia, Colombia. A Pro Aves reserve is dedicated in part to preservation of the species, with support from the American Bird Conservancy. Population in the wild less than 250.
Blue-crowned Laughingthrush: 7/5/15, Shimen township, Wuyuan, Jiangxi, China. Rapid population decline due to habitat loss from urban development and trapping for the cage bird trade. Export for the internatonal bird trade now prohibited. A small population at a breeding site in Shimen is (more or less) protected by the local population, and is regularly visited by birders. Disturbance by photographers at this site is a real and growing threat. Total wild population is less than 250.
Yellow-breasted Bunting: 17/10/17, Long Valley, Hong Kong. Only recently considered as a threatened species, due to rapid decline in population numbers since 2004. Migratory, many wintering in Southern China, where they are colloquially known as ‘Rice Birds’. They are traditionally popular as a delicacy, caught in mist nets over the rice paddies. There is uncertainty over total population numbers, but the rate of population decline has led to raising the threat level to critically endangered.
