Quest to find one of the world's rarest birds launched at CMS COP9 in Rome

Rome, 4 December 2008 - the RSPB, BirdLife International and a number of other partners have begun an international campaign to find the last remaining individuals of one of the world's rarest birds - the Slender-billed Curlew.



Launched at the Ninth Meeting of the United Nations Environment Programme's Convention on Migratory Species (CMS COP9) in Rome, the "quest" for the Slender-billed Curlew campaign is a concerted push to find this rare bird and to prevent it from becoming extinct.



Although once regularly seen across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, its numbers have declined dramatically during the 20th century. With less than 50 individuals thought to be remaining today, the Slender-billed Curlew is considered one of the most threatened bird species in the world.



"The Slender-billed Curlew should not become the Dodo for Europe" said Mr. Bert Lenten, Executive Secretary of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) - at the international wildlife conference in Rome, Italy.



Classified as Critically Endangered, the Slender-billed Curlew (Numenius tenuirostris) is also one of the least well known birds in the Western Palearctic region, with no confirmed sightings of the bird in nearly a decade.



Although the last confirmed sighting of the species was in Oman in 1999, we must not give up on this species and step up all our efforts to try to find the bird so that we can identify its breeding and wintering sites and protect them." said Lenten.



The main causes for the decline of the Slender-billed Curlew are habitat loss and hunting. Although it is legally protected and hunting of the species is banned in most of the countries where it is thought to occur, it has often been mistakenly shot because of its likeness to other Curlew species.

The Quest for the Slender-billed Curlew



The new campaign involves mobilizing skilled birdwatchers in all the countries along the species flyway. Finding a bird of the species is critical for any future conservation action – as the lack of records since 1999 is making it difficult to design any targeted conservation strategy to save this species in danger.

The campaign is trying to reach birdwatchers and conservationists and urge them to be to be vigilant when checking curlews and to organize birding holidays and expeditions to likely Slender-billed Curlew sites.

New Toolkit to help spot the Slender-billed Curlew

- Download Toolkit -

To help birdwatchers in their quest and to facilitate the challenge of identifying the bird and distinguishing it from the other two curlew species in Western Palearctic, the RSPB, BirdLife International, CMS and AEWA have produced a special toolkit.

The new field guide for the Slender-billed Curlew will help birdwatchers spot, identify and report their findings so that any observation of the Slender-billed Curlew will not stay unnoticed and will actually help to support efforts to save the species. The Toolkit also provides comparative review and guidance on the field and voice characteristics of the Slender-billed Curlew as well as instructions on actions to take in case a bird is actually recorded.

The small, pocket sized and water-resistent toolkit easily fits within any bird guide book and will become a reference for the keen birdwatcher. UK-based birders will be able to receive a copy with the January 2009 issue of the birding magazine “Birdwatch”. Copies are also available from the RSPB HQ and the AEWA Secretariat and can also be downloaded directly from www.slenderbilledcurlew.net where additional reference images, sound recordings (recorded calls) and details on steps to take in searching for the Slender-billed Curlew can be found.

International Action for the Slender-billed Curlew

The Slender-billed Curlew is one of the four most threatened (critically endangered) species listed under AEWA and has the tiniest population estimate amongst them with no confirmed records since 1999.

In the AEWA Strategic Plan 2009-2017 the Parties have set a number of indicators for the successful implementation of the Agreement and one of them is “zero extinction” , i.e. that no AEWA waterbird population will become extinct. In order to meet this target it is necessary to work hard to find and protect the last Slender-billed Curlews and their critical sites along the flyway.

In 1994 a Memorandum of Understanding for the Slender-billed Curlew was developed under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS MoU) to foster cooperation between the 30 countries which lie within the species range. In addition, an expert working group for the species, chaired by BirdLife International was also developed in the framework of the MoU. The AEWA Secretariat is an active member of the working group and the core steering group.

This new quest might be the last chance for the Slender-billed Curlew. If confirmed records of sightings do come in, a team of experts will be ready to try to tag the bird with a satellite transmitter. This will allow the bird to be tracked to its elusive breeding grounds and will also disclose the critical sites along its flyway. There is great hope that this way the bird will actually lead to the discovery of more Slender-billed Curlews and their breeding grounds.

Notes for Editors:

AEWA – The African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement, or AEWA is a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) backed treaty dedicated to the protection of 255 species of waterbirds which migrate along the African-Eurasian Flyways. Developed under the auspices of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), AEWA provides the framework for countries in the region to work together to conserve such species as ducks, waders, storks, flamingos and many other migratory waterbirds. Countries that have become Parties to the Agreement commit themselves to putting measures in place to conserve the region's waterbird populations and the habitats on which they depend. Currently 62 Parties out of 118 Range States in Africa and Eurasia have joined AEWA.

CMS COP9 - The 9th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (UNEP/CMS) took place in Rome, 1-5 December 2008. At the meeting, over 300 representatives from governmental and non-governmental organizations as well as scientists came together to discuss urgent conservation responses to address the rapid decline of migratory animal species across the globe.

“2010 and Beyond: Wildlife Renaissance” was the theme of CMS COP9. CMS, also called the Bonn Convention, is an international treaty concluded under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) dedicated to the conservation of migratory animals such as birds, whales and dolphins, sharks, marine turtles and elephants. CMS has committed itself to reducing the loss of biodiversity, of migratory animals and their habitats beyond 2010. For more information please visit the: CMS COP9 Press Page.

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Further information on the "Quest for the Slender-billed Curlew":

Website:

Slender-billed Curlew Toolkit and audio recording:

Slender-billed Curlew Toolkit - for download

The electronic version of the Slender-billed Curlew Toolkit can be dowloaded as a PDF file here: [ Slender-billed Curlew Toolkit ] .Hardcopy versions of the Toolkit can be obtained from the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat and directly from the Slender-billed Curlew Working Group.

Recorded call of the Slender-billed Curlew - for your mobile

Audio recording of the call of Slender-billed Curlew: [ MP3 File - 164KB ] Credits: Recording of Slender-billed Curlew call by Adam Gretton at Merja Zerga in January 1990 with subsequent edits, to remove background noise, by J P Gautier and J P Richard at the laboratoire d'Ethologie de Rennes, as published in Oiseax d'Afrique 1 by Claude Chappuis, and by Magnus Robb.

VIDEO Recording: Slender-billed curlew compared to whimbrel and curlew

YouTube Video of the Slender-billed Curlew: [ YouTube Video ] The only known video footage and sound-recording of Slender-billed Curlew! The recordings were made at Merja Zerga, Morocco. The video is by Andy Butler, January 1994.

Or

Sergey Dereliev

Technical Officer

UNEP/AEWA Secretariat

Email: [email protected]