BirdLife Conservation Series No. 7

ENDEMIC BIRD AREASOF THE WORLD

Priorities forBiodiversity Conservation

Alison J. Stattersfield, Michael J. Crosby,Adrian J. Long and David C. Wege

Maps by Andrew P. Rayner

© 1998 BirdLife InternationalWellbrook Court, Girton Road, Cambridge CB3 0NA, UKtel. +44-(0)1223-277318 fax +44-(0)1223-277200 email birdlife@birdlife.org.uk

BirdLife International is a UK registered charity

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval systemor transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying orotherwise, without the permission of the publisher.

ISBN 0 946888 33 7

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Series editor Duncan BrooksDesign Duncan Brooks and CBA (Cambridge)Layout, text preparation and graphics Duncan Brooks, Regina Pfaff, Michelle BerryCover (design and graphics) Andrew Rayner

Text set in Times (9/11 pt) and Optima

Printed on 90 gsm Sequel Satin, made from sustainable forest by a totally chlorine-freeprocess

Imageset, printed and bound in Great Britain by The Burlington Press (Cambridge) Ltd.

Dedication Endemic Bird Areas of the World: Priorities forBiodiversity Conservation is dedicated to Robert B. Wallace –in recognition of his vision of, commitment to and support forBirdLife International’s Biodiversity Programme.

Mario AlbekMrs Hortense Anda-Bührle

André BaarBarlow Rand Limited

Jacques BembergMrs James Bond

Henk BrusseClub 300

Henry CoeberghBruce Coleman

W. Baron van DedemStephen D. EcclesEdinburgh Trust

Mr & Mrs John FlemerJ. E. FrancisFritz Gerber

HRH Prince Bernhard ofthe Netherlands

HRH Princess Juliana ofthe Netherlands

Gerard J. M. Nieuwe WemeJacques Ormond

Jaime Ortiz-PatiñoDrs G. G. W. M. Peters

Mrs J. M. RellyThe Dr Mortimer and

Theresa SacklerFoundation

HSH Prince SadruddinAga Khan

Dr Peter WallenbergAlan N. WeedenR. E. van Zuylen

André C. A. van GilsTom Gullick

Dr Cynthia O. HarrisJuan de Herrera, Marqués de

Viesca de la SierraMr & Mrs André Hoffmann

Luc HoffmannM. F. KeeleyA. P. Leventis

Mr & Mrs H. K. LeventisHRH the Grand Duke of

LuxembourgWill Marx

Mrs Vera Michalski-Hoffmann

Christopher B. Mitchell

Specially bound copies of Endemic Bird Areas of the World have been presented toHis Royal Highness Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, Honorary President of

the Rare Bird Club, and to Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, Honorary President ofBirdLife International

Rare Bird Club

The publication of this book has been generously supported by

the Government of the NetherlandsMinistry of Foreign Affairs,

Directoraat Generaal Internationale Samenwerking (DGIS)

and by the following members of BirdLife International’s

Rare Bird Club

This book is an output from the BirdLife International Biodiversity Programme,which has been generously supported by

Conservation, Food and Health FoundationThe Education Foundation of America

The IBM CorporationThe John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

The Pew Charitable TrustWallace Genetic Foundation, Inc.

The World Bank

BirdLife International is grateful to the following individualswho also supported this programme

Mr and Mrs Howard P. Brokaw, James Cadbury, Mrs Jean W. Douglas, Wallace C. Dayton,John Hunting, Mrs Bremner H. Jackson, Stephen C. Rockefeller,

Mr and Mrs Roger Sant, Robert B. Wallace, Thomas J. Watson, Jr.

653 SECONDARY AREAS

Appendices679 1: Restricted-range bird species listed by family725 2: EBAs and restricted-range bird species listed by country779 3: Unique EBA codes of the previous analysis781 4: Changes in the EBA analysis, 1992–1997784 5: Publications which have used information from BirdLife’s Biodiversity

Project

785 References816 Index of restricted-range species

CONTENTS

5 Foreword

6 Acknowledgements

10 Summary

13 BIODIVERSITY AND PRIORITY-SETTING

19 IDENTIFYING ENDEMIC BIRD AREAS

27 GLOBAL ANALYSES

39 THE PRIORITIZATION OF ENDEMIC BIRD AREAS

45 THE CONSERVATION RELEVANCE OF ENDEMIC BIRD AREAS

53 ENDEMIC BIRD AREAS AS TARGETS FOR CONSERVATION ACTION

57 REGIONAL INTRODUCTIONS

ENDEMIC BIRD AREAS

94 Interpretation of a sample EBA account

96 NORTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA

168 SOUTH AMERICA

300 AFRICA, EUROPE ANDTHE MIDDLE EAST

400 CONTINENTAL ASIA

462 SOUTH-EAST ASIAN ISLANDS,NEW GUINEA AND AUSTRALIA

576 PACIFIC ISLANDS

FOREWORDby

Her Majesty Queen Noor of JordanHonorary President of BirdLife International

PLANNING for the wise use of naturalresources is an investment with per-petual rewards. To do this, we need to

know how biodiversity is distributed and whatthe priorities are for its conservation. Ourknowledge of birds and the popular enthusiasmfor their survival is a most powerful combina-tion. In a previous publication, the award-winning Putting biodiversity on the map,BirdLife mapped concentrations of birds withsmall ranges—many of them threatened withextinction. This new book follows this ap-proach through with an abundance of support-ing detail and demonstrates clearly the valueof birds as indicators of places which areimportant for biodiversity conservation overall.

The publication of this up-to-date material,and the advocacy programme which will de-liver its message to decision-makers around

the world, is funded by an innovative colla-boration between the Dutch Government(Directoraat-Generaal voor InternationaleSamenwerking) and members of BirdLifeInternational’s Rare Bird Club. It shows whatcan be achieved when the commitment of agovernment and the enthusiasm of individu-als are combined with the common goal offocusing world attention on some of the mostthreatened birds and the fragile habitats onwhich they depend. The result is a unique,effective and valuable contribution to bio-diversity conservation.

I hope and believe that this book will unitegrass-roots support and environmental deci-sion-makers and so help meet one of thegreatest challenges facing mankind: the con-servation and sustainable development of ourbiological natural resources.

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Endemic Bird Areas of the World

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

THIS BOOK is the culmination of 10 years ofwork at BirdLife International’s Secretariat, buthas only been possible through the guidance and

support of BirdLife’s Partner organizations and world-wide network of contacts. We have relied on the firsthandexperience of hundreds of ornithologists and conserva-tionists who during the evolution of the project have, inmany cases, been asked for information and clarifica-tion several times. We very warmly and gratefully thankthese people who have freely given us the benefits oftheir knowledge and of their time (see list of names,below). We simply would not have been able to com-plete the task without their contributions.

In addition, we have drawn on data from severalother BirdLife research projects, and contributors tothese may not be personally acknowledged here. Wetherefore also extend thanks to the many people whoprovided information to these, notably to Puttingbiodiversity on the map: priority areas for global con-servation (ICBP 1992)—the first publication of theresults of this project—but also to Threatened birds ofAfrica and related islands (Collar and Stuart 1985),Threatened birds of the Americas (Collar et al. 1992),Birds to watch 2: the world list of threatened birds(Collar et al. 1994) and Key areas for threatened birdsin the Neotropics (Wege and Long 1995), publicationswhich have all contributed significantly to our under-standing of Endemic Bird Areas and their birds.

We acknowledge our many colleagues whom wefeel privileged to have worked with. We are honoured tobe the authors of this book for we are very aware that intruth its publication represents a mighty team effort byall the staff. In particular we thank Nigel Collar (Re-search Fellow, BirdLife) who was the main instigator ofthis project and who is, for all of us, both a mentor andfriend. His own work has laid the foundations andstandards for most of BirdLife’s research, and he hasread all the Endemic Bird Area accounts and the intro-ductory sections, and commented extensively. We alsothank Colin Bibby (Director of Science and Policy,BirdLife) for generally overseeing our work and forproviding us with scientific guidance, and our otherdirectors, Lindsay Derry, Christoph Imboden and MikeRands who worked hard against the odds to keep us toschedule.

We are especially appreciative of Andrew Rayner(our Geographic Information System expert) whosemaps are such a key element of this book and whosegeneral computer wizardry has been invaluable over thelast three years. We also remember Mike Adams, whowas our original GIS expert and who helped us to

establish our mapping and database protocols at a timewhen the software was decidedly unfriendly. Other keyplayers include Martin Jenkins (World ConservationMonitoring Centre, UK) who took the lead in writingthree of the introductory chapters and whose insight intooverall biodiversity conservation has helped us tobroaden our bird perspective, and Andrew Balmford(University of Sheffield, UK), Tom Brooks (Universityof Tennessee, USA) and Tony Payne (Research Assist-ant, BirdLife) who helped to guide us through thepitfalls of numerical evaluation.

We draw special attention to our co-authors of Puttingbiodiversity on the map—Colin Bibby, Nigel Collar,Melanie Heath, Christoph Imboden, Tim Johnson andSimon Thirgood. They helped to lay the foundations forthis book and we have made extensive use of their ideasand information in our introductory chapters. We espe-cially thank Melanie Heath who, along with the four ofus, was one of the main data-gatherers and who preparedsome of the early drafts of the EBA accounts. We alsoacknowledge the other people who helped us to gatherthe bird distribution data on which the analyses arebased including Paul Andrew, Mike Barker, LeticiaBrandão, George Green, Frank Lambert, Craig Robsonand Tony Stones, and many of the people listed belowand members of the BirdLife staff. We have been helpedalong the way by a stream of willing volunteers includ-ing Tim Allwood, David Butler, Francis Brearley,Jonathan Ekstrom (who organised the picture research)and Tony Payne, and we thank them all for their enthu-siastic commitment.

We thank all the staff in BirdLife’s regional teamsand offices for their input and support, in particularGary Allport, Bas van Balen, Yusup Cahyadin, NonieCoulthard, Nguyen Cu, Guy Duke, Jonathan Eames,Mike Evans, John Fanshawe, Lincoln Fishpool, RichardGrimmett, Paul Jepson, Martin Kelsey, James Lowen,Jane Lyons, Richard Porter, Michael Poulsen, PeterRobertson, Rudyanto and Sujatnika.

We applaud Duncan Brooks (Scientific Editor,BirdLife) who guided us through a lengthy and compli-cated publication process. His attention to detail andlogical approach has greatly improved the quality of thetext and we thank him, in particular, for remaining calmthroughout despite so many requests for changes. Wealso thank Regina Pfaff and Michelle Berry who wereresponsible for much of the layout and graphical presen-tation in the book, and who have done such an excellentjob in dealing with our messy manuscripts.

We acknowledge John Fanshawe, Jane Fenton andJudi James who successfully sought funding for the

7

Endemic Bird Areas of the World

project and turned publication and advocacy into real-ity. We also thank Peter Herkenrath (Biodiversity Of-ficer, BirdLife) for help with the policy aspects of theintroductory chapters, and wish him success in using theinformation which we have compiled to good conserva-tion effect through its application to the BiodiversityConvention. We also thank our library staff, Sue Squireand Christine Alder, who kept us fuelled with newinformation right up to going to press. We thank the

staff at the many other libraries which we used, includ-ing the Edward Grey Institute (and especially LindaBirch), the Natural History Museum at Tring and theMap Room in the University Library, Cambridge.

Finally we thank our partners, John Croxall, Lin-ping Crosby, Melanie Heath and Nicky Wege for givingus home support throughout this lengthy project, espe-cially at times when we didn’t believe that we wouldever finish this book.

W. J. Adsett, PanamaAudubon Society

P. D. Alexander-Marrack,Netherlands

D. G. Allan, AvianDemography Unit, SouthAfrica

D. Allen, JapanO. Al-Saghier, BirdLife

YemenP. Alström, SwedenM. A. de Andrade, Intituto

Estadual de Florestas,Brazil

P. Andrew, AustraliaG. Angehr, Smithsonian

Tropical Research Institute,Panama

N. Arlott, UKJ. S. Ash, UKThe late D. Aspinwall, ZambiaA. Aspiroz, GUPECA,

UruguayJ. Atkins, UKP. W. Atkinson, UKC. Attié, CBC-CNRS,

RéunionN. E. Baker, TanzaniaD. J. Baker-Gabb, Royal

Australasian Ornithologists’Union

C. Balchin, UKE. Bani, Environment Unit,

VanuatuM. A. Barker, UKK. Barnes, Avian

Demography Unit, SouthAfrica

N. Barré, EMVT-CIRAD,France

J. Barrio, PeruM. Beaman, UKB. M. Beehler, Office of

Ecology and TerrestrialConservation, USA

A. J. Begazo, PeruB. D. Bell, Wildlife

Management InternationalLtd., New Zealand

L. A. Bennun, KenyaA. Berruti, Durban National

Science Museum, SouthAfrica

B. J. Best, UKR. Beyers, BelgiumP. C. Bhattacharjee, Gauhati

University, IndiaB. Bhushan, Smithsonian

Institution, USAM. Biscoito, Museu

Municipal do Funchal,Madeira

K. D. Bishop, AustraliaP. Bison, Ornithological

Society of the Middle East,UK

W. V. Bleisch, New YorkZoological Society, USA

P. Boesman, VenezuelaN. Bostock, UKM. Boulet, Service de

l’Environnement et de laGestion des Parcs etRéserves, New Caledonia

C. G. R. and L. Bowden,Mount Kupe Forest Project,Cameroon

J. Bowen, UKJ. Bowler, UKR. C. Brace, University of

Nottingham, UKH. Bregulla, GermanyV. Bretagnolle, CNRS,

FranceN. Brickle, UKM. de L. Brooke, University

of Cambridge, UKP. J. Bubb, Pronatura, MexicoA. Burbidge, Royal

Australasian Ornithologists’Union

N. D. Burgess, ZoologicalMuseum, Copenhagen,Denmark

H. Burn, UKI. Burrows, University of

Papua New GuineaR. Burrows, UKS. M. H. Butchart, UKD. J. Butler, Department of

Lands and Environment,Western Samoa

P. J. Butler, RARE Center forTropical Conservation,USA

C. Byres, UK

P. Canevari, Red Hemisféricade Reservas de Aves,Argentina

M. Carswell, UKA. Challenger, MexicoJ. C. Chebez, Delegación

Técnica Regional NEA,Argentina

P. Clarke, Frontier Tanzania,UK

R. P. Clay, UKB. J. Coates, AustraliaJ. Collie, Division of the

Environment, SeychellesJ. A. Colon, USAJ. Cooper, Percy FitzPatrick

Institute, South AfricaP. Coopmans, BelgiumH. Corrigan, Department of

Forests, VanuatuB. Cox, EcuadorC. Cox, Forest and Lands

Department, St LuciaN. Cricks, Island Resources

Foundation, Antigua andBarbuda

Nguyen Cu, IBER, VietnamD. Cunningham, Department

of Conservation, NewZealand

E. Curio, Ruhr-UniversitätBochum, Germany

R. L. Curry, VillanovaUniversity, USA

R. Daniels, OrnithologicalSociety of India

P. Davidson, UKM. Davies, Royal Society for

the Protection of Birds, UKS. Davis, BoliviaW. R. J. Dean, Tierberg

Karoo Research Centre,South Africa

R. W. R. J. Dekker,Natuurhistorisch Museum,Leiden, Netherlands

R. Demey, BelgiumJ. M. Diamond, University of

California, USAE. Dickinson, UKDing Chang-qing, Chinese

Academy of SciencesR. Donaghey, Australia

Contributors to the project The names and organi-zations listed below (and the countries of residence)give some indication of the amount and breadth of helpthat we have received. However, it has been difficult tomaintain accurate records during the course of this long

project, and we sincerely apologise if we have inadvert-ently missed any of our supporters from this list.(Organizations and countries relate to time of corre-spondence and may not be current. The list does notinclude contributors mentioned in the main text above.)

R. J. Douthwaite, UKS. D. Dowell, Partridge Quail

and Francolin SpecialistGroup, UK

A. C. Downer, JamaicaR. J. Dowsett, Tauraco,

BelgiumF. Dowsett-Lemaire,

Tauraco, BelgiumC. Dranzoa, UgandaJ. W. Duckworth, UKD. J. Du Puy, Royal Botanic

Gardens, UKA. Duncan, Ligue pour la

Protection des Oiseaux,France

G. C. L. Dutson, UKP. Dutton, Oceanographic

Research InstituteM. F. Ebreo, PhilippinesU. Ekanayake, Sri LankaG. Ekstrom, SwedenC. Elphick, UKJ. Engbring, Fish and Wildlife

Service, USAE. C. Enkerlin, MexicoP. Evans, University of

Oxford, UKT. D. Evans, UKE. Faull, UKP. Feldmann, CIRAD-CA,

GuadeloupeB. W. Finch, KenyaA. and J. Fitter, UKC. Fitzgibbon, KenyaK. Fitzherbert, Royal

Australasian Ornithologists’Union

J. Fjeldså, ZoologiskMuseum, Copenhagen,Denmark

A. Flamenco, CIES, MexicoB. Fletcher, UKJ. Flynn, UKP. S. M. Fonseca, BrazilI. S. Francis, Royal Society

for the Protection of Birds,UK

M. W. Fraser, South AfricaS. Garnett, Queensland

Department of Environmentand Heritage, Australia

M. C. Garnett, UK

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Endemic Bird Areas of the World

K. L. Garrett, Natural HistoryMuseum of Los AngelesCounty, USA

O. Garrido, Museo Nationalde Historia Natural, Cuba

P. J. Garson, PheasantSpecialist Group, UK

A. J. Gaston, NationalWildlife Research Centre,Canada

R. Gerlach, Nature ProtectionTrust of Seychelles

D. Gibbs, UKP. Glass, Fish and Wildlife

Service, USAL. P. Gonzaga, Ararajuba,

BrazilC. Gonzalez, Universidad de

la Laguna, Canary IslandsS. M. Goodman, Field

Museum of Natural History,USA

M. L. Goodwin, SociedadConservationista Audubonde Venezuela

M. E. J. Gore, GovernmentHouse, Cayman Islands

P. D. Goriup, The NatureConservation Bureau Ltd.,UK

A. Grajal, NYZS, TheWildlife ConservationSociety, USA

P. Gregory, Papua NewGuinea Bird Society

A. Gretton, UKP. Hall, UKF. Hannecart, Service de

l’Environnement et de laGestion des Parcs etRéserves, New Caledonia

L. A. Hansen, DenmarkC. Harcourt, UKS. Harrap, UKG. N. Harrington, Royal

Australasian Ornithologists’Union

J. Harrison, AvianDemography Unit, SouthAfrica

J. Harrison, WorldConservation MonitoringCentre, UK

A. F. A. Hawkins, WWFMadagascar

P. V. Hayman, UKC. J. Hazevoet, Universiteit

van Amsterdam,Netherlands

He Fen-qi, Chinese Academyof Sciences

C. J. Heij, Natuur MuseumRotterdam, Netherlands

S. Henson, UKR. Hill, Royal Australasian

Ornithologists’ UnionJ. C. Hillman, Ethiopian

Wildlife ConservationR. K. Hills, Vanuatu Protected

Areas Initiative, UKS. L. Hilty, USAT. Hjarsen, University of

Copenhagen, Denmark

P. A. R. Hockey, PercyFitzPatrick Institute, SouthAfrica

T. W. Hoffman, Ceylon BirdClub, Sri Lanka

D. A. Holmes, IndonesianOrnithological Society(Kukila)

D. T. Holyoak, UKJ. Hornbuckle, UKJ. Hornskov, DenmarkS. N. G. Howell, Point Reyes

Bird Observatory, USAT. R. Howell, USAG. R. Hunt, Massey

University, New ZealandS. A. Hussain, BirdLife Asia

Council, IndiaM. A. Hutt, Barbados, West

IndiesN. Ichida, Wild Bird Society

of JapanC. Inskipp, UKT. P. Inskipp, World

Conservation MonitoringCentre, UK

M. P. S. Irwin, ZimbabweI. Isherwood, UKM. Isler, USAL. Jammes, Fundación

Armonía, BoliviaS. Javed, Aligarh Muslim

University, IndiaJ. J. Jeffrey, USAM. C. Jennings, UKA. Jensen, Dansk

Ornitologisk ForeningB. Jiménez Ruiz, Asociación

Nacional para laConservación de laNaturaleza, Panama

N. Jivan Shah, ENVIRO,Seychelles

L. John, Forest and LandsDepartment, St Lucia

M. A. Johnston, University ofthe West of England, UK

C. G. Jones, MauritiusM. J. Jones, Manchester

Metropolitan University,UK

P. J. Jones, University ofEdinburgh, UK

S. Kanyamibwa, WorldConservation MonitoringCentre, UK

M. Katti, University ofCalifornia San Diego, USA

R. Kaul, IndiaK. Kazmierczak, UKA. Keith, USAC. Kennedy, UKL. F. Kiff, Peregrine Fund, USAB. King, KingBird Tours Inc.,

USAJ. Komdeur, National

Environment ResearchInstitute, Denmark

E. Kosaka, Fish and WildlifeService, USA

S. W. Kotagama, FieldOrnithology Group,University of Sri Lanka

N. Krabbe, EcuadorU. Lachungpa, Wildlife

Department, Government ofSikkim, India

F. R. Lambert, IUCN,Thailand

M. Lammertink, NetherlandsT. Leary, Nature

Conservancy, SolomonIslands

A. Lees, Maruia Society, NewZealand

M. Lentino, ColecciónOrnitológica Phelps,Venezuela

Y. Létocart, Service del’Environnement et de laGestion des Parcs etRéserves, New Caledonia

C. Levy, Gosse Bird Club,Jamaica

A. D. Lewis, UKA. Lieberman, Peregrine

Fund, USAM. Linsley, UKJ. A. Lorenzo, Universidad de

la Laguna, Canary IslandsM. Louette, Koninklijk

Museum voor Midden-Afrika, Belgium

J. Lovett, Botanical Museum,Denmark

A. Luy, SociedadConservacionista Audubonde Venezuela

G. Mackey, UKJ. MacKinnon, Asian Bureau

for Conservation, UKG. Maclean, University of

Natal, South AfricaG. Magnin, DHKD (Society

for the Protection ofNature), Turkey

N. A. D. Mallari, HaribonFoundation, Philippines

A. Marogh, Gosse Bird Club,Jamaica

C. Martin, WWF, SwitzerlandR. P. Martins, UKG. McCormack, Cook Islands

Natural Heritage ProjectN. McCulloch, Royal Society

for the Protection of Birds,UK

K. McDermond, Fish andWildlife Service, USA

P. McGowan, Partridge Quailand Francolin SpecialistGroup, UK

D. McNiven, Royal Societyfor the Protection of Birds,UK

D. V. Merton, Department ofConservation, New Zealand

J. Meza, ChileB. and C. Miller, Wildlife

Conservation Society,Belize

J. Minton, Wild Bird Societyof Japan

A. Mitchell, UKR. Mittermeier, Conservation

International, USA

C. W. Moeliker, NatuurMuseum Rotterdam,Netherlands

T. V. Mora, Departamento deVida Silvestre, DominicanRepublic

S. Mori, New York BotanicalGarden, USA

P. Morris, Birdquest, UKD. C. Moyer, Louisiana State

University, USAJ. T. Moyer, Mijake-jima

Nature Center, JapanA. G. Navarro, Museo de

Zoologa, MexicoA. J. Negret, Museo de

Historia Natural,Universidad del Cauca,Colombia

M. Nogales, Universidad deLa Laguna, Canary Islands

M. Nores, UniversidadNacional de Cordoba,Argentina

R. Noske, Northern TerritoryUniversity, Australia

C. M. C. Nozawa, HaribonFoundation, Philippines

Y. Ntiamoa-Baidu, GhanaWildlife Society, Ghana

D. A. S. Nuñez,Departamento de VidaSilvestre, DominicanRepublic

J. Oglethorpe, KIRCP, KenyaL. G. Olarte, ColombiaW. L. R. Oliver, Flora and

Fauna International, UKU. Olsson, SwedenJ. A. Ottenwalder, Florida

State Museum, USAR. Paalan, Silliman

University, PhilippinesThe late T. A. Parker,

Louisiana State University,USA

J. and H. Parrot, UKM. Pearman, UKN. B. Peet, University of East

Anglia, UKC. Perennun, Wetlands

International, NetherlandsJ. Pérez del Val, SpainP. K. D. Perng, Taiwan

Endemic Species ResearchInstitute

A. H. Perry, TREX, USAA. T. Peterson, University of

Kansas, USAS. L. Pimm, University of

Tennessee, USAM. A. Plenge, PeruD. E. Pomeroy, Makarere

University, UgandaR. Pople, UKR. Potapov, Zoological

Institute, RussiaG. V. N. Powell, RARE

Centre for TropicalConservation, Costa Rica

S. N. Prasad, SACON, IndiaH. D. Pratt, Lousiana State

University, USA

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Endemic Bird Areas of the World

T. Pratt, USAR. P. Prys-Jones, Natural

History Museum, UKR. Pyle, Bishop Museum, USAA. Rahmani, Bombay Natural

History Society, IndiaM. Rank, UKB. Raynor, Nature

Conservancy, MicronesiaN. J. Redman, UKB. Reed, UKH. Rienhard, Bruce Coleman

Ltd., UKJ. van Remsen Jr., Louisiana

State University, USAL. M. Renjifo, University of

Missouri–St Louis, USAR. S. Ridgely, Philadelphia

Academy of NaturalSciences, USA

D. Rinke, Brehm-FondsSudsee Expedition,Germany

D. Riven, EnvironmentPlanning Group, Barbados

M. R. Robbins, Museum ofNatural History, Universityof Kansas, USA

T. J. Roberts, UKA. Robertson, UKH. Robertson, Department of

Conservation, New ZealandS. A. Robertson, KenyaC. R. Robson, UKG. Rocamora, Division of the

Environment, SeychellesP. Rodewald, University of

Arkansas, USAC. Rose, UKL. A. Ruedas, Cincinati

Museum of Natural History,USA

P. Ryan, Percy FitzPatrickInstitute, South Africa

R. J. Safford, Royal HollowayInstitute for EnvironmentalResearch, UK

P. Salaman, Edward GreyInstitute, UK

T. Salathé, Tour du Valat,France

R. S. Sankaran, SACON,India

D. E. Sargeant, NetherlandsA. Schubert, Departamento de

Vida Silvestre, DominicanRepublic

T. S. Schulenberg, FieldMuseum of Natural History,USA

P. Scofield, RoyalAustralasian Ornithologists’Union

J. M. Scott, IdahoCooperative Fish andWildlife Research Unit,USA

N. Seddon, UKR. Seitre, FranceL. L. Severinghaus, Chinese

Wild Bird Federation,Taiwan

V. Sharma, State College,India

C. J. Sharpe, VenezuelaT. W. Sherry, Cooperación

Técnica, HondurasC. G. Sibley, USAB. Simpson, UKP. Singh, Wildlife Institute of

IndiaS. Sirgouant, Service de

l’Environnemnent et de laGestion des Parcs etRéserves, New Caledonia

A. Skerrett, SeychellesE. Smith, UKN. G. Smith, Smithsonian

Tropical Research Institute,Panama

T. Smith, San Francisco StateUniversity, USA

D. W. Snow, Natural HistoryMuseum, UK

G. J. Speight, UKC. Spottiswoode, South

AfricaD. W. Steadman, New York

State Museum, USAJ. Stevenson, Royal Society

for the Protection of Birds,UK

T. Stevenson, KenyaF. G. Stiles, Instituto de

Ciencias Naturales,Colombia

D. W. Stinson, Department ofNatural Resources,Northern Mariana Islands

T. Stokes, Great Barrier ReefMarine Park Authority,Australia

F. C. Straube, Museu deHistoria Natural ‘Capão deInbúia’, Brazil

N. Stronach, IrelandS. N. Stuart, IUCN Species

Survival Commission,Switzerland

S. Subramanya, University ofAgricultural Sciences,Bangalore, India

M. and S. Sulley, UKA. and R. Sutton, JamaicaJ. O. Svendsen, DenmarkP. Sweet, American Museum

of Natural History, USAP. O. Syversten, University of

Oslo, NorwayB. Tabaranza, Haribon

Foundation, PhilippinesL. Tacconi, University of

New South Wales, AustraliaB. Taylor, University of

Natal, South AfricaR. Taylor, Natal Parks Board,

South AfricaJ.-C. Thibault, FranceJ.-M. Thiollay, École

Normale Supérieure, Paris,France

G. and V. Thompson,Windrush, UK

R. Thorpe, New ZealandR. J. Timmins, UKB. Torres, BrazilP. W. Trail, Department of

Marine and WildlifeResources, AmericanSamoa

D. A. Turner, KenyaJ.-P. Vande weghe, UgandaJ. P. Vannini, Guatemala

Photographs We thank the following people for send-ing us, or allowing us to use, their photographs or copiesof their paintings free of charge. These have helped tobring the text alive by showing readers the amazingrange of habitats and birds (and other wildlife) whichoccur in Endemic Bird Areas, and also some of thethreats which face some of these places.P. Alström, J. K. Archer, J. S. Ash, C. Balchin, B. Beehler, A. J.Begazo, B. D. Bell, K. D. Bishop, P. Bison, P. Boesman, R.Brace, M. de L. Brooke, D. J. Brooks, T. Brooks, S. Butchart,A. Challenger, N. J. Collar, B. Cox, J. Croxall, M. Davies, R. J.Douthwaite, G. Duke, G. C. L. Dutson, M. Edwards, G. Ekstrom,J. M. M. Ekstrom, P. G. H. Evans, J. H. Fanshawe, E. Faull,A. and J. Fitter, C. Fitzgibbon, J. Fjeldså, J. Flynn, B. Forester,P. D. Goriup, R. F. A. Grimmett, C. T. Hanashiro, C. Harcourt,S. Harrap, F. Hawkins, M. F. Heath, R. Hill, T. Hjarsen, S. N. G.

Howell, I. Isherwood, L. Jammes, J. J. Jeffrey, P. Jepson, P. J.Jones, C. Kennedy, M. Lammertink, C. Levy, J. Lowen,G. Mackey, G. Magnin, A. Marogh, R. P. Martins, S. Miller,R. Mittermeier, P. Morris, J. Moyer, C. Mullen, R. Noske,U. Olsson, J. P. O’Neill, R. Pople, R. F. Porter, M. K. Poulsen,H. D. Pratt, T. Pratt, T. Pridham, H. B. Rajao, H. Reinhard,C. Robson, G. Rocamora, R. J. Safford, P. G. W. Salaman, T.Salathé, N. Seddon, R. Seitre, C. Sharpe, B. Simpson, C.Spottiswoode, K. Takehara, H. Taylor, J. Tobias, J. Watson,S. Webb.We are especially grateful to Norman Arlott, HilaryBurn, Peter Hayman, Chris Rose and Clive Byers forallowing us to reproduce their paintings which werespecially commissioned for members of the Rare BirdClub, many of whom have sponsored this book (seep. 3).

P. Verbelen, BelgiumC. J. Vernon, East London

Museum, South AfricaL. Vijayan, SACON, IndiaF. J. Vilella, US Fish and

Wildlife Service, PuertoRico

P. Villard, CIRAD-CA,Guadeloupe

J. Vincent, South AfricaWang Sung, Chinese

Academy of SciencesWang Xian-pu, China Plant

Specialist GroupD. Watling, FijiJ. Watson, Nature

Conservancy Council, UKH. P. Webb, USAS. Webb, USAD. R. Wells, UKD. Weyer, BelizeB. M. Whitney, Field Guides

Inc., USAA. J. Whitten, World Bank,

Washington, USAG. J. Wiles, Department of

Agriculture, GuamJ. W. Wiley, USAJ. C. Z. Woinarsksi,

Conservation Commission,Australia

P. Wood, Royal Society forthe Protection of Birds, UK

The late Wu Zhi-kang,Guizhou Institute ofBiology, China

J. M. Wunderle, Institute ofTropical Forestry, PuertoRico

Xu Wei-shu, ChinaOrnithological Society

V. J. Zacharias, Project Tiger,India

Zhang Zheng-wang, BeijingNormal University, China

Zheng Guang-mei, ChinaOrnithological Society

Zhou Fang, Guangxi, ChinaF. Zino, Madeira

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Endemic Bird Areas of the World

SUMMARY

The problemBiodiversity—the total variety of life on earth—is being lost at an increasing pace.Despite growing popular support to stem this loss, conservation is hindered becausefinancial resources are limited and the knowledge of the distribution of most organisms ispoor.

Towards a solutionBirdLife International’s Biodiversity Project makes a unique contribution to theidentification of priorities for biodiversity conservation by using birds—one of the best-known groups of animals—as indicators of areas of high endemism. Limitedconservation resources can most effectively be directed at these places.

The Biodiversity Project’s results

• Over 25% of all birds (2,561 species) have restricted ranges,being confined to areas of less than 50,000 km2 (the size ofCosta Rica).

• These small areas overlap to form Endemic Bird Areas(EBAs), such that the majority of restricted-range species (93% of

them) are encompassed by 218 EBAs.

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• The restricted-range birds include 816 species that are currentlyclassified as threatened—74% of all threatened bird species.Most (80%) of the 62 species that have gone extinct in the last 200years also had restricted ranges.

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• EBAs are found around the world, but most (77%) of them arelocated in the tropics and subtropics. The top countries for

EBAs are Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Papua NewGuinea and China, all of which have more than 10 each. Page 37

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Endemic Bird Areas of the World

• The natural habitat in most EBAs (83%) is forest, especiallytropical lowland and montane moist forest.

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• EBAs vary considerably in size (from a few squarekilometres to more than 100,000 km2) and in the numbers of

restricted-range species that they support (from two to 80).

• Historically, some 20% of the world’s birds were totally confined toEBAs whose area covered 2% of the earth’s land surface. Todayalmost half of the EBAs have lost more than 50% of their key habitats,and 20% of the world’s birds can be found in only 1% ofthe earth’s land surface where these habitats still remain.Page 33

• Most EBAs (85%) have one or more threatened or extinctrestricted-range bird species. Many restricted-range species are atrisk—even in EBAs where the habitat remains relatively intact—

owing to the intrinsic vulnerability of having a very smallrange and/or population. Page 35

What can be done now?• These findings show that the conservation of a major part of the earth’s terrestrial

biodiversity can indeed be ensured by focusing conservation resources and actions withina relatively small total area. The EBAs of the world are clearly priorities for conservationaction.

• At the national level, information on EBAs can be used directly in the implementation ofconservation agreements, notably the Convention on Biological Diversity which amongother things requires member states to identify important areas and ecosystems.

• At the local level, representative key sites within EBAs can be targeted, such as inBirdLife’s Important Bird Areas programme, which makes recommendations for specificconservation action, ranging from the establishment and management of protected areas tothe sustainable use of natural resources.

• The majority of EBAs are important for restricted-range speciesfrom other wildlife groups. For example, there is a closesimilarity (an overlap of more than 60%) between the location ofEBAs and areas which are similarly important for plants.Page 51

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Endemic Bird Areas of the World