MICHEV T., BOEV Z., KAMBOUROVA N. 2011. The new Red List of Bulgarian birds: does the number of endangered bird species increase? National Scientific Conference “Man and the Universe”, 06-08.10.2011, City of Smolian, Bulgaria, a report. THE NEW RED LIST OF BULGARIAN BIRDS: DOES THE NUMBER OF ENDANGERED BIRD SPECIES INCREASE? Tanyo MICHEV 1, Zlatozar BOEV 2, Nevena KAMBOUROVA 3 st Abstract. Since the composition of the 1 Red List of the birds in Bulgaria (BOJEW , MITSCHEW 1980) over 30 years have passed during which the conservation status of the birds has gone through considerable changes. The new Red list contains 155 bird species from the following categories: Regionally Extinct (REX) – 10; Critically Endangered (CR) – 32; Endangered (EN) – 45; Vulnerable (VU) – 53; Near to Threatened (NT) – 2; Local Concern (LC) – 7; Data Deficient (DD) – 6. The number of the endangered species has increased up from 28.2% to 38.1%. The speed of the growing up process is 0.89 %/year or 0.69 species/year. The conclusion is that conservation efforts have to be basically directed to species from the category “Critically Endangered”. Almost half of the birds in the new Red List are conventional Tertiary relicts. The Pleistocene relicts are eight time less numerous – just about 6.45% of the species. Among them the species which inhabit mountain-hill landscapes predominate. The predominant part of the species belongs to 5 types of habitats. The largest number of the species (1/3 or 31.6 %) inhabits wetlands in the inner part of the country. Forests take 2nd place with 38 species (or 24.5 %) and rocky habitats and caves rank third place with 23 species (or 14.8 %). Twenty-three zoogeographical types are presented in the new Red List proving the all- embracing process of the impoverishment of the recent Bulgarian avifauna. The birds of Paleactic distribution are the most numerous zoogeographical type, presented by 48 species, 1 Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2, Yurii Gagarin Street, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria; e-mail: [email protected] 2 National Museum of Natural History - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1, Blvd. Tsar Osvoboditel, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria; e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] 3 Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research 3 - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2, Yurii Gagarin Street, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria; e-mail: [email protected] followed by the Holarctic, European, Cosmopolitian, Turkestanian-Mediterranean and Old World types (10-11 species each). The Palearctic type is the most numerous also within each separate conservation category. In Bulgaria as a whole the birds are most endangered in comparison with Greece and Romania. Introduction st The 1 Red List of Bulgarian ornithofauna was published by BOJEW , MITSCHEW (1980). It contains 100 species which are grouped in three categories: extinct, endangered and rare. In the subsequently published “Red Data Book of People’s Republic of Bulgaria” (BOTEV , PESHEV 1985) each species is presented with a short article, a map and a drawing. Since the publishing of the 1st Red List 30 years have passed during which the conservation status of the birds of the Bulgarian ornithofauna has gone through considerable changes. The tracing and analysis of these changes are the aims of the present article. The new Red List was given to professional ornithologists and experienced amateurs who have prepared specialized articles for particular species. The upcoming event is their release as a separate volume from the 2nd edition of the three-volume “Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria”. Methods When the 1st Red List was prepared the categories in it were not consistent with the categories of IUCN which were adopted subsequently. That sort of difference in the assessment of conservation status, to a certain extent, bothered the objective comparison with: 1) the present new Red List; and 2) the bird species status in neighboring countries of Bulgaria or from different parts of species range. The new Red List presented here follows the categories of IUCN and corresponds to their application in the other countries. The Latin and Bulgarian names of the birds and their arrangement follow the recommendation of the Bulgarian National Rarities Committee (BUNARCO 2009). 2 Results st In the 1 Red List of Bulgaria (B OJEW , MITSCHEW 1980) 100 bird species are included out of all 354 species, established at that time. They represent 28.2 % from the species composition of the Bulgarian ornithofauna. The new Red List contains 155 bird species ( see Appendix) or 38.1 % of all 406 species reported for Bulgaria nowadays (BUNARCO 2009). Their belonging to different taxa (orders) is represented in Table 1. Obviously, the most endangered are two groups of orders: diurnal birds of prey (Accipitriformes, Falconiformes) and water birds (Podicipediformes, Ciconiiformes, Gruiformes, and Pelecaniformes). The Galliformes as main hunting object is also with quite unfavorable conservation status. The species from the new Red List are assigned to 7 IUCN categories (Table 2). The proportion between the separate categories is represented on Fig. 1. The most numerous category is “Vulnerable”, followed by “Endangered”, Critically Endangered (CR) and s. o. The number of species in the new Red List is decreasing with the increasing of the threat degree (Fig. 2). As could be seen also from this figure, thirty-two species from the category “Critically Endangered” are closest to the boundary of extinction as breeding species in Bulgaria. Depending on the character and efficiency of the measures which will be taken for their conservation in the next years these species will either “cross” the red line (and will be put in category “Regionally Extinct”) or they will be returned to more slightly threatened category. With this conclusion we direct the attention of the nature conservation community in the country exactly to this group (“Critically Endangered”) where the conservation efforts have to be concentrated. The “Critically Endangered” category as well as the other categories is distinguished by some distinctive characteristics which are considered further down. Different categories own some characteristics which are considered further down. Regionally Extinct Species (REX) Ten species from 5 orders are listed in this category. They do not breed on the territory of the country for many years. Three species are globally threatened (Table 3) and their names are written in bold type. Two species (Tetrao tetrix and Phasianus colchicus ) are resident and the probability for recovery of their breeding population is insignificant without human intervention. Conversely, all reasons for their present unfavorable conservation status are of 3 local character and these reasons are subject to influence in the bound of the country. All the other species nowadays are found incidentally on the territory of the country or more regularly during the migration and winter time. Some of the species try to breed again or even there are records for successful breeding ( Aegypius monachus and Pelecanus onocrotalus ). The probability of the Common Crane ( Grus grus ) to return as breeding species increase a lot with the restoration of Dragomansko Blato after long years of semi-drain condition. There is also a potential possibility for the recovering of Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus ) thanks to the elaboration of European and national nature conservation projects for its reintroduction in parts of its former range in the country. Critically Threatened Species (CR) In this category 32 species from 11 orders are listed (Table 4). Charadriiformes is represented with large number of species (8) and after them comes Anseriformes (5 species). Almost one- third of the species are globally threatened. In the table the species names of globally threatened birds are written out in bold type. This category is situated very close to the red line which marks the critical boundary of extinction (Fig. 1) and has a key and crucial role for the future of Bulgarian ornithofauna. In this category there are five species which are on the edge of survival as breeding birds in the country: Aquila heliaca, Falco naumanni, Falco vespertinus, Falco cherrug and Otis tarda. For three of them (Aquila heliaca , Falco cherrug and Falco vespertinus ) nowadays there are projects for recovering of their populations. Endangered Species (EN) In this category there are 45 species from 14 orders (Table 5). Charadriiformes is represented with a largest number of species (9) and after that comes Anseriformes (6) and Passeriformes (6). Here there is only one globally threatened species (Oxyura leucocephala ). Despite the nature conservation efforts one species ( Neophron percnopterus ) has fast decreasing population and there is a real risk to disappear as a breeding bird from the territory of Bulgaria. This necessitates its moving to the previous category of critically threatened species. Vulnerable Species (VU) Fifty three species of the new Red List belong to this category (Table 6). Here the passerines and raptors are represented with the largest number of species. Four bird species (given in bold type) are globally threatened. Near to Threatened Species (NT) 4 In this category there are two species: Rallus aquaticus of Gruiformes and Corvus corax of Passeriformes. Species with Local Concern (LC) Seven species are listed in this category. Again the largest number of species falls into Charadriiformes (Table 7). Data Deficient Species (DD) Insufficiently studied are 6 species or 1.5 % from Bulgarian ornithofauna (Table 8). There is one globally threatened species: Marmaronetta angustirostris from Anseriformes (its name is in bold type). Excluded species from the First Red List st Eight species presented in the 1 Red List (BOJEW , MITSCHEW 1980) are not listed in the new Red List (Table 9). One of them is Great Cormorant ( Phalacrocorax carbo ) – it is not included in the New Red List due to the considerable increase of its number during the breeding season, migration and winter.