Good news! Ministers have finally given green light to new #NaturalHistory GCSE. We’ve campaigned so long for this! Big hats off to tireless advocate Mary Colwell 🙌 Now our young people will have a chance to get to know & love the natural world, to feel awe & wonder, & gain skills to protect it 🌷🌳🦡

It’s been far too long since I’ve been birding in woods in the west at this time of year. Lovely views of wood warbler, redstart, pied and spotted flycatcher and goshawk in Forest of Dean and nearby Wales over the last couple of days.

Prof Bill Sutherland has a great series of YouTube videos covering various 'Conservation Concepts'. For his latest one he interviewed me about mapping important areas for global biodiversity and the role of Key Biodiversity Areas www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN9N... @billsutherland.bsky.social

I feel incredibly honoured (but a bit of an imposter) to have been elected today as a Fellow of the Royal Society today. Fantastic recognition for the conservation science that we do at BirdLife & testament to all my brilliant colleagues in BirdLife’s Science Division. @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social

New paper from @rspbscience.bsky.social shows that 8% of Key Biodiversity Areas in regions suitable for growing oil palm have some cultivation within them, but proportional extent of oil palm is 5X greater outside KBAs. url.uk.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/httpCX2Gh4... @keybiodiversity.bsky.social

Interesting new paper exploring the utility of different metrics for identifying Key Biodiversity Areas. Suggests modifying how we treat 'distinct genetic diversity' in the criteria for identifying KBAs www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @keybiodiversity.bsky.social

Out today: my interview for the Finding Wildlife podcast by Akash Mehta: founder of the Fable Fund. He asked about my life story, experiences working around the world, my brilliant colleagues and the amazing BirdLife Partnership @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social. open.spotify.com/episode/2hyM...

Emperor Penguin has been uplisted by BirdLife to Endangered on the IUCN Red List. What does mean & what can we do about it? Join me online tomorrow at 5pm BST/12pm EDT to join a live Q&A. Register here: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/cc2f60...

Emperor Penguin now Endangered!🐧 Our new IUCN Red List assessment reveals the shocking impact of climate change.🌍 Drastic declines and erratic changes in sea ice in Antarctica are projected to cause the Emperor Penguin population to halve by the 2080s.📉 Read more👉 www.birdlife.org/emperorpenguin

Over a quarter of a million seabirds on Rathlin Island are now safer! 💙 Rathlin Island has been declared ferret-free: a world-first conservation success helping Puffins, Guillemots and more raise their young safely again. Read the full story: www.rspb.org.uk/media-centre...

#CMSCOP15 is happening now in Campo Grande, Brazil! 🦅 We’re calling on governments to turn global commitments into real action for migratory species.📢 Learn more here.👉 www.birdlife.org/news/2026/03...

Key Biodiversity Areas are among the most important sites for nature globally. Our new paper reviews their history, describes the current network of >16500 sites and summarises their growing use by policymakers, governments and businesses onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

I did an interview for BBC Wildlife’s Wild Lives podcast on some of my experiences, including challenges accessing the countryside as a wheelchair user. Big shout out to all the friends, family and passers by who’ve helped me over the years podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/w...

Translocation of Raso Larks to the island of Santa Luzia in 2018 after eradication of invasive cats has been spectacularly successful, with nearly 1000 individuals now. Great work by @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social partner Biosfera, and long-championed by Mike Brooke www.birdguides.com/news/raso-la...

Climate change and overfishing threaten African Penguins. BirdLife South Africa are fighting for this species’ future www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Huge News from the Western Amazon: it's the year 2025 and we are still describing entirely new, strikingly-distinctive large-bodied bird species! Behold Tinamus resonans sp. nov. the Slaty-masked Tinamou mapress.com/zt/article/v... #Ornithology @tetzoo.bsky.social 🪶

Tentative signs of recovery in insectivorous birds in France following ban of neonicotinoid pesticides in 2018 - but further actions needed to recover populations www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

New paper shows mortality of migratory shorebirds along China’s coast from hunting, fishery bycatch and, at aquaculture sites, bird deterrence measures accounts for 1-10% of total flyway populations for 11 species & is unsustainable for several of these. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Gripping video of the last 2 Slender-billed Curlews at www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/v2/Content/S.... I couldn't afford to join some mates who did a trip to Morocco to see them in 1992, 2 years before they disappeared. And last week, we declared the species extinct in our update to the IUCN Red List 😢

I was struck by this graph showing the spectacular growth in the UK population of Goshawks over my lifetime, which are still recovering from the impacts of persecution and pesticides that almost wiped them out. Conor James discusses this phenomenon at www.birdguides.com/articles/it-...

🦅 Nearly 50% of Bearded Vulture territories in southern Africa have been abandoned. Human impacts, power lines & settlements, are key drivers, with food shortages adding pressure. Protecting them means tackling these threats head-on. doi.org/10.1650/COND... #VultureConservation #AfricanOrnithology

Today a publication celebrating the legacy of Gustavo Fonseca is launched at the GEF pavilion at IUCN World Conservation Congress

Well, it's official. After our paper last year (onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....), the Slender-billed Curlew is officially declared Extinct today. Scientists dream of describing new species, not writing their obituary and epitaph, knowing that they are gone forever #ornithology

Check out the new Key Biodiversity Areas website at www.keybiodiversityareas.org. Helpful guidance on what KBAs are, how they are being used by governments & other end-users, how to get involved, unprecedented access to the full dataset etc. @keybiodiversity.bsky.social @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social

Fascinating article making a reasonable case that this neolithic rock engraving from 2000-5000 years ago in Alta, northern Norway, shows a Great Auk (now extinct) being captured. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Three decades of fantastic conservation efforts even in the most challenging of circumstances. We're always humbled by the commitment of those on the ground saving the world's birds and nature more broadly...

From saving iconic species to publishing the Ukraine Breeding Bird Atlas during wartime, USPB has spent 30 years protecting Ukraine’s nature. We’re proud to have them in the @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social Partnership and support their work for people & the planet 💛💙 www.birdlife.org/news/2025/09...

Great talk by @rspb.bsky.social CEO Becky Speight to kick off the Avian Odyssey symposium at @nhm.org on the theme of how birds provide a reason for hope. I’ll pick up on this in the global context this afternoon. @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social

This is a game changer for marine conservation. Now we need to build on the momentum and designate high seas marine protected areas to conserve Key Biodiversity Areas @keybiodiversity.bsky.social

More evidence of the scale of human impacts: new study documents 220 extinctions (incl. 27 birds) on Macaronesia (Azores, Madeira, Canaries, Cape Verde etc). Post-human colonisation extinction rate >12 times higher. Paper doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf215. Story: www.birdguides.com/articles/ext...

Fascinating anecdote about General Motors and sperm whale oil in this article in @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/news/2025/se...

Next month (Sat 20 Sept) I'll be talking about the State of the World's Birds at 'Avian Odyssey 2025'. Come along to the Natural History Museum, London, for a day of fascinating talks www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/... @bou.org.uk @nhm.org @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social

Millions of 'Ghost' Pheasants Go Unregistered as Shooting Estates Flout Rules www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/v2/Content/M...

Amazing: Birds may have a previously unrecognized ability to switch sexes. #ornithology

A paper describing the history of AviList and how the new unified global bird checklist was created has now been published - free to download until 1 September: rdcu.be/euZjH

Very cool to see Beaver in Canterbury city centre before breakfast this morning…

New paper showing Key Biodiversity Areas are valuable in marine environments even for broadly distributed species. KBAs could be recognized for 3/4 threatened & 2/3 non-threatened restricted-range sharks using range maps conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... @keybiodiversity.bsky.social

New paper reviewing the world's 10,443 Critically Endangered species: their status, distribution threats and the actions needed for their recovery www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Are there new threats, novel solutions, policy developments, or worrying/encouraging trends etc which may have significant implications for nature conservation and that are not widely known? Please share suggestions for horizon scan of emerging conservation issues. Thanks! #biodiversityfutures

Fascinating new paper shows link between penguin poo & weather: ammonia released from guano forms airborne particles that seed clouds, influencing climate processes across Antarctica. Scientific paper: www.nature.com/articles/s43... News article: www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/RealData/Art...

Find out more about the background behind AviList www.avilist.org - the new unified global bird taxonomic checklist, and why it is significant at www.linkedin.com/posts/stuart...

We've just launched AviList! - the new unified global taxonomic checklist for the world's birds, developed through the Working Group on Avian Classification, including BirdLife, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, IOC and others @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social @birdsoftheworld.bsky.social www.avilist.org

Our new paper assesses adequacy of the indicators adopted for the Global Biodiversity Framework. Only 19% of elements in the Goals/Targets are fully covered by the required headline & binary indicators - 40% are fully or partially covered @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A trio of lovely moths in the garden overnight: my first ever Lobster Moth, the spectacular Puss Moth, and the always pleasing Poplar Hawk-moth.

Researchers in Costa Rica found that pig carcasses decomposed twice as fast when vultures had access to them. The absence of vultures led to a doubling of fly populations at carcass sites, which could affect human health, since these flies can carry diseases like botulism and anthrax.

Best night of the year so far for the garden moth trap. This furry-legged Pale Tussock and curious Scorched Wing were the pick of the bunch

A big win for migratory wildlife today! 🦅 10 countries have united to confront the unlawful capture and trade of millions of birds each year in South-West Asia, like Steppe Eagles, falcons & Sociable Plovers. This is multilateral conservation in action! Learn more: www.cms.int/en/news/new-...

Grim news from one of Africa's finest national parks: www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/v2/Content/M...

This must be the best year ever for Red-footed Falcon in the UK? Lovely to catch up with this male and female nearby at Swaffham Prior fen this morning