Spotted a magpie, kookaburra or willie wagtail lately? The chances of seeing a native bird are shrinking as they start to disappear in parts of Australia
- Kookaburra sightings have decreased at a rate of 40 percent in Australia
- Odds of seeing a magpie have also dropped to 22.5 percent on east coast
- Findings are part of report by Birdlife Australia released by the government
- Willie wagtails recorded a decrease in sightings along the east coast
Sightings of magpies, kookaburras and willie wagtails are on the decline in some parts of Australia, according to a major report on the health of the country's bird population.
The odds of seeing a kookaburra have decreased at a rate of 40 per cent across south-eastern Australia, which includes Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide.
Magpie sightings have also dropped to 22.5 percent on the east coast.
The odds of seeing a kookaburra have decreased at a rate of 40 per cent across south-eastern Australia, which includes Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide
Researchers were surprised to find that the most 'common birds' were the ones not doing so well when the State of Australia's Birds 2015 report was released by Birdlife Australia.
'We've known for some time that many rare bird populations are declining, but we were not aware of the decline of these very common and iconic Australian birds,' Birdlife Australia chief executive Paul Sullivan said.
The report found most birds, including magpies and willie wagtails, were declining in some areas of Australia but increasing elsewhere.
While the odds of seeing a magpie on the east coast have decreased, sightings have increased in other states and Tasmania.
Willie wagtails have recorded a decrease in sightings on the east coat, according to the report.
Magpie sightings have also dropped to 22.5 percent on the east coast, according to the State of Australia's Birds 2015 report released by Birdlife Australia
'The stuff that Birdlife Australia has come out with is showing is that a lot of birds that we assumed were really common and sailing along quite fine are showing significant declines,' Australian Birdlife's Sean Dooley told the ABC.
'While they're still not endangered, it's basically the first step to them becoming endangered, so we really need to use this as a wake-up call and start looking at what we're doing across landscapes to try and figure out what's going on.'
Mr Dooley said cats, habitat loss and changes in climate could be to blame, but more research was needed before species could be declared endangered.
Willie wagtails have declined in numbers on the east coast since 1999, according to the report
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3163297/Spotted-magpie-kookaburra-willie-wagtail-lately-chances-seeing-native-bird-shrinking-start-disappear-parts-Australia.html#ixzz3gNfShFtm
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