Saving species

One in eight of the world’s bird species is globally threatened, and the fortunes of some 200 Critically Endangered species are now so perilous that they are at risk of imminent extinction. BirdLife aims to improve the conservation status of all the world's birds, and hence species are often the starting point for our scientific research.

The BirdLife Secretariat is the Red List Authority for birds on the IUCN Red List,coordinating the process of evaluating all of the world’s c.10,000 bird species against the Red List categories and criteria in order to assess their extinction risk.

Our detailed information on the threats to species and actions required helps to shape the conservation action implemented by the BirdLife Partnership through its Preventing Extinction Programme, as well as by other organisations and initiatives including the Alliance for Zero Extinction.