EVERY year another bird species flies out of existence, according to a new analysis that indicates an extinction rate four times as high as previous estimates. The figure is expected to climb to 10 species per year by the end of the century, leading to the loss of 12 per cent of the 10,000 known bird species.
It is not just currently endangered birds such as the whooping crane (above) that will face extinction, says Peter Raven at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St Louis. “We will see an end to regional diversity. The same few bird species will…
