Birds with Unique Physical Features are More Likely to Face Extinction, Study Shows

According to new research, birds with unusual characteristics or physical characteristics, such as large beaks, extended wings, and long tails, are more likely to become endangered and go extinct.

Due to the vital roles, these rare physical characteristics play in the ecosystem, the loss of these birds could have a negative effect.

Jarome Ali a Princeton University Ph.D. candidate, said that the diversity of the bird species in the world fascinates people. However, the dangers posed to these birds are a major source of concern. Ali, the study's primary author, finished the paper at Imperial College London.

9943 Bird Species

Researchers examined measurement data from 9,943 bird species, or about 99% of all living bird species, for their research. The data were gathered from both actual birds and museum specimens. The length of the legs, tails, and wings, as well as the size and shape of the beak, were all measured.

Ali outlined how they were able to comprehend global trends thanks to this enormous dataset. Their study demonstrates that the issue of extinction affects the entire planet. Naturally, the details might be different at smaller scales, so further study will be essential in this area.

Researchers combined data on physical characteristics with extinction risk for the birds. They take into account each species' ranking on the Red List of Threatened Species maintained by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Then, they ran simulations to see what would happen if the list's most endangered birds went extinct.

The Interesting Evolutionary Puzzle

Their simulations revealed that extinction has more negative effects than the group anticipated on the variety of bird shape variations. The group's initial discovery that threatened birds were more distinctive than non-threatened birds is not surprising, Ali continued.

They thought it was very interesting that larger birds tended to have more distinctive shapes overall. Consider how similar in shape all the tiny songbirds are. Now contrast that with how an eagle and an ostrich are shaped. According to Ali, there is a correlation between large size and distinctive shapes that makes for an interesting evolutionary puzzle.

Read also: Avian Life Dwindles Worldwide, More Bird Species Succumb to Extinction 

Unique Birds: Specialized Roles, Specialized Needs

The cause of the association between unusual birds and extinction risk is unknown to researchers. According to Ali, special birds probably play specialized roles in the ecosystem. One explanation is that these specialized roles are inclined to be the first to be attacked when habitats are threatened. In contrast to a bird that is less distinctive and can eat a wider variety of foods, a hummingbird that is specialized to eat a small subset of plants would be more negatively impacted by habitat damage.

Due to their specialized role in the ecosystem, the extinction of these rare birds could affect the environment.

According to Ali, this means ecosystems will lose important functions like specialized pollination, predation, scavenging, seed dispersal, and much more. A lack of pollinators would put crucial links in the food chain in grave danger and cause the system as a whole to malfunction.

The results are significant because they offer more proof that safeguarding threatened species is crucial.

According to Ali, their findings suggest that it is unrealistic to merely hope that a non-threatened species will replace a threatened species, Treehugger reports.

The results were recently published by Ali and his colleagues in the journal Functional Ecology.

Related article: Colorful, Unique Plumage of Songbirds Raises Risk of Being Traded, May Lead Extinction