The list shows the situation is particularly worrying with regards to birds from agricultural areas, long-distance migrants and seabirds, whose abundance and distribution have decreased, increasing the risk of their extinction.

The Red List was released by the Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds (SPEA), which led the Red List project and the III Atlas of Bird Breeding in Portugal.

The two projects were developed in partnership with the University of Évora, the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF), IFCN of Madeira, and the CIBIO/BIOPOLIS research project, with the participation of more than 400 volunteer and professional ornithologists.

In accordance with the results of SPEA, birds such as the sisão, abetarda, hunting eagle and the rolieiro, which 20 years ago were more abundant in the Alentejo fields, “have suffered drastic reductions in distribution, including within protected areas.”

The executive director of SPEA, Domingos Leitão, stated that agricultural monocultures, increase in irrigation and the excessive use of agrochemicals “is driving groups of unique birds in Europe towards extinction, which are birds of the rainfed plains of southern and central Portugal”, it is urgent to “reverse agricultural consequences and create quality habitat areas.”

Long-distance migratory birds that spend the winter in Portugal are also at risk, because of human interference has deteriorated their resting areas, such as wetlands and the coastline.

“The drainage of wetlands for agriculture, urban and tourist development, fish farms replacing marshes, and other drastic changes to the resting places of these birds are causing a sharp reduction in their populations”, says SPEA, birds such as pilritos and maçaricos are facing situations in their nesting sites, their refuges in Portugal are being destroyed, therefore “it will become difficult for them to survive.”

Seabirds that spend the winter in Portugal, such as the gaivota-tridáctila, torda-mergulheira and the papagayo-do-mar, have seen deterioration in their conservation status, and the group of nesting birds, such as cagarra and the galheta also do not escape the negative trend.

The SPEA also highlights some positive results, which show that conservation actions at work, as example, the conservation projects for birds of prey (vultures and eagles).

Species such as the abutre-preto, grifo, águia-perdigueira, águia-calçada, bútio-vespero and the águia sapateira “now have a lower risk of extinction than on the previous Red List from 2005”.

Ducks have benefitted from hunting restrictions, and garças, colheiros and íbis currently have more food.

The Red List aims to reassess the risk of extinction of bird populations that regularly use the continent and identify threatened populations.

Compared to the previous Red List, the number of populations classified as threatened with extinction increased from 88 to 95 populations.

The III Atlas of Bird Breeding in Portugal evaluated the distribution areas of species that reproduce in Portugal. Making possible the inventory of 241 species of birds, spread across the territories of the continent and autonomous regions, of which 225 are native and 16 are non-native with established populations.