Tipping Point Species
Immediate Conservation Needed for Birds That Have Experienced the Steepest Population Losses
Tipping Point bird species have lost more than 50% of their populations within the past 50 years.
The Road to Recovery initiative—a government/academic conservation collaborative that formed in response to the 3 billion birds lost research published in the journal Science—identified Tipping Point species in hopes of accelerating voluntary and proactive approaches to recover bird populations.
A recent reassessment sorted the Tipping Point species by different levels of urgency† (Red, Orange, and Yellow) based on trajectory of declines, severity of threats, and security of core breeding populations. Some of these species lack sufficient monitoring to thoroughly investigate losses. Tipping Point species require focused scientific research to pinpoint drivers of declines, paired with fast action on conservation measures to bring these birds back.
Red Alert Tipping Point Species (42)
Birds with perilously low populations and steep declining trends.
Mottled Duck
Steller’s Eider
Spectacled Eider
Gunnison Sage-Grouse ‡
Greater Sage-Grouse
Greater Prairie-Chicken
Lesser Prairie-Chicken‡
Allen’s Hummingbird
Ridgway’s Rail
Black Rail‡
Wilson’s Plover
Mountain Plover
Bristle-thighed Curlew
Hudsonian Godwit
Kittlitz’s Murrelet
Scripps’s Murrelet
Craveri’s Murrelet
Guadalupe Murrelet
Yellow-billed Loon
Townsend’s Storm-Petrel
Ashy Storm-Petrel
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel
Bermuda Petrel
Black-capped Petrel
Hawaiian Petrel
Fea’s Petrel
Pink-footed Shearwater
Red-faced Cormorant
Florida Scrub-Jay‡
Yellow-billed Magpie
Bendire’s Thrasher
LeConte’s Thrasher
Bicknell’s Thrush
Brown-capped Rosy-Finch
Cassia Crossbill
Chestnut-collared Longspur
Thick-billed Longspur
Bachman’s Sparrow
Saltmarsh Sparrow
Baird’s Sparrow
Tricolored Blackbird
Golden-cheeked Warbler‡
Red List Spotlight: Bachman’s Sparrow
This little sparrow is a casualty of the degradation and loss of grassy, open pine woodlands in the American Southeast. American Bird Conservancy is leading an effort with Sustainable Forestry Initiative–certified groups to improve habitat conditions for Bachman’s Sparrow and other birds, particularly on privately owned working forests. ABC uses science and partnerships with organizations like International Paper, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the Lower Mississippi Valley Joint Venture to inform management practices—including harvests, intermediate thinnings, and prescribed fire—that support Bachman’s Sparrows as well as other declining species like Prairie Warbler, Red-headed Woodpecker, and Northern Bobwhite.
Orange Alert Tipping Point Species (37)
Birds showing long-term population losses and accelerated recent declines within the past decade.
King Eider
Long-tailed Duck
Black Swift
Chimney Swift
Rufous Hummingbird
King Rail
Whooping Crane‡
Black-bellied Plover
American Golden-Plover
Piping Plover‡
Whimbrel
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot‡
Stilt Sandpiper
Sanderling
Buff-breasted Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher
Lesser Yellowlegs
Greater Yellowlegs
Dovekie
Short-billed Gull
Western Gull
Glaucous Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Least Tern
Pelagic Cormorant
California Condor‡
LeConte’s Sparrow
Sprague’s Pipit
Evening Grosbeak
Eastern Towhee
Bobolink
Kirtland’s Warbler
Pyrrhuloxia
Orange List Spotlight: Chimney Swift
Chimney Swifts are often seen swerving and swooping to feed on airborne insects above rooftops and chimney stacks in urban areas. Swift populations are in steep decline throughout most of their range, with the biggest losses around cities in the Upper Midwest, Gulf Coast, and southeastern Piedmont regions. Yet there are gaps in scientific knowledge about their full annual cycle, such as where specifically Chimney Swifts go on migration to South America. An organized research effort or working group is needed to investigate the causes of swift declines.
Yellow Alert Tipping Point Species (33)
Birds with long-term population losses, but relatively stable recent trends; continued conservation efforts needed to sustain recovery.
Northern Pintail
Black Scoter
Marbled Murrelet‡
Horned Grebe
Eastern Whip-poor-will
Yellow Rail
American Oystercatcher
Snowy Plover‡
Bar-tailed Godwit
Rock Sandpiper
Wandering Tattler
Ivory Gull
Short-tailed Albatross‡
Manx Shearwater
Audubon’s Shearwater
Reddish Egret
Spotted Owl‡
Lewis’s Woodpecker
Red-cockaded Woodpecker‡
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Henslow’s Sparrow
Pinyon Jay
Wood Thrush
Black Rosy-Finch
Black-chinned Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Harris’s Sparrow
Sagebrush Sparrow
Chihuahuan Meadowlark
Golden-winged Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Grace’s Warbler
Yellow List Spotlight: Pinyon Jay
These jays travel widely in large flocks to feed in pinyon and other pine woodlands. About 70% of the Pinyon Jay population has been lost since 1970. Today Pinyon Jay is a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in most state wildlife action plans across the West, and it is under consideration for federal ESA listing. Despite long-term, broad-scale declines, Pinyon Jay population trends may be stabilizing at lower abundances in some places. The Pinyon Jay Working Group is a partnership of more than 35 federal/state/nonprofit groups with a broad goal of enhancing collaboration, sharing information, and coordinating research to advance conservation and recovery of the species and its habitats.
Footnotes:
† Red/Orange/Yellow alert levels correspond with Watch List categories in the Partners in Flight Avian Conservation Assessment Database.
‡ Denotes bird species already protected under federal Endangered Species Act.