Stu Butchart
@stubutchart.bsky.social
Chief Scientist at BirdLife International, the world’s largest partnership of nature conservation organisations.
New paper shows mortality of migratory shorebirds along China’s coast from hunting, fishery bycatch and, at aquaculture sites, bird deterrence measures accounts for 1-10% of total flyway populations for 11 species & is unsustainable for several of these. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
November 7, 2025 at 8:42 AM
New paper shows mortality of migratory shorebirds along China’s coast from hunting, fishery bycatch and, at aquaculture sites, bird deterrence measures accounts for 1-10% of total flyway populations for 11 species & is unsustainable for several of these. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I was struck by this graph showing the spectacular growth in the UK population of Goshawks over my lifetime, which are still recovering from the impacts of persecution and pesticides that almost wiped them out. Conor James discusses this phenomenon at www.birdguides.com/articles/it-...
October 17, 2025 at 10:40 AM
I was struck by this graph showing the spectacular growth in the UK population of Goshawks over my lifetime, which are still recovering from the impacts of persecution and pesticides that almost wiped them out. Conor James discusses this phenomenon at www.birdguides.com/articles/it-...
Today a publication celebrating the legacy of Gustavo Fonseca is launched at the GEF pavilion at IUCN World Conservation Congress
October 12, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Today a publication celebrating the legacy of Gustavo Fonseca is launched at the GEF pavilion at IUCN World Conservation Congress
Fascinating article making a reasonable case that this neolithic rock engraving from 2000-5000 years ago in Alta, northern Norway, shows a Great Auk (now extinct) being captured. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
October 2, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Fascinating article making a reasonable case that this neolithic rock engraving from 2000-5000 years ago in Alta, northern Norway, shows a Great Auk (now extinct) being captured. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Great talk by @rspb.bsky.social CEO Becky Speight to kick off the Avian Odyssey symposium at @nhm.org on the theme of how birds provide a reason for hope. I’ll pick up on this in the global context this afternoon. @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social
September 20, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Great talk by @rspb.bsky.social CEO Becky Speight to kick off the Avian Odyssey symposium at @nhm.org on the theme of how birds provide a reason for hope. I’ll pick up on this in the global context this afternoon. @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social
Fascinating anecdote about General Motors and sperm whale oil in this article in @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/news/2025/se...
September 12, 2025 at 7:19 AM
Fascinating anecdote about General Motors and sperm whale oil in this article in @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/news/2025/se...
Next month (Sat 20 Sept) I'll be talking about the State of the World's Birds at 'Avian Odyssey 2025'. Come along to the Natural History Museum, London, for a day of fascinating talks www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/... @bou.org.uk @nhm.org @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social
August 27, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Next month (Sat 20 Sept) I'll be talking about the State of the World's Birds at 'Avian Odyssey 2025'. Come along to the Natural History Museum, London, for a day of fascinating talks www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/... @bou.org.uk @nhm.org @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social
Very cool to see Beaver in Canterbury city centre before breakfast this morning…
July 6, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Very cool to see Beaver in Canterbury city centre before breakfast this morning…
New paper showing Key Biodiversity Areas are valuable in marine environments even for broadly distributed species. KBAs could be recognized for 3/4 threatened & 2/3 non-threatened restricted-range sharks using range maps conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... @keybiodiversity.bsky.social
June 26, 2025 at 8:18 AM
New paper showing Key Biodiversity Areas are valuable in marine environments even for broadly distributed species. KBAs could be recognized for 3/4 threatened & 2/3 non-threatened restricted-range sharks using range maps conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... @keybiodiversity.bsky.social
Fascinating new paper shows link between penguin poo & weather: ammonia released from guano forms airborne particles that seed clouds, influencing climate processes across Antarctica. Scientific paper: www.nature.com/articles/s43... News article: www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/RealData/Art...
June 11, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Fascinating new paper shows link between penguin poo & weather: ammonia released from guano forms airborne particles that seed clouds, influencing climate processes across Antarctica. Scientific paper: www.nature.com/articles/s43... News article: www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/RealData/Art...
We've just launched AviList! - the new unified global taxonomic checklist for the world's birds, developed through the Working Group on Avian Classification, including BirdLife, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, IOC and others @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social @birdsoftheworld.bsky.social www.avilist.org
June 11, 2025 at 2:44 PM
We've just launched AviList! - the new unified global taxonomic checklist for the world's birds, developed through the Working Group on Avian Classification, including BirdLife, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, IOC and others @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social @birdsoftheworld.bsky.social www.avilist.org
Our new paper assesses adequacy of the indicators adopted for the Global Biodiversity Framework. Only 19% of elements in the Goals/Targets are fully covered by the required headline & binary indicators - 40% are fully or partially covered @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
June 10, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Our new paper assesses adequacy of the indicators adopted for the Global Biodiversity Framework. Only 19% of elements in the Goals/Targets are fully covered by the required headline & binary indicators - 40% are fully or partially covered @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A trio of lovely moths in the garden overnight: my first ever Lobster Moth, the spectacular Puss Moth, and the always pleasing Poplar Hawk-moth.
June 1, 2025 at 9:09 AM
A trio of lovely moths in the garden overnight: my first ever Lobster Moth, the spectacular Puss Moth, and the always pleasing Poplar Hawk-moth.
Best night of the year so far for the garden moth trap. This furry-legged Pale Tussock and curious Scorched Wing were the pick of the bunch
May 25, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Best night of the year so far for the garden moth trap. This furry-legged Pale Tussock and curious Scorched Wing were the pick of the bunch
This must be the best year ever for Red-footed Falcon in the UK? Lovely to catch up with this male and female nearby at Swaffham Prior fen this morning
May 10, 2025 at 4:55 PM
This must be the best year ever for Red-footed Falcon in the UK? Lovely to catch up with this male and female nearby at Swaffham Prior fen this morning
Yellow Wagtails have declined so much in the UK that it is a treat every time you see one well
May 10, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Yellow Wagtails have declined so much in the UK that it is a treat every time you see one well
The Great Reed-warbler at Ouse Fen was singing constantly yesterday evening but always just a little bit obscured by reeds. Have there been any previous UK records of one returning two years running to the same territory?
April 29, 2025 at 6:43 AM
The Great Reed-warbler at Ouse Fen was singing constantly yesterday evening but always just a little bit obscured by reeds. Have there been any previous UK records of one returning two years running to the same territory?
Brilliant talk by @tonyjuniier.bluesky.social on his powerful new book Just Earth, explaining why we need to tackle inequality in order to solve the biodiversity crisis.
April 23, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Brilliant talk by @tonyjuniier.bluesky.social on his powerful new book Just Earth, explaining why we need to tackle inequality in order to solve the biodiversity crisis.
A couple of screenshots of the new DataZone from @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social Explore it for yourself at datazone.birdlife.org
April 9, 2025 at 2:49 PM
A couple of screenshots of the new DataZone from @birdlifeglobal.bsky.social Explore it for yourself at datazone.birdlife.org
Nice to see Dark-breasted Barn-owl in the fens on the weekend.
April 7, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Nice to see Dark-breasted Barn-owl in the fens on the weekend.
The pair of Ferruginous Ducks showed well this morning at rspb.bsky.social Fen Drayton
March 22, 2025 at 9:29 PM
The pair of Ferruginous Ducks showed well this morning at rspb.bsky.social Fen Drayton
First new moth for the garden this year: a splendid Oak Beauty on the outside of the trap
March 22, 2025 at 8:41 AM
First new moth for the garden this year: a splendid Oak Beauty on the outside of the trap
Few birds (except Snow Finch and Alpine Chough) but spectacular snowy scenes, gorgeous weather and exhilarating sit-skiing in the French Alps (La Plagne) last week
February 24, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Few birds (except Snow Finch and Alpine Chough) but spectacular snowy scenes, gorgeous weather and exhilarating sit-skiing in the French Alps (La Plagne) last week