Conservation Commentary: Evaluation of the Global Decline in the True Shrikes (Family Laniidae)

Abstract

The first International Shrike Symposium was held at the Archbold Biological Station, Lake Placid, Florida, from 11-15 January 1993. The symposium was attended by 71 participants from 23 countries (45% North America, 32% Europe, 21% Asia, and 2% Africa). The most exciting participation was that of a strong contingent of ornithologists from eastern Europe. In this commentary I present the points stressed at the Symposium and illustrate them with several examples as presented by the authors. The Symposium was convened to focus attention on, evaluate, and possibly recommend methods to reverse the worldwide decline of shrike populations. Many of the 30 species are declining, or have become extinct locally. Studies have focused mainly on the five species found closest to places where ornithologists live: Northern/Great Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor); Red-backed Shrike (L. collurio); Loggerhead Shrike (L. ludovicianus); Lesser Grey Shrike (L. minor); and Woodchat Shrike (L. senator). Other than anecdotal observations, little is known about the other 25 species. A common theme of the Symposium was that most long-term studies of previously robust populations of shrikes have documented drastic population declines, mostly in the late 20th century. For example, Rothhaupt (1993) estimated that most central European countries have lost over 50% of their breeding populations of shrikes within the last 15 years. Regional status and declines.-In post-war Switzerland, shrike populations plummeted as human population increased from 4,700,000 in the 1950s to almost 6,500,000 today (Bassin 1993). Rapid economic development paralleled this demographic growth. In 1950, rural agricultural landscapes were still dominated by traditional livestock-breeding and cultivation methods, but extensive land-use changes have occurred following the adoption of modern mechanized practices. These changes resulted in sweeping landscape modifications that prevented populations of resident Northern Shrikes from rebounding after the severe winters of 1962-1963, 1983, and 1985-1986. Breeding populations of all four species of shrikes found primarily in rural areas have declined, and today in Switzerland only the Red-backed and Woodchat shrikes nest. The last nest of the Lesser Grey