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Nearly half of the world’s migratory bird species are in decline and one in nine faces extinction, according to BirdLife International’s latest State of the World’s Birds report.
The first edition focused on flyways warns of severe losses, including the Slender-billed Curlew, but highlights that coordinated, cross-border conservation and new finance can reverse trends, as shown by the Egyptian Vulture’s recovery.
Forty-five per cent of migratory bird species are in decline. One in nine is threatened with extinction, according to the State of the World’s Birds launched by BirdLife International on September 11, 2026, at the Global Flyways Summit, co-hosted by Nature Kenya.
The report is published every four years. The latest edition is the first devoted to migratory birds and the flyways they depend on, according to a statement by the organisation.
Other findings are grim too. The 2025 extinction of the Slender-billed Curlew, last recorded at a Moroccan lagoon in February 1995, marks the first global bird extinction in mainland Eurasia and Africa in recent centuries, with six other migratory species confirmed or suspected to have been lost in the last 150 years. Species dependent on marine habitats, forests and coastal wetlands are faring particularly poorly; seabirds and shorebirds are among the most threatened.
Yet the report also documented hope. These declines stem from well-understood, human-caused factors: invasive species, agricultural intensification, climate change, and unsustainable hunting. When farming, fishing and land practices are addressed across a whole migration route, rather than at single sites, bird populations respond. For example, multi-country action for Egyptian Vulture has halted the decline of the Balkan breeding population.
The summit also saw key stakeholders including governments, scientists, NGOs, conservationists and financial institutions sign the Nairobi Flyways Declaration, committing to stepping up efforts and cooperation to protect migratory birds and their habitats across borders, alongside more than $6 billion in conservation finance being mobilised by development banks since 2021. Together, these milestones signal a step-change in coordinated global response for flyway conservation.
The Declaration recognises that migratory birds cross borders and continents; their survival depends on action by many stakeholders across entire flyways, not isolated national efforts.
“Migratory birds do not recognise borders. They connect Asia to Africa, the Arctic to the tropics. The Nairobi Flyways Declaration acknowledges this reality — that it needs international cooperation and coordination to keep migratory birds safe. I am excited and proud to see that the scientific community, conservation organisations and the financial sector are uniting to make this happen. At last!! We stand at an important turning point. We have been waiting for this moment for a long time,” said Princess Takamado, Honorary President, BirdLife International.
“The State of the World’s Birds report is unambiguous: we are losing migratory birds at an alarming rate. But today’s Nairobi Declaration signals a turning point. We need everyone to step up and play their part. That means governments, business and civil society. Development banks are rising to the challenge. The BirdLife Partnership is prepared to act. We now need others to step up to reverse the declines and save the wonder of migration,” Martin Harper, Chief Executive, BirdLife International.
