Bird last seen nearly 30 years back has now been declared extinct

Climate change has claimed another victim - a migratory shorebird called the Slender-billed Curlew. Scientists have declared the bird certainly deceased following years of search, IFL Science reported.

“This marks the first known extinction of a bird species from mainland Europe, North Africa, and West Asia,” the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) told IFLScience in a statement.

The Slender-billed Curlew was known to breed in Siberia during summertime. In winter, like other migratory birds, it also flew to a warmer region. However, while other birds flew south to the tropics or Australia, this species of the curlew went towards the Mediterranean.

Scientists say that birds that go to the Mediterranean are surviving better because of the time they had to adjust to the growth of human civilization on its banks.

“Extensive efforts have been made for decades to find evidence of the Slender-billed Curlew across its breeding and non-breeding ranges, but all have proven unsuccessful," the statement added.

The last time the Slender-billed Curlew was reliably seen was in 1995 in Morocco. There was a reported sighting in 2001 as well, but it was not officially confirmed.

Scientists believe the bird has been extinct ever since its last official sighting. They say there is a 96 per cent chance the bird is nowhere on Earth.

Official extinction declaration

Notably, sometimes species believed to have gone extinct are rediscovered in places they were never known to visit. However, the author of the latest study considered several factors before declaring the bird extinct, including the threats they faced.

The bird will be officially declared extinct by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. They will go through the report to reach a conclusion on the bird that is currently listed as 'Critically Endangered'.