BirdLife International

Many people work to help birds.

This group works in many lands. They help keep birds from dying out. They also find safe places for birds to live.

They protect the homes that birds need. This group has millions of members. They have many partners in different lands. They even make a magazine about birds. It is good to help our bird friends.

BirdLife International is a large group of people. They work to protect birds and their homes. This group has over 2.5 million members. They work with 116 partner groups in many lands.

One goal is to stop birds from dying out. They look for safe places for birds to live. They call these Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas. They have found 13,000 of these areas. The group also helps people who study birds.

They found that 1,375 bird species are in danger. This is 13% of all birds. They use a Red List to track these birds. This list helps people know which birds need help.

BirdLife started in 1922. Two men named T. Gilbert Pearson and Jean Theodore Delacour started it. It had different names for a long time. It became BirdLife International in 1993.

The group has nine programs. They work in Africa, Asia, and Europe. They also work in the Americas and the Pacific. They make a magazine about birds. They also publish a journal called Bird Conservation International.

Caption: A warden wears a mark from the group in the 1970s.

BirdLife International is a huge global partnership. It works to protect birds and their homes. This group helps stop birds from going extinct. They also find and save important places for birds to live. They work to fix bird habitats that are broken. They also help people who study and protect birds around the world.

The group works in many ways to help. They have nine special programs to guide their work. These programs happen in Africa, Asia, and Europe. They also work in the Americas, the Pacific, and the Middle East. One program helps find Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas. Another program is the Marine Programme. There is also a Flyways Programme to help birds on their long trips.

This group has a very long history. It started in 1922 as the International Council for Bird Protection. Two American bird experts started it. Their names were T. Gilbert Pearson and Jean Theodore Delacour. The group changed its name a few times over the years. In 1928, it became the International Committee for Bird Preservation. Later, in 1960, it was the International Council for Bird Preservation. Finally, it became BirdLife International in 1993.

There are many big facts about this group. It has more than 2.5 million members. These members belong to 116 different partner organizations. Some famous partners are the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the National Audubon Society. BirdLife has found 13,000 Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas. They found that 1,375 bird species are at risk of extinction. This is 13% of all bird species. In 2025, they adopted a new system called the AviList global avian taxonomy.

You can learn more about birds through their work. They publish a magazine called BirdLife: The Magazine. It has news and articles about bird conservation. They also publish a journal called Bird Conservation International. This journal is made with Cambridge University Press.

Caption: A warden wears a mark from the group in the 1970s.

BirdLife International is a massive global partnership of non-governmental organizations. Its main goal is to conserve birds and the habitats they need to survive. This organization works to prevent bird species from going extinct. It also identifies and protects important sites for bird life. The group works to maintain and restore key habitats. Additionally, BirdLife International seeks to empower conservationists all over the world.

The organization uses several specific strategies to achieve these goals. It operates nine different conservation programmes across the globe. These programmes cover regions in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Central Asia. They also work in the Middle East and the Pacific. These programmes provide a framework for planning and monitoring conservation work. Some specific examples include the Marine Programme and the Flyways Programme. There is also the Preventing Extinctions Programme and the Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas Programme.

BirdLife International has a very deep history in the scientific community. It was founded in 1922 by two American ornithologists. Their names were T. Gilbert Pearson and Jean Theodore Delacour. At its start, the group was called the International Council for Bird Protection. The name changed several times as the organization grew. In 1928, it became the International Committee for Bird Preservation. In 1960, it was renamed the International Council for Bird Preservation. Finally, the group adopted its current name, BirdLife International, in 1993.

The scale of this partnership is quite large. It includes more than 2.5 million people worldwide. These members belong to 116 different country partner organizations. Some well-known members include the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Other partners are the Wild Bird Society of Japan and the National Audubon Society. The American Bird Conservancy is also a member. This vast network allows the group to have a global impact on bird conservation.

Much of the group's work involves scientific data and monitoring. BirdLife International has identified 13,000 Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas. It also serves as the official Red List authority for birds for the International Union for Conservation of Nature. This means they provide the data used to track bird safety. Their research shows that 1,375 bird species are currently threatened with extinction. This number represents 13% of all known bird species. These species are categorized as critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable. In 2025, the group adopted the AviList global avian taxonomy, which is a system for naming and classifying birds.

The organization also shares its findings through various publications. They produce a quarterly magazine titled BirdLife: The Magazine. This magazine features recent news and authoritative articles about bird conservation. They also publish an official journal called Bird Conservation International. This journal is published in partnership with Cambridge University Press. These tools help spread scientific knowledge to a wider audience.

There have been moments of controversy regarding how the group manages its partnerships. In 2019, BirdLife International raised issues with the Chinese Wild Bird Federation (CWBF) in Taiwan. They asked the group to change its Chinese name to avoid operational risks. They also asked the CWBF to sign a document regarding political advocacy. They requested that the group not use symbols like the Taiwanese flag. Even if these demands were met, BirdLife stated they might still remove the partner. On 7 September 2020, the BirdLife International Global Council voted to remove the CWBF. Following this, the organization changed its English name to the Taiwan Wild Bird Federation (TWBF). This history shows the complex political challenges that global conservation groups sometimes face.

Caption: A warden wears a mark from the group in the 1970s.