List of extinct bird species since 1500

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Since 1500, about 216 bird species have gone extinct. Most extinctions happened because humans changed the world: hunting, losing habitats, introducing new predators or competitors, and climate change. Today there are about 11,000 living bird species. Of these, around 1,480 are at risk of extinction and 223 are critically endangered.

Islands are especially vulnerable. Flightless island birds are often the first to disappear. For example, Hawaii is home to a large share of recently extinct birds, and Guam lost more than 60% of its native birds after brown tree snakes were introduced.

Rails (a group that includes many island birds) show a high rate of extinction because many of them lose the ability to fly when they are isolated on islands. Some rails went extinct before scientists even described them.

The dates people use for extinction are usually the last time a species was seen or an example specimen was collected. That date is often only approximate. For many Pacific birds that disappeared after Europeans arrived, researchers only rarely visited the islands, so there can be gaps of more than a century. In one rare case, the San Benedicto rock wren’s extinction could be timed very precisely with a volcanic eruption.

The year 1500 is a common break point for what researchers call the modern era. It’s when species started to be described scientifically, when extinctions began to be monitored more closely, and when global trade and travel increased pressure on wildlife. Species that went extinct before 1500 are listed in a different, prehistoric section (examples include the elephant birds and the moa).

Names and groups of birds are listed in many scientific classifications, but the big idea is simple: many bird losses have happened or are happening, especially on islands and among flightless species, largely because of human impacts. Some subspecies are hard to classify, and many may still exist, but lack of records or ongoing threats leads researchers to flag them as uncertain or at risk.