Colour-ringed Yellow-breasted Bunting at Muraviovka Park, June 2017 © Arend Heim |
For the very first time, a once super-abundant and widespread songbird species is included in the highest threat category on the international red list of the IUCN. The Yellow-breasted Bunting Emberiza aureola was considered "least concern" until 2004, but since the population has declined dramatically, the species is now regarded as "critically endangered". The Amur Bird Project will continue to monitor the species´ population in Far East Russia´s Amur region in 2018 and study its migration and ecology to enable future conservation measures.