What are the world's most endangered and unusual birds? Read the top 100 list here

What are the world's most endangered birds? A new study of the most Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered species reveals all.

By Dave Lancaster |

13:29 14 April 2014

A list of the world's most Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) species has been revealed after scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Yale University assessed the world's 9,993 bird species. 

They whittled down their findings to a definitive list of the top 100 most endangered and unusual birds. 

 

The giant ibis (Thaumatibis gigantea) topped the list. It's a big one, weighing over 4kg and at over a metre in height. Only 230 pairs remain in the wild, making it critically endangered. 

 

The majority of the birds on the list are receiving hardly any or no conservation action as hunting and loss of habitat threaten them. 

 

Carly Waterman, Edge programme manager at ZSL, said: "We lament the extinction of the dodo, but without action we stand to lose one of its closest relatives, the tooth-billed pigeon or 'little dodo', and many other extraordinary birds.

 

"The release of the Edge birds list enables us to prioritise our conservation efforts in the face of a mounting list of endangered species. These one-of-a-kind birds illustrate the incredible diversity that exists in our natural world."

 

The world's top 100 most unusual and endangered birds are: 

 

1.Giant Ibis

2.New Caledonian Owlet-nightjar

3.California Condor

4.Kakapo

5.Kagu

6.Bengal Florican

7.Forest Owlet

8.Philippine Eagle

9.Christmas Island Frigatebird

10.Sumatran Ground-cuckoo

11.Spoon-billed Sandpiper

12.Northern Bald Ibis

13.Plains-wanderer

14.New Zealand Storm-petrel

15.Hooded Grebe

16.White-shouldered Ibis

17.Maleo

18.Black-hooded Coucal

19.Madagascar Serpent-eagle

20.Dwarf Olive Ibis

21.Rufous Scrub-bird

22.Noisy Scrub-bird

23.Junin Grebe

24.White-collared Kite

25.Congo Bay-owl

26.White-eyed River-martin

27.Red-headed Vulture

28.Secretarybird

29.Peruvian Diving-petrel

30.Egyptian Vulture

31.St Helena Plover

32.Australian Painted Snipe

33.Cuban Kite

34.Tooth-billed Pigeon

35.Nahan's Francolin

36.Sulu Hornbill

37.Shoebill

38.Purple-winged Ground-dove

39.Asian Crested Ibis

40.Sangihe Shrike-thrush

41.Jerdon's Courser

42.Lesser Florican

43.Kokako

44.Rufous-headed Hornbill

45.Masked Finfoot

46.Bahia Tapaculo

47.Waved Albatross

48.Stresemann's Bristlefront

49.Sociable Lapwing

50.Eskimo Curlew

51.Slender-billed Curlew

52.Bannerman's Turaco

53.Ashy Storm-petrel

54.Siberian Crane

55.White-throated Storm-petrel

56.Juan Fernandez Firecrown

57.Dark-winged Trumpeter

58.Uluguru Bush-shrike

59.Polynesian Ground-dove

60.Sichuan Jay

61.Mountain Serpent-eagle

62.Sulu Bleeding-heart

63.Zapata Rail

64.Mindoro Bleeding-heart

65.Kaka

66.Negros Bleeding-heart

67.Black Stilt

68.Makira Moorhen

69.Great Indian Bustard

70.Abbott's Booby

71.Kittlitz's Murrelet

72.Titicaca Grebe

73.Greater Adjutant

74.Western Bristlebird

75.Eastern Bristlebird

76.Shore Plover

77.Udzungwa Forest-partridge

78.Madagascar Fish-eagle

79.White-bellied Heron

80.Subdesert Mesite

81.Long-whiskered Owlet

82.Philippine Cockatoo

83.Spix's Macaw

84.South Island Wren

85.Crow Honeyeater

86.Northern Brown Kiwi

87.Banded Ground-cuckoo

88.Flores Hawk-eagle

89.Tachira Antpitta

90.Beck's Petrel

91.Cebu Flowerpecker

92.Blue-eyed Ground-dove

93.Javan Trogon

94.Pulitzer's Longbill

95.Alagoas Antwren

96.Pernambuco Pygmy-owl

97.Jamaica Petrel

98.Grenada Dove

99.Wood Snipe

100.Rio de Janeiro Antwren