But it shows the situation could have been much worse, if not for conservation efforts across Australia which have prevented further declines for many species.
Last released in 2011 and published by CSIRO Publishing, the updated and revised action plan was written by more than 300 experts.
The book’s lead editor Stephen Garnett said the action plan reported on a decade of monitoring and assessment of the populations of Australian birds.
“The results tell us clearly that without changes, many species will continue to decline or be lost altogether,” Professor Garnett said.
“However, within our report we also have some clear instructions on how to avoid these outcomes.
“The 2020 report also illustrates how conservation action can turn things around when well-resourced and implemented.”
Among the 77 birds threatened by increases in fire frequency, 26 were made more threatened by the 2019-20 bushfires.
More than 90 birds were affected by more frequent and severe droughts and heatwaves.
The report also describes how declining populations of several key species have been stabilised or increased following intensive conservation efforts.
These include the eastern hooded plover, Kangaroo Island glossy black-cockatoo and eastern bristlebird.
To coincide with the launch of the book, Charles Darwin University PhD candidate Anthony Albrecht has produced a CD of bird sounds.
The sounds are derived from the collection of sound recordist David Stewart, who has built up his collection of bird sounds over the past half century, and who is donating any proceeds from the sales to bird conservation.
Prof Garnett said some of the bird recordings were very rare.
“When we last prepared an Australian bird action plan in 2010, we were not even sure night parrots and King Island brown thornbills existed — this CD has calls of both,” he said.
The CD can be ordered from: https://store.birdlife.org.au/
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