Yellow-Breasted Buntings on the verge of extinction: Study

As per recent study published in the Conservation Biology journal, Yellow-breasted buntings (Emberiza aureola), a songbird are near to extinction. 

The study has mentioned that population this bird species which is also known as he “rice bird” in China has plunged by 90 percent since 1980 and disappearing from Eastern Europe, Japan and parts of Russia. 

The main reason mentioned in the study for decline of songbirds is illegal hunting for food and sold on the black market in China. 

Earlier in 1997, China had banned China the hunting of the species following initial population declines but failed to implement to conservation measures to protect them. 

Since 2013, Yellow-breasted buntings have been classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as an endangered species due to rapid population decline. 

The paper compares hunting of this species with the North American passenger pigeon, which became extinct in 1914 due to industrial-scale hunting. 

It should be noted that Yellow-breasted buntings is Eurasian passerine bird that belongs to the bunting family (Emberizidae). It is migratory bird wintering in south-east Asia, India, and southern China.