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Populations of almost half of all bird species are declining globally because of human influenced factors such as loss or degradation of habitats, changes in land use, overexploitation, and climate change, new research has found. Around 48% of bird species worldwide are known or suspected to be undergoing population declines, according to State of World’s Birds report published on May 5 in the Annual Review of Environment and Resources, a peer-reviewed journal. This is in contrast to trends in 39% of species where numbers are stable, and 6% showing increasing population trends, said the study led by Dr Alexander Lees of the Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University.