Stone the crows: A red list warning for rooks?

Birdlife International has released a new edition of its European Red List of Birds. A threat level is assigned to each species. Seabird wildfowl and wader numbers are falling in Europe; one in five species is now at risk of extinction.

A change in the status of one bird will raise eyebrows in Ireland. The rook, known as the ‘crow’ here, has been moved from the ‘least concern’ category to ‘vulnerable’.