Red List of breeding birds in Rhineland-Palatinate 2025: Barn Owl
The barn owl (Tyto alba) is among the losers on the new Red List in Rhineland-Palatinate: While it was still on the preliminary warning list in 2014, it is now considered critically endangered. The same trend is evident in the spotted nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes).

Red List of breeding birds in Rhineland-Palatinate: 55% of species at risk

Birds shape our landscapes, accompany our everyday lives, and are also sensitive indicators of the state of nature. When their populations shrink, it is almost always a warning sign of profound ecological problems. The new Red List of breeding birds in Rhineland-Palatinate clearly shows: The loss of biodiversity continues to

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Historical depiction of elephant bird
Historical depiction of Aepyornis maximus. Our knowledge of the elephant birds’ external appearance is incomplete: there are no preserved specimens, only bone finds and eggshells. Reconstructions therefore rely on anatomical inferences and comparisons with modern ratites. (© http://www.50birds.com/gextinct5.htm, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Aepyornis maximus – the largest elephant bird and the mystery of when it went extinct

There wasn’t just one elephant bird The elephant bird is probably one of the best-known of all extinct birds. Hardly any other animal so strongly embodies gigantism, enigmatic traditions, and the fascination of a world of animals that humans now know only in fragments. But the name already misleads: there

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Tobias caddisfly – museum specimen from the Entomological Collection of ETH Zurich
A museum specimen of the extinct Tobias caddisfly, collected in 1914, in ETH Zurich’s entomological collection. (© Hydropsyche tobiasi – Foto von E. Schmitt, Entomologische Sammlung ETH Zürich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via GBIF)

Tobias’ caddisfly: Germany’s only endemic species to have gone extinct

Inconspicuous, highly specialised insects Caddisflies are among those insects that hardly anyone notices. They are inconspicuous, quiet and do not impose themselves on people. In 2002, the Austrian entomologist Hans Malicky described them aptly as animals that “cause neither harm nor any particular benefit”, that “do not sting and do

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Wind power – a threat to birds, bats, and insects?
A bird in an agricultural landscape in front of wind turbines: Local risks are weighed against global climate and biodiversity effects. ( © Canva Pro)

Between wildlife conservation and climate protection: Does wind power harm birds, bats and insects?

Wind turbines are a key pillar of the energy transition. They generate electricity without burning fossil fuels and therefore help reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and curb climate change. During operation they produce neither CO₂ emissions nor air pollutants, require little water, and today rank among the most cost-effective forms of electricity

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Dodo reconstruction at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France
This replica of the dodo is the result of interpretative work based on historical and scientific research: accounts, depictions and bones. No taxidermied specimen of the species exists. The bird was created by the artist Camille Renversade and realised in collaboration with the museum’s taxidermy workshops. (© Doreen Fräßdorf, photographed at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris, France, 2024)

Dodo – Dead as a dodo

The dodo, related to pigeons (Columbidae), is probably the best-known example of an animal species exterminated by humans. References to the bird in literature and painting are common—for example in chapter three of the children’s book Alice in Wonderland (1865) by Lewis Carroll or in the paintings of the Flemish

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Prostalia granulata - rediscovered after 45 years
Prostalia granulata – male individual, photographed at Beacon Hill in the Umtamvuna Nature Reserve. Characteristic are the numerous tiny raised granules (“granula”) covering the body surface. (© Adrian Armstrong, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife)

South Africa: Rediscovered after 45 years – a nearly forgotten grasshopper species is still alive

For more than four decades, Prostalia granulata, also known as the granulate bladder grasshopper, was considered lost. The rare grasshopper species was last scientifically documented in 1980. Since then, no verified records had been available—raising serious doubts about its continued existence. Then, in early December 2025, came the surprise: the

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Pholidoscelis cineraceus
One of the few museum specimens of the extinct Guadeloupe ameiva. (© Laure Pierre, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Guadeloupe ameiva—isolation, colonization & the end of an island species

Islands under pressure The West Indies—including the Lesser Antilles—are among the most species-rich regions in the world. Many lizard and snake species are found exclusively there. These endemic species have adapted over millennia to the conditions of individual islands. Yet this very specialization makes them particularly vulnerable: when habitats are

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Decline in insect biomass
Species-rich meadows are increasingly disappearing from the landscape. As insect species are lost, not only biodiversity declines, but also biomass – with consequences for entire ecosystems.

New study shows: insect biomass decline is primarily driven by species loss

For years, there has been talk of insect decline. People describe silent summer nights, clean windshields, and meadows where hardly anything is buzzing anymore. What was initially dismissed as a subjective impression has now been confirmed: several long-term studies show that insect biomass in Central Europe has declined sharply. The

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