Humans have wiped out twice as many bird species as previously thought, study finds

About 12% of the world’s bird species have been driven to extinction by human activity, new research has found – double previous estimates.

The study, published in Nature Communications on Tuesday, estimates that about 1,430 bird species have died out since the Late Pleistocene period, which started about 125,000 years ago.

Deforestation, overhunting, fires and invasive species are key causes of bird species loss, scientists said.