By Mark Kinver Science and environment reporter, BBC News The
populations of the world's common birds are declining as a
result of continued habitat loss, a global assessment has
warned. The survey by BirdLife International found that 45% of
Europe's common birds had seen numbers fall, as had more than
80% of Australia's wading species. The study's authors said
governments were failing to fund their promises to halt
biodiversity loss by 2010. The findings will be presented at the
group's World Conference in Argentina. The State of the World's
Birds 2008 report, the first update since 2004, found that
common species - ones considered to be familiar in people's
everyday lives - were declining in all parts of the world. In
Europe, an analysis of 124 species over a 26-year period
revealed that 56 species had declined in 20 countries. Farmland
birds were worst affected, with the number of European turtle-
doves (Streptopelia turtur) falling by 79%. In Africa, birds of
prey were experiencing "widespread decline" out