The avian colourscape is disproportionately threatened by species extinctions
Robert X Macdonald, Kathryn Harris, Yichen He, Emma C. Hughes, Eleftherios Ioannou, Tamora D. James, Michael D. Jardine, Christopher JA Moody, Lara O. Nouri, Zoë K. Varley, Gavin Huw Thomas, Christopher R. Cooney
The paper uses citizen science and deep learning to show that losing threatened bird species will disproportionately reduce avian plumage diversity, especially in tropical regions.
bioRxiv · Jun 23, 2026 · PreprintEcology