Cuban experts warn about endangered birds in the country          

HAVANA, Cuba, Dec 12 (ACN) At least 32 species of birds are endangered in Cuba, according to the authors of the book Birds of the National Botanical Garden (JBN by its Spanish acronym), published by the Editorial AMA of the Environment Agency.

Seven are found in the JBN, among them the Long-tailed Hawk (endangered), White-headed Woodcock, Pine-breasted and Butterfly Bijirita (vulnerable), Quail, Wood Thrush and the Golden-winged Bijirita (near-threatened), according to the text.

Written by Martin Acosta Cruz, Lourdes Mugica Valdes and Karen Aguilar Mugica, it recognizes the 32 categories established by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), to which others have been incorporated.

Considered a work of great scientific and educational value and for the conservation of biological diversity, one of its chapters is dedicated to the National Botanical Garden and its resources.

It provides a description since its conception in 1968 with the objective of contributing to the environmental education of the Cuban people and the conservation of its flora, particularly endemic, rare and endangered species. 

The volume includes 648 original color photographs of this facility as an ideal site for bird watching, with emphasis on the process of ecological succession and the resources they need to complete their annual life cycle.

The JBN, which belongs to the University of Havana, has an area of 471 hectares, divided into 25 sites, and provides environmental education to its visitors, in addition to contributing to scientific research and conservation of plants and fungi, as well as to the teaching of Botany at the university level.