State of India’s Bird 2020

• 18 Feb 2020

Why in News

Recently, the State of India’s Bird 2020 was released at the 13^th Conference of Parties of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals which is taking place in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

• The first-of-its-kind analysis was carried out by ten research and conservation organisations across India.
• It used a massive database of over 10 million observations uploaded by 15,000 birdwatchers on the online platform (e-Bird) and ‘citizen science data’ to assess the distribution and trends of common Indian birds.

Key Points

• Declining trend:
  
  • The groups that show the greatest decline are raptors, migratory shorebirds, and habitat specialists, including White-rumped Vulture, Richard’s Pipit, Indian Vulture, Large-billed Leaf Warbler, Pacific Golden Plover and Curlew Sandpiper.
• Increasing Trend:
  
  • The species that have shown an increase in numbers include Rosy Starling, Feral Pigeon, Glossy Ibis, Plain Prinia and the Ashy Prinia
• Categorisation of Birds:
  
  • The study categorised 101 species as “high concern”, 319 as “moderate concern” and 442 into “low concern”.
  • Out of the species categorised as a high concern, 26% are classified globally by IUCN as “least concern”.

Analysis of Species

• Indian Peacocks:
  
  • The numbers of India’s national bird, the Indian Peacock, has increased dramatically over the past few decades.
  • The increase in numbers of the species has been attributed to a combination of the bird expanding its range (earlier it was absent in Kerala), conservation efforts and associated penalties for poaching under Schedule I of the Wildlife Act.
  • It is listed as ‘Least Concern’ on the IUCN Red List.
• Indian vultures:
  
  • It has experienced catastrophic population declines starting in the early 1990s.
  • The declines are almost entirely attributable to inadvertent poisoning by the livestock anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac.
  • Surveys conducted have shown that White-rumped Vulture has suffered the most severe declines, followed by Indian Vulture and Egyptian Vulture.
• House Sparrow:
  
  • The House Sparrow has been found to be stable across the country as a whole, although declining in the major cities.
  • It has been declared as the “State Bird of Delhi” to save the species and enhance awareness about their life and habitat.
  • The reasons for the decline include decreasing insect populations (a key part of the diet of sparrow chicks) and paucity of suitable nesting sites.
  • Moreover, the popular theory that radiation from mobile phone towers is a factor is not supported by the findings of this report.
• Bustards in India:
  
  • All the four species of bustards in India (the Great Indian Bustard, Macqueen’s Bustard, Lesser Florican and Bengal Florican) have suffered continuous population declines.
  • The decline is observed due to historical hunting and widespread habitat loss, with their slow growth and reproduction.
• Waterbirds:
  
  • It showed overall long-term declines, amongst which migratory shorebirds and gulls and terns appear to have declined the most.
  • Overall, migratory species (both long-distance and within-subcontinent) show steeper declines than residents.

Key Recommendations

• Updation of global and national priorities using conservation assessments.
• Fund conservation efforts on High Concern species and habitats where species have declined.
• Support monitoring efforts by citizen scientists and researchers.
• Promote collaborations between researchers and the public at large

Source: IE