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Content

• About the report
• Key Highlights

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About the report:

• It is the 2nd iteration (first released in 2020) of the report and is an assessment of the distribution range, trends in abundance and conservation and status of 942 of India’s 12,00 bird species and has been carried out by 13 partner organizations, including the WII and Zoological Survey of India.
• The report is based on data from about 30,000 birdwatchers.

The assessment relies on 3 indices:

• Two are related to change in abundance
  • Long term trend (change over 30 years)
  • Current Annual Trend (change over past seven years)
• Third is a measure of distribution range size in India.

Key Highlights:

• General decline in number of most bird species in the country.
  • Raptors, migratory shore birds and ducks have declined the most.
  • There were 338 species (out of 942 species studied) for which long term trend has been determined.
    • 60% (204) have declined in long term.
    • 98 species are stable
    • 36 have increased
  • For 359 species current annual trends could be determined
    • 142 species or 39% are declining
      • 64 are in rapid decline
    • 189 are stable
    • 27 bird species are increasing.
  • Specialists (birds restricted to narrow habitats like wetlands, rainforests and grasslands), as opposed to species that can inhabit a wide range of habitats such as plantations and agricultural fields – are rapidly declining.
  • Generalists (birds that can live in multiple habitat types are doing well as a group)
  • Migrants: Abundance trend of migratory species show that long-distance migrants, such as migratory birds from Eurasia or the Arctic, have declined the most – by more than 50% – followed by short distance migrants.
  • Birds which are endemic to the Western Ghats and SriLanka biodiversity hotspots have rapidly declined in India over the past few decades.
    • The Great Grey Shrike has shown a long-term decline of more than 80%.
  • Ducks are also rapidly declining in India. India hosts eight resident and 35 migratory
    species.
    • Baer’s Pochard, Common Pochard, Andaman Teal have been found to be most vulnerable.
  • Riverine Sandbar-nesting birds are also showing a decline due to widespread pressure on rivers from irrigation schemes, transportation, human disturbance, domestic use, and pollution from agriculture and industrial chemicals, variation in the water level and sand mining.
  • Spoonbill has declined by more than 50% in the long term and by over 6% annually since 2015.
  • Sarus Crane has rapidly declined over the long term and continues to do so.
  • Of the 11 species of woodpeckers for which clear long-term trends could be obtained, seven appear stable, two are declining, and two are in rapid decline.
    • Yellow crowned woodpecker, inhabiting widespread thorn and scrub forest, has declined by more than 70% in the past three decades.
  • Bustards (Great Indian Bustard, the Lesser Florican, and the Bengal Florican – have been found to be most vulnerable).
• Several Bird Species like India Peafowl, Rock Pigeon, Asian Koel, and House Crow are not only healthy in both abundance and distribution, but showing an “increasing trend”.
  • Peafowl, which is the national bird of India, is one of the most rapidly increasing species in the country today. It is expanding into habitats where it has never occurred previously. In last 20 years it has expanded into High Himalayas and Western Ghats. It also appears to be expanding population density in areas where it occurred earlier.
  • Asian Koel has shown a rapid increase in abundance of 75%, with an annual current increase of 2.7% per year.
  • House crow, Rock Pigeon, and Alexandrine Parakeet has also established new populations in several cities.
• India is home to 232 endemic species found nowhere in the world.