A significant proportion of Indian birds are in grave peril. They are declining fast, especially the migrant birds, insectivores and carnivores, and habitat specialists – birds of grasslands and other open habitats, wetlands and woodlands. However, the good news is generalist birds are doing well.
The second edition of State of India’s Birds Report 2023 released on Friday assessed 942 bird species with their conservation priorities. It was prepared in collaboration with a number of environmental organisations and a mammoth 30 million field observations by over 30,000 birdwatchers across the country.
The big picture. As many as 60% of species in India show a long-term decline trend while 40% are declining in the current annual trend. The report defines long-term as change over the past 30 years and current annual trend as change over the past eight years. Insufficient data on many birds was major challenge in the assessment process.
Around 55% (523) bird species alone out of a total of 942 had sufficient data for estimating long-term trends. However, of them, the trend of 185 bird species was categorised as inconclusive. Around 40% of bird species show a decline in long-term trends while 25% of species are stabilising or increasing in numbers. However, the declines are not spread uniformly across different types of species.
Of the overall 942 species, around 70% (643) had sufficient data for estimating current annual trends; 22% of them are declining while the rest are either stable or increasing.
As for the conservation priorities in India, the report categorises 178 bird species as high priority – those that were once in large numbers but have declined considerably in the long term as well as the annual trend. Another 323 species are categorised as moderate priority and 441 as low priority.
The report also puts some species in high priority even though their numbers couldn’t be assessed but are classified as globally threatened in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
There is a difference in the number of high-priority species in India and those on the IUCN list. Besides, some species considered globally endangered, threatened and vulnerable are not so in India.
For example, 90 bird species are on the high-priority list in India but classified as of least concern by the IUCN Red List 2022. On the other hand, 14 species considered globally endangered, vulnerable, or near threatened are classified in this report as being of low priority in India.
“Some bird species are threatened locally but not at a global scale, so they do not figure in the IUCN list,” says Aswin Vishwanathan, one of the authors of the report.
It suggests further investigation into the rise in generalist species like the 150% increase in the abundance of peafowl across the country over the past few decades.
Fold up the wings
Bird species of special habitats, migrants, and endemic species are mostly threatened and need priority conservation. For instance, more than 50% of grassland species have declined. It indicates the poor health of the country’s grassland.
Birds that are woodland specialists (forests or plantations) have also declined more than generalists, indicating a need to conserve natural forest habitats so that they provide a home to such specialists.
Even long-distance migrant birds have declined by over 50%, followed by short-distance migrants. Seashore birds, too, have declined by close to 80% as a group. By contrast, resident species as a group have remained much more stable. It indicates the need to identify and maintain the health of critical habitats, including inter-tidal mudflats, mangroves, grasslands, open wetlands, paddy fields and reed beds in flood plains.
Meanwhile, bird species that feed on insects and dead animals are declining as compared to those that feed on fruits and nectar. It suggests that food resources either contain harmful pollutants or are declining in availability, or both. For instance, vultures were nearly driven to extinction by consuming carcasses contaminated with diclofenac. Strong evidence from other countries shows that agrochemicals lower the survival rates in some raptors.
Birds that are endemic to the Western Ghats and Sri Lankan region have rapidly declined in India over the past few decades. Possible reasons for the drop include the decline of forest habitat, a reduction in food such as insects within the rainforests, and disruption in weather and phenology induced by climate change.
Oversight laws and policy
The report underlines the inadequacy of policy and laws also causing obstructions in the conservation of species and their habitat, especially those species with a large range that occupy habitats largely outside the formal protected areas. In many cases, the reproduction habitat landscapes extend beyond the jurisdiction of the forest department.
It also highlights oversight in policymaking. For instance, while the National Water Policy mentions the importance of maintaining ecological flows, it could include specific reference to the conservation needs of waterbirds. Further, more wetlands could be identified and managed under wetlands laws to conserve bird presence. Experts suggest the requirement of effective conservation planning, which includes the requirement of interdepartmental communication and coordination. “This plan should include involvement of local communities and local government bodies like panchayats,” says Vishwanathan.