The State of World’s Birds report was published on May 5 in the Annual Review of Environment and Resources, a peer-reviewed journal.
- The study led by Alexander Lees of the Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University.
Salient features of report
- According to the report, around 48% of 10,994 recognised bird species worldwide are known or suspected to be undergoing population declines.
- This is in contrast to trends in 39% of species where numbers are stable, and 6% showing increasing population trends.
- In India, out of146 species, nearly 80% are declining in numbers, and almost 50% plummetting strongly. Just over 6% of the species studied show stable populations and 14% show increasing population trends.
- The Indian report had found that endemic species, birds of prey, and those dwelling in forests and grasslands were the most threatened.
- In India, critically threatened species are: Himalayan Quail, Great Indian Bustard, Bengal Florican, Sociable Lapwing, Jerdon’s Courser, White-bellied Heron, Red-headed Vulture, White-rumped Vulture, Indian Vulture, Slender-billed Vulture, Bugun Liocichla and Yellow-breasted Bunting.
- Causes of loss: The degradation and loss of natural habitats as well as direct overexploitation of many species are the key threats to avian biodiversity.
- Apart from tropical forests, the threat of natural grasslands has been particularly worrying for North America, Europe and India.
- According to the lead author of the study, ”avian diversity peaks globally in the tropics, and it is there that we also find the highest richness of threatened species… We are now witnessing the first signs of a new wave of extinctions of continentally distributed bird species, which has followed the historic loss of species on islands like the Dodo.”
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