Range, trends and conservation status

01

Partner organisations:

Recommended Citation:
SoIB 2020. State of India’s Birds, 2020: Range, trends and conservation status. The SoIB Partnership. Pp 50.
Cover photograph: Shikra, by Team WildArt

Range, trends and conservation status

www.stateofindiasbirds.in

The State of India’s Birds report is the first comprehensive assessment of the distribution range,
trends in abundance, and conservation status for most of the bird species that regularly occur inIndia. With their ubiquity and ecological importance, birds are excellent indicators of the state of our
natural world and are potent cultural symbols of nature. This national-level assessment of birds is asignificant step forward in the monitoring and conservation of India’s rich and varied biodiversity.

03

team wildart

Widespread in the country during the monsoon,
the Cinnamon Bittern is declining strongly and istherefore a species of High Conservation Concern.

04

Highlights | 2
Understanding India’s Birds | 4Good news: House Sparrow | 6
Good news: Indian Peafowl | 7

Species of High Concern | 8
Key Species for States | 12

CONTENTS
Citizen Science | 30
Asian Waterbird Census | 31
Bird Count India | 32
The eBird Platform | 33
Common Bird Monitoring Programme | 34

Species Groups | 16

Kerala Bird Atlas | 35

Raptors | 18
Vultures | 19

Threats & Conservation Measures | 36

Waterbirds | 20

Conclusions & Priorities | 38

Diet Guild | 21
Habitat | 22
Bustards | 23

Methods | 40
How to Interpret Graphs & Results | 42

Migratory Status | 24
Indian Subcontinent as Main Wintering Area | 25

List of Species in Composite Groups | 43

Endemicity | 26
Sky Island Endemics | 27

Selected References | 48

Neglected Species In Focus | 28
Finn’s Weaver | 29

Acknowledgements | 49

Analysis based on more than 10 million observations
contributed by over 15,500 birdwatchers | Page 33

ABHISHEK DAS

Citizen Science forms the basisof this report | Pages 30–35

Yellow-wattled Lapwing

48% of species stable or increasing in the long term;
79% decreasing in the last five years | Page 4

House Sparrow has decreased in large cities,
but is roughly stable overall | Page 6

Indian Peafowl has increased considerably
in the past decades | Page 7

RAHUL SINGHHIGHLIGHTS

Barn Swallow

2

Abundance trends and distribution of 867 speciesof Indian birds assessed | Pages 4–5

PANKAJ CHIBBER

Key species of conservation concern listed separately
for each State/Union Territory | Pages 12–15

Groups showing greatest declines: raptors, migratory
shorebirds and habitat specialists | Pages 18–27
Common Tailorbird

Policy and action needed to draw attention to speciesof high conservation concern, promote research
and foster citizen science | Page 38

rajat bhargava

Research necessary to develop robust
monitoring techniques and investigate
causes of decline | Page 39
A great opportunity exists for increased public
involvement and action in bird monitoring
and conservation | Page 39

HIGHLIGHTS

Himalayan Black-lored Tit

101 species classified as high conservation concern,
including 34 species not considered globallythreatened by the IUCN Red List | Pages 5, 8–11

3

UNDERSTANDING INDIA’S BIRDS
Birds have always been part of Indian culture. Over 3,000 years ago, theYajurveda referred to the parasitic habit of the Asian Koel, the first such mention
in global literature. Indigenous communities such as the Warlis in Maharashtra
worship the Indian Peafowl. Mughal art is filled with depictions of vultures,cranes and other birds. Guru Gobind Singh, the Sikh guru, was famous as thekeeper of the Chitta Baz, the white falcon. Even today, the people of India revere
the Sarus Crane for its fidelity, delight in the antics of the familiar House Sparrow,and consider the Pied Cuckoo (or Chaatak) to be the harbinger of the monsoon.
The cultural significance of birds is complemented by their ecological importance.
Birds play vital roles in the health of ecosystems through their actions aspollinators, seed dispersers, predators, scavengers, and as prey for other species.
Hornbills and other fruit-eating birds are critically important in dispersing theseeds of many plants, and through this, in sustaining forest health. Vulturesare vital as scavengers, and their decline has had many negative consequences.
The increasing popularity of birdwatching has driven the growth of ecotourism,
contributing significantly to local economies in remote and biodiverse areas of
the country. These are only a few examples of the diverse ecological functions andservices that birds provide in advancing ecosystem health and human well-being.
The connection between birds and people is clear, but there are causes forconcern. Since the 1990s, the populations of several species of vultures havecrashed. During this time, bustards and other specialist grassland birds
have also experienced clear declines. Some species that are popular in thebird trade, such as the Green Munia, are at dangerously low abundance. The
Jerdon’s Courser was rediscovered in 1986 after a gap of 138 years, but has notbeen seen since 2008. However, there is good news as well: the Forest Owlet,
rediscovered in 1997, is being reported from many more locations. These arechronicles of individual species; but what is the overall health of India’s birds,
including those considered common and hence of little conservation concern?
4This question is surprisingly difficult to answer. Despite India’s long history ofornithological discovery and research, abundance trends are known for only ahandful of bird species. These tend to be species that are larger, more obviously
threatened and relatively charismatic. For the vast majority of Indian birds,
lack of data has hindered a clear understanding of how they are faring. Such anunderstanding is vital for conservation science, management and policy.
Over the past few years, this key problem—of data deficit—is being tackledwith the growth of citizen science (pages 30–35). Today, increasing numbers ofbirdwatchers are helping generate the information needed, making it possible toassess the status of the majority of bird species that regularly occur in India.

THE RESULTS
This report assesses the status of 867 bird species using data uploaded bybirdwatchers to the online platform eBird (page 33). This assessment is based on
three indices. Two are indices of change in abundance: Long-term Trend (i.e. over25+ years) and Current Annual Trend (i.e. over the past 5 years); and the third isa measure of Distribution Range Size (refer to summary tables on page 5). Of the
261 species for which long-term trends could be determined (i.e. not Uncertain
or Data Deficient), 52% have declined since the year 2000, with 22% declining
strongly. In all, 43% of species showed a long-term trend that was stable and 5%
showed an increasing trend.
Current annual trends could be estimated for 146 species (excluding those
Uncertain or Data Deficient). Of these, nearly 80% are declining, with almost 50%
declining strongly. Just over 6% are stable and 14% increasing. The range size ofall but 6 species were estimated. Most species (46%) have Moderate range sizes.
A further 33% have Large or Very Large range sizes, and 21% have Restricted or
Very Restricted range sizes (further details on pages 40–41).

Using these three indices together with the IUCN Red List, each species wasclassified into categories of conservation concern for India: 442 into Low
Concern, 319 into Moderate Concern and 101 into High Concern. Species of High
Concern include those whose abundance indices have declined considerably inthe long term and continue to decline today. Species were also categorised as High
Concern if their current range is Very Restricted, or if their abundance trend could
not be assessed but they are classified as globally threatened in the IUCN Red List.
Of the species in the High category of conservation concern, 26% (26 species) areclassified as globally ‘Least Concern’ by the IUCN Red List 2019 (table on page 8).
On the other hand, 7 species considered globally ‘Near Threatened’ or ‘Vulnerable’

ABUNDANCE TREND INDEX

are classified as being of Low Concern in India through this assessment. These are
Ferruginous Duck, Black-tailed Godwit, Woolly-necked Stork, Oriental Darter,
Black-headed Ibis, Alexandrine Parakeet and Long-tailed Parakeet.
This report contains highlights of the analyses for species of national interest,and for functional, taxonomic, ecological and behavioural groups of birds. Species
nomenclature generally follows the India Checklist v3.1 (www.indianbirds.in/india). Additional details, including a full listing of species with scientific names,
are available at www.stateofindiasbirds.in

DISTRIBUTION RANGE SIZE

Category

Species: Long-term

Species: Current

Category

Species

Data Deficient

375

185

Data Deficient

6

Uncertain

226

531

Very Restricted

27

Strong Decline

58

72

Restricted

153

Moderate Decline

77

44

Moderate

396

Stable

114

9

Large

176

Moderate Increase

5

6

Very Large

104

Strong Increase

7

15

See definitions on page 41

IUCN Red List 2019

Categories of Conservation Concern
Critically Endangered

COMMON BIRDS SHOWING STRONG LONG-TERM DECLINESHigh

Moderate

Low

Total

Small Minivet

Yellow-fronted Pied Woodpecker

12

0

0

12

Common Woodshrike

Indian Thick-knee

Short-toed Snake Eagle

Little Pratincole

Cotton Teal

Little Stint

Large Cuckooshrike

Sirkeer Malkoha

Endangered

15

0

0

15

Vulnerable

40

10

2

52

Near Threatened

8

39

5

52

Common GreenshankBlue Rock Thrush

Least Concern

26

270

435

731

Rufous-tailed Lark

Crested Treeswift

Total

101

319

442

862*

Oriental Skylark

Red-necked Falcon*5 of the 867 species have been combined

5

GOOD NEWSHOUSE SPARROW
Reasons for the supected decline of this species are a matter of much speculation
and are believed to include decreasing insect populations (a key part of the dietof sparrow chicks) and paucity of suitable nesting sites. The popular theory thatradiation from mobile phone towers is a factor is not supported by current evidence.
Despite the widespread notion that the House Sparrow is declining in India, theanalysis presented in this report suggests that the species has been fairly stable
overall during the past 25+ years. Data from the six largest metro cities (Bengaluru,
Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai) do indicate a gradual decline
in their abundance in urban centres. However, the extremely large range of thespecies across the country, and the lack of evidence for either long-term or current
countrywide decline results in it being classified as of Low Conservation Concern.

A familiar bird across the country, in villages and small towns, andsometimes in city markets, the House Sparrow has been in the news due
to concerns about declining populations. People across the country reportseeing fewer sparrows than before (see report on www.citizensparrow.in).

Change in abundance index

rajat bhargava

+25%

-25%

Metros
-50%

-75%

-100%

before 2006

6

Overall0%

2007-132014-18

GOOD NEWSINDIAN PEAFOWL
Peafowl are spread across the plains and hills of India, except in extremely
dry or wet regions. The abundance trend is that of a general increase,both in the long term and currently. This trend appears to result froma combination of range expansion (e.g. into Kerala, from where it wasformerly absent), and a population increase virtually throughout its
distribution. The reasons for this pattern have not been investigated indetail, but expansion into Kerala may be associated with an overall drying
trend, and expansion into the Thar desert appears to have accompanied the
spread of canals and irrigation. The protection (and associated penalties
for poaching and poisoning) afforded by being in Schedule I may also havecontributed to increase. Some parts of the country report greater levels ofcrop damage by peafowl, a trend that calls for careful conflict assessmentand management.

Change in abundance index

rofikul islam

The Indian Peafowl appears so frequently in religion, folklore, art and craft,that it is possibly the most recognised bird across India. Internationally as
well, the peafowl (perhaps alongside the tiger) is immediately associatedwith India. Having been declared the national bird in 1963, the species
also finds itself under the highest level of legal protection in the country,
being placed in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 andfurther amendments.

+100%

+50%

0%

before 2000

2000-2006

2007-20102011-2012 2014

2016

2018

7

SPECIES OF HIGH CONCERN
DISTRIBUTION RANGE SIZEIn all, 101 species are categorised as of High Conservation Concern: 59 based on their range size and abundancetrends, and an additional 42 based on their IUCN Red List status, marked with an asterisk (*) below.
Distribution
Range Size

8

Long-term
Trend

Large
Moderate

IUCN Red
List 2019

WLPA
Schedule

Cotton Teal

LC

IV

Glossy Swiftlet

LC

IV

Crested Treeswift

LC

IV

Pacific Golden Plover

LC

IV

Common GreenshankLC

IV

Gull-billed TernLC

IV

Cinnamon Bittern

LC

IV

Moderate Decline

Short-toed Snake Eagle

LC

I

Strong Decline

Heart-spotted Woodpecker

LC

IV

Yellow-fronted Pied Woodpecker

LC

IV

Data Deficient

Common Woodshrike

LC

IV

Uncertain

Small Minivet

LC

IV

Large Cuckooshrike

LC

IV

Great Grey ShrikeLC

IV

IUCN RED LIST 2019

Indian Nuthatch

LC

IV

LC - Least Concern

Indian Olive Bulbul

LCIV

NT - Near ThreatenedWest Himalayan Bush Warbler

LC

IV

VU - Vulnerable

Rufous-fronted Prinia

LCIV

EN - Endangered

Bar-winged Wren Babbler

LC

IV

CR - Critically Endangered

Species marked in bold are endemics to the Indian subcontinent.
WLPA: Wildlife (Protection) Act. Schedule I indicates highest legal protection.

Current
Trend

Very Large

Restricted
Very Restricted
Data Deficient
ABUNDANCE TREND INDEXDistribution
Range Size

Long-term
Trend

Current
Trend

IUCN Red
List 2019

WLPA
Schedule

Moustached Laughingthrush

LC

IV

Grey-sided Laughingthrush

LC

IV

Brown-capped Laughingthrush

LC

IV

Large Blue Flycatcher

LC

IV

Very Large

Chinese Rubythroat

LC

IV

Large

Nilgiri Thrush

LC

IV

Forest Wagtail

LC

IV

Moderate

Andaman Green Pigeon*

NT

IV

Ward's Trogon

NT

IV

Restricted

Austen's Brown Hornbill

NT

I

Red-necked Falcon

NT

I

Tytler's Leaf Warbler

NT

IV

Naga Wren Babbler

NTIV

Sikkim Wedge-billed Babbler

NT

IV

Chestnut-backed Laughingthrush

NT

IV

Andaman Teal*

VU

I

Nicobar Megapode*

VU

I

Chestnut-breasted Hill Partridge*

VU

IV

Swamp Francolin*

VU

IV

Sclater's Monal

VU

I

Western Tragopan

VU

I

Blyth's Tragopan*

VU

I

IUCN RED LIST 2019

Cheer Pheasant*VU

I

LC - Least Concern

Yellow-eyed Pigeon*

VU

IV

NT - Near Threatened

Pale-capped Pigeon*

VU

IV

Dark-rumped Swift*

VU

IV

VU - Vulnerable

Black-necked Crane*

VU

I

Indian Skimmer*

VU

IV

DISTRIBUTION RANGE SIZE

Very Restricted
Data Deficient
ABUNDANCE TREND INDEX
Moderate Decline
Strong Decline
Data Deficient
Uncertain

EN - Endangered
CR - Critically Endangered9

Distribution
Range Size

10

Long-term
Trend

Current
Trend

IUCN Red
List 2019

WLPA
Schedule

Andaman Serpent Eagle*

VU

I

Tawny Eagle

VU

I

Nicobar Sparrowhawk*

VU

I

Rufous-necked Hornbill*

VU

I

Very Large

Wreathed Hornbill*

VU

I

Large

Great Slaty Woodpecker*

VU

IV

Andaman Woodpecker*

VU

IV

Moderate

Andaman Treepie*

VU

IV

White-naped Tit*

VU

IV

Restricted

Beautiful Nuthatch*

VU

IV

Broad-tailed Grassbird*

VU

IV

Bristled Grassbird*

VU

IV

Grey-crowned Prinia

VU

IV

Jerdon's Babbler*

VU

IVBlack-breasted Parrotbill*

VU

IV

Mishmi Wren Babbler*

VU

IV

Tawny-breasted Wren Babbler

VU

IV

Snowy-throated Babbler

VU

IV

White-bellied Sholakili*

VU

IV

Kashmir Flycatcher*

VU

IV

Hodgson's Bushchat

VU

IV

Nilgiri Pipit

VU

IV

IUCN RED LIST 2019

Marsh Babbler*

VU

IV

LC - Least Concern

Slender-billed Babbler*

VU

IV

NT - Near Threatened

Ashambu Laughingthrush (Chilappan)

VU

IV

Finn's Weaver*

VUIV

VU - Vulnerable

Green Munia

VU

IV

White-winged Wood Duck*EN

I

DISTRIBUTION RANGE SIZE

Very Restricted
Data Deficient
ABUNDANCE TREND INDEX
Moderate Decline
Strong Decline
Data Deficient
Uncertain

EN - Endangered
CR - Critically Endangered

Distribution
Range Size

Long-term
Trend

Current
Trend

IUCN Red
List 2019

WLPA
Schedule

Manipur Bush QuailEN

IV

Lesser Florican*

EN

I

Great Knot*EN

IVBlack-bellied Tern*EN

IV

Very Large

Greater Adjutant*

EN

IV

Large

Egyptian Vulture

EN

IV

Steppe Eagle

EN

I

Moderate

Pallas's Fish Eagle

EN

I

Forest Owlet*

EN

I

Restricted

Narcondam Hornbill*

EN

I

Swamp Grass Babbler

EN

IV

Banasura Laughingthrush (Chilappan)

EN

IV

Nilgiri Laughingthrush (Chilappan)

EN

IV

Nilgiri Sholakili*

EN

IV

Himalayan QuailCR

I

Great Indian Bustard*

CR

I

Bengal Florican*

CR

I

Sociable LapwingCR

IV

Jerdon's Courser

CR

I

White-bellied HeronCR

I

Red-headed Vulture

CR

IV

White-rumped Vulture

CR

I

IUCN RED LIST 2019

Indian VultureCR

I

LC - Least Concern

Slender-billed Vulture*CR

I

NT - Near Threatened

Bugun Liocichla

CR

IV

Yellow-breasted Bunting

CR

IV

VU - Vulnerable

DISTRIBUTION RANGE SIZE

Very Restricted
Data Deficient
ABUNDANCE TREND INDEX
Moderate Decline
Strong Decline
Data Deficient
Uncertain

EN - Endangered
CR - Critically Endangered

The full listing of all 867 species assessed, with scientific names and categories of concern, is available at www.stateofindiasbirds.in
11

KEY SPECIES FOR STATES
To list the species of most conservation concern at the sub-national level, key species (out of the 867 assessed) have been identified for eachState and Union Territory (UT) based on the proportion of the Indian range of each species that lies within that State/UT. Species are listed
under a State/UT in descending order of this proportion.
Andaman & Nicobar Islands

Arunachal PradeshAssamBihar*

Andaman Green Pigeon

Bar-winged Wren Babbler

Chestnut-backed Laughingthrush

Greater Adjutant

Andaman Serpent Eagle

Bugun Liocichla

White-winged Wood Duck

Lesser Adjutant

Andaman Teal

Mishmi Wren Babbler

Finn's Weaver (E)Andaman Treepie

Sclater's Monal

Bengal Florican (E)Chandigarh

Andaman Woodpecker

Snowy-throated Babbler

Greater Adjutant

Rufous-fronted Prinia

Long-tailed Parakeet

White-bellied Heron

Slender-billed Babbler

Narcondam Hornbill

Beautiful Nuthatch

Swamp Francolin

Chhattisgarh

Nicobar MegapodeWard's Trogon

Austen's Brown Hornbill

Indian Nuthatch

Nicobar Sparrowhawk

Sikkim Wedge-billed Babbler

Jerdon's Babbler (E)Crested Treeswift

Glossy Swiftlet

Marsh Babbler

Wreathed Hornbill

Large Cuckooshrike

Swamp Grass Babbler

Black-breasted Parrotbill

Yellow-fronted Pied Woodpecker

Andhra Pradesh

Blyth's Tragopan

Slender-billed Vulture

Cinnamon Bittern

Great Indian Bustard (S)Rufous-necked Hornbill

Pallas's Fish Eagle

Lesser Florican (S)Austen's Brown Hornbill

Chinese Rubythroat

Dadra & Nagar Haveli/Daman & Diu

Green Munia

Grey-sided Laughingthrush

Lesser Adjutant

Gull-billed Tern

Pale-capped Pigeon

Chinese Rubythroat

Marsh Babbler

White-naped Tit (S)Wreathed Hornbill

Swamp Grass Babbler

Goa

Jerdon's Courser

Chestnut-breasted Hill Partridge

Pale-capped Pigeon

Great Knot

Indian Skimmer

Jerdon's Babbler (E)Indian Olive Bulbul

Nilgiri Wood Pigeon

Great Knot

Black-breasted Parrotbill

Hodgson's Bushchat

Bengal Florican (E)Yellow-breasted Bunting

Slender-billed Vulture

Manipur Bush Quail

Large Blue Flycatcher

12(N) : Northern population(S) : Southern population(E) : Eastern population(W) : Western population*Data deficient region

Gujarat

Jharkhand*

Pacific Golden Plover

Small Minivet

Sociable Lapwing

Indian Nuthatch

Tytler's Leaf Warbler

Rufous-fronted Prinia

Great Hornbill

Common Woodshrike

White-naped Tit (N)Lesser Florican (N)Karnataka

Eastern Imperial Eagle

Indian Vulture (S)Gull-billed Tern

White-naped Tit (S)LadakhBrown-capped Laughingthrush

Great Knot

Red-headed Vulture (S)Black-necked Crane

Black-breasted Parrotbill

Stoliczka's Bushchat

Yellow-throated Bulbul

Chinese Rubythroat

Slender-billed Babbler

Rufous-fronted Prinia

Great Indian Bustard (S)Greater Spotted Eagle

Lesser Florican (S)Madhya Pradesh

Moustached Laughingthrush

Great Grey Shrike

White-rumped Vulture (S)Indian Vulture (N)Jerdon's Babbler (E)Forest Owlet

Heart-spotted Woodpecker

Red-headed Vulture (N)Manipur Bush Quail

Common Pochard

Nilgiri Sholakili

White-rumped Vulture (N)Indian Skimmer

Forest Wagtail

Forest Owlet

Meghalaya

Sarus Crane

Broad-tailed Grassbird (S)Green Munia

Tawny-breasted Wren Babbler

Great Indian Bustard (N)Nilgiri Wood Pigeon

Egyptian Vulture

Indian Olive Bulbul
Dark-rumped Swift

Cinnamon Bittern
Manipur

Blyth's Tragopan

Tawny Eagle

Sarus Crane

Haryana

Greater Spotted Eagle

Lesser Florican (N)Eastern Imperial Eagle

Indian Spotted Eagle

Indian Nuthatch

Mizoram

Stoliczka's Bushchat

Woolly-necked Stork

Black-bellied Tern

Indian Olive Bulbul

Rufous-fronted Prinia

Crested Treeswift

Indian Skimmer

Brown-capped Laughingthrush

KeralaMaharashtra

Himachal Pradesh

Banasura Laughingthrush (Chilappan)

Broad-tailed Grassbird (N)Western Tragopan

Ashambu Laughingthrush (Chilappan)

Forest Owlet

NagalandCheer PheasantWhite-bellied Sholakili

Tytler's Leaf Warbler

Naga Wren Babbler

West Himalayan Bush Warbler

Broad-tailed Grassbird (S)Great Knot

Moustached Laughingthrush

Steppe Eagle

Nilgiri Thrush

Nilgiri Wood Pigeon

Dark-rumped Swift

Slender-billed Vulture

Nilgiri Pipit

Green Munia

Brown-capped LaughingthrushHeart-spotted Woodpecker

Yellow-fronted Pied Woodpecker

Blyth's Tragopan

Jammu & Kashmir

White-rumped Vulture (S)Common Pochard

Kashmir Flycatcher

Red-headed Vulture (S)Woolly-necked Stork

Tytler's Leaf Warbler

Nilgiri Wood Pigeon

Short-toed Snake Eagle

Steppe Eagle

Forest Wagtail

Crested Treeswift

Dark-rumped SwiftGreat Slaty Woodpecker(N) : Northern population(S) : Southern population(E) : Eastern population(W) : Western population*Data deficient region

13

NCT of Delhi

SikkimUttar Pradesh

Bristled Grassbird

Chestnut-breasted Hill Partridge

Bengal Florican (W)Sikkim Wedge-billed Babbler

Finn's Weaver (W)Grey-sided Laughingthrush

Sarus Crane

OdishaPale-capped Pigeon

Black-bellied Tern

Green Munia

Tamil Nadu

Bristled Grassbird

Black-bellied Tern

Nilgiri Laughingthrush (Chilappan)

Indian Skimmer

Pacific Golden Plover

Nilgiri Pipit

Swamp Francolin

Indian Skimmer

Nilgiri Sholakili

Egyptian Vulture

Ashambu Laughingthrush (Chilappan)

Great Slaty Woodpecker

Puducherry

Kashmir Flycatcher

Pacific Golden Plover

White-bellied Sholakili

Uttarakhand

Nilgiri Thrush

Grey-crowned Prinia

PunjabIndian Vulture (S)West Himalayan Bush Warbler

Jerdon’s Babbler (W)White-naped Tit (S)Great Slaty Woodpecker

Yellow-throated Bulbul

Cheer PheasantRajasthanWhite-rumped Vulture (S)Finn's Weaver (W)Yellow-eyed Pigeon

Broad-tailed Grassbird (S)Pallas's Fish Eagle

Great Indian Bustard (N)Forest Wagtail

Red-headed Vulture (N)Stoliczka's Bushchat

Red-headed Vulture (S)Bristled Grassbird

White-naped Tit (N)Nilgiri Wood Pigeon

Steppe Eagle

Great Grey Shrike

Red-necked Falcon

Himalayan Quail

Eastern Imperial Eagle

Gull-billed Tern

Indian Vulture (N)Pacific Golden Plover

West Bengal

Indian Skimmer

Cinnamon Bittern

Bristled Grassbird

Rufous-fronted Prinia

Rufous-necked Hornbill

Green Munia

TelanganaGrey-sided Laughingthrush

Lesser Florican (N)Lesser Florican (S)Ward's Trogon

Egyptian Vulture

Chestnut-breasted Hill Partridge

Red-headed Vulture (N)Tripura*Pale-capped Pigeon

Tawny Eagle

Large Cuckooshrike

Lesser Adjutant

Steppe Eagle

Indian Olive Bulbul

Black-bellied Tern

14

For details, see methods provided in the supplementary information available on the website: www.stateofindiasbirds.in(N) : Northern population(S) : Southern population(E) : Eastern population(W) : Western population*Data deficient region

The Tawny Eagle is becoming increasingly difficult
to see today and is of High Conservation Concern
like many other large raptors.

15
rahul singh

SPECIES GROUPSRAPTORSWATERBIRDSDIET GUILD

Results on page 18

Results on page 20

Results on page 21

Raptors usually hunt prey, typically vertebrates, but
scavengers, like vultures, are also included in thisgroup. Like large mammalian carnivores, such as tigers,
raptors are positioned high on the food chain and areoften sensitive to environmental changes. Raptors
that are habitat specialists can decline if their habitat
is degraded or lost, while other species may respond totoxin bioaccumulation. For example, in North America,
widespread use and biomagnification of the insecticide
DDT led to eggshell thinning of Bald Eagles and Peregrine
Falcons, and their consequent population declines.

With many large and prominent species, and a highproportion of migrants, waterbirds are a well-known
part of India’s avifauna. Waterbirds cluster aroundavailable surface water, as do humans, and hence theyaffect each other considerably. Resident waterbirds like
Indian Spot-billed Duck, Purple Swamphen, Grey Heronand Painted Stork are a familiar sight. In winter they are
joined by a host of species that arrive from temperateregions, including other ducks, geese, gulls, terns, andmigrant shorebirds like plovers, stints and sandpipers.

Along with habitat, diet is one of the main determinantsof the ecological niche of a species. It is useful to compare
the abundance trends of species with different average
diets. Carnivores are often sensitive indicators of
ecosystem health. Invertebrate-eaters are of particularimportance, both because of their potential role inregulating the populations of their prey, and also in thelight of recent evidence of major insect declines. Fruitand-nectar feeders often play a strong mutualistic rolewith plants, and are crucial to ecosystem regeneration
through their pollination and dispersal effects. Species
that feed on other plant material, including seeds,
are among the most familiar in open country. Finally,omnivores are opportunists, who eat different foodaccording to availability—these would be expected to be
the most adaptable, and therefore the least susceptible toenvironmental changes.

In India, little is known about raptor population trends
or their underlying causes. An exception is the Gyps
vultures, which have seen catastrophic declines since the1990s. But what is the status of raptors as a group and is
this related to their ecological attributes?

16

Species are aggregated into 6 taxonomic and ecological groups to explore theircomposite indices of trends in abundance and to uncover possible common features
underlying change in abundance.

As birds that depend on water and water-related resources,
these species are sensitive to changes in the water,
vegetation and substrate quality of their habitats. India
is a signatory to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands,
and has an obligation to identify and conserve wetlands
for both biodiversity and human well-being.

SPECIES GROUPS

Species are aggregated into 6 taxonomic and ecological groups to explore theircomposite indices of trends in abundance and to uncover possible common features
underlying change in abundance.

HABITATMIGRATORY STATUS

ENDEMICITY

Results on page 22

Results on page 24

Results on page 26

Species with specialised habitat requirements areindicators of the condition of the specific habitats
they depend on. They are more vulnerable than
generalists to habitat degradation and are often the firstto decline. It is therefore of great interest to assess thestate of different groups of habitat specialists, and tocompare their trends with those of habitat generalists.

Of the roughly 1,220 regularly occurring species ofbirds in India, 280 are long-distance migrants, 116
are within-subcontinent migrants and the remaining
species are resident—either sedentary or showing
local movements. Depending on the nature of their
movements, different migratory species have different
conservation requirements. Long-distance migrants(like Rosy Starling or Curlew Sandpiper) cover vast
expanses, crossing many international boundaries, andmay breed and winter in very different habitats. Sites forstopover and refuelling can be crucial for their survival.
Hence, the persistence of these species depends on large
tracts of suitable habitat, often distributed across many
countries. Within-subcontinent migrants (like Indian
Pitta) pose a similar problem for conservation, albeit
on a smaller scale. Conservation action might be morestraightforward for species with restricted distribution.

The status of endemic species is of particular interestand importance because their native range is limited
to the Indian subcontinent. This region is home to ahigh diversity of endemic species. Over 200 species
are considered endemic to the subcontinent, of which
about 80 species are found only within the borders ofIndia. The main centres of bird endemism in India are
the Western Ghats and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
There are also a number of species that are widespread
across the peninsula, but still restricted to India.

Although habitat specialisation can be broken down
into fine categories, it is worth comparing species
across broad habitat types: forest, grassland/scrublandand wetland. Each of these habitats hosts uniquebird species, and each is under threat from differentpressures. The extent of natural forests, of dry andmoist grasslands, and of wetlands of high water quality
and aquatic vegetation, is a major determinant of thediversity of habitat specialists that persist.

The analysis presented here compares Western Ghats
endemics (some of whose range covers Sri Lanka), othersubcontinental endemics, and non-endemic residents.
There are not enough data on most endemics of theAndaman & Nicobar Islands to assess their trend withany confidence, mostly for lack of historical information.

17

RAPTORS
SPECIES GROUPS

Overall, raptors have clearly declined, but more detail is apparent when the species
are separated into broad categories. Generalist species (which occupy a range of
habitats, including human habitats) and woodland species appear to have suffered
the least declines in the long term. However, all woodland species, and White-eyedBuzzard and Common Kestrel among generalists, continue to decline, but possibly
at a lower rate than earlier. In contrast, open country specialists show a particularly
strong decline both in the long term and currently, although Black-winged Kite andWestern Marsh Harrier show trends that are roughly stable in the long term. Finally,as is known from other evidence, scavengers (mostly vultures) have been in severe
decline over the past 25+ years.

Woodland

Generalist

Open

Scavenger

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

4

6

8

7

CHANGE IN ABUNDANCE INDEXLONG-TERM TREND
(a)
(b)

+25%

(c)
(d)

0%

0%
-25%

(a)

-50%

(b)

-75%

(c)

-100%

(d)

100%
CURRENT TREND
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

0%
before 2000

2000-2006

2007-20102011-2012 2014

2016

2018

StrongDecline18100%

Moderate
DeclineStableModerate
Increase

StrongIncreaseEgyptian Vulture

RAPTOR DECLINES

VULTURES

rajat bhargava

It is well known that many species of Indian vultures experienced catastrophic
population declines starting in the early 1990s. Careful investigation has revealed
that these declines are almost entirely attributable to inadvertent poisoning by
the livestock anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac. Regular monitoring of vulture
populations has been key to understanding which species are affected most severely,
and whether there has been any improvement after veterinary formulations of
diclofenac were banned. Monitoring along road transects in central and northern
India by a team from the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and Royal Society
for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has shown that White-rumped Vulture has
suffered the most severe declines, followed by Indian Vulture and Egyptian Vulture.
These trends are mirrored by trends derived from the analyses in this report. Less isknown about trends in other vulture species.

Change in abundance index

+25%

0%

-25%

-50%

Egyptian Vulture-75%

The countrywide trends shown here indicate thesame ordering in severity of long-term decline
in the three species listed above. In addition, allother species assessed demonstrate severe longterm decline. Conservation concern for these
species is as high as ever.

Griffon Vulture
Red-headed Vulture-100%

Indian Vulture
before 2000

2000-2006

2007-20102011-2012 2014

2016

2018

White-rumped Vulturewww.save-vultures.org
19

WATERBIRDS
SPECIES GROUPS

Like most other groups, waterbirds show overall long-term declines, a trend thatappears to be continuing today. Migratory shorebirds and gulls & terns appear tohave declined the most, although waterfowl (ducks & geese) and other resident
waterbirds (like swamphens, coots and storks) also show clearly discernible declines.
The steep decline in migratory shorebirds mirrors population trends reported frommonitoring of arctic-breeding shorebirds. Whether these declines are due to changing
conditions at breeding, staging or wintering sites (or all three) remains unknown.
Resident waterbirds appear to be showing particularly severe declines in the past 5
years, a worrying trend that calls for detailed investigation.

Other
Resident

Ducks &
Geese

Gulls &
Terns

Migratory
Shorebirds

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

29

6

7

19

CHANGE IN ABUNDANCE INDEXLONG-TERM TREND
(a)

+25%

(b)
(c)

0%

(d)
(a)

-25%

0%
CURRENT TREND

(b)

-50%

100%

(a)

(c)

(b)

-75%

(c)

(d)

(d)

-100%

0%
before 2000

2000-2006

2007-20102011-2012 2014

2016

2018

StrongDecline20100%

Moderate
DeclineStableModerate
Increase

StrongIncreaseDIET GUILDSPECIES GROUPS

Groups of birds belonging to different diet guilds show varying rates of decline in
the long term. As expected, omnivores are among those with the slowest decline, butplant-seed eaters and fruit-nectar eaters also show slow declines. Each of these threegroups shows an overall negative trend, with a hint of stabilisation over the past 5
years. Also, as might be expected, carnivores show the most negative long-term trend,with the index of their abundance being over 50% less today than before 2000; a trendthat appears to be continuing. Apart from the vultures, these include a number ofeagles, hawks and falcons. Finally, invertebrate-eaters show an overall pattern similar
to carnivores, but now seem to be stabilising. The average decline in this large set,
which includes common and widespread species, is a cause for concern.

Plant-Seed

Omnivorous

Fruit-Nectar

Invertebrate

Carnivorous

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

21

31

21

98

29

CHANGE IN ABUNDANCE INDEXLONG-TERM TREND
(a)

+25%

(b)
(c)

0%

(d)
(e)

(a)

-25%

(b)

-50%

(c)

0%

100%
CURRENT TREND
(a)

(d)

-75%

(b)
(c)

(e)

(d)
(e)

-100%

0%
before 2000

2000-2006

2007-20102011-2012 2014

2016

100%

2018

StrongDeclineModerate
DeclineStableModerate
Increase

StrongIncrease
21

HABITATSPECIES GROUPSThe overall pattern is that of substantial long-term decline in habitat specialists of all
kinds. Of these, forest species have declined the most, followed by grassland/scrublandspecies, and then wetland species. Despite having greater habitat flexibility, generalist
species, including Tawny-bellied Babbler and Nilgiri Flowerpecker, also show a clearly
discernible decline. This indicates that there may be features other than habitat thatare affecting their populations.
Some forest species like Asian Emerald Dove and Crested Serpent Eagle, and grassland/
scrub species like Indian Silverbill and Indian Bushlark show roughly stable trends. The
causes for continuing declines in many habitat specialists require urgent investigation.

Generalist

Wetlands

Grassland/
Scrub

Forest

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

130

64

35

32

CHANGE IN ABUNDANCE INDEXLONG-TERM TREND
(a)

+25%

(b)
(c)

0%

(d)
0%

-25%

(a)

100%
CURRENT TREND

-50%

(b)
-75%

(a)
(b)

(c)

(c)
(d)

(d)

-100%

0%
before 2000

2000-2006

2007-20102011-2012 2014

2016

2018

StrongDecline22100%

Moderate
DeclineStableModerate
Increase

StrongIncreaseGRASSLAND SPECIALISTS

BUSTARDS
Great Indian Bustard

Four species of bustards (Family Otididae) occur in India: Great Indian Bustard, Macqueen’s
Bustard, Lesser Florican and Bengal Florican. All four have suffered continuous population
declines because of historical hunting and widespread habitat loss, compounded with theirslow growth and reproduction. The largest of them, the Great Indian Bustard, is classified
as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List 2019 and is in need of urgent conservation
action. Surveys carried out by different ornithologists, although not strictly comparable
in methods, suggest a c.90% decline in population size and distribution range over the
past five decades (see figure below). More recently, the single viable Great Indian Bustard
population in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, has been systematically monitored using occupancy andline transect surveys carried out by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the Rajasthan
Forest Department with the help of trained volunteers. Studies identify mortality by collision
with power lines to be the prime current threat. Bombay Natural History Society, BirdLife
International, WII and other organisations are undertaking in-situ conservation efforts suchas working towards conservation-friendly energy infrastructure in the region. An effort isunderway to breed the species in captivity in order to insure against extinction, and to enable
reintroduction into the wild once threats are managed.

mohib uddin

Population estimate relative to 1969

+25%

0%

1260

-25%
745

-50%

600

325

-75%

150

-100%

1969

1978

2001

2006

2018

Source: Sutirtha Dutta

23

MIGRATORY STATUS
SPECIES GROUPS

Overall, migratory species (both long-distance and within-subcontinent) show steeper
declines than residents. Current declines appear to broadly mirror long-term trends,
but a greater fraction of species appear roughly stable. The average steep decline oflong-distance migrants is driven by species like Forest Wagtail, Pacific Golden Plover
and Common Greenshank. However, other species in this group show milder declines
like Common Pochard or even increases like Rosy Starling. Among within-subcontinent
migrants, long-term strong declines in species like Large-billed Leaf Warbler resultin an overall negative trend. Across the very large number of resident species with
sufficient data to be evaluated, patterns span all the way from severe decline (Cotton
Teal) to marked increase (Indian Peafowl).
CHANGE IN ABUNDANCE INDEX

Resident

Withinsubcontinent
migrants

Long-distancemigrants

(a)

(b)

(c)

206

19

36

LONG-TERM TREND
(a)

+25%

(b)
(c)

0%

0%

-25%

CURRENT TREND

(a)

-50%

100%

(a)
(b)

-75%

(b)
(c)

(c)
-100%

0%
before 2000

2000-2006

2007-20102011-2012 2014

2016

2018

StrongDecline24100%

Moderate
DeclineStableModerate
Increase

StrongIncreaseINDIAN SUBCONTINENT AS
MAIN WINTERING AREA

ramesh desai

SPECIAL MIGRANTS+250%

Change in abundance index

The wintering pattern of these species is significant for two reasons. First, India is theprimary custodian of these species during a large part of their life cycle. Hence, thelong-term future of these birds may depend as much on the persistence of suitable
habitats in India as on conditions in their breeding grounds. Some threatened habitats
like the grasslands of the Terai, which harbour the entire global population of theMongolia-breeding Hodgson’s Bushchat, require immediate attention. Second, thepopulations of many of these species cannot be monitored across their vast, remote,and largely uninhabited breeding ranges. Therefore it falls upon India to monitor
global populations, assess trends and detect early warning signs of decline.

Blyth’s Reed Warbler

With its rich habitats and geographical location just south of the Palaearctic region,
the Indian Subcontinent serves as the primary wintering ground for many species
migrating south to escape harsh winters. Species like Blyth’s Reed Warbler, Common
Rosefinch and Red-breasted Flycatcher have vast breeding ranges spread across thetemperate and taiga latitudes of Eurasia, but the vast majority of their populations
funnel south into the Indian peninsula for the winter. Other species with more
restricted breeding ranges, like Rosy Starling, Green Leaf Warbler and Bar-headed
Goose, also winter primarily in the subcontinent.

+200%
+150%
+100%
+50%
0%
-50%

Rosy Starling
Blyth’s Reed Warbler
Greenish Leaf Warbler

before 2000

2000-2006

2007-20102011-2012 2014

2016

2018

25

ENDEMICITY
SPECIES GROUPS

The 12 Western Ghats endemics included in this analysis are almost 75% lower intheir abundance index today than before 2000, indicating a steep long-term decline.
This is worrying, because these long-term declines are shown even by many common
species like Crimson-backed Sunbird and Yellow-browed Bulbul. The current trend isroughly stable but warrants careful monitoring.
Other subcontinental endemics (38 species with enough information to include here)
and non-endemic resident species also show declining long-term trends, albeit not as
steep as that experienced by Western Ghats endemics. Indeed some subcontinental
endemics (e.g. Indian Peafowl) are increasing considerably (see page 7). Again, thecurrent trend appears approximately stable.
CHANGE IN ABUNDANCE INDEX

Resident
nonendemics

Othersubcontinental
endemics

WesternGhats
endemics

(a)

(b)

(c)

157

38

12

LONG-TERM TREND
(a)

+25%

(b)
(c)

0%

0%

-25%

CURRENT TREND

(a)

-50%

100%

(a)
(b)

-75%

(b)
(c)

(c)
-100%

0%
before 2000

2000-2006

2007-20102011-2012 2014

2016

2018

StrongDecline26

100%

Moderate
DeclineStableModerate
Increase

StrongIncreasesriram reddy

WESTERN GHATS

Nilgiri Pipit

sriram reddy

SKY ISLAND ENDEMICS

The ‘sky Islands’ of the tropical forest-grassland mosaic (sholas)characterise intact habitats of the high altitudes of the Western Ghats.

Palani Laughingthrush (Chilappan)

Several endemic birds depend on shola
forests, including Nilgiri Sholakili, Whitebellied Sholakili, four laughingthrushes(chilappans), two flycatchers (including thespectacular Black-and-orange Flycatcher)and the shy and little-known Nilgiri Thrush.
Others like Nilgiri Pipit, Broad-tailed
Grassbird and an endemic subspecies ofGolden-headed Cisticola are almost entirely
restricted to shola grasslands.
Sky island ecosystems face a number of
threats, placing many of these charismatic
endemic species at risk. Over the past
century, shola grasslands in the central

and southern Western Ghats have been
extensively replaced by tea plantations andstands of exotic species like Eucalyptus andwattle (now naturally expanding further
into grasslands), leaving very little habitatfor grassland specialist species.
Shola specialists have also shown behaviouralchanges in response to recent fragmentation,
but demographic impacts are still not
known. Aside from Palani Laughingthrush(Chilappan) which has adapted well tofragmented habitats and tea plantations,other endemics like Nilgiri Pipit and Nilgiri
Thrush show recent declining trends.
27

In discussions of bird conservation in India, a number of species spring readily to mind, including the GreatNEGLECTED SPECIES Indian Bustard, the Amur Falcon and the Gyps vultures. There are, however, a number of lesser-known species—

IN FOCUS

typically small, and with restricted distribution­—that call for greater research and conservation attention.

Green Munia

Swamp Grass Babbler

Chestnut-backed Laughingthrush

Indian Olive Bulbul

Severely threatened because of trapping for the pet trade in the past, thiscentral Indian endemic is now regularly
seen only in parts of the Aravallis andthe northern Eastern Ghats. Other
populations need to be urgently identified through surveys, and protected.

Restricted to grasslands in the Brahmaputra river floodplains, little is known
about this nondescript babbler thatlooks rather like a prinia. Stretches ofriver and associated grasslands preferred by this species are fast disappearing across its range.

This laughingthrush endemic to the
Indo-Myanmar lowland forests is only
known within India from the Dehing
Patkai forests in eastern Assam. Conservation of these last remaining lowland rainforests in North-east India is
key to the survival of this species.

This endemic is found only in the heavily disturbed forests adjoining Bangladesh in Tripura, southern Assam,
western Mizoram and Manipur, andsouthern Meghalaya. Possibly distributed throughout Tripura in the past, its
status within the State is now unclear.

Grey-crowned Prinia

Naga Wren Babbler
Almost the entire population of thissubcontinental endemic now subsists
in stands of non-native Lantana in thefoothills of the Uttarakhand Himalaya.
Considering its recent adaptation to a
new habitat type, understanding more
about its ecology is vital.

28

One of many range-restricted Wren
Babblers found in North-east India,
this cryptic species is endemic to the
Naga hills and adjoining Manipur. Only
known from a few locations, the species
may be threatened in most of its small
range due to habitat loss.

NEGLECTED SPECIESFINN’S WEAVER
Since 2012, the species has beenfound in only 9 of the 45 locations
from which it was previously known.
The population at one of the mainsites, Udham Singh Nagar Districtof Uttarakhand, has declined by 84–
96% over the last 20 years. The global
population is estimated to be lessthan 1,000 birds, with roughly 500

occurring in India. Causes for decline
appear to be primarily related to land
use change in its Terai habitat.
Its low population size, restricted
range and evidence for continued
decline raise this species to thehighest level of conservation concern
in India.

+250%

The Finn’s Weaver is a prime example of a species that is poorly known
and hence relatively neglected. Rediscovered in 1959, and restricted
to India and Nepal, it inhabits pure Terai (grassy floodplain) country
with marshes and tall, wet grasslands sparsely dotted with isolated
trees. The largest of the four weavers found in India, it is also uniquein building large globular (rather than suspended) nests.

Estimate relative to 1999

Rajat bhargava

Nests

+200%
+150%
+100%
Birds

+50%
0%
-50%
-100%

1999

2002

2006

2012 2013 20142016 2017

Source: Bhargava 2017

29

CITIZEN SCIENCE
Citizen science is a form of research where scientists and members of the public
work together towards addressing scientific questions. These kinds of efforts arebeing used increasingly to answer pressing questions about the world, includingin the fields of astronomy, biochemistry, history and meteorology. But perhaps
nowhere is the power of citizen science more apparent than in studies of ecology
and biodiversity. Almost all large-scale assessments of the status and trendsof biodiversity rely on hundreds of thousands of hours of effort contributed bycitizen scientists.
Looking through State of Birds reports from other countries and regions of theworld makes it evident that these assessments would not be possible without thegenerous contribution (in terms of effort and information) of birdwatchers in thefield. By surveying wetlands, walking transects, conducting point counts, or simply
making bird lists, birdwatchers make it possible to document and monitor the world
we live in. New technological advances, including the internet and mobile devices,
have further accelerated the information contributed by volunteers in this way. The
future of biodiversity monitoring in India (as in other countries) will depend on the
degree to which researchers and enthusiasts work in collaboration.

rounak patra

The pages that follow highlight some bird-related citizen science efforts in India
that have contributed substantially to the data used for this report.

30

ASIAN WATERBIRD CENSUS
wetlands in India, including Protected Areas,
Important Bird Areas, Ramsar Wetlands
and other wetland types. AWC has become
an important repository of information onwaterbirds and wetlands, which supports
policy-making and conservation programmes
at national and international scales.

Andaman Teal

The Asian Waterbird Census (AWC), under
the aegis of the International Waterbird
Census, is the longest running citizen science
programme that systematically monitors
waterbird numbers and wetland condition inIndia. AWC began in the Indian subcontinent
in 1987 and now covers a large proportionof the East Asian–Australasian Flyway andthe Central Asian Flyway. In India, this effort
is coordinated by Wetlands International
South Asia and the Bombay Natural History
Society. The annual AWC effort takes place inJanuary, and includes bird count estimation
and wetland assessment. While paper forms
were earlier used to record and submit
data, digital technology is now being used
to enhance the reach and effectiveness of
the AWC.

rofikul islam

CITIZEN SCIENCE

The information has been used to inform andinfluence various national programmes suchas National Action Plan on Conservation of
Aquatic Ecosystem, National Biodiversity
Action Plan and National Action Plan forConservation of Migratory Birds and theirHabitats along Central Asian Flyway (20182023). It is also used to fulfil international
commitments like the Convention on
Migratory Species and the Ramsar
Convention on Wetlands.

The AWC database currently has counts
from over 1,400 coastal and inland

AWC locations from 2006–15 where 20,000–100,000(small circles) or >100,000 (large circles) waterbirds
have been reported.
www.wetlands.org/AWC
Source: Wetlands International

31

CITIZEN SCIENCE

India is fortunate to have a large and growing number of people who are passionate
about birds. These include individual birdwatchers, photographers and naturalists, aswell as birdwatching clubs, bird conservation societies and naturalist groups. There
are also a number of professional bodies and institutions that work in education,
research and conservation of birds.
gopi gv

BOOPATHY SRINIVASAN

BIRD COUNT INDIA

Bird Count India was formed in 2014 in an attempt to bring these various
individuals and organisations to collaborate for a common cause. It is an informal
umbrella of over 70 institutions and groups (including online email and social mediagroups). The goal of Bird Count India is to work collectively to better document andunderstand trends in the distribution, abundance and seasonality of Indian birds,
from the finest to the largest scale in the country.

32

ROFIKUL ISLAM

NAVEENLAL P

To this end, Bird Count India conducts workshops on documenting and monitoring
birds for interested groups across the country. It organises national birdwatching
events including the Great Backyard Bird Count, Campus Bird Count, Endemic Bird
Day and Wild Bird Day. It also facilitates, through publicity and technical input,
regional and State-level events and projects, including the Mysore City Bird Atlas,
the Kerala Bird Atlas, the Pongal Bird Count, the Bihu Bird Count and the Onam
Bird Count. Bird Count India encourages birdwatchers to document their sightings
on the eBird-India platform so that the information is publicly available for use inresearch and conservation.

www.birdcount.in

CITIZEN SCIENCE

THE eBIRD PLATFORM
Birdwatchers have a long-standing practice of noting down lists of species that they
see while out birding. Earlier this was done in notebooks, but with the advent of theinternet bird lists can now be maintained online. eBird is a global online notebook forbirdwatchers to maintain and share their bird lists as well as their bird photos andaudio recordings. While eBird is based at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, USA,an India-specific portal is curated and customized by Bird Count India. Globally, eBird
is the largest repository of biodiversity information, with over 700 million records ofbirds as of January 2020. At the country level, eBird-India holds over 10 million records,
constituting a large database of information.
Data quality in eBird-India is maintained through a series of customised seasonaland geographical filters, supplemented with manual review carried out by over 140
volunteer editors spread across the country. eBird data are freely available to download
for education, research and conservation, and are also annually ported to the Global
Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). All data from India are attributed as part ofIndia’s contribution to the GBIF database.
Birdwatchers in India have been increasingly using eBird since 2014. Furthermore,a large number of birders have uploaded past bird lists from their notebooks to eBird,
thus providing vital historical data that are key to enabling the trend analyses in thisreport. Over 15,500 birders have uploaded lists containing more than 10 million records,
from roughly 200,000 distinct locations covering all States/UTs and over 95% of Districtsin India.

www.ebird.org/india

Locations from which at least one bird list has
been uploaded to eBird-India. Note several
under-birded areas across the country.
33

CITIZEN SCIENCECOMMON BIRD
MONITORING PROGRAMMEROFIKUL ISLAM

Repeated, systematic surveys of birds with sampling carefully designed in space andtime are the hallmark of gold-standard large-scale bird monitoring schemes. Suchsurveys are carried out in relatively few countries, largely because of limitations in
the number and distribution of skilled volunteers. Although much can be done with
unstructured bird data (as presented in this report), as a country, India needs to movetowards more structured and systematic surveys. With this in mind, the Common
Bird Monitoring Programme (CBMP) was initiated by the Bombay Natural History
Society in 2015. The objective of this citizen science programme is to encourage more
people to observe birds found in their backyard or in locations they visit frequently.
Volunteers are assigned one or more 2 km transects near their homes, and theysurvey birds once every four months. The protocol, as well as spatial and temporal
sampling, is designed to generate trends that can be compared over space and time.
At the moment, the CBMP is being carried out mostly in Maharashtra, but there areplans for future expansion.

34

cbmp@bnhs.org

CITIZEN SCIENCEKERALA BIRD ATLASThe State of Kerala has a long history of birdwatching, stimulated in part by writings on
birds from the 1960s by the legendary Malayalam writer K.K. Neelakantan (popularly
known by his pen name Induchoodan). Individual birdwatchers and birding andnatural history groups are distributed across the State. Since 1990, these individuals
and groups have come together to carry out surveys and monitoring of key habitats.
As a result, birds are perhaps better known in Kerala than in any other Indian State.
Building on these efforts, the Kerala Bird Atlas was launched after a meeting of
birdwatchers of the State in 2015. This project maps the distribution and abundanceof the birds of Kerala at a very fine scale using a standard protocol. The State has been
divided into grid cells of 6.6 × 6.6 km, and four 1.1 × 1.1 km sub-cells within each cellare surveyed, once in the dry season and once in the wet season. In this way, morethan 3,000 sub-cells, covering over 10% of the entire State, are being surveyed in two
seasons. Over 1,000 volunteer birdwatchers are taking part in the Kerala Bird Atlas. The
project is nearing completion, and when done, will result in the first-ever systematicbird atlas for any State in India. The data will be used to create detailed distribution
and habitat relationship maps of different species, which will aid spatial conservation
planning and serve as a baseline to assess change over time.

Kerala Bird Atlas map for Indian Peafowl
depicting 6.6 × 6.6 km grids during the dry
season. Surveyed cells are drawn on the map;
darker green indicates higher frequency ofreporting of the species from that cell.
www.birdcount.in/kerala-bird-atlas
35

THREATS & CONSERVATION MEASURES
Globally, birds continue to decline. This assessment is supported by evaluations of
extinction risk through the IUCN Red List as well as detailed analysis of formalmonitoring schemes where they exist. Rare species are increasingly threatenedwith extinction, while many common species are experiencing steady population
declines. Worldwide, the primary threats to birds are habitat change (mainly fromagricultural expansion and intensification, logging and increased urbanisation),invasive species and hunting/trapping. Lesser, but still significant, threats include
dams and mining, linear infrastructure (roads, railways and power lines) andpollution. Climate change acts on top of these various factors and is very likely to
exacerbate their effects.
The IUCN Red List 2019 classifies 101 Indian species as globally threatened (i.e. in
the categories ‘Critically Endangered’, ‘Endangered’ or ‘Vulnerable’), which is 7.6%of the c.1330 species known to have ever occurred in India. This State of India’s
Birds report takes a data-driven approach to calculate indices of abundance trends
and range sizes of India’s birds for the first time. Although this report does notinclude data that examines threats and conservation responses, earlier work points
to a number of key threats.
Conversion of natural habitats for primarily human use happens in nearly all
habitats: forests into plantations and mining sites, grasslands into plantations or
agriculture, and wetlands reclaimed for agriculture or buildings. A further threat
to many species, both common and rare, is hunting and trapping for consumption
and the pet trade. Environmental toxins (like the veterinary drug diclofenac) are
the cause of the most precipitous decline of any group of birds—the Gyps vultures.
Hunting/trapping and environmental toxins may have a greater effect than iscurrently understood. When specific species are targeted (e.g., for the pet trade),hunting has the potential to drive those species to such low population sizes thatthey become vulnerable to extinction from other causes. Although the acute effect36

of diclofenac on vultures is now well known, it is possible that chronic exposure toother toxins, for example neonicotinoids and pesticides, could pose major threats
to the populations of a number of species.
India’s commitment to conservation is emphasized by its participation in key
international conventions and initiatives, including the Convention on Migratory
Species, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the Convention on Biological
Diversity, and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
Within India, the main approach to conservation is legal protection. This isextended to species through the Wildlife (Protection) Act (1972 and further
amendments), and to habitats through the Protected Area network. A number ofnational initiatives support and expand on existing conservation law; these include
the National Wildlife Action Plan and the Central Asian Flyway Action Plan, thelatter being specifically focussed on migratory birds and their habitats.
Additional conservation needs include the careful regulation and monitoringof environmental toxins, the management and conservation of key habitatsthat are under-represented in the Protected Area network (like grasslands), andmaximisation of the conservation potential of multi-use landscapes. The notion ofImportant Bird Areas, now integrated into the concept of Key Biodiversity Areas,
is a significant component of India’s conservation planning, and is also manifest in
the idea of Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECM).
To support these efforts, India needs to expand monitoring efforts to track theabundance and ranges of species, to promote more research to understand thecascade of causes of population and range change, and to create an enabling
framework to respond rapidly to early warnings of decline.

Coastal mudflats, essential for declining migratory shorebirds
like the Pied Avocet, are in need of protection.

37
hemant dHadnekar

CONCLUSIONS & PRIORITIESThis assessment of nearly 867 Indian species makes it very clear that our birds
are in overall decline, in some cases catastrophically so. Many more species
show a downward trend than an upward trend. Species declining in the longterm outnumber those increasing by 135 to 12 (a ratio of 11 to 1); species
declining currently (over the past 5 years) outnumber those increasing by 116
to 21 (a ratio of over 5 to 1). When combined with information on range sizeand supplemented by the IUCN Red List categories, a total of 101 species areclassified to be of High Conservation Concern for India. Conservation action
must be taken immediately to identify causes of decline and implement measuresto halt and reverse the trend for these species. A further 319 species are ofModerate Conservation Concern. These species must be carefully monitored to
rapidly detect and act upon signs of continuing decline. Species groups that are
faring particularly poorly (>50% decline in the long term) include scavenging &open-country raptors, migratory shorebirds, gulls & terns, forest and grassland
specialists, both long and short distance migrants, Western Ghats endemics,
and carnivores. These results point to particular ecological traits that increase
species vulnerability.

38

Policy and Management
The results presented here have implications for conservation policy andmanagement at both specific and broad levels.
•

Use the conservation status assessments presented here as inputs
in updating global assessments (e.g., IUCN Red List), Annexes of theConvention of Migratory Species and Convention on International Tradein Endangered Species, and Indian conservation law [e.g., Schedules of the
Wildlife (Protection) Act].

•

Place urgent emphasis on species of High Conservation Concern (pages8–11), as well as habitats and regions that are home to species in decline,
including grasslands and scrublands, wetlands and the Western Ghats.

•

Support researchers and citizen scientists (through policy, permits andfunding) to conduct long-term monitoring of bird populations andtheir habitats, and to study the movements of birds through ringing andsatellite tracking.

Alongside these worrisome figures, there is also some heartening news. A totalof 126 species (out of the 867 assessed) appear to be stable or increasing in thelong term. These include the popular House Sparrow (see page 6), as well as otherfamiliar species like Indian Peafowl (see page 7), Asian Koel, Rose-ringed Parakeet
and Common Tailorbird. Many of these are species that have adapted well tohuman-dominated habitats even though they are not obligate human commensals.

•

Facilitate innovative and collaborative research in order to understand thecauses for decline of threatened species and enable science-based decisionmaking.

•At a broad level, align conservation policy, management and funding forbird species according to the categories of conservation concern presented
in this report.

From the results presented in this report, several priorities for policy and action
emerge. These are presented here, separated into three broad heads: policy andmanagement, research, and public involvement and action.

•

Adopt an evidence-based approach in informing conservation prioritisation
and action.

Research

Public Involvement and Action

Clear gaps in research emerge from these results. In particular, there is(a) paucity of information for several species, which means their trends are
Data Deficient or Uncertain and (b) lack of understanding of the causes ofchange in abundance. Some actions to address these gaps are as follows:

When it comes to biodiversity, particularly birds, members of the larger
public play key roles in conservation. This report would not have beenpossible without the involvement of thousands of birdwatchers andnaturalists. Here are some ways to strengthen these efforts:•

Collaborate with birdwatchers and other volunteers to deepen andstrengthen monitoring through citizen science.

•

Document casual birding and share on a public platform that collates
such information so that your records can strengthen bird assessments.

•

Supplement these efforts by initiating or continuing long-term monitoring
efforts at existing and new field locations that are representative of thecountry’s habitats and ecological regions.

•

Consider visiting under-birded areas (map on page 33) to help fill
information gaps and reduce data deficiencies.

•

Take part in structured surveys that help document and monitor bird
populations.

•

Initiate monitoring activities at the local or regional level, either
individually or in groups: systematic local monitoring is both valuable initself and also strengthens national monitoring.

•

Spread the message of birdwatching and bird documentation among
others.

•Help disseminate best available information on bird conservation: theimportance of birds, species and habitats under greatest threat, and what
interested people can do to assist.

•

Undertake dedicated species-specific monitoring and research for lesserknown species with restricted ranges.

•

Focus efforts on uncovering reasons for population declines of different
species and groups, so that effective conservation interventions can beproposed.

•

Develop analytical tools to extract meaningful information from large andcomplex datasets generated from unstructured citizen science efforts, andintegrate them with data from more formal monitoring programmes.

•

Develop better coordination and communication among researchers
and institutions, and stronger channels for information exchange andcollaboration between researchers and the larger public.

39

METHODS
The status of India’s birds was assessed primarily using data uploaded to eBird,
with an end date of 31 May 2019. Birdwatchers upload their observations to
eBird in the form of checklists, which may be marked ‘complete’ or ‘incomplete’.
A complete checklist is a list of all species observed during the period of birding,and therefore implicitly includes information about which species were absent(or, more accurately, undetected). Using this, it is possible to calculate an index
of abundance, termed ‘frequency of reporting’ for any species. This frequencyof reporting is the proportion of all complete checklists in which a species wasreported. By following changes in frequency of reporting over several years, anindex of trend in abundance can be estimated.

This report presents three indices of status for each species for which there issufficient data:
1. Long-term Trend: the proportional change in frequency of reporting in2018 when compared with the frequency before the year 2000;
2. Current Annual Trend: the average annual change in frequency ofreporting during the last 5 years (2014 to 2018);
3. Range Size: the area covered by all those 25 × 25 km cells that areoccupied by a species within the country during the last 5 years.
A year is considered to be a ‘migratory year’ from 1 June to 31 May the next year
because this spans a single migratory season for many bird species in India.

The statistical model for index of trend in abundanceFrequency of reporting

median list length

Frequency of reporting

For each time period, the frequency of reporting of (a) a checklist of median effort was (b) averaged across all grid cells and (c) averaged across all months

Month

List Length (number of species in the list)(a) a checklist of median effort
40(b) averaged across all grid cells(c) averaged across all months

Because eBird data contain checklists of varying effort that are unevenly
distributed across space and season, statistical modelling was used tostandardise frequency of reporting to the median effort, averaged across space(grid cells) and months. Frequency of reporting was calculated by modelling
the presence or absence of a species in a checklist as a function of effort(i.e. number of species reported in the list), month and time-period, using
Generalized Linear Mixed-effects Models. This frequency was calculated for 10
time periods spanning the last several decades (before 2000, 2000-2006, 20072010, 2011-2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018). Note that frequencyof reporting is related to, but does not directly measure, population size, andso it is referred to as an ‘index’ of abundance. Range size was estimated using
occupancy models which calculate the probability of a species occurring in a cell
where it is unreported, while accounting for varying sampling effort.
Each species was assigned a category for each index. For example, the longterm trend of a species was categorised as ‘Strong Decline’ if the species
was less than half as likely to be reported in 2018 as it was before theyear 2000 (see tables below for the entire set of categories and criteria).

We further used a combination of the three indices to place each species in oneof three categories of Conservation Concern: Low Concern, Moderate Concern
and High Concern. For 42 species whose trends could not be derived fromanalyses of eBird data, we classified them as High Concern if the IUCN Red List
2019 considered them globally threatened.
Several criteria were used to clean and filter the data used, and multiple criteria
to select the 867 species assessed for this report from a total of 1,333 species
reported from India on eBird (as of 31 May 2019). Species that are primarily
nocturnal (including most owls and all nightjars) were not assessed and 5 species
complexes that were recently split were treated as single taxa. Various publishedsources were used to gather information to classify species into groups basedon their taxonomy, ecology, behaviour and range. These classifications wereused to calculate composite trends by geometrically averaging across species to
produce a single trend within each group.
Detailed methods, as well as links to data and code, can be found in the
Supplementary Material available on the website: www.stateofindiasbirds.in

ABUNDANCE TREND INDEXDISTRIBUTION RANGE SIZE

Category

Criteria: Long-term

Criteria: Current

Data Deficientinsufficient data

insufficient data

Category

Criteria

Uncertain

overall CI > 25%

annual CI > 2%

Data Deficientabsent in data

Strong Decline

overall decline > 50%

annual decline > 2.7%

Very Restricted*

range < 7,500 sq. km.

Moderate Decline

overall decline > 25%

annual decline > 1.1%

Restricted

range < 42,500 sq. km.

StableothersothersModerate

between 42,500 & 250,000

Moderate Increase

overall increase > 25%

annual increase > 0.9%

Large

range > 250,000 sq. km.

Strong Increase

overall increase > 50%

annual increase > 1.6%

Very Large

range > 1,000,000 sq. km.

CI (= 95% confidence interval)

All Very Restricted island endemics are categorised as Restricted

41

HOW TO INTERPRET

GRAPHS & RESULTS

SPECIES GROUPS

Number of complete eBird checklists used foranalyses of abundance in each time period:
before 2000 : 4,606: 5,131
2000-06: 5,787
2007-10: 5,459
2011-12: 11,002
2013

WesternGhats
endemics

Name of the group.

2014 : 34,926
2015 : 64,662
2016 : 96,012
2017 : 131,280
2018 : 144,533(a)
45 is the number of species
within the group.

CHANGE IN ABUNDANCE INDEX+25%

LONG-TERM TREND(a)

The extent of the shaded area around the line at any
time period indicates how much confidence there is in
the change in abundance relative to the year 2000.

The percentage breakup of species in terms of their long-term trend
categories within a species group. Refer to the colour key below. For
example, c.10% of the 38 species within this group are in Strong
Decline.

0%

0%

-25%

-50%

-75%

45

Species groups are labelled (a), (b),etc., in descending order of abundancein 2018.

The change in the abundance index (frequencyof reporting) relative to abundance before theyear 2000. The change is standardised to zeroat the first time period because it is relative toitself. In this example, the species group as awhole has declined by more than 25% by theyear 2018.

100%
CURRENT TREND

(a)

(a)
The percentage breakup of species in terms of their current annual
trend categories within a species group. Refer to the colour key below.
For example, c.5-10% of the 38 species within this group show Strong
Increase.

-100%

0%
before 2000

2000-2006

2007-20102011-2012 2014

2016

2018

StrongDecline42100%

Moderate
DeclineStableModerate
Increase

StrongIncrease

LIST OF SPECIES IN COMPOSITE GROUPS
Species whose trends were averaged to form the composite results shown on pages 18–27. Species with insufficient data, andtherefore not included in the composite groups, are not listed here.

Raptors (Page 18)•

Woodland: Oriental Honey Buzzard, Crested Serpent Eagle, Changeable Hawk Eagle, Black Eagle•

Generalist: White-eyed Buzzard, Shikra, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Black Kite•

Open: Black-winged Kite, Short-toed Snake Eagle, Griffon Vulture, Tawny Eagle, Western Marsh Harrier, Pallid Harrier, Montagu’s Harrier, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Rednecked Falcon•

Scavenger: Bearded Vulture, Egyptian Vulture, Red-headed Vulture, White-rumped Vulture, Indian Vulture, Griffon Vulture, Black Kite

Waterbirds (Page 20)•

Ducks & Geese: Lesser Whistling Duck, Cotton Teal, Indian Spot-billed Duck, Garganey, Northern Shoveler, Common Pochard•

Gulls & Terns: Little Tern, Caspian Tern, Whiskered Tern, River Tern, Black-headed Gull, Brown-headed Gull, Gull-billed Tern•

Migratory shorebirds: Grey Plover, Pacific Golden Plover, Lesser Sand Plover, Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Ruff, Curlew Sandpiper, Temminck’s Stint,
Dunlin, Little Stint, Common Snipe, Pintail Snipe, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Marsh Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Common Redshank•

Other resident*: Lesser Whistling Duck, Cotton Teal, Little Grebe, Common Coot, Brown Crake, Sarus Crane, Great Thick-knee, Black-winged Stilt, Kentish Plover, Greater
Painted-snipe, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Bronze-winged Jacana, Little Pratincole, Asian Openbill, Little Cormorant, Great Cormorant, Indian Cormorant, Cinnamon Bittern,
Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Great Egret, Intermediate Egret, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Striated Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Glossy Ibis, Black-headed Ibis, Common
Kingfisher, Black-capped Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher*Some species considered resident have migratory populations as well43Diet Guild* (Page 21)•

Carnivorous: Woolly-necked Stork, Black-winged Kite, Oriental Honey Buzzard, Bearded Vulture, Egyptian Vulture, Crested Serpent Eagle, Short-toed Snake Eagle, Redheaded Vulture, White-rumped Vulture, Indian Vulture, Griffon Vulture, Changeable Hawk Eagle, Black Eagle, Tawny Eagle, Western Marsh Harrier, Pallid Harrier, Montagu’s
Harrier, Shikra, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Black Kite, White-eyed Buzzard, Brown Fish Owl, White-throated Kingfisher, Common Kestrel, Red-necked
Falcon, Peregrine Falcon, Great Grey Shrike, House Crow•

Fruit-Nectar: Yellow-legged Green Pigeon, Mountain Imperial Pigeon, Asian Koel, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Malabar Barbet, Coppersmith Barbet, Plum-headed Parakeet, Roseringed Parakeet, Black-hooded Oriole, Thick-billed Flowerpecker, Pale-billed Flowerpecker, Nilgiri Flowerpecker, Purple-rumped Sunbird, Crimson-backed Sunbird, Purple
Sunbird, Loten’s Sunbird, Asian Fairy-bluebird, Golden-fronted Leafbird, Jerdon’s Leafbird, Square-tailed Bulbul, Flame-throated Bulbul•

Plant-Seed: Indian Peafowl, Rain Quail, Jungle Bush Quail, Grey Francolin, Rock Pigeon, Oriental Turtle Dove, Eurasian Collared Dove, Red Collared Dove, Spotted Dove,
Laughing Dove, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, Common Crane, Malabar Parakeet, Baya Weaver, Indian Silverbill, White-rumped Munia, House Sparrow, Yellow-breasted
Greenfinch, Crested Bunting, Ashy-crowned Sparrow Lark, Crested Lark•

Invertebrate: Crested Treeswift, White-rumped Spinetail, Brown-backed Needletail, Himalayan Swiftlet, Asian Palm Swift, Alpine Swift, Indian House Swift, Sirkeer Malkoha,
Pied Cuckoo, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Common Hawk Cuckoo, Indian Cuckoo, Common Cuckoo, Indian Thick-knee, Little Ringed Plover, Yellow-wattled Lapwing, Red-wattled
Lapwing, Indian Courser, Malabar Trogon, Common Hoopoe, Heart-spotted Woodpecker, Himalayan Golden-backed Woodpecker, Lesser Golden-backed Woodpecker, Rufous
Woodpecker, White-bellied Woodpecker, Greater Golden-backed Woodpecker, White-naped Woodpecker, Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Yellow-fronted Pied Woodpecker, Green Bee-eater, Small Minivet, Large Cuckooshrike, Black-headed Cuckooshrike, Ashy Woodswallow, Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Malabar Woodshrike, Common
Woodshrike, Common Iora, Ashy Drongo, White-bellied Drongo, Bronzed Drongo, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, White-browed Fantail, Brown Shrike, Bay-backed Shrike,Long-tailed Shrike, Black-naped Monarch, Indian Paradise-flycatcher, Forest Wagtail, Olive-backed Pipit, Richard’s Pipit, Paddyfield Pipit, Tawny Pipit, Western Yellow Wagtail,
Grey Wagtail, White-browed Wagtail, White Wagtail, Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher, Yellow-browed Tit, Indian Yellow Tit, Sand Lark, Zitting Cisticola, Rufous-fronted Prinia,
Grey-breasted Prinia, Jungle Prinia, Ashy Prinia, Plain Prinia, Common Tailorbird, Streak-throated Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, Wire-tailed Swallow, Barn Swallow, Eurasian
Crag Martin, Dusky Crag Martin, Grey-throated Martin, Lemon-rumped Warbler, Common Chiffchaff, Greenish Leaf Warbler, Large-billed Leaf Warbler, Western Crowned Leaf
Warbler, Yellow-eyed Babbler, Indian Scimitar Babbler, Tawny-bellied Babbler, Dark-fronted Babbler, Puff-throated Babbler, Quaker Tit Babbler, Large Grey Babbler, Indian
Nuthatch, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Rosy Starling, Indian Robin, Oriental Magpie Robin, Asian Brown Flycatcher, White-bellied Blue Flycatcher, Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher, Redbreasted Flycatcher, Black Redstart, Pied Bushchat•

Omnivorous: Red Spurfowl, Asian Emerald Dove, Greater Coucal, White-breasted Waterhen, Indian Pond Heron, Indian Black Ibis, Indian Roller, Indian Golden Oriole, Black
Drongo, Rufous Treepie, White-bellied Treepie, Large-billed Crow, Little Spiderhunter, Yellow-throated Sparrow, Cinereous Tit, Rufous-tailed Lark, Indian Bushlark, Oriental
Skylark, Malabar Lark, Red-vented Bulbul, Yellow-browed Bulbul, Oriental White-eye, Common Babbler, Jungle Babbler, Grey-sided Laughingthrush, Common Starling, Brahminy Starling, Common Myna, Bank Myna, Blue Rock Thrush, Orange-headed Thrush

44*No waterbirds are included in this analysis

Habitat (Page 22)•

Forest: Red Spurfowl, Asian Emerald Dove, Mountain Imperial Pigeon, Crested Treeswift, White-rumped Spinetail, Brown-backed Needletail, Himalayan Swiftlet, Alpine
Swift, Crested Serpent Eagle, Changeable Hawk Eagle, Black Eagle, Malabar Trogon, Heart-spotted Woodpecker, Himalayan Golden-backed Woodpecker, White-bellied
Woodpecker, Greater Golden-backed Woodpecker, Malabar Barbet, Plum-headed Parakeet, Malabar Parakeet, Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Malabar Woodshrike, Bronzed
Drongo, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, White-bellied Treepie, Asian Fairy-bluebird, Flame-throated Bulbul, Large-billed Leaf Warbler, Indian Scimitar Babbler, Dark-fronted
Babbler, Quaker Tit Babbler, Grey-sided Laughingthrush, White-bellied Blue Flycatcher•

Grassland/Scrubland: Rain Quail, Jungle Bush Quail, Grey Francolin, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, Sirkeer Malkoha, Yellow-wattled Lapwing, Indian Courser, Black-winged
Kite, Egyptian Vulture, Short-toed Snake Eagle, Red-headed Vulture, Indian Vulture, Griffon Vulture, Tawny Eagle, Pallid Harrier, Montagu’s Harrier, Common Hoopoe,
White-naped Woodpecker, Indian Roller, Red-necked Falcon, Black Drongo, Bay-backed Shrike, Great Grey Shrike, Indian Silverbill, Richard’s Pipit, Paddyfield Pipit, Tawny
Pipit, Rufous-tailed Lark, Ashy-crowned Sparrow Lark, Indian Bushlark, Malabar Lark, Zitting Cisticola, Rufous-fronted Prinia, Jungle Prinia, Yellow-eyed Babbler•

Wetland: Lesser Whistling Duck, Common Pochard, Garganey, Northern Shoveler, Indian Spot-billed Duck, Cotton Teal, Little Grebe, Brown Crake, Common Coot, Sarus
Crane, Asian Openbill, Cinnamon Bittern, Black-crowned Night Heron, Striated Heron, Cattle Egret, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Great Egret, Intermediate Egret, Little Egret,Black-headed Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Little Cormorant, Great Cormorant, Indian Cormorant, Great Thick-knee, Black-winged Stilt, Grey Plover, Pacific Golden Plover, Kentish
Plover, Lesser Sand Plover, Greater Painted-snipe, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Bronze-winged Jacana, Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Ruff, Curlew Sandpiper,
Temminck’s Stint, Dunlin, Little Stint, Pintail Snipe, Common Snipe, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Common Redshank, Wood Sandpiper,
Marsh Sandpiper, Little Pratincole, Brown-headed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Little Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Caspian Tern, Whiskered Tern, River Tern, White-bellied Sea Eagle,
Common Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Black-capped Kingfisher, White Wagtail, Grey-throated Martin•

Generalist: Indian Peafowl, Rock Pigeon, Oriental Turtle Dove, Eurasian Collared Dove, Red Collared Dove, Spotted Dove, Laughing Dove, Yellow-legged Green Pigeon,
Greater Coucal, Pied Cuckoo, Asian Koel, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Common Hawk Cuckoo, Indian Cuckoo, Common Cuckoo, Indian House Swift, Asian Palm Swift, Whitebreasted Waterhen, Common Crane, Indian Thick-knee, Red-wattled Lapwing, Little Ringed Plover, Woolly-necked Stork, Indian Pond Heron, Indian Black Ibis, Bearded
Vulture, Oriental Honey Buzzard, White-rumped Vulture, White-eyed Buzzard, Western Marsh Harrier, Shikra, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Black Kite, Brown Fish Owl, Malabar
Grey Hornbill, White-throated Kingfisher, Green Bee-eater, Coppersmith Barbet, Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Yellow-fronted Pied Woodpecker, Rufous Woodpecker,
Lesser Golden-backed Woodpecker, Common Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Common Woodshrike, Ashy Woodswallow, Common Iora, Small Minivet,
Large Cuckooshrike, Black-headed Cuckooshrike, Brown Shrike, Long-tailed Shrike, Indian Golden Oriole, Black-hooded Oriole, Ashy Drongo, White-bellied Drongo, Whitebrowed Fantail, Black-naped Monarch, Indian Paradise-flycatcher, Rufous Treepie, House Crow, Large-billed Crow, Sand Lark, Oriental Skylark, Crested Lark, Eurasian Crag
Martin, Dusky Crag Martin, Barn Swallow, Wire-tailed Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, Streak-throated Swallow, Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher, Yellow-browed Tit, Cinereous Tit, Indian Yellow Tit, Indian Nuthatch, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Red-vented Bulbul, Yellow-browed Bulbul, Square-tailed Bulbul, Lemon-rumped Warbler, Common
Chiffchaff, Greenish Leaf Warbler, Western Crowned Leaf Warbler, Common Tailorbird, Grey-breasted Prinia, Ashy Prinia, Plain Prinia, Oriental White-eye, Tawny-bellied
Babbler, Puff-throated Babbler, Common Babbler, Large Grey Babbler, Jungle Babbler, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Indian Robin, Oriental Magpie Robin, Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher,Red-breasted Flycatcher, Black Redstart, Blue Rock Thrush, Pied Bushchat, Orange-headed Thrush, Common Starling, Rosy Starling, Brahminy Starling, Common Myna,
Bank Myna, Jerdon’s Leafbird, Golden-fronted Leafbird, Thick-billed Flowerpecker, Pale-billed Flowerpecker, Nilgiri Flowerpecker, Purple-rumped Sunbird, Crimson-backed
Sunbird, Purple Sunbird, Loten’s Sunbird, Little Spiderhunter, Forest Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Western Yellow Wagtail, White-browed Wagtail, Olive-backed Pipit, Yellowbreasted Greenfinch, Crested Bunting, House Sparrow, Yellow-throated Sparrow, Baya Weaver, White-rumped Munia
45

Migratory Status (Page 24)•

Resident*: Lesser Whistling Duck, Cotton Teal, Indian Spot-billed Duck, Indian Peafowl, Red Spurfowl, Rain Quail, Jungle Bush Quail, Grey Francolin, Little Grebe, Rock Pigeon,
Oriental Turtle Dove, Eurasian Collared Dove, Red Collared Dove, Spotted Dove, Laughing Dove, Asian Emerald Dove, Yellow-legged Green Pigeon, Mountain Imperial Pigeon,
Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, Greater Coucal, Sirkeer Malkoha, Pied Cuckoo, Asian Koel, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Common Hawk Cuckoo, Indian Cuckoo, White-rumped Spinetail,Brown-backed Needletail, Himalayan Swiftlet, Alpine Swift, Indian House Swift, Asian Palm Swift, Crested Treeswift, Common Coot, White-breasted Waterhen, Brown Crake,
Sarus Crane, Indian Thick-knee, Great Thick-knee, Black-winged Stilt, Yellow-wattled Lapwing, Red-wattled Lapwing, Kentish Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Greater Painted-snipe,
Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Bronze-winged Jacana, Indian Courser, Little Pratincole, Little Tern, Caspian Tern, Whiskered Tern, River Tern, Asian Openbill, Woolly-necked Stork, Little
Cormorant, Great Cormorant, Indian Cormorant, Cinnamon Bittern, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Great Egret, Intermediate Egret, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Indian Pond Heron,
Striated Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Glossy Ibis, Black-headed Ibis, Indian Black Ibis, Black-winged Kite, Bearded Vulture, Egyptian Vulture, Oriental Honey Buzzard, Redheaded Vulture, White-rumped Vulture, Indian Vulture, Crested Serpent Eagle, Short-toed Snake Eagle, Changeable Hawk Eagle, Black Eagle, Tawny Eagle, White-eyed Buzzard,
Shikra, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Black Kite, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Brown Fish Owl, Malabar Trogon, Common Hoopoe, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Common Kingfisher, White-throated Kingfisher, Black-capped Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Green Bee-eater, Indian Roller, Malabar Barbet, Coppersmith Barbet, Heart-spotted Woodpecker, Brown-capped Pygmy
Woodpecker, Yellow-fronted Pied Woodpecker, Greater Golden-backed Woodpecker, White-naped Woodpecker, Rufous Woodpecker, Himalayan Golden-backed Woodpecker,
Lesser Golden-backed Woodpecker, White-bellied Woodpecker, Common Kestrel, Red-necked Falcon, Peregrine Falcon, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Plum-headed Parakeet, Malabar
Parakeet, Malabar Woodshrike, Common Woodshrike, Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Ashy Woodswallow, Common Iora, Small Minivet, Large Cuckooshrike, Bay-backed Shrike,Long-tailed Shrike, Great Grey Shrike, Black-hooded Oriole, Black Drongo, White-bellied Drongo, Bronzed Drongo, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, White-browed Fantail, Blacknaped Monarch, Rufous Treepie, White-bellied Treepie, House Crow, Large-billed Crow, Rufous-tailed Lark, Ashy-crowned Sparrow Lark, Indian Bushlark, Sand Lark, Oriental
Skylark, Crested Lark, Malabar Lark, Grey-throated Martin, Eurasian Crag Martin, Dusky Crag Martin, Wire-tailed Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, Streak-throated Swallow, Yellowbrowed Tit, Cinereous Tit, Indian Yellow Tit, Indian Nuthatch, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Flame-throated Bulbul, Red-vented Bulbul, Yellow-browed Bulbul, Square-tailed Bulbul,
Lemon-rumped Warbler, Common Tailorbird, Rufous-fronted Prinia, Grey-breasted Prinia, Jungle Prinia, Ashy Prinia, Plain Prinia, Zitting Cisticola, Yellow-eyed Babbler, Oriental
White-eye, Tawny-bellied Babbler, Dark-fronted Babbler, Indian Scimitar Babbler, Puff-throated Babbler, Quaker Tit Babbler, Common Babbler, Large Grey Babbler, Jungle Babbler,
Grey-sided Laughingthrush, Asian Fairy-bluebird, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Indian Robin, Oriental Magpie Robin, White-bellied Blue Flycatcher, Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher, Pied Bushchat, Orange-headed Thrush, Brahminy Starling, Common Myna, Bank Myna, Jerdon’s Leafbird, Golden-fronted Leafbird, Thick-billed Flowerpecker, Pale-billed Flowerpecker, Nilgiri Flowerpecker, Purple-rumped Sunbird, Crimson-backed Sunbird, Purple Sunbird, Loten’s Sunbird, Little Spiderhunter, White-browed Wagtail, Paddyfield Pipit, Yellow-breasted
Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Yellow-throated Sparrow, Baya Weaver, Indian Silverbill, White-rumped Munia•

Local Migrants: Common Cuckoo, Lesser Sand Plover, Brown-headed Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Black-headed Cuckooshrike, Indian Golden Oriole, Ashy Drongo, Indian Paradiseflycatcher, Barn Swallow, Grey-headed Canary-flycatcher, Greenish Leaf Warbler, Large-billed Leaf Warbler, Western Crowned Leaf Warbler, Black Redstart, Blue Rock Thrush,
Common Starling, Grey Wagtail, Olive-backed Pipit, Crested Bunting•

Long-distance Migrants: Garganey, Northern Shoveler, Common Pochard, Common Crane, Grey Plover, Pacific Golden Plover, Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit,
Ruff, Curlew Sandpiper, Temminck’s Stint, Dunlin, Little Stint, Common Snipe, Pintail Snipe, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Marsh Sandpiper, Wood
Sandpiper, Common Redshank, Black-headed Gull, Griffon Vulture, Western Marsh Harrier, Pallid Harrier, Montagu’s Harrier, Brown Shrike, Common Chiffchaff, Red-breasted
Flycatcher, Rosy Starling, Forest Wagtail, Western Yellow Wagtail, White Wagtail, Richard’s Pipit, Tawny Pipit

46*Some species considered resident have migratory populations as wellEndemicity (Page 26)•

Western Ghats endemics**: Malabar Grey Hornbill, Malabar Barbet, Malabar Parakeet, Malabar Woodshrike, White-bellied Treepie, Nilgiri Flowerpecker, Crimson-backed
Sunbird, Flame-throated Bulbul, White-bellied Blue Flycatcher, Dark-fronted Babbler, Yellow-browed Bulbul, Square-tailed Bulbul•

Other subcontinental endemics: Indian Peafowl, Jungle Bush Quail, Red Spurfowl, White-rumped Spinetail, Sirkeer Malkoha, Common Hawk Cuckoo, Indian Black Ibis,
Yellow-wattled Lapwing, Indian Courser, Indian Vulture, Malabar Trogon, Lesser Golden-backed Woodpecker, White-naped Woodpecker, Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker,
Plum-headed Parakeet, Black-headed Cuckooshrike, White-bellied Drongo, Pale-billed Flowerpecker, Purple-rumped Sunbird, Loten’s Sunbird, Jerdon’s Leafbird, Indian
Yellow Tit, Rufous-tailed Lark, Ashy-crowned Sparrow Lark, Indian Bushlark, Malabar Lark, Rufous-fronted Prinia, Jungle Prinia, Ashy Prinia, Indian Scimitar Babbler, Tawnybellied Babbler, Large Grey Babbler, Common Babbler, Jungle Babbler, Indian Nuthatch, Bank Myna, Indian Robin, Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher•

Resident non-endemics*: Lesser Whistling Duck, Cotton Teal, Indian Spot-billed Duck, Rain Quail, Grey Francolin, Little Grebe, Rock Pigeon, Oriental Turtle Dove, EurasianCollared Dove, Red Collared Dove, Spotted Dove, Laughing Dove, Asian Emerald Dove, Yellow-legged Green Pigeon, Mountain Imperial Pigeon, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse,
Greater Coucal, Pied Cuckoo, Asian Koel, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Indian Cuckoo, Brown-backed Needletail, Himalayan Swiftlet, Alpine Swift, Indian House Swift, Asian Palm Swift,
Crested Treeswift, Common Coot, White-breasted Waterhen, Brown Crake, Sarus Crane, Indian Thick-knee, Great Thick-knee, Black-winged Stilt, Red-wattled Lapwing, Kentish Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Greater Painted-snipe, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Bronze-winged Jacana, Little Pratincole, Little Tern, Caspian Tern, Whiskered Tern, River Tern,
Asian Openbill, Woolly-necked Stork, Little Cormorant, Great Cormorant, Indian Cormorant, Cinnamon Bittern, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Great Egret, Intermediate Egret,Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Indian Pond Heron, Striated Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Glossy Ibis, Black-headed Ibis, Black-winged Kite, Bearded Vulture, Egyptian Vulture,
Oriental Honey Buzzard, Red-headed Vulture, White-rumped Vulture, Crested Serpent Eagle, Short-toed Snake Eagle, Changeable Hawk Eagle, Black Eagle, Tawny Eagle,
White-eyed Buzzard, Shikra, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Black Kite, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Brown Fish Owl, Common Hoopoe, Common Kingfisher, White-throated Kingfisher,
Black-capped Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Green Bee-eater, Indian Roller, Coppersmith Barbet, Heart-spotted Woodpecker, Yellow-fronted Pied Woodpecker, Greater Goldenbacked Woodpecker, Rufous Woodpecker, Himalayan Golden-backed Woodpecker, White-bellied Woodpecker, Common Kestrel, Red-necked Falcon, Peregrine Falcon, Roseringed Parakeet, Common Woodshrike, Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Ashy Woodswallow, Common Iora, Small Minivet, Large Cuckooshrike, Bay-backed Shrike, Long-tailed
Shrike, Great Grey Shrike, Black-hooded Oriole, Black Drongo, Bronzed Drongo, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, White-browed Fantail, Black-naped Monarch, Rufous Treepie,
House Crow, Large-billed Crow, Sand Lark, Oriental Skylark, Crested Lark, Grey-throated Martin, Eurasian Crag Martin, Dusky Crag Martin, Wire-tailed Swallow, Red-rumped
Swallow, Streak-throated Swallow, Yellow-browed Tit, Cinereous Tit, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, Red-vented Bulbul, Lemon-rumped Warbler, Common Tailorbird, Grey-breasted
Prinia, Plain Prinia, Zitting Cisticola, Yellow-eyed Babbler, Oriental White-eye, Puff-throated Babbler, Quaker Tit Babbler, Grey-sided Laughingthrush, Asian Fairy-bluebird,
Asian Brown Flycatcher, Oriental Magpie Robin, Pied Bushchat, Orange-headed Thrush, Brahminy Starling, Common Myna, Golden-fronted Leafbird, Thick-billed Flowerpecker, Purple Sunbird, Little Spiderhunter, White-browed Wagtail, Paddyfield Pipit, Yellow-breasted Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Yellow-throated Sparrow, Baya Weaver, Indian
Silverbill, White-rumped Munia*Some species considered resident have migratory populations as well**Western Ghats endemics include species also present in Sri Lanka; Yellow-browed Bulbul is considered in this group because its primary range is in the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka

47

SELECTED REFERENCES
Anonymous 2018. Public Participation in Generating Biodiversity Information.
Proceedings of a workshop held on 20-21 June 2018, Wildlife Institute ofIndia, Dehradun: Wildlife Institute of India and Foundation for Ecological
Security.

Rahmani, A.R. 2012. Threatened birds of India: their conservation requirements.
Mumbai: Indian Bird Conservation Network; Bombay Natural History
Society; Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; BirdLife International;
Oxford University Press.

Bhargava, R. 2017. Status of Finn’s Weaver in India: Past & Present. Mumbai:
Bombay Natural History Society.

Rahmani, A.R., Islam, M.Z. and Kasambe, R.M. 2016. Important Bird
and Biodiversity Areas in India: Priority Sites for Conservation (Revisedand updated). Mumbai: Bombay Natural History Society, Indian Bird
Conservation Network, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds andBirdLife International.

BirdLife International 2018. State of the world’s birds: taking the pulse of theplanet. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International.
Jathar, G.A. and Rahmani, A.R. 2006. Endemic Birds of India. Buceros11(2&3):1:53.
MoEF. 2008. NBAP, National Biodiversity Action Plan. New Delhi: Ministryof Environment and Forests, Government of India.
MoEFCC. 2014. National Biodiversity Action Plan (NBAP): Addendum 2014
to NBAP 2008. New Delhi: Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate
Change, Government of India.
MoEFCC. 2018. India’s National Action Plan for Conservation of Migratory
Birds and their Habitats along Central Asian Flyway (2018-2023). New Delhi:
Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government ofIndia.
Praveen J., Jayapal, R. and Pittie, A. 2019. Checklist of the birds of India(v3.1). Website: http://www.indianbirds.in/india/ [Date of publication:
16 December, 2019].

48

Sullivan, B.L., Wood, C.L., Iliff, M.J., Bonney, R.E., Fink, D. and Kelling,
S. 2009. eBird: a citizen-based bird observation network in the biologicalsciences. Biological Conservation 142: 2282-2292.
Wetlands International. 2010. State of the World’s Waterbirds, 2010.
(Compiled by Simon Delany, Szabolcs Nagy and Nick Davidson). Ede, The
Netherlands: Wetlands International.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Discussions and Consultation

Digitisation of Historical Data

Abinand Reddy, Abishek Harihar, Anil Sarsavan, Arpit Deomurari, Ashwin
Viswanathan, Devcharan Jathanna, Dhananjai Mohan, Dhruv Verma,
Dinesh Reddy, Dipankar Ghose, Gautam Talukdar, Girish Jathar, Gopi
GV, Himani Sharma, Jagdeesh Rao, K Sankar, KS Gopi Sundar, Kaustubh
Srikanth, Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi, MD Madhusudan, Malvika
Onial, Manoj Nair, Merwyn Fernandes, Mittal Gala, Monica Kaushik,Mousumi Ghosh, Nandkishor Dudhe, P Pramod, Prashanth MB, Praveen
J, Qamar Qureshi, Rahul Khot, Rajah Jayapal, Rajat Bhargava, Rajkamal
Goswami, Raju Kasambe, Ramit Singal, Ravi Singh, Ritesh Kumar, Saneesh
CS, Sugandha Menda, Suhel Quader, Suresh Kumar, Sutirtha Dutta, T
Ganesh, Taej Mundkur, Uma Ramakrishnan, Umesh Srinivasan, Vivek
Ramachandran, VB Mathur, Vishnupriya Kolipakam.

Ashwin Warudkar, Civin Solomon, Dipanjali Gohain, Isheta Divya, Jason
Cutinho, Monica Kaushik.

Data Analysis
Abinand Reddy, Ashwin Viswanathan, Arpit Deomurari, Kulbhushansingh
Suryawanshi, MD Madhusudan, Monica Kaushik, Suhel Quader, Sutirtha
Dutta.

Curation of Auxiliary Species Information

Methodology

Ankit Vikrant, Ashwin Viswanathan, Ashwin Warudkar, Praveen J, Rajah
Jayapal.

Abinand Reddy, Ashwin Viswanathan, Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi, MD
Madhusudan, Monica Kaushik, Praveen J, Qamar Qureshi, Rajah Jayapal,
Suhel Quader, Sutirtha Dutta.

Textual Content

Independent Review of Methodology

Ashwin Viswanathan, Bhanu Sridharan, Dhruv Verma, Kulbhushansingh
Suryawanshi, MD Madhusudan, Rajat Bhargava, Rajkamal Goswami, Suhel
Quader, Sutirtha Dutta.

Abishek Harihar (Panthera/Nature Conservation Foundation), Alison
Johnston (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), Ian Burfield (BirdLife International),
Richard Gregory (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds), Umesh Srinivasan(Princeton University), Wesley Hochachka (Cornell Lab of Ornithology).
49

Design

Data Source

Infographics: Ashwin Viswanathan, Janhavi Rajan, Madhurya Balan
Design and layout: Janhavi Rajan, Madhurya Balan
Logo: Adira Andlay

Data from over 15,500 birdwatchers uploaded to eBird (ebird.org/india)
and curated by over 140 volunteer editors (listed at ebird.org/india/about).

Independent Review of Report
Asad Rahmani, Carol Inskipp (Himalayan Nature), Chris Bowden (Royal Society
for the Protection of Birds), Ian Burfield (BirdLife International), Manoj Nair (Lal
Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration), Mike Crosby (BirdLife
International), Mike Prince, Nameer PO (Kerala Agricultural University), Neha
Sinha (Bombay Natural History Society), Richard Gregory (Royal Society for theProtection of Birds), Steve Kelling (Cornell Lab of Ornithology).

Communications Strategy and Execution
Adira Andlay, Ashwin Viswanathan, Arpit Deomurari, Chaithanya Krishnan,
Debkanya Dhar, Divyashree Rai, Dhruv Verma, Girish Jathar, Janhavi
Rajan, Kaustubh Srikanth, Pavithra Ashok Kumar, R Jayapal, Raghul MR,
Subhadra Devi, Suhel Quader.

Financial Support
The State of India’s Birds 2020 project was made possible with support from
Foundation for Ecological Security, National Centre for Biological Sciences,
Nature Conservation Foundation, Wildlife Institute of India.
The data collection and other efforts described in this report were supported
by Cholamandalam Finance and Investment Co. Ltd, Duleep MatthaiNature Conservation Trust, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Rohini
Nilekani Philanthropies, Wipro Foundation.
50

Additional Photo Credits
Abhishek Das—Spotted Dove, Purple-rumped Sunbird, Paddyfield Pipit:
Page 21, Common Myna: Page 24; Little Grebe: Page 26.
Rahul Singh—Indian Courser, Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher: Page 17; Black-winged
Kite: Page 18; River Tern, Curlew Sandpiper: Page 20; Pacific Golden Plover.
Rajat Bhargava—Green Munia: Page 28.
Rofikul Islam—Bar-headed Goose: Page 20; Swamp Grass Babbler, Indian
Olive Bulbul, Naga Wren Babbler: Page 28.
Manjula Desai—Red-necked Falcon: Page 16.
Mallika Rajasekaran—Cotton Teal: Page 16; Yellow-throated Bulbul: 26.
Bhanu Sridharan—Lesser Golden-backed Woodpecker: Page 16; Himalayan
Vulture: Page 18.
Rama Neelamegam—Rosy Starling: Page 17; Purple Swamphen: Page 20.
Sudeshna Dey—Crested Serpent Eagle: Page 18; Flame-throated Bulbul:
Pages 26, 42.
Subhadra Devi—Black Kite: Page 18; Indian Golden Oriole: Page 24.
Sriram Reddy—Indian Roller: Page 21; Rufous-fronted Prinia, Crested
Treeswift: Page 22; Forest Wagtail: Page 24.
Team WildArt—Changeable Hawk Eagle: Page 21.
Ramesh Desai—Red-vented Bulbul: Page 22.
Subhadeep Ghosh—Chestnut-backed Laughingthrush: Page 28.
Padmanav Kundu—Grey-crowned Prinia: Page 28

This report was printed with support from51

www.stateofindiasbirds.in
52