More Indian birds enter list of threatened species

According to the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, as well as harsh winters making breeding hard, reasons for the decline include a recent reduction in the population of puffins’ prey, such as the sand eel, and their vulnerability to pollution like oil spills. The inclusion of these birds indicate that they are in danger of facing risk of global extinction.

Each year the global Union for Conservation of Nature updates its famous Red List, but today sees a dramatic development for British birds with the number of species facing the threat of extinction doubling from four to eight.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) notes that the IUCN list indicates a lot of things including deterioration in the fortunes of a few seabirds, such as puffin and razorbill; an ongoing and increasingly intense threat to wading birds, such as godwits, curlew, oystercatcher, knot and lapwing; and an increasing deterioration in the status of marine ducks, such as common eider, joining velvet scoter and long-tailed duck as species of concern.

This has led to them being listed as vulnerable to extinction, the lowest of three categories, behind critically endangered and endangered, which denotes a species is at risk of dying out globally.

Once common in farmland across the country, and well known from the 12 Days of Christmas song, half of the remaining United Kingdom breeding population of turtle doves are in the eastern region, with the most of the others in south east England. In 2014, the story was similar with eight new species added to the Red List, viz. Woolly-necked Stork, Andaman Teal, Andaman Green Pigeon, Ashy-headed Green Pigeon, Red-headed Falcon, Himalayan Griffon, Bearded Vulture and Yunnan Nuthatch. These are the species for the data is available, so the status has been declared. Four of the species have been uplisted to Critically Endangered the highest category of threat before extinction.

With these additions, the total number of Indian birds in the red list has gone up to 180. Similarly, Great Knot is threatened by degradation and loss of wetland habitat.

Red Knot, which has been classified as “near threatened”, is found in coastal areas, mudflats and sandy beaches.

“The list of threatened species keeps on increasing with every assessment”, said Deepak Apte, Director – BNHS. “That itself symbolizes that our efforts for conservation of species are not adequate”, he added. The island was purchased by the global Council for Bird Preservation (the forerunner to BirdLife International) in that year.