ENVIS Centre AVIAN ECOLOGY BUCEROS ENVIS Newsletter Vol
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ENVIS Centre AVIAN ECOLOGY BUCEROS ENVIS Newsletter Vol. 13. No. 1 (2008) Supported by Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. Of India CONTENTS NATIONAL NEWS. BUCEROS 78 threatened bird species in India .......................................... ENVIS Newsletter: 4 3 Avian Ecology Vol. 13 No. 1 (2008) ENVIS ENVIS (Environmental Information System) is a network of subject specific centers located in various institutions throughout India. The Focal Point of the present 78 ENVIS centres in India is at the Ministry of Environment and Forests, New Delhi, which further serves as the Regional Service Centre (RCS) for INFOTERRA, the global information network INTERNATIONAL NEWS. of the United Nations Environment Programme Tata withdraws Natron project ESIA Report ....................... (UNEP) to cater to environment information 5 needs in the South Asian sub-region. The primary objective of all ENVIS centres is to collect, collate, store and disseminate environment related information to various user groups, including researchers, policy planners and decision makers. The ENVIS Centre at the Bombay Natural History Society was set up in June 1996 to serve as a source of information on Avian Ecology and Inland Wetlands. ENVIS TEAM AT THE BNHS Ornithologists announce discovery of new bird species .... 6 Centre-in-Charge : Mr. J.C. Daniel Project Coordinator : Dr. Asad R. Rahmani Scientist-In-Charge : Dr. Girish A. Jathar Conservation of Raptors and Falconry ................................ 7 Information Officer : Ms. Kavita Mallya Shivani Jadeja Cover: Great White Pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus by Kedar Bhide Cover design and Page layout: Gopi Naidu, Publications, BNHS. © 2008: All rights reserved. This publication shall not be reproduced either in full or in part in any form, either in print or electronic or any other medium, without the prior written permission of the Bombay Natural History Society. SPECIES FACT SHEET. Bombay Natural History Society, Hornbill House, S.B. Singh Road, The Bengal Florican Mumbai 400 001, Maharashtra, India. Houbaropsis bengalensis .................................................. Tel.: (91-22) 2282 1811, 10 Fax: (91-22) 2283 7615 ABSTRACTS. E-mail: [email protected] 2Website: www.bnhsenvis.nic.in Vulture Decline in South Asia ........................................BUCEROS Vol. 13 No. 111 (2008) National News 78 threatened bird species in India resenting a depressing scenario of change. New research has shown the Pavian wealth, the IUCN Red List Yellow-breasted Bunting Emberiza 2008 features India prominently among aureola to be rarer than it was believed. the ten countries in the world having Formerly classified, as Near Threatened the largest number of threatened it has been uplisted to Vulnerable. species of birds. Brazil tops the list with Following the evaluation of its 141 while India is ranked seventh with population size, the Eurasian Curlew 78, reports the BirdLife International, the Numenius arquata was found to be Cambridge based global alliance of rarer than generally assumed, uplisting conservation organisations and an it to Near threatened. Likewise, authority for the IUCN Red List of following the splitting of the newly- Threatened Species. recognized species, the populations of Of the 78 threatened species in India, Spelaeornis chocolatinus (Long - which includes migratory species, 13 are tailedWren-babbler)are categorized as Critically Endangered small enough to warrant uplisting it to (facing an extremely high risk of Near Threatened status, from the extinction in the wild), 10 as Endangered previous status of Least Concern. The (facing a very high risk of extinction in decline of the populations of Blackish- the wild) and the remaining as GIRISH JATHAR breasted Babbler Sphenocichla humei Vulnerable (facing high risk of extinction The Forest Owlet Heteroglaux blewitti and Chevron-breasted Babbler in the wild). Two of the species, Baer’s Sphenocichla roberti were traced to Pochard Aythya baeri and Spoon-billed decline of the Pochards’s population shifting cultivation, logging and the Sandpiper Eurynorhynchus pygmeus, was traced to wetland destruction while reducing forest cover. Due to lack of have been uplisted, from Vulnerable to that of the charismatic Sandpiper’s to reliable information on its status, Endangered and from Endangered to habitat loss in its breeding, passage and Andaman Crake Rallina canningi was Critically Endangered respectively. The wintering grounds and effects of climate formerly classified as Data Deficient. LIST OF THE THREATENED BIRDS OF INDIA 1 CR Himalayan Quail Ophrysia superciliosa 16 EN White-winged Duck Cairina scutulata 2 CR Pink-headed Duck Rhodonessa caryophyllacea 17 EN Baer’s Pochard Aythya baeri 3 CR White-bellied Heron Ardea insignis 18 EN White-headed Duck Oxyura leucocephala 4 CR White-rumped Vulture Gyps bengalensis 19 EN Greater Adjutant Leptoptilos dubius 5 CR Indian Vulture Gyps indicus 20 EN Saker Falcon Falco cherrug 6 CR Slender-billed Vulture Gyps tenuirostris 21 EN Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus 7 CR Red-headed Vulture Sarcogyps calvus 22 EN Great Indian Bustard Ardeotis nigriceps 8 CR Bengal Florican Houbaropsis bengalensis 23 EN Lesser Florican Sypheotides indicus 9 CR Siberian Crane Grus leucogeranus 24 EN Spotted Greenshank Tringa guttifer 10 CR Sociable Lapwing Vanellus gregarius 25 EN Rufous-breasted Laughingthrush Garrulax cachinnans 11 CR Spoon-billed Sandpiper Eurynorhynchus pygmeus 26 VU Nicobar Megapode Megapodius nicobariensis 12 CR Jerdon’s Courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus 27 VU Swamp Francolin Francolinus gularis 13 CR Forest Owlet Heteroglaux blewitti 28 VU Manipur Bush-quail Perdicula manipurensis 14 DD Nicobar Scops-owl Otus alius 29 VU Chestnut-breasted Partridge Arborophila mandellii 15 DD Large-billed Reed-warbler Acrocephalus orinus 30 VU Western Tragopan Tragopan melanocephalus BUCEROS3 Vol. 13 No. 1 (2008) BUCEROS Vol. 13 No. 1 (2008)3 National News LIST OF THE THREATENED BIRDS OF INDIA (contd.) 31 VU Blyth’s Tragopan Tragopan blythii 55 VU Narcondam Hornbill Aceros narcondami 32 VU Sclater’s Monal Lophophorus sclateri 56 VU White-naped Tit Parus nuchalis 33 VU Cheer Pheasant Catreus wallichi 57 VU Grey-crowned Prinia Prinia cinereocapilla 34 VU Green Peafowl Pavo muticus 58 VU Yellow-throated Bulbul Pycnonotus xantholaemus 35 VU Marbled Teal Marmaronetta angustirostris 59 VU Nicobar Bulbul Hypsipetes nicobariensis 36 VU Lesser Adjutant Leptoptilos javanicus 60 VU Bristled Grassbird Chaetornis striata 37 VU Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus 61 VU Broad-tailed Grassbird Schoenicola platyurus 38 VU Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni 62 VU Marsh Babbler Pellorneum palustre 39 VU Pallas’s Fish-eagle Haliaeetus leucoryphus 63 VU Rusty-throated Wren-babbler Spelaeornis badeigularis 40 VU Nicobar Sparrowhawk Accipiter butleri 64 VU Tawny-breasted Wren-babbler Spelaeornis longicaudatus 41 VU Indian Spotted Eagle Aquila hastata 65 VU Snowy-throated Babbler Stachyris oglei 42 VU Greater Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga 66 VU Jerdon’s Babbler Chrysomma altirostre 43 VU Eastern Imperial Eagle Aquila heliaca 67 VU Slender-billed Babbler Turdoides longirostris 44 VU Houbara Bustard Chlamydotis undulata 68 VU Bugun Liocichla Liocichla bugunorum 45 VU Masked Finfoot Heliopais personatus 69 VU Black-breasted Parrotbill Paradoxornis flavirostris 46 VU Sarus Crane Grus antigone 70 VU Beautiful Nuthatch Sitta formosa 47 VU Black-necked Crane Grus nigricollis 71 VU Grey-sided Thrush Turdus feae 48 VU Wood Snipe Gallinago nemoricola 72 VU White-bellied Shortwing Brachypteryx major 49 VU Indian Skimmer Rynchops albicollis 73 VU White-browed Bushchat Saxicola macrorhynchus 50 VU Pale-backed Pigeon Columba eversmanni 74 VU White-throated Bushchat Saxicola insignis 51 VU Nilgiri Wood-pigeon Columba elphinstonii 75 VU Kashmir Flycatcher Ficedula subrubra 52 VU Pale-capped Pigeon Columba punicea 76 VU Yellow Weaver Ploceus megarhynchus 53 VU Dark-rumped Swift Apus acuticauda 77 VU Green Avadavat Amandava formosa 54 VU Rufous-necked Hornbill Aceros nipalensis 78 VU Yellow-breasted Bunting Emberiza aureola CR = Critically Endangered, EN = Endangered, DD = Data Deficient, VU = Vulnerable New research has shown it to be somewhat rare. Consequently, it is listed at Near Threatened. Previously listed as Near Threatened, the Wedge-billed Wren- babbler Sphenocichla humei has been downlisted among the rest to Least Concerned, following an evaluation of its population size. Elsewhere, the 2008 Red List makes grim reading with 1,226 species of bird in the world now threatened and eight species newly uplisted to Critically Endangered, the highest threat category. On the national front too, the picture is grim with an addition of two species to the list as against the list of 2007 totaling to 76. P. JEGANATHAN P. Jerdon’s Courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus Source: BirdLife International 2008/BNHS 4 BUCEROS Vol. 13 No. 1 (2008) III nternational News ata Chemicals Ltd (TCL) has finally Twithdrawn the much discredited Tata withdraws Natron Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) Report for the proposed Lake Natron soda ash plant. Project ESIA Report The development has been opposed by national NGOs in Tanzania, the Lake Natron Consultative Group (a consortium of 32 mainly East African Conservation Society of Tanzania their dream of attracting one million NGOs), BirdLife International and the (WCST, BirdLife in Tanzania) presented tourists by 2010 may not be achieved if Royal Society for the Protection of a strong case for the complete key attractions