Endangered Birds species of India

(Selected from IUCN Red List of Threatened Species) Ardeotis nigriceps (Great Indian Bustard) Status: Critically Endangered A2acde+4acde;C1 ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing This species has been uplisted to Critically Endangered as it has undergone an extremely rapid decline owing to a multitude of threats including habitat loss and degradation and disturbance. It now requires an urgent acceleration in targeted conservation actions in order to prevent it from becoming functionally extinct. Aceros narcondami (Narcondam Hornbill) Status: Endangered D ver 3.1 Pop. trend: unknown This hornbill has been uplisted to Endangered because new information suggests its very small population, which is restricted to one tiny island, consists of fewer than 250 mature individuals. Its population appears to be stable despite some degree of hunting and habitat degradation.

Aythya baeri (Baer's Pochard) Status: Endangered A2cd+3cd+4cd ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing This species has been uplisted to Endangered owing to an apparant accelleration in the rate of its decline, as measured by numbers on the wintering grounds. It is now absent or occurs in greatly reduced numbers over much of its former wintering grounds and is common nowhere. It is thought that hunting and wetland destruction are the key reasons for its decline. Cairina scutulata (White-winged Duck) Status: Endangered A2cd+3cd+4cd;C2a(i) ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing This forest duck is listed as Endangered because it has a very small and fragmented population which is undergoing a very rapid and continuing decline as a result of loss of and disturbance to riverine habitats. Heliopais personatus (Masked Finfoot) Status: Endangered A2cd+3cd+4cd ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing This elusive species has a very small, and very rapidly declining population as a result of the ongoing loss and degradation of wetlands and especially riverine lowland forest in Asia. This has resulted in its uplisting to Endangered.

Leptoptilos dubius (Greater Adjutant) Status: Endangered A2bcd+3bcd+4bcd;C2a(ii) ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing This wide-ranging and long-lived species has a very small population which is declining very rapidly. For these reasons it is classified as Endangered. Recent breeding failures in Assam (the species's stronghold) provide cause for concern and need to be closely monitored.

Myiomela albiventris (White-bellied Blue Robin) Status: Endangered B1ab(i,ii,iii,v) ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing This species has a very small and severely fragmented range which is declining rapidly as a result of conversion of forest habitats to plantations, agriculture and settlements. It therefore qualifies as Endangered. However, should research show that movement between forest patches in the Palni Hills is sufficient to consider individuals in the area a single population, its range could no longer be considered to be severely fragmented, and as a result the species may be downlisted in the future. Myiomela major (Nilgiri Blue Robin) Status: Endangered B1ab(i,ii,iii,v) ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing This species has a very small and severely fragmented range which is declining rapidly as a result of conversion of forest habitats to plantations, agriculture and settlements. It therefore qualifies as Endangered. Neophron percnopterus (Egyptian Vulture) Status: Endangered A2bcde+3bcde+4bcde ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing This long-lived species qualifies as Endangered owing to a recent and extremely rapid population decline in India (presumably resulting from poisoning by the veterinary drug Diclofenac) combined with severe long-term declines in Europe (>50% over the last three generations [42 years]) and West Africa, plus ongoing declines through much of the rest of its African range. Oxyura leucocephala (White-headed Duck) Status: Endangered A2bcde+4bcde ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing Despite uncertainty about the possible large-scale inter-year movement of birds between wintering sites, mid-winter counts indicate that the population of this species has undergone a very rapid decline, which qualifies it as Endangered. The Spanish subpopulation has now stabilised, and it is projected that the global rate of decline will be lower in the next ten years. Strophocincla cachinnans (Black-chinned Laughingthrush) Status: Endangered B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v) ver 3.1

Pop. trend: decreasing This laughingthrush has a very small and severely fragmented range which is declining rapidly as a result of conversion of forest habitats to plantations, agriculture and settlements. It therefore qualifies as Endangered. Sypheotides indicus (Lesser Florican) Status: Endangered A3cd+4cd ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing This species qualifies as Endangered because it has a very small, declining population, primarily a result of loss and degradation of its dry grassland habitat. The rate of decline is predicted to increase in the near future as pressure on the remaining grasslands intensifies.

Tringa guttifer (Spotted Greenshank) Status: Endangered C2a(i) ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing This species is listed as Endangered as it has a very small population which is declining as a result of the development of coastal wetlands throughout its range, principally for industry, infrastructure projects and aquaculture.

Ardea insignis (White-bellied Heron) Status: Critically Endangered C2a(i) ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing This heron is classified as Critically Endangered because it has an extremely small and rapidly declining population. This decline is projected to increase in the near future as a result of the loss and degradation of lowland forest and wetlands, and through direct exploitation and disturbance.

Ardeotis nigriceps (Great Indian Bustard) Status: Critically Endangered A2acde+4acde;C1 ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing Eurynorhynchus pygmeus (Spoon-billed Sandpiper) Status: Critically Endangered A2abcd+3bcd+4abcd;C2a(i) ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing This charismatic species is listed as Critically Endangered because it has an extremely small population which is undergoing an extremely rapid population reduction. This is because of a number of factors, including habitat loss in its breeding, passage and wintering grounds, which is compounded by disturbance, hunting and the effects of climate change. Fledging success and juvenile recruitment are very low, leading to fears that the population is ageing rapidly; action is now urgently required to prevent the extinction of this species.

Grus leucogeranus (Siberian Crane) Status: Critically Endangered A3bcd+4bcd ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing This long-lived crane qualifies as Critically Endangered owing to fears that its global population will decline extremely rapidly over the next three generations following the development of the Three Gorges Dam in China which threatens the wintering grounds used by the vast majority of individuals. If the impacts of this development prove to be less damaging than is feared, the species may warrant downlisting.

Gyps bengalensis (White-rumped Vulture) Status: Critically Endangered A2bce+4bce ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing

Gyps indicus (Indian Vulture) Status: Critically Endangered A2bce+4bce ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing This species is classified as Critically Endangered because it has suffered an extremely rapid population decline as a result of feeding on carcasses of animals treated with the veterinary drug diclofenac. Gyps tenuirostris (Slender-billed Vulture) Status: Critically Endangered A2ce+4ce ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing Heteroglaux blewitti (Forest Owlet) Status: Critically Endangered C2a(i) ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing Houbaropsis bengalensis (Bengal Florican) Status: Critically Endangered A3bcd+4abcd ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing This bustard has a very small, declining population; a trend that has recently become extremely rapid and is predicted to continue in the near future, largely as a result of widespread and ongoing conversion of its grassland habitat for agriculture. It therefore qualifies as Critically Endangered. Ophrysia superciliosa (Himalayan Quail) Status: Critically Endangered D ver 3.1 Rhinoptilus bitorquatus (Jerdon's Courser) Status: Critically Endangered C2a(ii) ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing Rhodonessa caryophyllacea (Pink-headed Duck) Status: Critically Endangered D ver 3.1 Pop. trend: unknown Sarcogyps calvus (Red-headed Vulture) Status: Critically Endangered A2abce+3bce+4abce ver 3.1

Pop. trend: decreasing Vanellus gregarius (Sociable Lapwing) Status: Critically Endangered A3bcd+4bcd ver 3.1 Pop. trend: decreasing This species is listed as Critically Endangered because its population has undergone a very rapid reduction, for reasons that are poorly understood; this decline is projected to continue and increase in the future. Recent fieldwork in Kazakhstan (and counts in Turkey and the Middle East) has shown the population to be substantially larger than previously feared, and further research may show that the species warrants downlisting to a lower category of threat.