The Indian Peafowl, which is India’s national bird, has increased in numbers where as the country saw a 50 per cent decline of other species of birds.ò This was revealed in the State of India’s Birds 2020, a first comprehensive study of birds of India.
The report said 79 per cent of the bird species showed decline in the last five years. About 48 per cent of the species remained stable in the long term. The report was released on the sidelines of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.
One of the good news is that the population of House Sparrow is found stable. But they showed a decline in major cities. The report has classified 101 species as of high conservation concern. The assessment is based after watching 886 species through various organisations and bird watchers. “The report highlights common species that are declining sharply. Migrator shorebirds, raptors and habitat specialists are among others that show a greater decline. Small Minivet, Oriental Skylark and Common Greenshank have declined, the report said.
It noted that about 80 per cent of the species of the 146 species for which current annual trends could be estimated are declining. Among this, 50 per cent are declining fast, the report said. With respect to 301 bird species for which long term trends were calculated, the report said 52 per cent showed decline since 2000. Of this, 22 per cent showed fast decline. The report pointed out that 43 percent showed a stable long-term trend. Five per cent of this stable trend showed much increasing trend, it said.
The report is based on ten million observations by about 15,000 birdwatchers.
