28 bird species from NE of high conservation priority: Report

GUWAHATI: The 2023 edition of the ‘State of India’s Birds’ report, a periodic assessment of the distribution range, trends in abundance, and conservation status for most of the bird species that regularly occur in India, has determined “highest conservation priority” for four avian species of the state.

In all, 178 species are categorised as of ‘High Conservation Priority’ across the country, which includes 28 from the northeastern region.

The report states that these species have been categorized as high priority by virtue of their range within India being very restricted, their long-term and current annual trends are either inconclusive or there is not sufficient data to calculate trends in abundance and hence, more monitoring is needed to understand the trends of these species with small range sizes.

It pointed out that birds in open habitats have to navigate a number of threats that are often unique to such landscapes. “Broadly, these birds face two categories of threats — those from conversion of open to closed habitat and those that directly cause mortality and lower survival,” the report said.

The report has recommended systematic monitoring of Arunachal Pradesh’s hornbill. Theee hornbill species— Great Hornbill, Wreathed Hornbill and Oriental Pied Hornbil found in the frontier state.

“Overall, encounter rates appear to have remained stable for Great Hornbill and Wreathed Hornbill, although some years have shown a dip in numbers, with a small increase in 2019 and 2020,” while the “Oriental Pied Hornbill encounters have been more than double of the two large hornbill species, while encounter rates were five times higher in 2020 than in other years,” the report added.

The report stated that Slender-billed Vulture, a severely threatened inhabitant of the Himalayan Terai and the Brahmaputra floodplains, faces threat of “deliberate carcass poisoning.”

“If vulture declines are to be halted and reversed, we urgently require measures that stop the veterinary use of toxic NSAIDs. A combination of bans, education and alternatives may be needed for this,” the report added.

As conservation research and policy, the report stated that open habitats require management practices that allow them to retain their “openness”.