If you are a worried bird watcher, thankfully you would know before any explanation follows that we are not talking about construction sites in urban jungles here.
Signs of concern deepen as more and more species of birds seen in India keep running into the wall of critically endangered species, thanks to mindless urbanisation, habitat changes, poaching, contamination, crop and land use changes, de-forestation, pollution and other factors.
In a latest count by the International Union for Conversation of Nature (IUCN) for 2013
, the Great Indian Bustard, Siberian Crane, White backed Vulture and Red-headed Vulture, are suffering a decline, as per some reports.There is also talk of some unusual dangers posed by infrastructure side like collisions with vehicles, power-lines and wind turbines pose danger to the birds.
Other studies by Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) as highlighted in media columns, point at development pressures surging in grasslands and forests while decapitation of forests in the Western Ghats and the Himalayas keeps raising alarms.
But then all hope is still not lost as one finds a page in Silicon India highlighting how the country emerged as a nation that houses largest number of bird species in the world. This links back to some findings of a recent global event—Great Backyard Bird Count, initiated by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society in the U.S. , an event that involved thousands of birdwatchers across the globe watching and counting birds.
Now with 765 species, India has apparently got itself perched well among the list of 127 countries. Last year, submission by India was to the tune of 467 checklists, and made it as the third highest contributor after the U.S. (1, 20,919) and Canada (12,599). We also came third in the list of number of species spotted — 544. Mexico however, recorded the maximum number of species with 645, while the U.S. recorded 638.
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