5 Nagaland bird species in ‘High Conservation Concern’
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Brown-capped Laughingthrush (Trochalopteron austeni). (Photo: lonelyshrimp / CC0 via Wikimedia Commons)
Naga Wren Babbler ‘Near Threatened,’ Dark-rumped Swift and Bird Blyth's Tragopan listed as ‘Vulnerable' in IUCN Red List status
Morung Express News
Dimapur | February 18
Five species of birds from Nagaland are among the 101 species in India categorised under ‘High Conservation Concern,’ according to a report to which over 15,500 birdwatchers from across the country contributed.
The five species include Naga Wren Babbler, Moustached Laughingthrush, Dark-rumped Swift, Brown-capped Laughingthrush and Blyth’s Tragopan, informed the State of India’s Birds 2020 report.
Out the five, Naga Wren Babbler is listed as ‘Near Threatened,’ while Dark-rumped Swift and State's bird Blyth’s Tragopan are categorised as ‘Vulnerable’ in the IUCN Red List status. The other two are categorised under ‘Least Concern.’
However, based on the data, the five species of birds were categorised as ‘High Conservation Concern.’
The Naga Wren Babbler is further listed under the ‘Neglected Species in Focus’ category, as it is a “lesser-known species - typically small, and with restricted distribution.”
This cryptic species is a one of many range-restricted Wren Babblers found in North East India and is endemic to the Naga Hills and adjoining Manipur, the report noted.
“Only known from a few locations, the species may be threatened in most of its small range due to habitat loss,” it added.
The report is an assessment of the long-term trend, current trend, distribution range size, and the overall conservation status of 867 Indian bird species based largely on over 10 million observations contributed by 15,500 birdwatchers to the eBird platform (ebird.org/india).
The uploaded data was curated by over 140 volunteer editors based on three indices – two based on change in abundance: Long-term Trend (i.e. over 25+ years) and Current Annual Trend (i.e. over the past 5 years); and the third on measure of Distribution Range Size, the report added.
Using these three indices together with the IUCN Red List, each species was classified into categories of conservation concern for India: 442 into Low Concern, 319 into Moderate Concern and 101 into High Concern.
