Extinction Risk of 4 Indian Bird Species Increases, IUCN Red List Moves Them to Higher Threat Categories

New Delhi: The extinction risk of four bird species found in India in open grassland ecosystems – that are officially categorised as ‘wastelands’ – has increased. These four species including the Indian Courser, a bird that dwells in open habitats only in the Indian subcontinent, have been moved from the ‘Least Concern’ to the ‘Near Threatened’ and ‘Endangered’ categories, as per the latest update in the IUCN Red List.

The Red List of Threatened Species, established by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 1964, classifies species based on their extinction risks. It divides species into nine categories: Not Evaluated, Data Deficient, Least Concern, Near Threatened, Vulnerable, Endangered, Critically Endangered, Extinct in the Wild and Extinct (in increasing order of extinction).

Changes in extinction risks

The latest update, released on October 10 at Abu Dhabi, UAE, revealed changes in the conservation status of 12 Indian bird species. These species were among 1,360 bird species worldwide that were reassessed in the latest review. With this update, the IUCN Red List now includes 172,620 species of which 48,646 are threatened with extinction.

Of the 12 Indian species which were reassessed, eight have been ‘downlisted’, which signifies a positive trend in their conservation status. However, four species have been ‘uplisted’, indicating concerns about their population trends. The Indian Courser, a bird endemic to the Indian subcontinent, is one of them: it has been uplisted from Least Concern to Near Threatened. Other species such as the Indian Roller and the Rufous-tailed Lark have also been uplisted to Near Threatened, while the Long-billed Grasshopper-warbler has been categorised as Endangered.

All these four species that have been uplisted depend on what are known as ‘Open Natural Ecosystems’, which include habitats like grasslands, semi-arid landscapes, deserts, croplands, hilly scrublands and fallow lands. Expansion of power infrastructure, intensification of agriculture, introduction of invasive species, and conversion of grasslands into woodlands through afforestation are some of the threats that these habitats currently witness.

“What we often call ‘wastelands’ are actually rich Open Natural Ecosystems — grasslands, scrublands, and semi-arid habitats that sustain unique biodiversity. Recognising that much of India’s so-called wasteland is ecologically vital is the first step toward reversing decades of neglect,” wildlife biologist and ecologist M.D. Madhusudan, who has mapped all open natural ecosystems in India, said in a statement.

The IUCN Red List utilised data in the State of India’s Birds report, which is an assessment of the distribution range, trends in abundance, and conservation status for several bird species that occur in India.

“The uplisting of the Indian Courser is not just a warning – it’s an alarm bell for India’s vanishing grasslands,” commented Sujit Narawde, deputy director, Bombay Natural History Society. “These open landscapes, once vibrant with life and tradition, are shrinking rapidly. If we don’t act now to protect and restore natural grasslands, we risk losing the very species that define our open country. Conservation must extend beyond protected areas and embrace coordinated efforts across agencies to safeguard birds surviving in human-dominated landscapes.”

Extinctions

Per the latest Red List update, six species from across the world are now extinct. These include the Christmas Island shrew (Crocidura trichura) and a species of cone snail (Conus lugubris), both of which have become extinct since the late 1980s; the slender-billed curlew (Numenius tenuirostris), a migratory shorebird last recorded in Morocco in 1995; and a tropical tree related to the ebony called Diospyros angulata, which was last recorded in the early 1850s. Three Australian mammals, the marl (Perameles myosuros), the south-eastern striped bandicoot (Perameles notina); and the Nullarbor barred bandicoot (Perameles papillon); as well as Delissea sinuata, a plant native to the Hawaiian Islands, were assessed for the first time and entered the Red List as Extinct.

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