Untitled - ENVIS Centre on Avian Ecology

VULNERABLE
THREATENED BIRDS OF INDIA
Buceros Vol. 7 & No. 1 & 2 (2002)
knowledge of the pressures on the forests it inhabits is
equally scant. A threat common to all forest birds in northeast
India, however, is the widespread damage to habitat
caused by semi-shifting cultivation or “jhum”; although
this practice has encouraged bamboo growth it has caused
widespread loss of forest except in steep inaccessible areas
where cultivation is difficult 8 . Habitat in the Shillong-
Cherra-Mawphlang area of the Khasia hills was recently
described as a mosaic of cultivation and patches of
broadleaved evergreen forest (sometimes mixed with
pine), but with habitat covering the ridge above Shillong
being in particularly good condition (C. R. Robson in
litt. 2001). Elsewhere in the area remaining forest was
either confined to low-stature (perhaps secondary) locally
protected (sacred) groves or restricted to very steep
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inaccessible slopes 5 .
Conservation measures: None is known apart from the
existence of locally protected sacred groves (including
Mawphlang) that might provide important protection for
the species 5 .
References: 1. Ali and Ripley 1978–1999; 2. Grimmett
et al. 1998; 3. Baker 1894–1901; 4. Grimmett 1979; 5.
BirdLife International 2001; 6. Baker 1922–1930; 7.
Stattersfield et al. 1998; 8. Choudhury 1992.
Tawny-breasted Wren-babbler in some of the IBAs
Assam: 1.Jatinga, 2. Barail range and North Cachar RF;
Mizoram: Murlen NP.
n n n
SNOWY-THROATED BABBLER Stachyris oglei Vulnerable B1+2a,b,c,d,e; C1
This species is inferred to have a small, severely fragmented, declining range and
population because of loss of scrub and forest to logging and shifting cultivation.
These factors qualify it as Vulnerable.
Distribution: The Snowy-throated Babbler occupies an
extremely restricted range in the forested hills of northeastern
India and extreme northern Myanmar.
In India the species is a rare resident with a restricted
range, apparently confined to eastern Arunachal Pradesh 1 .
Although many specimens are listed from “Margherita”,
Assam 2 , it is likely that these are all from above this town
in the Naga/Patkai range, and thus near Tirap in Arunachal
Pradesh 3 .
Population: The tiny global range of this species suggests
that overall numbers are low. It has always been thought
very rare 1,4 . Recently it has been found in good numbers
in Namdapha National Park: 20–25 individuals were seen
along a few kilometres of road from Deban to
Vijaynagar 5 , and around 20 were seen daily around
Embeong 6 .
that are entirely restricted to the “Eastern Himalayas
Endemic Bird Area”, threats and conservation measures
are profiled 7 . As there are still fairly large areas of
unsurveyed forest in its restricted range the species is
probably not in immediate danger. However, these
circumstances may change and pressures on the region’s
habitat appear to be increasing.
Conservation measures: In India the species occurs in
Namdapha National Park and may well be found in
nearby Kamlang Wildlife Sanctuary.
References: 1. Ali and Ripley 1978-1999; 2. Stevens
1914-1915; 3. Choudhury 2000; 4. Harington 1914–1915;
5. Alström et al. 1994; 6. Hornbuckle 1998b; 7.
Stattersfield et al. 1998
Main threats: The Snowy-throated Babbler is one of
Snowy-throated Babbler in some of the IBAs
Arunachal Pradesh: 1. Namdapha and Kamalang WLS;
Assam: Upper Dihing (East block) - Kakojan RF, West
nine threatened members of the suite of 19 bird species Bengal: Gorumara NP
n n n
JERDON’S BABBLER Chrysomma altirostre Vulnerable A1c; A2c; C1
This species’s small population is inferred to be rapidly declining as a result of extensive loss of its
tall, wet grassland habitat, primarily due to drainage and conversion to cultivation. It therefore
qualifies as Vulnerable.
Distribution: Jerdon’s Babbler occurs in the Indus valley
of Pakistan, the plains and Brahmaputra valley of north-
east India, and the terai of Nepal, historically from Myanmar
and possibly from Bangladesh. There are three disjunct