Untitled - ENVIS Centre on Avian Ecology

Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Democratic
Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi,
Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique,
South Africa, Angola and Namibia 1 . It occurs rarely in
India, Sri Lanka 2 , and Myanmar. Its range has
contracted and numbers have declined since the late
nineteenth century: although the Scandinavian
population has stabilised, there are continuing rapid
declines in the southern forest and forest-steppe zones
Buceros Vol. 7, No. 1 & 2 (2002)
of Russia and Ukraine, largely as a result of the loss (to
farmland and reservoirs) of nesting habitats—which
include floodplain and tussock meadows, natural fens
with scattered bushes, and peatlands up to 1,200 m—
compounded by hunting in eastern Europe and in its
wintering range 1 . CMS Appendix II.
References: 1. del Hoyo et al. 1996; 2. Grimmett et al.
1998.
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ASIAN DOWITCHER Limnodromus semipalmatus
Criteria nearly met: A1c,d,e; A2c,d,e; C1.
It has a disjunct breeding range in the steppe regions that
extend from West to East Siberia in Russia, and south
into Mongolia and Heilongjiang in north-east mainland
China 1 . It has been recorded as a non-breeding visitor to
Japan, North Korea, South Korea, mainland China,
Hong Kong, Taiwan (China), Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,
India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand,
Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore,
Brunei, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia and
New Zealand 2,3 . It breeds in extensive freshwater
wetlands in the steppe and forest-steppe zones, and during
the non-breeding season it occurs in sheltered coastal
environments, primarily estuarine and intertidal mudflats,
lagoons, creeks and saltworks 1 . Recent population
estimates include 15,000–20,000 birds 4 . It is dependent
on rather a small number of wetlands, notably the
wintering sites at the Banyuasin delta on Sumatra, where
up to 13,000 were estimated in 1988, and Ujung Pangkah
in East Java. It may therefore be particularly vulnerable
to habitat loss, hunting, pollution and other pressures on
both the breeding and wintering grounds.
References: 1. del Hoyo et al. 1996; 2. Mundkur et al.
1995a; 3. Grimmett et al. 1998; 4. Rose and Scott 1997.
BEACH STONE-PLOVER Esacus magnirostris Criterion nearly met: C1.
It is widespread around coasts from the Andaman Islands,
Mergui archipelago, Myanmar, islands off peninsular
Thailand, and Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore
through Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea,
the Solomon Islands and Australia 1 . The range is,
however, essentially linear so that, despite ranging from
the farthest point west in Australia north round to south of
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the farthest point east, its total population there may be as
few as 1,000 birds 2 ; it is very rare on and around Sumatra,
and there appears to be extensive (but wholly unquantified)
human disturbance of beach habitats in many areas 1 .
References: 1. del Hoyo et al. 1996; 2. Marchant and
Higgins 1993.
BLACK-BELLIED TERN Sterna acuticauda Criteria nearly met: A1a,c,d; A2a,c,d; C1.
It is known from southern mainland China (previously
regular in Yunnan, now very rare), Pakistan (frequent
in northern Sind and Punjab), India (widespread and
locally fairly common; declining in Gujarat), Nepal
(locally fairly common), Bangladesh (previously
common; now a local breeder), Myanmar (previously
abundant, now a scarce to uncommon resident, apparently
fewer than 25 pairs surviving), Thailand (formerly
resident in the north-west, now very rare and probably
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extinct as a breeding species), Laos (previously bred in
large numbers along the Mekong channel, now very
rarely recorded), Cambodia (in the early 1960s
apparently fairly common along the Mekong, but very
few recent records) and Vietnam (formerly occurred
regularly in Cochinchina, and occasionally in Annam,
but no recent records) 1,2,3,4 . It is found on large rivers
(usually breeding on sandspits and islands) and marshes,
occasionally on smaller pools and ditches, up to 730 m
75 THREATENED BIRDS OF INDIA
NEAR THREATENED