JOIN USThe International Union for Conservation of Nature has added eight more birds from India to the red list of endangered species, indicating the effects of losing grasslands and wetlands to relentless development.
The list classifies 180 birds as endangered, while it had only 173 last year. Just one species has managed to wriggle out of the endangered category. The data on bird population has been gathered after studies by BNHS-India, BirdLife International (UK) and other partner organizations.
Among the eight newly added species to the red list, threats to five of them has been uplisted (an indication of the increasing threat levels), including Northern Lapwing (a grassland bird) and four wetland birds -Red Knot, Curlew Sandpiper, Eurasian Oystercatcher and Bar-Tailed Godwit.
Two other wetland birds, Horned Grebe and Common Pochard have been uplisted from least concerned to vulnerable.
Steppe Eagle (a raptor from grasslands), a regular winter visitor to the subcontinent, has been uplisted from Least Concerned to Endangered, while passage migrant — European Roller — has been downlisted (decreased threat level) from near threatened to least concerned.