Environment and Disaster Management › Species in news
हिन्दी — Read in HindiBirds
India's birds, above all the threatened ones: their status and habitat, the drugs, power lines and lost grassland that kill them, captive breeding and release, and the counts of migratory and resident birds. Prelims has asked about Desert National Park.
Foundation note: India's vultures
All 3 articles shown; the 3 that changed from 1 to 31 July 2026 are marked.Show only these
Bustard
The Great Indian Bustard
Copy link to The Great Indian BustardPrelims
The Great Indian Bustard, Ardeotis nigriceps, is a large ground dwelling grassland bird and the State bird of Rajasthan.
- It is Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List and in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
- It lives mainly in the Thar, including Desert National Park, with a surviving population in the Kachchh grassland of Gujarat.
- Collision with power lines is its best known threat.
- Conservation breeding runs at Ramdevra in Jaisalmer with the Wildlife Institute of India.
What changed
27 Jul 2026BriefThree captive bred chicks were moved into a rewilding tunnel at the Godawan Conservation Centre, Ramdevra, the first time the programme has reached this stage. The Hindu, 27 Jul 2026: Three Great Indian Bustard chicks placed in rewilding tunnel (opens in a new tab)
UPSC has asked
- Prelims 2020: Desert National Park
Other threatened birds
White-bellied heron
Copy link to White-bellied heronPrelims and Mains
The white-bellied heron (Ardea insignis) is Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List and is in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
- India holds only six to nine birds, on the Noa-Dehing, Lahm and Lohit rivers, with about 70 per cent in the Lohit basin.
- It feeds only on fish taken in shallow water and nests in tall trees in mature riverside forest.
What changed
22 Jul 2026New
- The Forest Advisory Committee has given in principle clearance to a 1,200 MW hydroelectric project on the Lohit that would fell more than 33,000 trees.
- The project's environmental impact assessment does not mention the species.
Mains: an impact assessment that omits a Schedule I species shows how weak appraisal can be.
Indian skimmer
Copy link to Indian skimmerPrelims and Mains
The Indian skimmer, Rynchops albicollis, is an Endangered fish eating waterbird whose lower mandible is longer than the upper, which lets it skim the water surface in flight.
- It nests in shallow scrapes on sandbars exposed in mid river during the low water season, so it depends on a natural flow regime.
- A nest guardianship programme with local people has taken numbers in the Chambal from 420 in 2022 to more than 1,000.
What changed
13 Jul 2026BriefThe Chambal programme won a 2026 Whitley Award and is being extended to the Ganga and Yamuna confluence at Prayagraj. Frontline, 13 Jul 2026: Two Indian conservationists won the 2026 Whitley Award, one for the Indian skimmer in the Chambal and one for the Himalayan salamander in Darjeeling. (opens in a new tab)