Threatened Species of India

Great Indian BustardArdeotis nigriceps

BirdEndemic · Indian subcontinent

Arid and semi-arid grassland, scrub and cropland. Core population in and around Desert National Park, Jaisalmer.

State bird of Rajasthan and among the heaviest flying birds. Fewer than 150 birds survive. Collision with overhead power lines is the single largest cause of adult mortality; the Supreme Court ordered undergrounding in 2021 and modified that order in March 2024. Conservation breeding centres at Sam and Ramdevra.

Rajasthan · Gujarat · Maharashtra · Karnataka · Andhra Pradesh

Lesser FloricanSypheotides indicus

BirdEndemic · Indian subcontinent

Tall monsoon grassland and cropland; breeds during the south west monsoon.

The smallest bustard in the world. The male leaps repeatedly above the grass in a display flight. Uplisted to Critically Endangered in 2020 after a very steep decline.

Rajasthan · Gujarat · Madhya Pradesh · Maharashtra · Andhra Pradesh

Bengal FloricanHoubaropsis bengalensis

Bird

Alluvial grassland of the Terai and the Brahmaputra floodplain. Strongholds at Manas and Kaziranga.

Males perform a spectacular leaping display. The Indian population is the largest remaining anywhere.

Assam · Uttar Pradesh · Arunachal Pradesh · West Bengal

Baer's PochardAythya baeri

Bird

Deep freshwater lakes and marshes in winter, notably Loktak Lake and the Assam beels.

A migratory diving duck that breeds in eastern Russia and north east China.

Assam · Manipur · Bihar · Uttar Pradesh · West Bengal

Siberian CraneLeucogeranus leucogeranus

Bird

Shallow freshwater marshes. Formerly wintered at Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Bharatpur.

The western population that came to India has not been recorded since 2002 and is effectively lost. Its decline is the standard illustration of flyway-level conservation failure.

Rajasthan

Sociable LapwingVanellus gregarius

Bird

Dry short grassland, fallow fields and the margins of wetlands in winter.

Breeds in the Central Asian steppe. Recorded at Sultanpur, Nalsarovar and the Banni grasslands.

Rajasthan · Gujarat · Haryana · Punjab · Maharashtra

Spoon-billed SandpiperCalidris pygmaea

Bird

Intertidal mudflats and saltpans of the east coast, notably Chilika Lake and Point Calimere.

Named for its unique spatulate bill, used with a side to side sweeping action. Breeds only in north east Russia.

Odisha · West Bengal · Tamil Nadu · Andhra Pradesh

White-bellied HeronArdea insignis

Bird

Undisturbed rivers and riverine wetland in the eastern Himalayan foothills. Recorded at Namdapha and, since 2026, at Glaw Lake in the Kamlang Tiger Reserve.

One of the largest and rarest herons in the world, with perhaps 60 birds left globally.

Arunachal Pradesh · Assam

Yellow-breasted BuntingEmberiza aureola

Bird

Reedbeds, paddy stubble and tall grassland in winter.

Once one of the most abundant birds in Eurasia. Mass trapping for food in East Asia drove a collapse of about 90 per cent, taking it from Least Concern to Critically Endangered in under twenty years.

Assam · West Bengal · Manipur · Nagaland · Bihar

Bugun LiocichlaLiocichla bugunorum

BirdEndemic · Eaglenest, Arunachal Pradesh

Dense scrub and secondary growth between 2,000 and 2,350 m in and around Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary.

Described only in 2006, the first new bird species described from India in over half a century. Named after the Bugun community, whose community reserve protects it. Fewer than 20 birds known.

Arunachal Pradesh

Jerdon's CourserRhinoptilus bitorquatus

BirdEndemic · Eastern Ghats, Andhra Pradesh

Sparse scrub jungle with bare ground in the Sri Lankamalleswara Wildlife Sanctuary and the Penna valley.

A nocturnal courser rediscovered in 1986 by Bharat Bhushan using traditional trapper knowledge, after being presumed extinct for 86 years. Not confirmed since 2009.

Andhra Pradesh

Himalayan QuailOphrysia superciliosa

BirdEndemic · Western Himalaya

Tall grass and scrub on steep slopes around Mussoorie and Nainital, 1,600 to 2,400 m.

Possibly Extinct. The last confirmed record is from 1876.

Uttarakhand

Pink-headed DuckRhodonessa caryophyllacea

Bird

Secluded pools and elephant grass swamps of the Ganga and Brahmaputra floodplains.

Possibly Extinct; last certain Indian record 1949. The male's pink head was unique among ducks.

Bihar · West Bengal · Assam · Uttar Pradesh

White-rumped VultureGyps bengalensis

Bird

Open country, village outskirts and forest edge across the plains.

Once possibly the most abundant large raptor in the world. Populations fell by more than 99 per cent in the 1990s from diclofenac poisoning acquired at cattle carcasses. Veterinary diclofenac was banned in 2006 and meloxicam promoted as the safe substitute.

Assam · Madhya Pradesh · Rajasthan · Gujarat · Haryana · Punjab · Uttar Pradesh · Bihar · Maharashtra · Karnataka · West Bengal

Indian Vulture or Long-billed VultureGyps indicus

BirdEndemic · Indian subcontinent

Cliffs, gorges and ruins in the Deccan and central India. Nests colonially on rock faces.

One of the three Gyps vultures devastated by diclofenac. Vulture Safe Zones and the Jatayu conservation breeding centres at Pinjore, Rajabhatkhawa and Rani are the recovery programme.

Rajasthan · Madhya Pradesh · Maharashtra · Karnataka · Gujarat · Andhra Pradesh · Telangana

Slender-billed VultureGyps tenuirostris

Bird

Terai and Brahmaputra floodplain, nesting in tall trees rather than on cliffs.

The rarest of the Indian Gyps vultures, separated from the Indian vulture as a full species in 2001.

Assam · West Bengal · Bihar · Uttar Pradesh · Arunachal Pradesh

Red-headed VultureSarcogyps calvus

Bird

Open wooded country and dry deciduous forest, generally away from towns.

Also called the king vulture for the bare red head and neck. Solitary rather than colonial, and usually first at a carcass.

Madhya Pradesh · Rajasthan · Maharashtra · Assam · Uttar Pradesh · Karnataka · Bihar

Masked FinfootHeliopais personatus

Bird

Shaded, slow-moving forest streams and mangrove creeks, including the Sundarbans.

An extremely secretive waterbird with lobed toes. Possibly no longer resident in India.

Assam · West Bengal

Egyptian VultureNeophron percnopterus

Bird

Open arid country, village edges, rubbish tips and cliffs for nesting.

One of very few birds known to use tools: it throws stones to break open ostrich and other large eggs. The smallest of the Indian vultures and largely resident.

Rajasthan · Gujarat · Haryana · Madhya Pradesh · Maharashtra · Uttar Pradesh · Punjab · Karnataka · Bihar

Steppe EagleAquila nipalensis

Bird

Open grassland, agricultural fields, wetland margins and rubbish dumps in winter. Large congregations at Jorbeer near Bikaner and in the Rann of Kutch.

A long-distance migrant breeding in the Central Asian steppe. India is one of its most important wintering grounds; secondary poisoning at carcass dumps is an emerging threat.

Gujarat · Rajasthan · Ladakh · Madhya Pradesh · Haryana · Uttar Pradesh · Bihar

Indian SkimmerRynchops albicollis

Bird

Sandbars and mid-river islands of large rivers. Chambal is the global stronghold; winters at Chilika and Bhitarkanika.

The lower mandible is markedly longer than the upper. It feeds by flying low with the lower bill slicing the water surface, snapping shut on contact with a fish. Uplisted from Vulnerable in 2020.

Madhya Pradesh · Uttar Pradesh · Rajasthan · Odisha · Andhra Pradesh · Assam · Bihar

Black-bellied TernSterna acuticauda

Bird

Sandbanks and shingle islands of large rivers such as the Ganga, Chambal and Brahmaputra.

Nests directly on open river sand, which makes it extremely vulnerable to sand mining, dam-driven flow changes and dogs.

Madhya Pradesh · Uttar Pradesh · Assam · Odisha · Bihar · Rajasthan

Pallas's Fish EagleHaliaeetus leucoryphus

Bird

Large lakes, rivers and wetlands with tall nesting trees. Recorded from many Ramsar sites including Bhindawas, Haiderpur and Wadhvana.

Breeds in winter, unusually for a raptor, timing chick rearing to the dry-season concentration of fish.

Assam · Arunachal Pradesh · Uttar Pradesh · Bihar · West Bengal · Haryana · Punjab

Forest OwletAthene blewitti

BirdEndemic · Central India

Dry deciduous teak forest with open glades. Melghat, Tansa and the Toranmal belt are key sites.

Rediscovered in 1997 after 113 years, in a rediscovery that also exposed a famous nineteenth century specimen fraud. Diurnal, unusually for an owl, and hunts lizards from an exposed perch.

Maharashtra · Madhya Pradesh · Gujarat · Odisha

Nordmann's or Spotted GreenshankTringa guttifer

Bird

Coastal mudflats, saltpans and estuarine lagoons in winter, including Chilika and Point Calimere.

One of the rarest shorebirds in Asia, breeding only on the Sea of Okhotsk coast, where it nests in larch trees rather than on the ground.

Odisha · West Bengal · Tamil Nadu · Andhra Pradesh

White-winged Wood DuckAsarcornis scutulata

Bird

Secluded pools and swampy clearings inside dense tropical evergreen forest. Namdapha and Dihing Patkai are strongholds.

State bird of Assam, known locally as deo hanh, the spirit duck, for its ghostly nocturnal calls. Nests in tree hollows.

Assam · Arunachal Pradesh · Nagaland · Meghalaya

Great KnotCalidris tenuirostris

Bird

Intertidal mudflats of both coasts, notably the Gulf of Kachchh and Point Calimere.

Undertakes one of the longest non-stop flights of any shorebird. Its decline is driven almost entirely by reclamation of Yellow Sea staging mudflats.

Gujarat · Odisha · Tamil Nadu · Andhra Pradesh · Maharashtra · West Bengal

Finn's WeaverPloceus megarhynchus

BirdEndemic · Terai belt

Tall wet grassland and sugarcane in the terai, nesting colonially in isolated trees.

Also called the yellow weaver. Unlike the common baya weaver it builds an untidy globular nest high in a solitary tree and is far more dependent on intact grassland.

Uttarakhand · Uttar Pradesh · Assam · West Bengal

Manipur Bush QuailPerdicula manipurensis

Bird

Dense wet grassland and reedbeds of the Manipur valley and the Brahmaputra plain.

Extremely secretive, with almost no confirmed recent records outside a few Assam grasslands.

Manipur · Assam · Nagaland · Meghalaya

Sarus CraneAntigone antigone

Bird

Shallow marshes, flooded paddy and village ponds, largely outside protected areas. The Etawah and Mainpuri belt of Uttar Pradesh holds the largest population.

The tallest flying bird in the world, standing up to 1.8 m. State bird of Uttar Pradesh. Pairs mate for life and are a folk symbol of marital devotion; the Ramayana tradition links the killing of a sarus to Valmiki's first verse. Sarsai Nawar Jheel, a Ramsar site, is named for it.

Uttar Pradesh · Madhya Pradesh · Rajasthan · Gujarat · Bihar · Haryana · Maharashtra · Assam

Great HornbillBuceros bicornis

Bird

Tall, closed-canopy evergreen and moist deciduous forest of the Western Ghats and the north east.

State bird of Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh. The hollow casque on the bill amplifies its calls. The female seals herself into a tree cavity with mud and droppings, leaving only a slit through which the male feeds her, so the loss of large nesting trees is fatal to breeding. A major seed disperser of large-fruited rainforest trees.

Kerala · Karnataka · Tamil Nadu · Maharashtra · Arunachal Pradesh · Assam · Meghalaya · Nagaland · Uttarakhand · West Bengal

Rufous-necked HornbillAceros nipalensis

Bird

Broadleaf evergreen hill forest of the eastern Himalaya, 600 to 2,200 m. Namdapha and Neora Valley are key sites.

The rarest of India's large hornbills, with the male showing a deep rufous head and neck. Hunted for its casque and tail feathers, used in traditional headgear.

Arunachal Pradesh · Assam · Sikkim · Nagaland · West Bengal

Narcondam HornbillRhyticeros narcondami

BirdEndemic · Narcondam Island

Evergreen forest on Narcondam, a single volcanic island of about 6.8 square kilometres.

Has one of the smallest ranges of any bird in the world, confined to a single island. About 1,000 birds. A proposed radar installation on the island became a well-known conservation controversy.

Andaman & Nicobar Islands

Nicobar MegapodeMegapodius nicobariensis

BirdEndemic · Nicobar Islands

Coastal forest just behind the beach on Great Nicobar and neighbouring islands.

Does not incubate its eggs with body heat. It builds a large mound of sand and rotting vegetation and lets fermentation and solar heat do the work, regulating temperature by adding or removing material. Badly hit by the 2004 tsunami and now exposed to the Great Nicobar development project.

Andaman & Nicobar Islands

Nilgiri Wood PigeonColumba elphinstonii

BirdEndemic · Western Ghats

Canopy of shola and wet evergreen forest, 800 to 2,000 m.

Recognised by a chequerboard pattern of black and white on the nape. An important disperser of large forest fruit seeds.

Kerala · Tamil Nadu · Karnataka · Maharashtra · Goa

Green AvadavatAmandava formosa

BirdEndemic · Central India

Tall grass, scrub and cropland on the Deccan plateau and around Mount Abu.

A small green and yellow finch trapped heavily for the cage bird trade, which is the main reason for its decline.

Madhya Pradesh · Rajasthan · Maharashtra · Chhattisgarh · Gujarat

Swamp FrancolinFrancolinus gularis

Bird

Tall wet grassland and reedbeds of the terai and Brahmaputra floodplain. Dudhwa, Jaldapara and Kaziranga hold good numbers.

Depends entirely on tall, wet grassland, so it is one of the sharpest indicators of terai grassland health.

Uttar Pradesh · Assam · Bihar · West Bengal · Uttarakhand

Marbled TealMarmaronetta angustirostris

Bird

Shallow brackish and freshwater wetlands in winter, including Nalsarovar and the Kachchh wetlands.

One of the most threatened ducks of the western Palearctic, with the Indian wintering population at the eastern edge of its range.

Gujarat · Rajasthan · Punjab · Haryana

Common PochardAythya ferina

Bird

Deep freshwater lakes and reservoirs in winter, recorded at most northern Indian Ramsar sites.

A common winter duck in India that was uplisted to Vulnerable in 2015 because of steep declines on its European breeding grounds, a useful example of a species that appears abundant locally but is threatened globally.

Rajasthan · Gujarat · Punjab · Haryana · Uttar Pradesh · Bihar · Assam · Madhya Pradesh

River TernSterna aurantia

Bird

Sandbars and rocky islets in large rivers and reservoirs. Nests colonially at Ranganathittu, the Chambal and Bhadra.

Uplisted from Least Concern to Vulnerable in 2020. Its ground nests on river sand are exposed to sand mining, altered flows and flooding from dam releases.

Madhya Pradesh · Uttar Pradesh · Karnataka · Odisha · Assam · Rajasthan · Maharashtra · Bihar

Wood SnipeGallinago nemoricola

Bird

Alpine and subalpine marshy meadows in summer; descends to Himalayan foothills and, rarely, the Western Ghats in winter.

Very poorly known and thought to have a small, declining population.

Uttarakhand · Himachal Pradesh · Sikkim · Arunachal Pradesh · Jammu & Kashmir · Kerala · Tamil Nadu