India home to 12% of world’s bird species - Indian BIRDS Journal
A group of
ornithologists have come up with the first definitive checklist of Indian
birds, putting the number of species across the country at 1,263. With that
figure, India accounts for 12 per cent of the total number of bird species in
the world, amounting to 10,135.
“A Checklist of the birds of India”, authored
by Praveen J, Rajah Jayapal and Aasheesh Pittie and published this month by the
journal Indian
BIRDS, has painstakingly compiled the list of all avian fauna and
categorised and standardised them by their English names, scientific names and
modern taxonomy.
Details:
- Among the 1,263 species, Himalayan Forest Thrush (Zoothera salimalii) is the newest species discovered to science, while White-browed Crake Amaurornis cinerea is the latest entry to the country’s bird list.
- Taxonomically, the bird population in the country is divided into 23 orders, 107 families and 498 genera.
- Among the bird families, Muscicapidae (comprising chats, robins and flycatchers) are the most diverse, having as many as 97 species.
- Raptors or birds of prey, which include vultures, eagles, and kites, are represented by 57 species and typical babblers by 53 species.
- Of all the birds known to occur within the geographical boundaries of India, 61 species are endemic, found only in India, and another 134 species are near-endemic, meaning these are largely restricted to India with small populations found in neighbouring countries.
