Watervogels

Curlew (Numenius arquata) numbers in one of the birds' strongholds in southern England have experienced a "shocking decline", conservationists have said. Figures released by Wild New Forest (WNF) show a two-thirds decline in breeding pairs in the national park over the past 12 years. In 2004, about 100 breeding pairs were identified, compared with 40 recorded by volunteers in 2016. The curlew, with its long down-curved bill, is Europe's largest wading bird and it typically nests in open areas of heath and bog at ground level.

For Numeniini, a family of birds that includes Curlews and Godwits, new research indicates that these birds are at risk. A recent study by Royal Society for the Preservation of Birds (BirdLife in the UK), British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), and the International Wader Study Group suggests they could actually be one of the most threatened families of birds on earth. The study consulted over 100 experts who assessed the threats to Numeniini throughout their migratory regions and found that seven of the thirteen species are threatened with extinction.

“I am Assam’s State bird Deo hah. My current status is threatened. Please do not kill us, nor collect our ducklings or eggs” – reads a new campaign poster of wildlife NGO Aaranyak, starkly describing the current status of the State bird, the white-winged wood duck (Asarcornis scutulata). As the rhino continues to be the focus of wildlife conservation in the State, the numbers of the white-winged wood duck are dwindling slowly and silently with little or no attention coming from the State Government.

The number of nesting wading birds in South Florida, a key measure of Everglades health, sunk to a decade-long low last year, according to a South Florida Water Management District report released this week, the latest in a 22-year tally. Just over 26,000 nesting birds were counted across the Everglades and in Lake Okeechobee last year, well below the 10-year annual average of about 42,000.

Pesticide residue from rice polders and nutrient discharge from urban settlements are aggravating the pollution of Vembanad Lake, playing havoc with the fragile wetland ecosystem and jeopardising its tourism potential. A study conducted by the Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS), Kumarakom, under Kerala Agricultural University (KAU), has reported a high level of eutrophication of the lake, a Ramsar site and the hub of backwater tourism in Kerala. Data collected by the environmental surveillance centre at RARS indicate that the organic pollution of the lake is getting worse.

Over the last 14 years, waterbirds in Myanmar's Irrawddy River declined by 60% to 90% depending on the species. Scientists working for Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and Manfred Hermsen Foundation have repeated an ornithology survey of the Myitkyina to Mandalay stretch of the Irrawaddy River last carried out in 2003. They found that many waterbirds have declined sharply. More than 20,000 waterbirds (61 species) were recorded along the river, with small pratincole (Glareola lactea) and ruddy shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea) the most numerous recorded.

The mighty Brahmaputra and its tributaries serve as the winter visiting ground to many migratory birds. From the marshes of Kaziranga to the forests of Eaglenest in western Arunachal and further up to the alpine areas of Arunachal -- one come across more than 750 species of birds that includes most of the winter visitors. Assam, along with the other six northeastern states, shares a common migration route for many of the avifauna that flies over Bhutan, Tibet, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh.