Rise in waterbird count recorded in Kerala’s capital

Rise in waterbird count recorded in Kerala’s capital

Subject : Environment

Section: Msc

Concept :

• The Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) 2023 has recorded a 65% increase in water_birds in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram district, albeit with a slight dip in the count of species.

Asian Waterbird Census

• It is a citizen-science programme supporting conservation and management of wetlands and waterbirds worldwide.
• AWC is part of the global International Waterbird Census (IWC) coordinated by Wetlands International.
• AWC runs in parallel with other regional programmes of the IWC in Africa, Europe, West Asia, the Neotropics and the Caribbean.

AWC in India:

• It was initiated in the Indian subcontinent in 1987 and since then has grown rapidly to cover major regions of Asia, from Afghanistan eastwards to Japan, Southeast Asia and Australia.
• In India, AWC is jointly coordinated by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and Wetlands International.

Significance:

• It gives an idea of the birds at the wetland and the health of the wetland; the more the waterbirds, the more suitable the wetland is.
• It helps in better implementation of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) d the Convention on Biological Diversity‘s (CBD).

Main birds which were sighted during the census:

Oriental darter

• It is mainly found in freshwater rivers and ponds.
• Conservation status
• IUCN: Near Threat

Cattle egret

• Conservation status
• IUCN: Least Concern

Spot-billed Pelican

• It breeds in southern Asia from southern Iran across India east to Indonesia.
• Conservation status
• IUCN: Near Threatened
• Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule IV