Expert Asad Rahmani Explores Plummeting Bird Populations in New Book

UPDATE - follow-up to Interview | Ornithologist Asad Rahmani on his new book 'Where Have the Birds Gone?': Noted conservationist and ornithologist Asad Rahmani explores the severe crisis facing avian life in his latest book titled 'Where Have the Birds Gone? Empty Nests. Quiet Skies. One Question', published by Juggernaut Books.

The Threat To Birds

The Lucknow-based author, who is the former director of the Bombay Natural History Society, focuses initially on fourteen of India's most threatened birds. These include the white-bellied heron, green munia, the Bengal florican, and Jerdon's courser. Rahmani points to many factors driving this decline, such as habitat loss, alien species, wind farms, power lines, dams, illegal pet trade, pesticides, poaching, glass buildings, and free-ranging stray dogs. According to the 76-year-old expert, dogs have attacked eighty wild species in India, including thirty-one threatened species and four critically endangered ones. In Ladakh, free-ranging dogs kill nearly sixty percent of black-necked crane chicks, a vulnerable species. Other stark figures from the book show skylarks falling by nearly eighty percent and Indian rollers dropping by thirty percent over twelve years. Globally, BirdLife International and the IUCN note that 1,256 species, or eleven-point-five percent of all birds, face extinction, while fewer than 120 great Indian bustards remain mostly in two Rajasthan pockets.

Conservation Solutions

Despite these grim realities, Rahmani remains an optimist and highlights success stories like the greater adjutant, painted stork, and spot-billed pelican. His proposed solutions rely on common sense rather than advanced technology. Measures include expanding protected areas, conservation breeding, putting power lines underground along major migration routes, and reducing stray dog populations. He also stresses that flagship programs like Project Tiger are not enough because fifty percent of threatened and near-threatened birds do not live, breed, or spend much time in tiger reserves. Furthermore, he discusses the great Indian bustard, noting that high-tension power wires are their biggest killer because these birds have a narrow frontal vision and fly at the level of the wires when disturbed by predators like stray dogs.

Context

Books like this help document the rapid changes happening in local ecosystems and biodiversity across the country. Bird populations often serve as early indicators of wider environmental health issues, including climate change and habitat loss. Understanding these trends helps researchers and communities plan better protective steps for vulnerable wildlife.