New Book By Ornithologist Asad Rahmani Highlights Crisis Facing India's Birds

Renowned conservationist and ornithologist Asad Rahmani has released a new book titled Where Have the Birds Gone? Empty Nests. Quiet Skies. One Question. Published by Indian Pitta, an imprint of Juggernaut Books, the book is dedicated to lost species such as the mountain quail and the pink-headed duck. The Lucknow-based author, who is the former director of the Bombay Natural History Society and has authored 27 books and 150 scientific papers, examines the massive crisis facing avian life today. The book opens by focusing on 14 of India's most threatened birds, including the white-bellied heron, green munia, Bengal florican, and Jerdon's courser. Rahmani identifies multiple threats to bird survival, including habitat loss, alien species, wind farms, power lines, dams, illegal pet trade, pesticides, poaching, glass buildings, and free-ranging stray dogs. The 76-year-old notes that stray dogs have attacked 80 wild species in India, with 31 of them threatened and four critically endangered. In Ladakh, free-ranging dogs kill nearly 60 percent of the chicks of the vulnerable black-necked crane. Furthermore, skylarks have declined by nearly 80 percent, while Indian rollers have seen a 30 percent decline over 12 years. Globally, BirdLife International and the IUCN note that 1,256 species, or 11.5 percent of all birds, face extinction. Fewer than 120 great Indian bustards remain, mostly in two Rajasthan pockets. Despite these grim figures, Rahmani remains an optimist, pointing to success stories like the greater adjutant, painted stork, and spot-billed pelican, and advocating for common-sense solutions such as expanding protected areas, conservation breeding, and putting power lines underground along major migratory routes.