Migratory harrier birds face threats in India's shrinking grasslands

Migratory harrier birds arrive in Indian grasslands around July every year after flying thousands of kilometres from Central Asia and Russia. Mated pairs perform a mid-air food pass where the male drops prey for the female to catch in flight. They hunt during the day by circling low in zigzag patterns to find small mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects. A recent study found that pallid and Montagu's harriers also act as grassland gardeners by consuming seeds inside their prey's gut and expelling them unharmed.

Species and Protection

Six of the world's 16 harrier species visit India, including Montagu's, pallid, hen, pied, eastern marsh, and Eurasian marsh harriers. These birds nest on the ground and roost communally, with the world's largest documented roost located at Velavadar National Park in Gujarat. While most harrier species are listed as least concern by the IUCN, the pallid harrier is near threatened due to global population decline. In India, all harriers receive the highest legal protection under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Threats and Conservation

Long-term monitoring by the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment's Harrier Watch programme shows that roosting numbers declined between 1985 and 2015. This decline is driven by the loss of grasslands to agriculture, livestock overgrazing, wind and solar plants, and invasive species, along with a drop in prey like grasshoppers due to pesticide use. Vishwatej Pawar, co-founder of The Grasslands Trust, stated that grassland specialists help farmers by controlling pests and rodents, but habitat changes like afforestation or trenches prevent them from nesting, roosting, or foraging properly.

Context

Grasslands are often mistaken as wasteland and diverted for other land uses, but they support unique wildlife and vital ecological functions. Protecting these open habitats is essential for migratory birds that travel across continents to winter in India.