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The Critically Endangered and Endangered Birds of Assam

The Critically Endangered and Endangered Birds of Assam

At least seventeen rarest birds of Assam are included in the World's Rarest Birds Project. Below you can find a list of those birds.

White-Bellied Heron
White-Bellied Heron ©Thet Zaw Naing


By Mithu Das   November 03, 2011

Erik Hirschfeld is a birder and author, who, in 2010, along with his two friends—Andy Swash and Rob Still—started the World's Rarest Birds Project to contribute to Birdlife International's Preventing Extinctions Programme by raising funds. "The project started with the launch of an exciting photo competition, aimed at providing the images for a new book entitled The World's Rarest Birds," said the project team. "It will cover 372 endangered species in addition to the 190 that are Critically Endangered."

Seventeen rarest birds of Assam are also included in the World's Rarest Birds Project. Here is a list of those birds:

Critically endangered birds of Assam

  • Pink-headed Duck (Rhodonessa caryophyllacea)
  • White-rumped Vulture (Gyps bengalensis)
  • Indian Vulture (Gyps indicus)
  • Slender-billed Vulture (Gyps tenuirostris)
  • Red-headed Vulture (Sarcogyps calvus)
  • White-bellied Heron (Ardea insignis)
  • Bengal Florican (Houbaropsis bengalensis)
  • Spoon-billed Sandpiper (Eurynorhynchus pygmeus)
White-Winged Wood Duck © Jonathan Beilby
White-Winged Wood Duck ©Jonathan Beilby

Endangered birds of Assam.

  • Green Peafowl (Pavo muticus)
  • Red-breasted Goose (Branta ruficollis)
  • White-winged Wood Duck (Cairina scutulata)
  • Baer's Pochard (Aythya baeri)
  • Oriental White Stork (Ciconia boyciana)
  • Greater Adjutant Stork (Leptoptilos dubius)
  • Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus)
  • Masked Finfoot (Heliopais personatus)
  • Spotted Greenshank (Tringa guttifer)

Note that among the birds listed above, six are winter visitors to Assam. The Egyptian Vulture and Oriental White Stork have been sighted only once in the region, while Spoon Billed Sandpiper and Red-breasted Goose have been sighted twice. The Pink-headed Duck—which has not been seen in the wild since 1949—was found in the plains of Assam. Similarly, Green Peafowl was once abundant in the South bank of the Brahmaputra River but now locally extinct.


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