31-07-2025
First-ever grassland bird census : A must-know for UPSC exam
Take a look at the essential concepts, terms, quotes, or phenomena every day and brush up your knowledge. Here's your knowledge nugget on the grassland bird census at the Kaziranga National Park.
(Relevance: The IUCN status of species has been asked in the UPSC examination multiple times. This grassland bird census encompasses important species relevant from an exam perspective. Also, the recent report on the status of Tigers in the Kaziranga National Park is important for Prelims and Mains.)
Between March 18 and May 25, a survey to record the grassland bird population in Kaziranga National Park was undertaken by a team of forest officials, scientists, and conservationists. It is the 'first-ever grassland bird census' conducted in Assam's Kaziranga National Park. This census was also mentioned in the Mann ki Baat radio programme by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (July 27).
1. The grassland bird census recorded a total of 43 grassland bird species, including 1 Critically Endangered, 2 Endangered, and 6 Vulnerable species, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
2. A new methodology was deployed in the survey, which was also mentioned in the Maan ki baat program. According to Kaziranga National Park Director Dr. Sonali Ghosh, the use of passive acoustic recording monitoring was the highlight of the survey.
3. 'Surveying these small, shy, and highly camouflaged birds is very difficult using traditional methods like visual counting. So, the acoustic recorders were placed in tall trees near grasslands during the breeding season of the birds, between March and May. This is the season when they are very vocal, calling out for mates and with males defending territory. The instruments recorded all the birds singing in the landscape,' she said.
4. Different tools were then used to identify the birds based on the recordings. For the bird sounds that were not identifiable, a spectrogram (a graphical representation of the sound) was created using software to aid in identification. The Birdnet tool was also used, which applies Machine Learning to try and identify species by bird song.
5. The survey prioritised 10 species that are either globally threatened or endemic to the Brahmaputra floodplains:
6. The national park authorities have been particularly excited by the discovery of a breeding colony of the endangered Finn's Weaver, which is endemic to the Brahmaputra flood plain.
7. Dr. Ghosh called grassland birds 'an indicator of good health' of an ecosystem, likening them to indicators such as BMI for human health. 'The presence of these birds tells us that the habitat is healthy,' she said.
1. Grasslands — home to the great Poaceae family, with its 10,000 to 12,000 members or species — cover vast swathes of landmass throughout the world and support a wide variety of animal life. They thrive in places where the rainfall is low, typically between 600 and 1500 mm annually.
2. They are even more useful than forests and provide a host of ecosystem services — storing water and carbon, recycling chemical, and controlling the climate. And, vitally, feeding us and our livestock, besides the wild herbivores that roam the plains. Even the ferocious carnivores must be grateful to grasslands: because grasses feed their prey species.
3. In India, almost a quarter of landmass is covered in grassland. This includes the alpine meadows of the Himalayas, the chaurs in the foothills, the famous terai grasslands in the flood plains of the Ganges and Brahmaputra, the phumdis, or the quivering wet grasslands of Manipur (where the deer 'dance'), the savannas of western and peninsular India and the renowned 'sholas' of the Western Ghats.
4. Different names are used in the world to refer to grasslands. According to WWF, it is known as 'savannah' in Africa, 'cerrado' in South America, 'prairie' in North America, 'steppe' in central Asia, and 'meadow' in the UK.
5. What makes them special is their ability to survive and keep growing no matter how much they're munched or nibbled by animals. It supports all kinds of wildlife. The one-horned Indian rhinoceros and wild water buffalo live in the wet grasslands of Kaziranga and Manas Tiger Reserve. The swamp deer live in the terai. Manipur's rare 'dancing deer' or 'Sangai' thrive on the floating phumdis of Loktak Lake.
6. Grasslands (except a few) — like the wetlands — in India get no protection. They are free to be exploited. According to the report on the degradation of rangelands, published last year, by the UN Convention on Combating Desertification (UNCCD), less than 5 per cent of India's grasslands fall within protected areas, and the total grassland area declined from 18 to 12 million hectares between 2005 and 2015.
1. On Tuesday (29th July), officials released a summary report for 2024 titled 'Status of Tigers in the Kaziranga Tiger Reserve', with the findings of a Phase IV tiger monitoring initiative across Eastern Assam, Nagaon, and Biswanath Wildlife Divisions. This was done at the direction of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
2. The survey documented 148 tigers in the reserve, up from 104 recorded in 2022, 99 in 2018 and 96 in 2014. Reserve director Sonali Ghosh said these findings show that Kaziranga has the third-highest density of tigers in the world, after Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand and Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka.
3. The survey was conducted over 103 days using 293 paired camera traps across 1307.49 square kilometres, which yielded 4,011 tiger images in 242 locations. The report states that the right-flank stripes of the animals in these images were used to identify 148 adult tigers – 83 females, 55 males, and 10 with undetermined gender.
4. 'Despite these successes, Kaziranga's tiger population faces persistent challenges, including habitat fragmentation, human-wildlife conflict, and the pressures of agricultural expansion and infrastructure development around the tiger reserve', it states.
Covering 42,996 ha, Kaziranga National Park is located in the State of Assam. It is the single largest undisturbed and representative area in the Brahmaputra Valley floodplain. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site recognised in 1985. It is renowned for its significant population of one-horned rhinoceroses.
The NTCA is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change constituted under the enabling provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, for strengthening tiger conservation, as per powers and functions assigned to it under the said Act. The NTCA conducts the All India Tiger Estimation to track the big cat numbers, usually in cycles of four years.
Yes. Established in 2023, honouring 50 years of Project Tiger, the IBCA aims to promote the protection of seven big cats: the tiger, leopard, snow leopard, lion, cheetah, puma and jaguar.
The 'Project Tiger' is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) launched by the Central government on April 1, 1973, in a bid to promote conservation of the tiger. The programme came at a time when India's tiger population was rapidly dwindling.
📍Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972 status: Schedule I.
📍IUCN Red List status: Endangered.
📍CITES status: Appendix I.
(1) Consider the following pairs:
How many pairs given above are correctly matched?
(a) Only one pair
(b) Only two pairs
(c) Only three pairs
(d) All four pairs
(2) In the grasslands, trees do not replace the grasses as a part of an ecological succession because of (UPSC CSE 2013)
(a) insects and fungi
(b) limited sunlight and paucity of nutrients
(c) water limits and fire
(d) None of the above
(Source: Down in Jungleland: Instead of golf courses, India should worry about its grasslands, Grassland bird census in Kaziranga: What was special about this survey, which PM Modi talked about, UPSC Issue at a Glance | Why Tigers Matter: Environmental, cultural, and economic significance of India's apex predator, 103 days, 293 camera traps, 4,011 images – how Kaziranga Tiger Reserve counted its big cats, and what it found
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Khushboo Kumari is a Deputy Copy Editor with The Indian Express. She has done her graduation and post-graduation in History from the University of Delhi. At The Indian Express, she writes for the UPSC section. She holds experience in UPSC-related content development. You can contact her via email: ... Read More
