Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org
| 26 March 2021 | 13(3): 17847–17855
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6077.13.3.17847-17855
#6077 | Received 01 May 2020 | Final received
05 March 2021 | Finally accepted 07 March 2021
Decline of
White-throated Bushchat Saxicola
insignis Gray J.E. & J.R. Gray,
1847 (Aves: Passeriformes: Muscicapidae) in Nepal:
implications on its global status
Hem Sagar Baral 1, Tek Raj Bhatt 2, Bed Kumar Dhakal
3, Dhiraj Chaudhary 4, Hemanta Kumar
Yadav 5, Laxman Prasad Poudyal 6,
Hathan Chaudhary 7, Pradeep Raj
Joshi 8, Carol Inskipp 9 & Rajan
Amin 10
1,2,8 Zoological Society of London
Nepal Office, Post Box 5867, Kathmandu, Nepal.
1 Institute of Land, Water and
Society, School of Environmental Sciences, Charles Sturt University,
Albury-Wodonga, Australia.
3,6 Department
of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Post Box 860, Babarmahal,
Kathmandu, Nepal.
2,4 Himalayan Nature, Post Box
10918, Lazimpat, Kathmandu, Nepal.
5 National Trust for Nature
Conservation, Post Box 3712, Khumaltar, Lalitpur,
Nepal.
7 Nepalese Ornithological Union,
Post Box 10918, Thamel, Kathmandu, Nepal.
9 Himalayan Nature, 3 High Street,
Stanhope, Bishop Auckland, Co. Durham DL13 2UP, United Kingdom.
10 Zoological Society of London,
Regent’s Park, London, United Kingdom.
1 hem.baral@zsl.org (corresponding
author), 2 tekraj.bhatt@griffithuni.edu.au, 3 bedkumar@gmail.com,
4 dheeraz18@gmail.com,
5 yadavhemanta@gmail.com,6 laxpoudyal@gmail.com,
7 hathan99@gmail.com, 8 pradeep.joshi43@gmail.com ,
9 carolinskipp@btinternet.com, 10
raj.amin@zsl.org
Editor: Rajiv S.
Kalsi, M.L.N. College, Yamuna Nagar, India. Date
of publication: 26 March 2021 (online & print)
Citation: Baral,
H.S., T.R. Bhatt, B.K. Dhakal, D. Chaudhary, H.K.
Yadav, L.P. Poudyal, H. Chaudhary, P.R. Joshi, C. Inskipp & R. Amin (2021). Decline of
White-throated Bushchat Saxicola
insignis Gray J.E. & J.R. Gray,
1847 (Aves: Passeriformes: Muscicapidae) in Nepal:
implications on its global status. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(3): 17847–17855. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6077.13.3.17847-17855
Copyright: © Baral
et al. 2021. Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: Darwin Initiative,
UK Government and ZSL provided funding for this study.
Competing interests: The authors
declare no competing interests.
Author details: Hem Sagar Baral studied ecology of grassland
birds for his PhD from the University of Amsterdam, and has been actively
involved in wildlife conservation for over three decades. He led two national conservation
organisations for eight years finally moving to work as the head of Nepal
conservation programme for ZSL. Tek Raj Bhatt
is a PhD research scholar with interest on
conservation of threatened species and large landscape. He has previously
worked on several conservation projects including species assessments and monitoring.
Bed Kumar Dhakal
holds an MSc on natural resource management and has been with the Department of
National Parks and Wildlife Conservation as a senior officer for more than two
decades. He has studied wildlife of protected areas extensively especially from
their management angle.
Dhiraj Chaudhary has been working as a bird guide
for 10 years. He has worked for various institutions in the past and has
participated in the survey work under the aegis of Himalayan Nature. Hemanta Kumar Yadav holds a PhD (Conservation Biology) from the
Institute of Natural and Computational Sciences, Massey University, Auckland,
New Zealand. He has previously worked for National Trust for Nature
Conservation (NTNC), Nepal under different projects and programmes located in
protected areas of Nepal. Laxman Prasad Poudyal holds an MSc degree in Natural Resource
Management and Rural Development. He has served as the Ecologist at the
Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, and currently is the
Chief Conservation Officer at Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park, Nepal. Hathan Chaudhary is Nepal’s foremost ornithologist with over 30
years’ field knowledge from Nepal and India, has found many new birds to Nepal,
conducted many ornithological surveys in protected areas of Nepal and has
published several bird status checklists. He is a founder member of Nepalese
Ornithological Union and plays a chief role in identifying difficult birds for
students, researchers, and novices to birdwatching. Pradeep
Raj Joshi has a Masters’ degree in Environmental Science from Tribhuvan
University. Shortly after graduation he joined National Trust for Nature
Conservation (NTNC), where he worked mostly on grassland management and SMART
in Chitwan National Park. He also worked with Zoological Society of London
(ZSL) – Nepal Office and implemented transboundary tiger and habitat
conservation projects and grassland management projects in Shuklaphanta
National Park. Carol Inskipp
has studied Nepal birds and their conservation since 1977. Co-authored
books including: A guide to the birds of Nepal (1985, 1991); Birds of Nepal
field guide (2000, 2016); State of Nepal’s Birds (2004, 2010); Important Bird
Areas in Nepal (2005); National Red List of Nepal’s Birds (2016); Nepal’s
Forest Birds (2019) and is currently working on Nepal’s Wetland Birds. Carol is
currently serving as the Patron for Himalayan Nature. Rajan Amin is a senior wildlife biologist at the Zoological
Society of London with over 25 years of experience in African and Asian
grassland, desert, and forest ecosystems and in developing long-term
conservation projects for threatened species.
Author contribution: Hem Sagar
Baral conceived, led the field work and writing of
the paper including for fundraising and coordination. Tek
Raj Bhatt supported fundraising, coordination as well as helped write the paper
with data analysis. Rajan Amin and Carol Inskipp helped with data analysis and writing of the paper.
Bed Kumar Dhakal and Laxman Prasad Poudyal facilitated field work. Dhiraj Kumar Chaudhary, Hathan Chaudhary, Hemanta Kumar
Yadav and Pradeep Raj Joshi participated in the field work.
Acknowledgements: This study was conducted as part
of Darwin Initiative Project / UK Government Grant No 22009. We thank the Department of National Parks and
Wildlife Conservation for granting permission to execute the project. This study formed a part of the above project. We would like to thank Mr Uba
Raj Regmi, Dr Bhagawan Raj Dahal, Dr Naresh Subedi, Dr Gitanjali Bhattacharya, and Dr Jonathan Baillie
for their support.
Abstract: The White-throated Bushchat, also known as Hodgson’s Bushchat,
is a long-distance migratory and specialist grassland bird categorized as
Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. In
Nepal, White-throated Bushchat winters in the
lowlands, and has been primarily recorded in large Phantas
(=open plains of grassland). We present
the population status of the species in Shukla Phanta,
the largest continuous lowland grassland in Nepal that is known to hold the
largest wintering population of White-throated Bushchat
in the Indian subcontinent. Our 2013–2014, 2016–2017, and 2017–2018 winter
surveys for White-throated Bushchat followed the same
method used in the 1997–1998 and 2007 surveys in Shukla Phanta
for comparable assessment of the status of the species. Our study provided overwhelming evidence that
the species has undergone a steep decline over the last two decades
(probability of 92% for a decline greater than 5% per year). Shukla Phanta is
dominated by the species’ preferred habitat of Imperata
cylindrica, Narenga
porphyrocoma, and Saccharum
bengalensis.
Grassland patches managed through controlled burning leaving enough
reeds for perches, grazed at medium level of intensity by wildlife and within
close distance to water were found to support higher numbers of White-throated Bushchat. Given the
observed steep decline in the largest known wintering population of the species
and similar declines observed in the wintering populations in India, its status
warrants uplisting to Critically Endangered, and we
recommend an urgent review of its global status.
Keywords: Abundance, Hodgson’s Bushchat, IUCN Red List, lowland grassland, Shukla Phanta, status, winter visitor.
White-throated Bushchat Saxicola
insignis J.E. & G.R. Gray, 1847 is a
grassland specialist and one of the poorly known Saxicola
species; Jerdon’s Bushchat Saxicola jerdoni is
the other little known species that is recorded in Nepal (Urquhart 2002;
Clement & Rose 2015). Saxicola insignis is listed under the
Vulnerable category in the IUCN Red List due to its declining population
throughout its restricted range (BirdLife
International 2018). The global
population is estimated to be between 3,500 and 15,000 individuals based on
assessment of recent records and surveys carried out by BirdLife
International (2019); however, more recent information indicates the global
population to be significantly lower.
White-throated Bushchat breeds locally in
alpine or subalpine rocky meadows and scrub in the mountains of Mongolia and
adjacent parts of Russia, and migrates southward across the Himalayan mountain
range to winter in the Gangetic plain of the Indian subcontinent (Ali &
Ripley 1987; Gombobaatar et al. 2011; BirdLife International 2018). It has been recorded on passage in northern
and western China, including Tibet. The
species’ wintering range is restricted west from Haryana (Ambala), east through
Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Bihar to northern West Bengal and Assam (Manas) through the Nepal Terai
and Jalpaiguri duars (Ali
& Ripley 1987; BirdLife International 2018). As a long-distance migratory bird facing
threats, the species has been listed in Appendix II of Convention on Migratory
Species (CMS 2018).
In Nepal, White-throated Bushchat has been
recorded in six localities: Chitwan (winter visitor and passage migrant),
Kathmandu Valley (passage migrant), Koshi (Koshi Tappu and Koshi Barrage, winter visitor and passage migrant), Lumbini
Farmscape (winter visitor and passage migrant), Banke National Park (winter visitor) and Shukla Phanta (winter visitor and passage migrant) (Fig. 1) (Inskipp et al. 2016).
In 1998 the wintering population in Nepal was estimated to be 110
individuals (Baral 1998). Shukla Phanta in
the far southwestern Nepal has been reported to support the largest wintering
population of the species in the region (Baral 1998;
Yadav 2007; Thakuri 2012). There have been very few observations of the
species in the other localities in Nepal (Inskipp et
al. 2016). Given its restricted
wintering habitats, continuing habitat loss and observed declining population
since 2007 it has been classified as Endangered in the Nepal bird Red Data Book
(Inskipp et al. 2016, 2017). The species has also been recommended to the
Government of Nepal to be listed as a protected species under the National
Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act (Baral 1998; Inskipp et al. 2016).
Habitat loss and degradation, due to overgrazing, cutting and burning of
grassland, is the major threat to the White-throated Bushchat
in Nepal (Baral 1998; Yadav 2007; Thakuri
2012). Most of the suitable grassland
habitats for the species are now confined to protected areas, and outside
protected areas very little lowland grasslands remain in Nepal (Baral 2001).
This study was undertaken to update the status of the species in its major
grassland sites in the Nepal Terai, and assess its
implication on the species’ global status.
It formed part of a wider species monitoring project in Shuklaphanta National Park.
Shukla Phanta with an area of 34km2
is the largest lowland grassland area in Nepal, located within Shuklaphanta National Park (ShNP
2017, Fig. 2, Image 1). The grassland
consists primarily of Saccharum bengalensis, S. spontaneum,
Imperata cylindrica,
Narenga porphyrocoma,
and Desmostachya bipinata. The grassland also harbors
a number of threatened species including the globally Critically Endangered
Bengal Florican Houbaropsis bengalensis; the Endangered Bengal Tiger Panthera tigris, Hog
Deer Axis porcinus, & Hispid Hare Caprolagus hispidus;
and the Vulnerable Jerdon’s Babbler Chrysomma altirostre,
Swamp Francolin Francolinus gularis, Greater One-horned Rhinoceros Rhinoceros unicornis,
& Swamp Deer Rucervus duvaucelii. Shuklaphanta National Park has a sub-tropical monsoonal climate
with three distinct seasons, monsoon (July–October), cool-dry
(November–February) and hot-dry (March–June).
Systematic surveys for the White-throated Bushchat
(Image 2) were conducted over three winters in Shukla Phanta:
winter of 2013–2014, 2016–2017, and 2017–2018.
The line transect survey method was the same as that used in the
previous 1997–1998 and 2007 surveys.
Other smaller grasslands in Shuklaphanta
National Park (Singhpur, Radhapur,
Sundari Phanta) were also
searched for the species as part of the reconnaissance at the beginning of each
survey. Field ornithologists were
consulted to verify the information collected on bird sightings, their numbers
and for their perceptions on the status of the species (T.R. Giri & D.R. Joshi pers. comm. 2014).
A total of 11 trained
individuals, which included technical national park staff, non-profit field
workers, and freelance field ornithologists participated in the surveys. Prior to each survey, participants were
familiarized with the identification of White-throated Bushchat
in the field, and determining its sex based on morphological characteristics (Grimmett et al. 2000).
Participants were also provided with a guidebook to help with bird
species identification. Two of the
participants had also taken part in the previous 1997–1998 survey.
The study was conducted in a portion of the larger Shukla Phanta grasslands where the species had been recorded in
the past and the area also covered in the previous surveys. The 11.7km2 survey area was
divided into four blocks (Fig. 3).
Surveys were carried out along 15.3km of motorable trails (Table 1)
between 06.00–09.00 h when the species is most active. Each survey was carried out for a total of 16
days over a 3-month period. Three
observers scanned grassland and other habitats for White-throated Bushchat using Opticron 8 x 42
binoculars and telescopes (Nikon FIELDSCOPE ED50 and Swarovski ATS 60 HD), from
an open-back jeep travelling at 10km per hour.
On sighting the species, the vehicle was stopped and data recorded on a
data form. The recorded data included
the GPS location, date and time, number of birds, their sex (except for
immatures), and their activities (feeding, perching). The grassland condition was recorded as uncut
and unburned, uncut and burned, and cut and burned. Dominant grass species were recorded, based
on visual observation, along with grazing intensity (low, medium, high). Distance to the nearest water body and grass
sward height were also recorded. Double
counting was minimized by surveying all blocks at the same time and
double-checking records at the end of each survey.
Observations of White-throated Bushchat were
tabulated in Microsoft-Excel. Species
maximum count for each survey period were compared with the 1997–1998 survey
results and the percentage of White-throated Bushchat
sightings in the three grassland conditions, in the three grassland grazed
intensities, and distance to water bodies were calculated.
We assessed population trend by regressing natural log of counts against
survey years (1997–1998, 2005–2006, 2013–2014, 2016–2017, 2017–2018) (Baral 1998; Yadav 2007).
The slope of the regression provides an estimate of the instantaneous
growth rate (r) (Caughley 1977). A significant positive slope implies an
increasing population and a negative slope implies population decline, while a
slope of zero implies a stationary population (Caughley
1977). To provide further insight we
used Bayesian analysis (Crome et al. 1996). We assumed a flat prior and treated the
scaled likelihood curve as the posterior probability. On this basis, we calculated the probability
of no decline (trend > 0), a small decline (-0.05 < trend < 0) and a
steep decline (trend < -0.05) by calculating the area under the respective
parts of the curve.
A total of 63 White-throated Bushchat
sightings was recorded over a total of 16 days in the three surveyed
seasons. In the 2013–2014 wintering
season, a maximum of seven individuals was recorded on the 20 and 25 March,
while a minimum of two individuals was recorded on 22 April. In 2016–2017 season, a maximum of six
individuals was recorded on the 14 January, and a minimum of two individuals on
12 January. Similarly, in 2017–2018
season, a maximum of six individuals was recorded on 18 March, and a minimum of
one individual on 19 and 20 March (Table 2).
Male White-throated Bushchat (n=37) were
observed more frequently than females (n=26).
No birds were recorded in the smaller grassland patches during the
reconnaissance surveys.
The species was only observed in grassland habitat dominated by Imperata cylindrica,
Saccharum spontaneum
or Narenga porphyrocoma
with a sward height greater than 30cm.
More than two-thirds of the Shukla Phanta
grasslands are covered with dense stands of taller Narenga
porphyrocoma and Saccharum
bengalensis either single species or mixed, and
in the southeastern corner Phragmites karka monostand forming the largest contiguous Phragmites
marshland of Nepal. Even during the fire
season, most of these wetter patches of grasslands remain unburnt or only
partially burnt. Previous surveys have
already established that these Phragmites marshland habitats are not
used by White-throated Bushchats.
There was significant correlation between sighting of the birds and
distance from the nearest water body (χ2=20.86, df=2,
p=0). Nearly half of the sightings (45%;
n=28) were within 150m from a water source while more than 90% of the sightings
(n=58) were made within 300m from a water source (Fig. 4).
The highest number of White-throated Bushchat
sightings (63%; n=40) were in uncut but burned grassland patches followed by
uncut and unburned patches (21%; n=13), and cut and burned patches (16%; n=10)
(Fig. 5). In terms of grazing intensity,
57% of White-throated Bushchat sightings (n=36) were
in medium grazed grassland patches while nearly 30% (n=19) were in low grazed
patches and remaining 13% (n=13) of the sightings were in high grazed patches.
Population trend analysis based on maximum number of 26, 19, 7, 6, and 6
individuals counted during 1997–1998, 2005–2006, 2013–2014, 2016–2017, and
2017–2018 surveys revealed an average 8% (R-squared=0.92, 95% CI=-14.9% to -1%)
per year decline (Fig. 6). The Bayesian
analysis showed a 92% probability of a steep decline with a probability of only
7% of small decline (Fig. 7).
Most of the
global wintering population of White-throated Bushchat
occurs in northern India and southern Nepal (Ali & Ripley 1987) and along
Indo-Bhutan landscape, with a single record from Bhutan (BirdLife
International 2018). The species’
subtropical riverine grasslands remain the most threatened habitats in the
Indian subcontinent (Baral 2001; Grimmett
et al. 2011; Rahmani 2012), and also one of the most
threatened ecoregions of the world (Olson et al. 2001). The rapid range and population decline of
this globally threatened species are of serious concern.
This study has
shown that White-throated Bushchat has very specific
habitat requirements in its wintering grounds.
We observed that the species utilizes uncut and burned grassland more
than uncut-unburned and cut-burned grasslands.
We did not observe any cut but unburned grassland areas in the study
site; almost always if areas are cut then they are burned. This preference for uncut and burned
grassland could be due to the presence of a few unburnt reeds and some partially
burnt reeds that act as perching posts, and the exposed ground patches that
allow the birds to see insect movement (Baral 1998,
2001). Additionally, the clearings
enable increased activity of soil arthropods due to higher heat absorption by
dark ashes deposited on the ground (Baral 2001). In contrast, the least number of individuals
were seen in cut and burned grasslands, possibly due to lack of suitable
perches. The study has also shown that
medium-grazed grasslands support a higher number of the species, which may be
due to the few open patches for the birds to see ground-dwelling insects as
well as ample number of standing reeds as perches (Kleijn 2010). Very few bushchats
were recorded in grasslands with high grazing intensity, possibly due to
absence of suitable perches. Although
illegal, livestock grazing is one of the biggest problems in Shuklaphanta National Park, the Shukla Phanta
grassland is located in the core of the park and is grazed by wild herbivores
only.
The study also
found a strong association of species sightings with water holes and wet
areas. A high percentage of individuals
was recorded in close proximity to water bodies. Water and flooding are associated with the
formation of early stage successional grasslands (Baral
2001). In the known wintering grounds of
White-throated Bushchat in Nepal, these early stage
successional grasslands usually comprise Sachharum
spontaneum and Imperata
cylindrica which provide high quality physical
structure of habitat, such as suitable perch height and sufficient open ground.
This habitat may also provide the right
type of food in ample amount.
The lowland Terai grasslands are a valuable economic resource for local
communities and are important for conserving biodiversity as they support a
wide variety of flora and fauna (Baral 2001). Although Shukla Phanta
is recognized as the stronghold for White-throated Bushchat
in Nepal, the number of birds recorded has dramatically declined since
systematic surveys began in 1997. Based
on this decline, we have already listed the species as Endangered on the Nepal
bird Red List, and a proposal has been submitted to the Government of Nepal for
inclusion in the list of protected birds under National Parks and Wildlife
Conservation Act (Inskipp et al. 2016).
Composition of
grass species and consequently physical structure of the habitat is an
important factor in the occurrence and abundance of White-throated Bushchat in its wintering range (Baral
1998, 2001). The Terai
lowland grassland ecosystem is very fragile and responds to even small-scale
manipulations or modifications (Baral 2001). There have been significant changes in the
composition of the grasslands in lowland Nepal over the last two decades. Many shorter grassland species habitats have
been either lost through development outside protected areas or through
succession in protected areas. Shorter
grass species such as Imperata cylindrica and Saccharum
spontaneum that make up the suitable habitat for
the White-throated Bushchat and several other
globally threatened species such as Bengal Florican Houbaropsis
bengalensis, are being taken over by coarser and
taller Narenga porphyrocoma,
Themeda arundinacea,
and Saccharum bengalensis
(Baral 2001).
Although the underlying mechanism of the habitat change is yet to be
fully understood, it is likely that in addition to existing practices of
grassland burning, grass collection and grazing, changes in herbivore
populations in protected area and altered climate events due to global warming
have contributed to the rate of succession.
White-throated Bushchat has also been recorded from outside the protected
areas in lowland Nepal. These are mostly
of single isolated birds, however, and it is unlikely that a large wintering
population occurs outside protected areas in Nepal. Recent records from India also indicate
population decline in known wintering grounds, with only a single or a few
birds recorded (BirdLife International 2018). The species has been observed in several new
localities in India, which might be primarily because of a larger number of
people observing birds in recent years.
Unlike more secretive species, White-throated Bushchat
is an obvious species, further minimizing the chances of under-recording
especially during targeted surveys.
The decline of
the wintering population of the species is perhaps also a reflection of a
declining breeding population and threats along the migration paths. Habitat loss at breeding sites and environmental
conditions along migratory path (including food availability, predation and
disturbance) may be contributing to the severe decline of the population within
a short span of time (Gombobaatar et al. 2011; BirdLife International 2018). Impact of climate change to this species is
unknown, some of its migratory patterns may have been affected by climate
change.
Globally,
White-throated Bushchat is classified as ‘Vulnerable’
on the IUCN Red List based on its restricted geographical coverage, small and
declining population (BirdLife International
2018). This assessment, however, is
based on an outdated global population estimate of 2,500–9,999 mature
individuals compiled in 2001 by Birdlife International and other limited
information available for the species (BirdLife
International 2018). Clement & Rose
(2015) have suggested that the global population may be well under 1,000 based
on the species decline across Nepal and India.
The current
observed decline of the largest wintering sub-population of the species meets
the Critically Endangered Criterion A2a (≥80% population reduction
observed/expected through direct observation in the largest wintering
sub-population) and C2a (maximum of 6 individuals observed in the largest
wintering sub-population and assuming all other previously known smaller
wintering sub-populations to have less than 50 individuals), along with
observed declines at other sites and threats reported at breeding sites and
along migratory routes. Therefore, we
propose an immediate global re-assessment.
Earlier literature also recommended up-listing the species global status
from Vulnerable to Endangered or Critically Endangered (Baral
1998; Clement & Rose 2015).
Table 1. Summary of combined survey effort for the
White-throated Bushchat in the Shukla Phanta study area over the 2013–2014, 2016–2017, 2017–2018
wintering seasons.
Survey block |
Area (km2) |
Total number of days surveyed |
Total length of motorable trails surveyed (km) |
A |
3.12 |
16 |
5.05 |
B |
2.89 |
16 |
3.67 |
C |
2.15 |
16 |
3.32 |
D |
3.52 |
16 |
3.26 |
Table 2. Maximum and minimum sighting records of
White-throated Bushchat in the wintering survey
periods of 2013–2014, 2016–2017, and 2017–2018.
Survey winter period |
Number of individuals sighted in a day |
Date |
2013–2014 |
7 (maximum) |
20 March 2014 and 25 March 2014 |
2 (minimum) |
22 April 2014 |
|
2016–2017 |
6 (maximum) |
14 January 2017 |
2 (minimum) |
12 January 2017 |
|
2017–2018 |
6 (maximum) |
18 March 2018 |
1 (minimum) |
19 March 2018 and 20 March 2018 |
For
figures & images - - click here
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