PRECINCTIVE BIRDS OF INDIA (Volume 5)

Birds are classified as "bipedal, warm-blooded, feathered vertebrates". They are among the most well-known species on the planet. Due to their extreme sensitivity to any adverse environmental change, they are the bio-indicators that can be used to assess the health of any ecosystem. India, which makes up 2.2% of the world's terrestrial landmass, is home to approximately 12.5% of its avifauna. The Republic of India (henceforth, India), with a land area of 32,87,263 square kilometres, is among the top ten countries in the world in terms of the number of bird species (Anon. 2015). According to Chettri (2010), Singh et al. (2013), Pratikshya et al. (2018), and Asha et al. (2020), biodiversity is facing serious challenges as a result of global changes. Birds are highly sensitive to changes in the environment (Li and Mundkur 2007), serve as models for researching a range of environmental issues (Desai and Shanbhag 2007), and are ecological indicators of environmental quality (Utpal et al., 2012). The quantity of migrating birds that visit a given location also serves as an indicator of the environment's health.