Environment & Ecology
Context: Unveiling yet another mystery of avian migrations, a great knot from Russia, belonging to the endangered Calidris tenuirostris (Horsfield, 1821), has found its way to Kerala’s coast, flying over 9,000 km for a winter sojourn.
About Great Knot:
- It is a small wader.
- It is the largest of the Calidris species
- It is listed as an ‘endangered’ species by the IUCN.
- It is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.
- Habitat: Grassland, Marine Neritic, Marine Intertidal, Marine Coastal/Supratidal.
- This species breeds in northeast Siberia, Russia, wintering mainly in Australia, but also throughout the coastline of South-East Asia and on the coasts of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula.
- Threats: Loss of intertidal stopover habitats in the Yellow Sea region is thought to be a key driver in the population declines of shorebirds
- It is also potentially threatened by climate change.
- Recent evidence shows a very rapid population decline caused by the reclamation of non-breeding stopover grounds, and under the assumption that further proposed reclamation projects will cause additional declines in the future.
Source: The Hindu
Previous Year Questions
Q.1) Which of the following is not a bird?
- Golden Mahseer
- Indian Nightjar
- Spoonbill
- White Ibis
Q.2) Which one of the following is a filter feeder?
- Catfish
- Octopus
- Oyster
- Pelican
