List of endemic birds of South Asia

Endemic birds of South Asia are those birds that belong to or are native to South Asia, on the Indian subcontinent and adjacent islands of the north-central Indian Ocean.[1]

This article is one of a series providing information about endemism among birds in the world's various zoogeographic zones. For an overview of this subject see Endemism in birds.

Endemic Bird Areas

BirdLife International has defined two Endemic Bird Areas (EBAs) in the Indian subcontinent:[2]

  • Western Ghats, India
  • Sri Lanka

Each area has its own set of endemic species, and there are further species shared between the two which are not found elsewhere.

In addition, the following are classified as secondary areas (areas with at least one restricted-range bird species, but not meeting the criteria to qualify as EBAs):

  • Eastern Andhra Pradesh - covering the range of the Jerdon's courser, India.
  • Southern Deccan Plateau - covering the range of the yellow-throated bulbul, yellow-billed babbler, Sykes's lark, Jerdon's bushlark, crested hawk-eagle, India.
  • Central Indian Forests - covering the range of the forest owlet, India.

List of species

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (July 2021)

Species endemic to India

Species endemic to the Western Ghats and associated hills

Malabar parakeet
White-cheeked barbet
Nilgiri flycatcher

Other localised species endemic to peninsular India

Jerdon's courser

Species endemic to Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka wood-pigeon
Crimson-fronted barbet

Other localised species endemic to peninsular India and Sri Lanka combined

Species endemic to Sri Lanka and the Western Ghats combined


Other species endemic to the subcontinent

Indian peafowl
Indian black ibis
Common hawk-cuckoo
Indian grey hornbill

Species endemic to northern parts of the subcontinent

Rock bush-quail


Near-endemics and seasonal endemics

In addition, the following species are near-endemics i.e. only a small proportion of the population is found outside the subcontinent:

Grey francolin

The following species is endemic as a breeding species, but winters elsewhere:

See also

References

  1. ^ Endemic | Definition of endemic by Merriam-Webster accessed October 15, 2015 from www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/endemic
  2. ^ del Hoyo, Josep and Collar, Nigel J. Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World, Volume 1: Non-passerines Jan 1, 2014