Heavy flying Great Indian bustard facing extinction threat

Great Indian Bustard, one of the world's heaviest flying birds is on the verge of extinction, conservationists have warned.

According to the latest edition of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List for Birds, the total number of threatened birds species has risen to 1253, the BBC reports.

The bustard, weighing 15kg, often quoted as the heaviest flying bird, was once found across the grasslands of India and Pakistan. But now, its range is restricted to small isolated fragments, with its last stronghold in Rajasthan.

In all, 189 species are now considered to be critically endangered, which also includes the Bahama Oriole.

Recent surveys suggest that perhaps just 180 black and yellow Caribbean birds are alive.

The 2011 edition of the IUCN Red List for Birds records the changing prospects for the world's bird species.
 
"In the space of a year another 13 bird species have moved into the threatened categories," said Jean-Christophe Vie, deputy director of the IUCN Global Species Programme.