• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note

Graminicola bengalensis and G. striatus (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) were previously lumped as G. bengalensis following Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2018	Near Threatened	C2a(i)
2016	Least Concern
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	467,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	2500-9999 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2010
Population trend	decreasing	poor	suspected	1998-2008
Generation length	3.6 years	-	-	-

Population justification: Its main stronghold is Nepal, which has been thought to hold c. 2,000 pairs (Leader et al. 2010). The recent National Red List of Nepal stated that the population size there may be in the range 2,000-5,300 (Inskipp et al. 2016), though it is not stated whether this refers to all individuals or just mature individuals. The population size in Bangladesh is most likely very small, as the species retracted from large parts of its range there (Thompson and Johnson 2003, Collar and Robson 2007). In India, the species is rarely reported, but has been found at several sites (Leader et al. 2010). The total population size therefore is likely to fall within the range of 2,500-9,999 mature individuals, equating to 3,750-14,999 individuals in total, rounded here to 3,500-15,000 individuals.

Trend justification: Being restricted to undisturbed wet grasslands, the species is under threat from habitat loss, modification and overgrazing. As such the species is currently considered to be undergoing a continuing decline.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Bangladesh	extant	native	yes
India	extant	native	yes
Nepal	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
India	Pilibhit Tiger Reserve
Nepal	Bardia National Park
Nepal	Chitwan National Park
Nepal	Sukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Seasonally Wet/Flooded	major	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	major	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	resident
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	suitable	resident
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Mikania micrantha	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Natural system modifications	Dams & water management/use - Abstraction of surface water (domestic use)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Natural system modifications	Fire & fire suppression - Increase in fire frequency/intensity	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Indian Grass-babbler Graminicola bengalensis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/indian-grass-babbler-graminicola-bengalensis on 22/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/12/2024.