Udhagamandalam: For bird lovers in the Nilgiris the curtain has come down on 2016 on a happy note.

A reclassification of species, which was in the pipeline for some time, is complete and, with it, the number of species endemic to the Nilgiris has gone up.

Pointing out that the Nilgiris is well-known for its endemic plant, animal and bird life, noted ornithologist Dr. PJ Vasanthan told The Covai Post that it is home to nearly 300 bird species. Of them 20 were restricted in their range and peculiar to these hills.

Stating that the classification of organisms was an ongoing process, Dr. Vasanthan said that a new checklist for passerine (perching) birds had recently been released by Lynx Edicions in association with Bird Life International. The world’s tally of passerine birds after 41 lumps and 628 splits now stands at 6,592 extant species as against the previous tally of 6,019.

The Western Ghats has gained one species with the endangered Black-chinned laughing thrush being split into two – Nilgiri laughing thrush of Nilgiri Hills and adjacent Northeast Kerala, and Banasura laughingthrush of Brahmagiri Hills, Banasore Peak, Coorg and Wynaad.

The district’s tally of endemic species now stands at 22, with the Malabar Woodshrike and the Nilgiri Flowerpecker elevated to the rank of full species, after being split from their Himalayan and Southeast Asian counterparts, the Large Woodshrike and the Plain Flowerpecker respectively.

Dr. Vasanthan noted that most endemics were first described from this district around the 1840s by Dr. Jerdon, a physician in the East India Company and an ornithologist. He can be credited as being the first person to have invented common names for most Indian birds, and his association with this district is reflected in the names of nearly seven currently recognised bird species, appended with the prefix ‘Nilgiri’.