Central Deccan Plateau Dry Deciduous Forests Some of the larger species mentioned here are rare, as is the threatened Indian giant squirrel ("Ratufa indica"). The 300 species of birds include the globally threatened Jerdon's courser ("Rhinoptilus bitorquatus"), which was rediscovered in 1986 having been thought extinct for nearly a hundred years. About 80 percent of the natural habitat in the ecoregion has been lost. Several blocks of habitat larger than 5,000 km remain. Fifteen protected areas cover almost 3% of the ecoregion's area, with Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve as the largest. Central Deccan Plateau Dry Deciduous Forests The Central Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forests southern India, containing
Arnhem Plateau Kakadu National Park; a southern outlier is in Nitmiluk National Park, with much of the remainder due to be incorporated in the Wardekken Indigenous Protected Area. Identified as an important bird area by BirdLife International, the plateau supports the entire population of white-throated grasswrens, and most of the populations of white-lined honeyeaters, chestnut-quilled rock-pigeons and the local subspecies of black-banded fruit doves and helmeted friarbirds. It also supports populations of bush stone-curlews, varied lorikeets, northern rosellas, rainbow pittas, white-gaped, yellow-tinted, bar-breasted and banded honeyeaters, silver-crowned friarbirds, masked and long-tailed finches, and sandstone shrike-thrushes. Arnhem Plateau The Arnhem Plateau, an interim