Woodpeckers White-naped Tit Oriental White-eye - Indian Birds

INDIAN BIRDSVol. 6 No. 1

WoodpeckersWhite-naped TitOriental White-eye

INDI

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Indian BirdsVol. 6 No. 1

Contents

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TrusteesZafar FutehallyAasheesh Pittie

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ISSN 0973-1407Editor EmeritusZafar Futehally

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Editorial BoardMaan Barua

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Front cover: Blue-tailed Bee-eater Merops philippensis with Common Clubtail Ictinogomphus rapax. Photographer:ClementFrancis

Back cover:FemaleGreatBlackWoodpeckerDryocous javensis. Photographer: Niranjan Sant

Dateofpublication:25thJune2010

Woodpecker(Picidae)diversityinborer- Hoplocerambyx spinicornis infested sal Shorea robustaforestsofDehradunvalley,lowerwesternHimalayasArun P. Singh 2

ObservationsontheWhite-napedTitParus nuchalis inCauvery WildlifeSanctuary,KarnatakaK. B. Sadananda, D. H. Tanuja, M. Sahana, T. Girija, A. Sharath, M. K. Vishwanath & A. Shivaprakash 12

AvifaunaofJagatpurwetlandnearBhagalpur(Bihar,India)Braj Nandan Kumar & Sunil K. Choudhary 15

IndianSpottedEagleAquila hastatanestinginSonepat,Haryana,IndiaSuresh C. Sharma & Jaideep Chanda 18

Thick-billedGreen-PigeonTreron curvirostrainSimilipalHills,Orissa: anadditiontotheavifaunaofpeninsularIndiaManoj V. Nair 19

StatusofLesserFloricanSypheotides indicusinPratapgarhdistrict, Rajasthan,IndiaGobind Sagar Bhardwaj 20

NestmaterialkleptoparasitismbytheOrientalWhite-eyeZosterops palpebrosusS. S. Mahesh, L. Shyamal & Vinod Thomas 22

Fig leafNina Bhatt 23

OntheYellow-throatedBulbulinTamilNadu,andapleaformore self-explanatorytitlesRagupathy Kannan & Douglas A. James 25

Inthenews 26

Correspondence 28

Editorial 28

Indian Birds Vol.6No.1(Publ.25thJune2010)2

Woodpecker(Picidae)diversityinborer-Hoplocerambyx spinicornis infested sal Shorea robusta forests of Dehradun

valley,lowerwesternHimalayasArun P. Singh

Singh,A.P.,2010.Woodpecker(Picidae)diversityinborer-Hoplocerambyx spinicornis infested sal Shorea robusta forests of Dehradun valley,lowerwesternHimalaya.Indian Birds6(1):2–11.

ArunP.Singh,EntomologyDivision,P.O.NewForest,ForestResearch Institute (ICFRE),Dehradun248006,Uttarakhand, India. Email: [email protected]; [email protected]

Manuscript received on 14 August 2009.

Arun P. Singh

Fig.1.SpecimenofamalesalheartwoodborerHoplocerambyx spinicornis collectedfromDehradunvalley. Fig.2.Extentofsalmortalitycausedbythesalborer.

IntroductionThe sal heartwood borer Hoplocerambyx spinicornis Newman (Coleoptera:Cerambycidae)[salborer;Fig. 1]isknowntocauseconsiderablemortalityofsalShorea robustatreesalloverthelatter’sdistributionalrangeinIndia.Explosiveoutbreaksofthisinsect,killingmillionsoftreesovervaststretchesofforests(Fig. 2),havebeenreportedfromtimetotime,fromasearlyas1897(Stebbing1899),toasrecentlyas2001(Bhandari&Rawat2001):fromAssam1906–1961;WestBengal1931–1934;Bihar1897;MadhyaPradesh1905, 1923–1928, 1959–1963;UttarPradesh:Kalagarh (now inUttarakhand)1924–1925,1934–1937;HimachalPradesh1948–1954(Roonwal 1977).The sal borergenerally attacks trees that aredeadorpracticallydead,i.e.,felled,victimsofwindfall,struckbylightningorbrokenbystorms,ordamaged,orattackedbyrootfungus.Healthystandingtreesarenotattackedunlessthereisanepidemicoftheborers,andthebeetlesaresonumerousthatthedeadtreesareinsufficientforthem(Beeson1941).Salheartwoodboreristodaythemajorfactorresponsibleforthedeclineofsal,besidesotherbiotic,andabioticfactorssuchasintensivegrazing,lopping,felling,etc.,whichhinderitsnaturalregeneration.

Relationship between woodpeckers and Cerambycidae beetlesWoodpeckers (Picidae) feed on adults, grubs, andpupae ofwood-boringbeetlesthatinfesttreetrunksandbranchesinforesthabitat (Ali&Ripley 1987).Anotable influxofwoodpeckersaccompaniesanepidemicofborersinnaturalforests(Beeson1941;Dennis1967;Stoddard1969;Jackson1988,2002).Woodpeckersareoftencitedasthemostimportantpredatorsofwood-boringcerambycidlarvae(Brooks1923;Linsley1961;Solomon1968,1972,1974;Jackson2002).Itispossiblethatlarvaeneargroundlevel,andnearbranchpointswithin the canopy, are lessvulnerabletowoodpeckerpredationthanthoseinaclearlyexposedsmall-diameter tree trunk. Similarly, adult beetles on the exposedtrunkmaybemorevulnerabletowoodpeckerpredationwhileovipositing,whichmaytakeuptohalfanhourormore.Apartfromsmall-sizedbeetles, andvegetablematter suchasberriesand seeds, cerambycid grubs form themaindiet (38%–46%)of large-sizedwoodpeckers like the Ivory-billedWoodpeckerCampephilus principalis inNorthAmerica(Jackson2002).Predatorywoodpeckers, e.g.,Three-toedWoodpeckerPicoides tridactylus, arealsoknowntoplayasignificantroleinregulatingbarkandlonghornbeetlepopulations in coniferous forest landscapes inEurope(Faytet al. 2003).Apositivecorrelationhasbeenestablishedbetweentheabundanceoflonghornbeetlelarvae,andthebrood-sizeofwoodpeckers—theThree-toedWoodpeckernestlings’main

Indian Birds Vol.6No.1(Publ.25thJune2010) 3

Singh:Woodpeckers&salborer

food(Faytet al.2003).Three-toedWoodpeckerisalsoknowntoshowthegreatestnumericalresponsetobeetlepreydensity,withpopulationdensitiesincreasingupto44.8-foldduringoutbreaks,relativeto thosesupportedatendemicbeetle levels (Faytet al. 2003).Somespeciesoflarge-sizedwoodpeckers,likeBlack-backedWoodpeckerP. arcticus,which is extremely specialized in itsforagingniche,feedexclusivelybyexcavatinglarvalwood-boringbeetlesduringoutbreaksindyingconifersforonly2–3yearsafterforestfiresinAlaska(Murphy&Lehnhausen1998).

Thus,woodpeckers are important bio-agents that feedoncerambycidborer larvae andpupae innatural forests, onoldaged trees, andhelp in suppressingpopulationof thispest tosome extent.

However, extensive study is required toestablisha similarrelationshipbetweenthesalheartwoodborerandwoodpeckersinthetropicalmoistdeciduoussalforestsofthelowerwesternHimalayas.Withthisaim,thepresentstudywascarriedouttoevaluate the intensityof salheartwoodborer infestation in salstands andexamine the relationshipof borer infestationwithabundanceanddiversityofwoodpeckers.

Study areaDehradunvalley,whichcoversanareaofc. 2,000 km2 and lies in the lower western Himalaya in the state of Uttarakhand, was selectedasthestudyareatoworkonthisproblem.About51–58%landareainthevalleywasundertropicalmoistdeciduoussal

forests (Figs. 23, 24) (FSI1995).Theseforestshaveahistoryofsalboreroutbreaksallover thevalley.Here,during1916–1924anoutbreakatThano range covered18km2, andover 80,000treesperished.During1952–1953, againatThano, 8,475badlyinfestedtreeshadtobefelled.In1958–1960anoutbreakatTimlirangedestroyed12,860trees.In1961inLachhiwalarangea‘light’outbreakwasreported.Thenin1965,onceagaininThanorange,4.8 km2of forestwas affectedwith 2,379being trees attacked,followedby21%infestationoftreesbytheborerduring1976–1978(Roonwal1977;Singh&Mishra1986).Recently,during2000–2002,large-scalemortalityoftreeshasoccurredagain,duetosalborerattacksinthevalley(pers. obs. of author).

Material & methods Selection of study sitesTopographicmapsandsatelliteimagery(IRS-IC1998)dataofthestudyarea,depictingtheextentofsalforestcoverinDehradunvalley,wereprocuredfromForestSurveyofIndia(FSI)andSurveyofIndia,Dehradunforselectionofstudysites(Fig. 3). Areas of sal forestcoveringmorethan4km2,andwithacanopycover>50%,wereidentifiedaspotentialsitesforstudy.Fifteenforestrangeswithlargesalforesttractswerethusidentifiedassuitableforthisstudy.Basedonthegroundsurveysninesalforestsites(eightinreserveforestareaandoneinsideRajajiNationalPark)distributedalloverthevalleyweremarkedandidentifiedforsampling(Fig. 3; Table 1). Field surveyswere then carriedout for collecting

Fig.3.Dehradunvalley:studyarea,theextentofsalforestcoverandlocationofstudysitesasmentionedinthetext.

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Table1.Siteparameters:vegetationandhabitatconditionofforeststandsinDehradunvalley.

Sl. no. Site/Range Vegetation

Percentageofborer infested

sal trees

Percentageof trees with GBH>100cm

DominantGBHclass(cm)

ShannonDiversityIndexof

Woodpeckers*1 Kansrao

(RajajiNP)Puresalandmixedpatcheswithmarshy

vegetationhavingTrewia nudiflora; Syzygium cumini

Low(1.7) 72 101-125 0.737

2 KarvapaniRF

MainlymixedsalpatchesandmarshyvegetationhavingSapium somniferum; S.

cumini;T. nudiflora

High(20.3) 56 76-100 0.823

3 Timli RF Mainly sal dominant, without water Low(2.7) 45 51-75 0.690

4 Thano RF Mainly sal dominant, without water High(36.6) 59 101-105 0.919

5 Kalusidh-Lacchiwala

RF

MixedpatcheswithmarshyvegetationhavingT. nudiflora.

Low(0.5) 46 76-100 0.749

6 Chowki RF Puresalwithmixedvegetationinnullahsandwater and S. somniferum

Moderate (15.7)

36 51-75 0.799

7 Rikhauli RF Pure hill sal, without water low(0.8) 9 25-50 0.345

8 Jhajra RF Pureandmixedpatches,withoutwater. High(22.5) 58 101-125 0.761

9 ChandpurRF

Mainlypuresal,waterinapool, with S. cumini, and S. somniferum

High(24.7)Old

infestation

47 101-125 0.647

NP=NationalPark;RF=ReserveForest;*ShannonDiversityIndexofwoodpeckers—asdeterminedinthisstudy

baselinehabitatdataforthesestudysitesnamely,percentageofborer-infestedsaltrees;treegirthatbreastheight(GBH);densityperhectare, and tree species compositionof sites.Theseweredeterminedby layingdown16vegetationplots (quadratesof 10 ×10m)ineachsite.Totalnumbersofsaltreeswerethencountedineachplot,andwereseparatedintoborer-infested(includingdeadones)andun-infestedsaltrees,tocalculatepercentageofborer infestation.

Woodpecker surveysWoodpecker surveyswere carried out at each site visually,usingbinocularsandfieldguides.Ateachsite,atransectofonekilometer was marked through the forest, and walked through the vegetationplotsfor60min.,atastretch,between0800and1700hrs

forsamplingoccurrenceofwoodpeckerspecies.Allwoodpeckerspeciesupto25moneithersideoftransects,wereidentifiedandtheirnumbersrecorded.NinesamplingsurveyswerecarriedoutateachsitefromMay2004toFebruary2006,andFebruary2007,coveringalltheseasons.

Woodpeckerswereidentifiedwiththehelpofvariousfieldguides(Ali&Ripley1987;Grimmettet al.1998;Kazmierczak2000;Rasmussen&Anderton2005).Plants invegetationplotswereidentifiedwiththehelpofKanjilal(1969),andtheplanttaxonomistattheHerbarium,BotanyDivisionatFRI,Dehradun.

AnalysisRelative abundanceofwoodpeckers, computedas averageoftheirabundancesacrosssamplesforeachsite,wascorrelatedwithpercentageofborer-infestedsaltreesusingPearson’scorrelationcoefficient.Ialsodidregressionanalysistomodeltherelationshipbetweenwoodpeckerspeciesandsal-boreroccurrence.Speciesdiversityofwoodpeckers(H’)wascalculatedfromtheShannonIndexasfollows(wherepiistheproportionoftheithspeciesinthesample):

H’ = - Σ pi loge pi

Shannon Index is essentially a combinedmeasureof bothspecies richness (i.e., number of species) and evenness ofabundances(i.e.,howequitablyallthespeciesaredistributedintermsoftheirpopulation)inasample.Inotherwords,speciesdiversitywillbe thehighest inanassemblageofwoodpeckerswithalargenumberofspeciesandwithallthespeciesoccurringinhighyetequalnumbers.

ThestructureofwoodpeckerassemblagesandtheirhabitatselectionwerestudiedbyPrincipalComponentsAnalysis(PCA),which seeks to reducea largenumberof speciesor ecologicalfactorsintoafewmeaningfuldimensionsforeasyinterpretation.I first generated a ‘site plot’where the sampling siteswere

Fig.4.Grey-headedWoodpeckerPicus canus.

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grouped according to similarity of theirwoodpecker speciescomposition.Then,a‘speciesplot’wasdrawninwhichallthewoodpeckerspecieswereclusteredonthebasisofsimilarityoftheirdistributioninatwo-dimensionalspaceasdefinedbythesamplingsitesinPCA.AllthestatisticalanalysesweredoneusingthesoftwareSPSSv.11.00.

Results & discussionDehradunhasarichdiversityofwoodpeckers,as17speciesareknowntoexistinthedistrict,bothinthehills,andvalley/plains

(Singh2000, 2002).However, except for four species, namely,Himalayan Dendrocopos himalayensis, Rufous-bellied D. hyperythrus, andScaly-belliedPicus squamatusWoodpeckers,whicharestrictlyhill species, andBrown-cappedPygmyWoodpeckerD. nanus, which ismainly found indrydeciduoushabitat in the Indianplains, theremaining13spp.,knownfromtheareawereobservedinthesalforestsofDehradunvalley(below1,000m),thelowerwesternHimalaya,duringthesurvey.

NinesitesweresampledandtheirvegetationcharacteristicsaregiveninTable 1.

Seasonality of woodpeckers in sal forestsItwasobserved that thewoodpeckers, ingeneral,weremostabundantduringwinter(fromDecembertoFebruary)insalforestsofDehradunvalley(Fig. 5).

Relative abundanceSystematicsamplingofwoodpeckers(Fig. 9)revealedthatGrey-headedWoodpeckerPicus canus (Fig. 4)wasthemostabundantspecies in the entire studyarea followedbyFulvous-breastedDendrocopos macei(Fig. 10)andGrey-cappedPygmyD. canicapillus (Fig. 15)Woodpeckers.TheleastcommonspecieswereYellow-crownedD. mahrattensis (Fig. 8), Brown-fronted D. auriceps (Fig. 21), and Streak-throatedWoodpeckers P. xanthopygaeus (Fig. 6).

Relationship between individual species abundance & borer infestationAcrosssites,therelativeabundanceofwoodpeckerswasfoundtobegreatestinKansrao,followedbyThano,Jhajra,andKarvapani.

Fig.6.Streak-throatedWoodpeckerPicus xanthopygaeus.

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Fig.5.RelativeabundanceofwoodpeckerpersamplingthroughdifferentmonthsoftheyearinsalforestsofDehradunvalley.



the lower western HimalayasPCAwascarriedout forall the sites (barringChandpur)withrespect to relative abundance of 13 species ofwoodpeckers.Ordinationplotsweregeneratedforgroupingofboth,woodpeckerspecies, and sampling sites, basedon the twomost importantcomponents extracted. In the analysis, the first componentexplained 51.6% of variation in the relative abundance ofwoodpeckers,while thesecondcomponentcontributedto21.2

Thelastthreesitesalsohousedthehighestproportionofborer-infested sal trees (Fig. 12).However, abundancesofonly twospeciesnamely,GreaterYellownapePicus flavinucha (Fig. 13), and LesserYellownapeP. chlorolophus (Figs 14, 16) were found to be positivelyrelatedtosal-borerfrequency.

Woodpecker communities in sal forests of Dehradun valley:

Table2.Status,monthofmaximumabundanceandhabitatpreferenceofwoodpeckerswithtropicalmoistdeciduousforestsofDehradunvalley,Uttarakhand,India

Sl. No.

Species Residential status Month of maximum abundanceinsal

forests

Preferenceforforesthabitat

1 GreaterYellownapePicus flavinucha Resident December Sal dominant

2 LesserYellownapeP. chlorolophus Resident August Saldominantandmixedpatches

3 Grey-headedWoodpeckerP. canus Resident December Sal dominant

4 Streak-throatedWoodpeckerP. xanthopygaeus Resident January Mixedpatcheswithsal

5 GreaterFlamebackChrysocolaptes lucidus Resident December;February Mixedpatcheswithsal

6 HimalayanFlamebackDinopium shorii Resident December;February Sal dominant

7 Black-rumpedFlamebackD. benghalense Resident September Mainlymixedpatches

8 Fulvous-breastedWoodpeckerDendrocopos macei Resident October-December Saldominantandmixedpatches

9 Grey-cappedPygmyWoodpeckerD. canicapillus Resident October-February Mixedpatcheswithsal

10 Brown-frontedWoodpeckerD. auriceps WinterMigrant-Vagrant February Sal dominant

11 Yellow-crownedWoodpeckerD. mahrattensis Vagrant November Mixedpatches(mainlynon-sal)

12 RufousWoodpeckerMicropternus brachyurus Uncommonresident May Mixedpatcheswithsal

13 SpeckledPiculetPicumnus innominatus Resident February Mixedpatcheswithsal

Fig.7.Black-rumpedFlamebackDinopium benghalense. Fig.8.Yellow-crownedWoodpeckerDendrocopos mahrattensis.

Niranjan Sant



%ofvariation.Firstordinationplotsought togroupsamplingsitesonthe

basisof theirwoodpeckercommunities (Fig. 18); inparticular,component 1was represented byGreaterYellownape andcomponent2theLesserYellownape.Inthisspace,twoprominentclustersofsiteswereobtained:i)Karvapani,Jhajra,andChowkiand ii)Kalusidh, Thano,Kansrao, andTimli. Examining thegeographicallocationofthesesites,itbecameclearthatspatialproximityhadalso contributed tomuchof their similarity inwoodpeckercomposition(Fig. 3).ItisalsointerestingtonotethatKalusidh,KansraoandTimliinthesecondclusterhadverylow

borer infestation rates.In the second ordination plot,woodpecker specieswere

groupedbasedontheirhabitatselectionas inferredfromtheirdistribution across sites. In the analysis, thefirst componentexplained 51.8% of variation in the relative abundance ofwoodpeckers,while the second component contributed to23.7%ofvariation,withcomponent1representedbyKarvapani,and component 2 by Chowki.As evident from the plot (Fig. 19),Himalayan andGreater Flamebacks shared similarhabitat requirements. Similarly,GreaterYellownape,RufousWoodpecker, andStreak-throatedWoodpecker showedgreatersimilarityintheirhabitatoccupancy.

It is, therefore, clear thathabitat selectionofwoodpeckersinDoonvalley is not heavily influencedby rate of sal-borerinfestation,thoughboththeyellownapesdoseemtoshowmarkedproclivitytoborer-infestedforestpatches.

Amongst the 11 resident species in TMDSF at least six showedpreferencetosaldominantpatchesinTMDSF(Table 2).

ConclusionOut of 13 species ofwoodpeckers sampled in tropicalmoistdeciduoussalforestsofDehradunvalley,theabundantspecieswere,Grey-headedWoodpecker,Fulvous-breastedWoodpecker, Grey-cappedPygmyWoodpecker,Greater Flameback,Lesser

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Fig.9.RelativeabundancepersamplingofindividualspeciesofwoodpeckersinsalforestsofDehradunvalley

0Thano Jhajra Karvapani Chowki

Relative abundance of woodpeckers per sampling

Percentage of borer infested sal trees

Timli Kansrao Kalusidh

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Fig.12.Relativeabundanceofwoodpeckerindifferentsalforestsites inDehradunvalleyundervaryinglevelofsalborerinfestation.

Arun P. Singh

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Fig.10.Fulvous-breastedWooodpeckerDendrocopos macei.

Fig.11.HimalayanFlamebackDinopium shorii.



At species level only two species, GreaterYellownapeandLesserYellownape showed significant increase in borerinfestedstands,suggestingthatthesespeciescouldbeimportantpredatorsofthesalheartwoodborer.Amongstresidentspeciesofwoodpeckers, abundance ofGreaterYellownape, LesserYellownape,Grey-headedWoodpecker,HimalayanFlameback(Fig. 11);Fulvous-breastedWoodpeckerweremore inpuresalstandsascomparedtomixedforeststands.OntheotherhandabundanceofStreak-throatedWoodpecker,RufousWoodpecker(Fig. 17),Grey-cappedPygmyWoodpecker,Greater(Fig. 22)andBlack-rumpedFlameback(Fig. 7)hadmoreabundanceinmixed

Yellownape,Black-rumpedFlameback,andHimalayanFlameback, respectively.While,fivespecieswereuncommon,namely,GreaterYellownape, Brown-frontedWoodpecker, Speckled Piculet (Fig. 20),RufousWoodpecker, andStreak-throatedWoodpecker, respectively.Theremainingtwospeciesarevagrantrecords.TheYellow-crownedWoodpeckerwasrareinTMDSFofDehradunvalley,asitprefers‘drydeciduous’vegetationlyingsouthofthevalley.Ontheotherhand,Brown-frontedWoodpecker(Fig. 21)occursmainly in thehigherhills (above1,400m),butwasalsoobservedonce inTMDSFof thevalley as itdescendeddownduringextremewinterconditionsinsalforests.

Highest seasonalabundanceofwoodpeckerswas recordedduringwinter(December-February)insalforests.Speciesdiversityofwoodpeckerswasgreaterinsiteswithhighborerinfestation(> 20%borer infested trees) as compared to standswith lowinfestation(<3%infestation)indicatingthatborerinfestedsitesattractgreaterdiversityofwoodpeckers.Thus,woodpeckersingeneralplayasignificantroleinpredatingontheborertherebyminimizingtheborerinfestation.Thisisinconsistencywithotherstudiesoutsidesalforests(Beeson1941;Dennis1967;Stoddard1969;Jackson1988,2002).

0.9

0.7

0.5

5 1.5Infestation

Percent borer infestation in sal trees

2.5 3.5

0.1

-0.1

Greater Yellownape Picus flavinucha

Woodpecker abundance =(Sal borer infestation - 10.12) / 23.14 (Significant at 5%)

r2 = 0.80; p<0.05W

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InfestationPercent borer infestation in sal trees

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Woodpecker abundance = (Sal borer infestation - 5.72) / 20.25 (Significant at 10%)

Lesser Yellownape Picus chlorolophus

r2 = 0.69; p<0.10

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Fig.13.RelationshipbetweensalborerinfestationandabundanceofGreaterYellownape,Picus flavinucha in Dehradun Valley

(2004–2007)

Fig.16.RelationshipbetweensalborerinfestationandabundanceofLesserYellownapePicus chlorolophusinDehradunValley(2004–2007)Fig.14.LesserYellownapePicus chlorolophus female.

Fig.15.Grey-cappedPygmyWoodpeckerDendrocopos canicapillus.

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forestthaninpuresalstands.Speciespreferringsaldominatedstands should thus play amajor role in checking the borerinfestationascomparedtotheotherspecies.

Itwasalsodeterminedthatproximityofsiteswitheachotherplayed a significant role indetermining species compositionof sal forest inDehradunvalley than other factors i.e. borer

1.0

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Component plot

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Fig18:OrdinationofwoodpeckersitesinspeciesspaceinDehradunvalleybasedontwomostimportantcomponents.

1.0

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Grey-headed Woodpecker

Rufous WoodpeckerGreater Yellownape

Streak-throated Woodpecker

Speckeled Piculet

Black-rumped Flameback

Greater Flameback

Himalayan Flameback

Brown-frontedWoodpeckerFulvous-breasted

Woodpecker

Lesser Yellownape

Grey-cappedPygmy Woodpecker

Yellow-crownedWoodpecker

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Component plot in rotated space

Com

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Fig.19.OrdinationofspeciesinsitesspaceinDehradunvalley basedontwomostimportantcomponents.

Fig.17.RufousWooodpeckerMicropternus brachyurus.

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njan

San

tSingh:Woodpeckers&salborer


infestation.

AcknowledgementsThis studywaspartof the fellowship -Dr.SalimAliNationalWildlife

FellowshipAward2001underwhichthisstudywascarriedout,fromJune2004toMarch2007.IthanktheWildlifeDivision,MinistryofEnvironmentandForests,GovernmentofIndiaforthegrantofthisfellowship.IalsothanktheDirectorGeneral,ICFRE,Dehradun,Director,FRI,andHead,EntomologyDivision,FRI,Dehradun,forprovidingthenecessaryfacilitiestocarryouttheabovestudy.ThanksarealsoduetoH.B.Naithaniforidentificationofplants,andtoDineshKumarandRamanNautiyalfortheirhelpinstatisticalanalysis.

ReferencesAli,S.,&Ripley,S.D.,1987.Compact handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan

together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. 2nd ed. Delhi:OxfordUniversityPress.

Beeson, C. F. C., 1941. The ecology and control of the forest insects of India and neighboring countries. Dehradun: Vasant Press.

Bhandari,R.S.,&Rawat,J.K.,2001.SalHeartwoodborer,Hoplocerambyx spinicornisNewman(Coleoptera:Cerambycidae)anditsmanagement. Indian Forester127(12):1387–1393.

Brooks,F.E.,1923.Oaksaplingborer,Goes tesselatus Halde-man. J. Agri. Res.26:313–318.

Dennis,J.V.,1967.TheIvory-billfliesstill.Audubon 69(6):38–44.Fayt, P. 2003. Population ecology of the Three-toed Woodpecker under varying

food supplies.PhD.UniversityofJoensuu.ForestSurveyof India.1995.The state of forest report. Dehradun: Forest

SurveyofIndia.Grimmett,R.,Inskipp,C.,&Inskipp,T.,1998.Birds of the Indian subcontinent.

NewDelhi:OxfordUniversityPress.Jackson,J.A.,1988.Thesoutheasternpineforestecosystemanditsbirds:

past,present,andfuture.Pp.119–159.In: Bird Conservation 3 (Ed.:Jackson,J.E.).Madison:UniversityofWisconsinPress.

Jackson, J.A., 2002. Ivory-billedWoodpecker (Campephilus principalis).RetrievedfromtheBirdsofNorthAmericaOnline:http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/711.

Fig.20.SpeckledPiculetPicumnus innominatus. Fig.22.GreaterFlamebackChrysocolaptes lucidus.

Fig.21.Brown-frontedWoodpeckerDendrocopos auriceps.

Nira

njan

San

t Arun P. Singh

Aru

n P.

Sin

ghSingh:Woodpeckers&salborer


Kaiser, H. F., 1960. The application of electronic computers to factor analysis.Educational & Psychological Measurement 20: 141–151.

Kanjilal, U., 1969. Forest flora of Chakarata, Dehradun and Saharanpur forest divisions, Uttar Pradesh. Delhi:ManagerofPublications.

Kazmierczak,K.,2000.A field guide to the birds of India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and the Maldives.1sted.London:PicaPress/ChristopherHelm.

Linsley, E. G., 1961. The Cerambycidae of North America.PartI.Introduction.University ofCaliforniaPublications inEntomology,Volume18.UniversityofCaliforniaPress,Berkeley,CA.

Magurran, A. E., 1988 Ecological diversity and its measurement. Princeton,NewJersey:PrincetonUniversityPress.

Murphy,E.C.,&Lehnhausen,W.A.,1998.Densityandforagingecologyofwoopeckers following a stand-replacement fire. J. Wildlife Management.62(4):1359–1372.

Odum, E. P., 1997. Ecology: a bridge between science and society. Sunderland, Massachusetts:SinauerAssociatedInc.

Osmaston,B.B.,1935.Birds of Dehradun and Adjacent hills.IndianMilitaryAcademy.Supplement.

Rasmussen,P.C.,&AndertonJ.C.,2005.Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide.Washington,D.C.&Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution&LynxEdicions.

Roonwal,M.L.,1977.Fieldecologyofsalheartwoodborer,Hoplocerambyx spinicornis(Cerambycidae),insub-Himalayanforest.Part–2.Seasonallifehistory,sexvariation,sexratios,woodfibers,andoperculumofpupalchamber.J. Indian Acad. Wood Sci. 8(1):27–40.

Shannon,C.E.,1948.Amathematicaltheoryofcommunication.Bell System Technical Journal27:379–423,623–656.

Fig.23.MixedsalforestpatchatKarvapani. Fig.24.PuresalforestpatchatTimli,Dehradun.

Aru

n P.

Sin

gh

http://cm.bell-labs.cpm/cm/ms/what/shannonday/paper.html Shannon,C.E.,&Wiener,W.,1963.The mathematical theory of communities.

Urbana:UniversityofIllinoisPress.Singh,P.,&Mishra,R.M.,1986.Athreatenedepidemicofsalheartwood

borer nipped in the bud. Pp. 907–909.Proceedings 2nd Forestry Conference:F.R.I.Dehradun.

Singh,A.P.,2000.BirdsoflowerGarhwalHimalayas:Dehradunvalleyand neighbouring hills. Forktail.16:101–123.

Singh,A.P.,2002.NewandsignificantbirdrecordsfromDehradunvalley,LowerGarhwalHimalayas,India.Forktail18:151–153.

Solomon,J.D.,1968.Cerambycidborerinmulberry.J. Econ. Entomol. 61: 1023–1025.

Solomon,J.D.,1972.Biologyandhabitsofthelivingbeechborerinredoaks. J. Econ. Entomol.65:1307–1310.

Solomon,J.D.,1974.Biologyanddamageofthehickoryborer,Goes pulcher, inhickoryandpecan.Ann. Entomol. Soc. America67:257–260.

Stoddard, H. L., 1969. Memoirs of a naturalist.Norman:University ofOklahoma Press.

Stebbing, E. P., 1899. Injurious insects of Indian forests.Calcutta:Supt.Govt.Printing Press.



ObservationsontheWhite-napedTitParus nuchalis inCauveryWildlifeSanctuary,Karnataka

K. B. Sadananda, D. H. Tanuja, M. Sahana, T. Girija, A. Sharath, M. K. Vishwanath & A. Shivaprakash

Sadananda,K.B.,Tanuja,D.H.,Sahana,M.,Girija,T.,Sharath,A.,Vishwanath,M.K.,&Shivaprakash,A.,2010.ObservationsontheWhite-napedTitParus nuchalisinCauveryWildlifeSanctuary,Karnataka.IndianBirds6(1):12–14.

K.B.Sadanada,11,TempleRoad,Jayalakshmipuram,Mysore570012,Karnataka,India.D.H.Tanuja,LIG01,4thMain,RamakrishnaNagarIBlock,Mysore570021,Karnataka,India.Email:[email protected],1795,Chittara,SriRampura2ndStage,Mysore570023,Karnataka,India.Email:[email protected]. K. Vishwanath5, 444, 8thMainRoad,saraswathipuram,Mysore570009,Karnataka,India.Email:[email protected],A. Sharath,&A.Shivaprakash: 478, 8th Main Road, 3rdCross,R.K.Nagar, ‘H’Block,Mysore570022,Karnataka, India,

Email: [email protected](Correspondingauthor).Manuscript received on 30 June 2009.

TheWhite-napedTitParus nuchalisisendemictoIndiawitharestricteddistributionthatislargelyconfinedtosecondaryforestmainlycomprisingthornyscrub-forest(Ali&Ripley

1987). It has a limitedgeographical rangewith adisjunctivedistributionof two separatepopulations, in thewestern andsouthernpartsof the country. Inwestern India, it is recordedinnorthernGujarat,centralandsouth-centralRajasthan;andinsouthern India, in thebrokenhill-rangesof theEasternGhatsspread throughAndhraPradesh (Jerdon 1863; Suresh 2007),TamilNadu,andKarnataka(Lott&Lott1999)thatconnectstotheWesternGhats.TheWhite-napedTitislistedas‘vulnerable’basedonrapidpopulationdecline(BirdLifeInternational2009).

Fornearlytwo-and-a-halfdecades,mostoftheCauveryRivervalley’sforestswereinaccessibletobirders,researchers,andlife-sciencestudentsduetothepresenceofsecurityforcescombingfor poachers, and repeated conflicts betweenKarnataka andTamilNadustatesoverriver-waterrights.Thisvolatilesituationpreventedthestudyoftheregion’savifauna,includingthestatusoftheWhite-napedTit.WecouldvisitCauveryWildlifeSanctuary,as the area becamemore accessible in recent years.Herewepresentevidenceoftheyear-roundpresenceofWhite-napedTitsatdifferentlocationsinCauveryWildlifeSanctuary.

On 25 January 2009, KBS andASPwere birding nearGopinathamvillage (12°03’12”N77°41’55”E),oneof themanyinhabitedvillages locatedontheeasternboundaryofCauveryWildlife Sanctuary,Karnataka. Itwas around 1645 hrs that wenoticedtwoWhite-napedTitslandonanAlbizia amara tree. One ofthemremainedperchedforabouttenminutes,thusprovidingagoodopportunitytophotographit.ArushingflightofRose-ringed Parakeets Psittacula krameri right above the treedrovethe titoutofsight.Wedidnotsee the tits thenextday.Againon27January2009weobservedtwoWhite-napedTitsonanA. amaratreeatabout0800hrs,feedinginthelastdyingleavesandmanyemergingflowers.FourYellow-throatedSparrowsPetronia xanthocollisforaginginthesametreedidnottoleratetheirpresenceanddrovethemaway.

Both thesesightingswere in thesouthernpartsof thedry-deciduous forests (Fig. 1) aroundGopinatham tank.This is amedium-sizedwaterbodylocatedcloseto,andwestofthevillage,cateringtoitswaterneeds.Astream,‘Erkeyum’flowingbetweenNagamale(cobrahill),andMailumale(peafowlhill)augmentsthewaterinthetank.Threesidesofthetank,withtheexceptionoftheeasternbund,arecoveredbydrydeciduousforest,withthevegetation extending rightup to its shoreline.ThevegetationpredominantlycomprisesA. amara trees, shrubby undergrowth of Barleria longiflora, Lantana camara, Solanum pubsecens, and Cissus quadrangularis. The habitathereissimilartotheonedescribedinLott&Lott(1999).

The following insectivorousbirds shared theWhite-napedTit‘shabitat,duringourtwoobservations—White-browedFantailRhipidura aureola,HoopoeUpupa epopos,RufousTreepieDendrocitta vagabunda,Yellow-throatedSparrow, andWhite-headedBabblerTurdoides affinis.Apair ofCommonWoodshrikeTephrodornis pondicerianuswas observed feeding a solitaryfledgling. FourEuropeanBee-eatersMerops apiaster wereobservedinthevicinity.Althoughourchecklistfinallyshowed82species,theGreatTitP. majorwasconspicuousbyitsabsence.

Subsequenttothesightings,Praveen(2009)pointedout,inanonlinediscussion,thatallprevioussightingsoftheWhite-napedTit (Ali&Whistler 1942;Lott&Lott 1999)were fromwinter,andtoestablishthat thebirdswereactuallyresident, itwouldbe necessary to record their presenceduring the non-wintermonths.

Our tripon6–7 June2009, to the samearea,yieldedmoresightingsofthebird.WerecordedtwoWhite-napedTits (Fig. 2) on

Fig.1.White-napedTitParus nuchalishabitatinCauvery WildlifeSanctuary.

A. S

hiva

prak

ash


6June2009at1500hrs,somefourkilometersawayfromthePalarBridgedeviation(11°57’14”N77°38’58”E)towardsGopinathamvillage.StandsofA. amara, Chloroxylon swietenia, and shrubs of B. longiflora, Solanum pubescens, and Acalypha fruticosa dominate the habitathere.Wetravelledafurther15kmandreachedtheplacewherewesightedthetitinJanuary2009.Anovercastskyintheeveningdidnotyieldanysightingsofthetit.On7June2009,wesearchedforthebirdinsimilarhabitat,neartheroadtothePalarBridgefromtheMaleMahadeswarahill,andrecordedthetitattwodifferentlocations:threebirdstogether,andasolitarybirdwithinadistanceof300m.Wewereagainabletophotographoneofthetits.Detailsofoursightingsarepresentedin Table 1, and Fig. 3, andupdatedsightingsforsouthernIndiaareshowninFig. 4.

Incidentally,we searched invain,partsof theEllemala and Odakehalla ranges in thewesternpart of theCauveryWildlifeSanctuary,oneithersideoftheMysore–MaleMahadeshwaraHillroad,fortheWhite-napedTit.Here,thevegetationcompositionis similar to theoneobservedpreviously for theWhite-napedTit.However,werecordedonlyGreatTitinthisarea.Fourhoursofsearching,twohourseachonthemorningof6Juneandtheeveningof 7 June,wereprobably insufficient to ascertain thecompleteabsenceofthetit.AtcertainlocationsinRajasthan,theGreatTithasbeenobservedinthesamehabitatoccupiedbyWhite-napedTit(BirdLifeInternational2001),andgiventhecontiguousnatureofthehabitatshere,thepossibilitythattheycouldoccurtogethershouldbeexploredinthefuture.

Table1.UpdatedsightingsoftheWhite-napedTitParus nuchalis in the Eastern GhatsSl. No. Placeofsighting Date of sighting Recordedby No. of birds seen Reference

1 AroundPalarBridge,CauveryWildlifeSanctuary,ChamarajanagaraDistrict,Karnataka

6 June 2009 KBS, DTH, MS, TG, AS, MKV&ASP

Two Presentsurvey

7 June 2009 Three+One

2 Gopinatham,CauveryWildlifeSanctuary,ChamarajanagaraDistrict,Karnataka

27 January 2009 KBS&ASP Two Presentsurvey

25January2009

3 Arogyavarm,ChittorDistrict,AndhraPradesh

18December2003 Jones Two Jones 2007

1 January 2004

February2005

4 Santhemaralli, Yelandur Hobli, ChamarajanagaraDistrict,Karnataka

November1999 Jugal Tiwari Two www.delhibird.net

5 HeganuruStateForest,Kanakapura,BangaloreRuralDistrict,Karnataka

November1995 Lott&Lott Four Lott&Lott1999

October1995January 1987

November1986Bommasandra,Kanakapura,BangaloreRuralDistrict,Karnataka

1December1985

6 Mekedatu,Kanakapura,BangaloreRuralDistrict,Karnataka

30December1984 Subramanya Two Lott&Lott1999

7 Satyamangala, Biligirirangan Hills, ChamarajanagaraDistrict,Karnataka(nowinTamilNadu)

14September1934 Morris One(Juvenile) Ali&Whistler1942

8 Bangalore, Karnataka ? 1930 Stewart One Ali&Whistler1942

9 Masinagudi, Tamil Nadu March1997 Bishop One BirdLife International2001

10 Velicondarange,Nellore,AndhraPradesh Undated Jerdon One Jerdon 1863

M. Sahana

Fig. 2. Parus nuchalis sighted on 6 June 2009.

Sadananda et al.:White-napedTit

Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010)14

We regularly visit vast marshlands, and water bodies, for winter waterfowl counts around Santhemaralli where Jugal Tiwari recorded the White-naped Tit (Tiwari 1999). We have not observed the White-naped Tit here, just the Great Tit, near the waterbodies, on a few occasions. P. nuchalis is known to move over 5–7 km for foraging if the forest is fragmented, and thus may cover larger distances in search of food. Ringed birds in Kachchh, Gujarat have been recaptured some 5–7 km away from the place of ringing (Jugal Tiwari, pers. comm.).

Although we noticed that P. nuchalis was not a difficult bird to spot in suitable habitat, we do not conclude that the species is common in the area. In the recent past, efforts to survey the interior regions of the Male Mahadeshwara Hills, and nearby areas, for the tit were severely hindered due to limited access and the presence of poachers, and security forces. We plan to conduct surveys in future to look for the species more intensively in the area. Observations of the species from the nearby Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh (Table 1; Fig. 4) indicate that the distributional range of the species could be much wider in southern India, but that it may be found in small numbers in large tracts of fragmented habitats. Future threats to the tit’s habitat at Male Mahadeshwara Hills could include quarrying for granite, and habitat loss.

AcknowledgementsWe thank ACF (Wildlife) M. K. Ravindra, Hanur Division, RFO (Wildlife) M. Nagaraju, MM Hill range, Forester M. Keshava, watchers Iyyandorai,

Muthu, and Soundar Rajan for able support, and hospitality. We also thank Jugal Tiwari for his observations on the habitat and behavior of the tits, S. Subramanya for whetting an earlier draft of this paper, and S. Thejaswi for providing useful references and improvements to the manuscript.

ReferencesAli, S., & Ripley, S. D., 1987. Compact handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan

together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. 2nd ed. Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Ali, S., & Whistler, H., 1942. The birds of Mysore. Part I. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 43 (2): 130–147.

BirdLife International. 2009. http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=7053&m=0

BirdLife International. 2001. Threatened Birds of Asia: The BirdLife International Red Data Book. Part A. 2 vols. 1st ed. Collar, N. J., Andreev, A. V., Chan, S., Crosby, M. J., Subramanya, S., & Tobias, J. A., (eds.). Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International.

Islam, Z.-u., & Rahmani, A. R., 2004. Important Bird Areas in India. Priority sites for conservation. Mumbai: Indian Bird Conservation Network: Bombay Natural History Society and BirdLife International (UK).

Jerdon, T. C., 1863. The birds of India being a natural history of all the birds known to inhabit continental India: with descriptions of the species, genera, families, tribes, and orders, and a brief notice of such families as are not found in India, making it a manual of ornithology specially adapted for India. Vol II.-Part I. 1st ed. Calcutta: Published by the author (Printed by The Military Orphan Press). (Quoted based on citation in Lott & Lott 1999; Jones 2007; Shyamal 1996.)

Jones, S., 2007. Sightings of White-naped Tit Parus nuchalis in Arogyavaram, Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh. Indian Birds 3 (5): 198–199.

Lott, E. J., & Lott, C., 1999. On the occurrence of White-naped Tit Parus nuchalis in southern India. Forktail 15 (August): 93–94.

Praveen J., 2009. Sighting of White winged Black Tit. Message No.15690. bngbirds@ yahoogroups.com.29.i.2009.

Shyamal, L., 1996. The Whitewinged Tit Parus nuchalis in southern India and notes on the Great Tit Parus major. Newsletter for Birdwatchers 35 (6): 114.

Tiwari, J. K., http://speciesguide.delhibird.net/internal/86/tit_white_naped.htm

Editorial Committee’s note:The two records of Uttangi (1994, 1995), of P. nuchalis from the evergreen to semi-evergreen biotope at Anshi National Park, and in the residential backyard of Dharwad town, need confirmation, and hence have not been included in the above paper. In addition, the habitats where he saw the birds do not fit the typical Albizia or Acacia dominated open jungle found in southern Karnataka (especially the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary belt (Lott & Lott 1999) / Andhra Pradesh (Jones 2007), although it is stated that the Dharwad locality is at the edge of a transitional belt of thorn forest. Also, the Wynaad record of the species (Zacharias & Gaston 1993) is not confirmed as yet, and it is indicated that the identification of P. nuchalis during one of those Wynaad surveys, when the species is claimed to have been sighted, is doubtful (V. Santharam pers. comm., also Sashikumar et al., 2010, confirming the former).

ReferencesSashikumar, C., Praveen, J., Palot, M. J., & Nameer, P. O., 2010. Birds of

Kerala: an update on status and distribution. (In press).Uttangi, J. C., 1994. Full report on avifaunal survey of Anshi National

Park in north Western Ghats (India). Unpublished.Uttangi, J. C., 1995. A rare occurrence of the globally threatened White-

naped Tit, Parus nuchalis in areas of Dharwad, Karnataka India. Newsletter for Birdwatchers. 35: 114–115.

Zacharias, V. J., & Gaston, A. J., 1993. The Birds of Wynaad, southern India. Forktail. 8: 11–23.

Fig. 3. Recent sightings of Parus nuchalis in Cauvery Wildlife Sanctu-ary, Karnataka. Sighting dates are given next to sighting locations.

S. S

ubra

man

yaS.

Sub

ram

anya

Fig. 4. Updated distribution of Parus nuchalis in southern India.

Sadananda et al.: White-naped Tit


IntroductionThisstudyisthefirstattempttoprepareaninventoryofbirdsdependentonJagatpurwetland,aperennialwetlandinthemiddleGangaplainnearBhagalpur,Bihar.

Jagatpurwetland(25º20’219”N87º02’623”E)isc.12km(byroad)north-eastofBhagalpur city. It is aperennial freshwaterfloodplaintypeofwetlandwithanareaof0.4km2 in the middle Ganga plain (Table 1). Thewetland ismainly rain-fed, butundergroundseepagealsocontributestoitsvolumeofwater.Theareaunderthewetlandincludesbothgovernmentandprivateholdings.

Thewetlandsupportsmanytypesofmacrophytesthatmaybegrouped intomarginal, submerged,floating, andemergentcategories, ofwhichEichhornia crassipes is the dominant free-floating,Hydrilla verticillata the dominant submerged, and Cynodon dactylon the dominantmarginal species in thewetland. Thesurroundingsofthewetlandarecoveredbyvarioustreespecieslike Mangifera indica, Ficus religiosa, F. bengalensis, F. glomerata, F. infestoria, Dalbergia sissoo, Acacia nilotica, Eugenia jambolana, Borassus flabellifer, Phoenix dactylifera, etc.Themarginalupperlandareaisextensivelycultivated.

Thewetlandislocatedinabeltoftropicalmonsoonclimatewith three distinct seasons: summer—mid-March–mid-June,monsoon—thirdweekofJune–October,andwinter,November–February.

Materials & methodsMonthlybirdcountswereconductedfromAugust2003toJuly2005 (Table 2).A country boatwasused to cover the entire

AvifaunaofJagatpurwetlandnearBhagalpur (Bihar,India)

Braj Nandan Kumar & Sunil K. Choudhary*

Kumar,B.N.,&Choudhary,S.K.,2010.AvifaunaofJagatpurwetlandnearBhagalpur(Bihar,India).Indian Birds6(1):15–17.BrajNandanKumar&SunilK.Choudhary,EnvironmentalBiologyResearchLaboratory,UniversityDepartmentofBotany,T.M.

BhagalpurUniversity,Bhagalpur812007,Bihar.*Email:[email protected] received on 1 June 2009.

Table1.MorphometricandBathymetriccharactersofJagatpurwetland.

Altitude 17 mMaximum length 693 mMaximum breadth 350mMaximumdepth 3.1 mMinimumdepth 0.48 mMeandepth 1.64 mMeandepth/Maximumdepthratio 0.52mBasinshape SaucerBasinslope GentleBottom texture SiltedMeanmaximumannualTemperature 30.5ºCMeanminimumannualtemperature 19.4ºCMean annual rainfall 88 mm

wetlandforthispurpose.Birdsinthecatchmentareawerealsolisted. Identificationwaswith thehelpof severalguides (Finn1981;Woodcock1984;Ali&Ripley1987;Ali1996;Grimmettet al.1999).

Results & discussion Thirty-fourbirdspecieswererecordedfromtheJagatpurwetlandduring the study. They belong to 12 families and eight orders. About79%oftherecordedavifaunaiswetland-dependent.Outof34spp.,21wereresident(61.76%),sevenlocallymigrant(20.58%),andsixmigrant(17.64%).

Itisnoteworthythatfourspeciesofstorks(Ciconiidae)occurin Jagatpurwetland.According to IUCN (1996) andBirdLifeInternational (2001),GreaterAdjutant StorkLeptoptilos dubius has been categorized as Endangered (En), LesserAdjutantStork L. javanicus asVulnerable (Vu), andBlack-neckedStorkEphippiorhynchus asiaticusasNearThreatened(NT).20GreaterAdjutantStorks,comprising13adultsandsevenimmaturebirdswereseeninMarch–Aprilwhenthewetlandwasreceding.Twobirdshadgularpouches.GreaterAdjutantstorksarethelocallymigratorywetlandspeciesofspecialconservationinterest,andarerestrictedtotheAsia-Pacificregion.Beingendangered,theyfaceaveryhighriskofextinctioninthewildinthefuture(Collaret al.1994).Theglobalpopulationestimate(restrictedtoAsia-Pacificregiononly)forthebirdislessthan700(Perennouet al. 1994).AccordingtoAsadR.Rahmani,Director,BombayNaturalHistorySociety(pers. comm.),GreaterAdjutantshavenotbeensightedoutsideAssaminrecentdecades.Inviewofthis,theirpresenceinandaroundJagatpurwetlandisimportant.Itisalsosignificant that thenumber (20) sighted in JagatpurwetlandfulfillstheRamsarCriteriaof1%forthewetlandtobeproposedaRamsarsite.IntheGangeticfloodplains,Black-neckedStorkshavenotbeenreportedinrecentyearsoutsidethestateofUttarPradesh.Our observation suggests that Biharmay still havepopulationsofthisdecliningstork.

Our survey reveals that Jagatpurwetland is quite rich inaviandiversity.Thewetland,atpresent,isundervariousthreats.Availability ofwater, inflowofpesticides and fertilizers fromthesurroundingagriculturalfields,weedgrowth,particularlyofwaterhyacinth, extensivefishing, and thehuntingofbirdsforpleasure are among themajor threats to thewetlandandits avifauna. For conserving the Jagatpurwetland and itsrich biodiversity, amanagementplan should beprepared insuchamannerthatattheobjectivelevelitprimarilyprovidesemphasisonprotectingthewetland,andatthesecondarylevelitprovidesanavenueforsustainableutilizationofresourcesofthewetlandwithoutjeopardizingitscontinuedecologicalvaluesandfunctions.


Tabl

e 2.

Monthlycountso

fbird

sinJagatpurWetlandnearB

hagalpur,Bihar(A

ugust2003–July2005)

Species

Stat

us20

0320

0420

05

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Littl

e G

rebe

Tac

hyba

ptus

rufic

ollis

R-

--

--

-30

16-

--

--

--

--

--

--

--

-Li

ttle

Cor

mor

ant P

hala

cro

cora

x ni

ger

RM-

-2

600++

+20

0+80

0+150+

30+

300+

150+

4320

4-

-30

386

1235

1814

46

Gre

at C

orm

oran

t Pha

lacr

ocor

ax ca

rbo

RM

--

--

--

-3

42

-3

2-

--

-6

84

--

--

Ori

enta

l Dar

ter A

nhin

ga ru

faR

4-

--

--

--

--

--

-4

--

--

--

22

22

Gre

y H

eron

Ard

ea ci

nere

aRM

--

--

--

31

--

--

--

--

-6

64

22

--

PurpleHeron

Ard

ea p

urpu

rea

R-

2-

28

126

66

86

-2

68

88

--

-5

42

25M

edia

n Eg

ret M

esop

hoyx

inte

rmed

iaR

-4

--

6-

-4

1210

--

46

--

--

--

82

2-

Cat

tle E

gret

Bub

ulcu

s ibi

sRM

2515

2530

75+

2525

3543

3636

5811

860

6254

2312

3056

1682

1670

IndianPond-Heron

Ard

eola

gra

yii

R10

--

--

2012

--

--

-14

--

1813

--

84

126

12AsianOpenbill

Ana

stom

us o

scita

nsR

--

-2

1218

2228

7248

--

--

--

4-

-9

4230

6-

BlackNeckedStork*

Ephi

ppio

rhyn

chus

asia

ticus

R-

--

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Kumar & Choudhary:Jagatpurwetland,Bihar


AcknowledgementsTheauthorsexpresstheirgratitudetoUniversityGrantCommission,NewDelhiforthefinancialassistanceprovidedforthisinvestigationunderSAP(DRSIII)andtoSubhasisDey,SantoshKumarTiwarifortheirhelpinthefieldsurveys,andtoSushantDeyforphotographyofwetlandbirds.

ReferencesAli,S.,1996.ThebookofIndianbirds.12th,Revisedandenlarged,Reprint

ed.Daniel,J.C.,(Ed.)Mumbai:BombayNaturalHistorySociety&OxfordUniversityPress.

Ali,S.,&Ripley,S.D.,1987.CompacthandbookofthebirdsofIndiaandPakistantogetherwiththoseofBangladesh,Nepal,BhutanandSriLanka.2nded.Delhi:OxfordUniversityPress.

BirdLife International. 2001. ThreatenedBirds ofAsia: TheBirdLifeInternationalRedDataBook.PartA.Vol 1. 1st ed.Collar,N. J.,Andreev,A.V.,Chan,S.,Crosby,M.J.,Subramanya,S.&Tobias,J.A.(eds.).Cambridge,UK:BirdLifeInternational.

Collar,N.J.,Crosby,M.J.,&Stattersfield,A.J.,1994.Birdstowatch2,theworldlistofthreatenedbirds.Cambridge:BirdLifeInternational.

Finn, F., 1981. Garden and aviary birds of India. New Delhi: Cosmo Publications.

Grimmett,R.,Inskipp,C.,&Inskipp,T.,1999.PocketguidetothebirdsoftheIndianSubcontinent.NewDelhi:OxfordUniversityPress.

Baillie,J.,&Groombridge,B.,(Eds.).1996.Red List of threatened animals. Switzerland:IUCN.

Perennou,C.,Mundkur,T.,Scott,D.A.,Follestad,A.,&Kvenild,L.,1994.TheAsianWaterfowlCensus1987-91:DistributionandStatusofAsianWaterfowl.KualaLumpur;Slimbridge,UK:AsianWetlandBureau;TheInternationalWaterfowlandWetlandsResearchBureau.

Woodcock,M.W., 1984.Collinshandguide to thebirdsof the IndianSub-continentincludingIndia,Pakistan,Bangladesh,Sri-LankaandNepal.Reprinted.London:

Collins.

Top:GreaterAdjutantStorkLeptoptilos dubius; Bottom: Black-neckedStorkEphippiorhynchus asiaticus.

Clem

ent F

ranc

isKumar & Choudhary:Jagatpurwetland,Bihar


IndianSpottedEagleAquila hastata nestinginSonepat,Haryana,India

Suresh C. Sharma & Jaideep Chanda

Sharma,S.C.,Chanda,J.,&Roy,C.,2009.IndianSpottedEagleAquila hastatanestinginSonepat,Haryana,India.Indian Birds6(1):18.SureshC. Sharma,Gokulnagar,RohtakRoad, Sonepat,Haryana 131001, India. Email [email protected] (Author for

communication)JaideepChanda,A-47(D-IIQuarters),SouthMotibagh,NewDelhi110021,India.Manuscript received on 27 August 2009.

Introduction TheIndianSpottedEagleAquila hastataisapoorlystudied,andrarespecies,withasmallanddecliningpopulationandiscategorizedasVulnerablebyBirdLife International (2009).ThespecieshasbeensightedinCorbettTigerReserve(UttarPradesh),HarikeBirdSanctuary(Punjab),KeoladeoNationalPark(Rajasthan),andsomeareasintheGangeticflood-plain(Naoroji2006).ThisnotereportsthesightingofanestingpairofIndianSpottedEagleatSonepat,Haryana(28º56’21”N76º51’09”E),andlistsourobservationsofnesting,andothergeneralaspectsofthespecies.

Methods & study areaSCSspottedanestoftheIndianSpottedEagle,whilebirdwatching,onaneucalyptustreeonthebankofanirrigationcanalrunningNW–SEalongaparallelroad.Thetreewasinthemiddleofalongstretchofeucalyptustreesliningthecanalforabouttwokilometres.Tothewestofthecanalwereagriculturalfields.Weobservedthechickfromtheroadadjacenttothecanal,andoccasionallyfromtheagriculturalfield.Thedurationofourobservationsvariedfrom20min.,uptoanhour,andwasconductedonaweeklybasisfrom7 Aprilto2August2009.

ResultsTheIndianSpottedEaglepairwasfirstspottedon7April2009,bringing nesting material to what turned out to be a nest under construction.Wemonitoredthisnesteveryweeksince.Thenestwas on a eucalyptustree,onthecentralforkinthemiddleofthetree, c. 12–15mhigh.Wefirstsightedachickon20June2009.Wephotographedit,fromadistance,on11July2009.Thenestwasobservedforabout30min.duringwhichtimethepairvisitedittwice,butweremobbedbycrowsbothtimes.Theeagleswerepossiblytakingturnstohuntsincetherewasalwaysonebirdnearthenest.Theywouldnotsitatthenestforlong,butwouldleaveimmediatelyaftervisitingit.Thenon-huntingbirdsatonatreec. 27maway.Whenevertheeaglesmoved,orflew,theywouldbeviolentlymobbedbyHouseCrowsCorvus splendens,whichwouldsettle down only when the eagle settled down.

Thechick’scheepingcallwasdistinctlyaudiblefromwherewewatchedthenest.Itmovedaboutthenestoccasionallyandbecameactivewheneveraparentapproachedthenest.Thechick’sgeneralappearancewasfuzzyandgreywithafleshyyellowgape.Itwaslastobservedon26July2009,andwhenthenestwasvisitedon2August2009,itwasempty.Inallprobabilityitmayhavefallenintothecanal,duringamassivestormthatstrucktheareaon30July2009,andperished.

DiscussionAsedentarybreeder, the IndianSpottedEagle, thoughpresentthroughoutitsrange,issuspectedtohavealowdensity(Naoroji2006).Parryet al.(2006)reportthatoutof26recordsofclutchesoftheIndianSpottedEagle, 23containedonlyoneegg,suggestinglow survival rates. Thismakes our sighting significant, as itindicatesthatbirdsfindtheareaconducivetobreeding.Eucalyptus hasnotbeenrecordedasanestingtreeforthespecies(Naoroji2006).Continuousobservationandreportingoftheseeaglesisofutmostimportancetoassesstheactualstatusofthespeciesandtoenableconservationefforts.

AcknowledgementsWe thankK. S.Gopi Sundar for commentsonpreviousdrafts of themanuscript, and the IndianCranes andWetlandsWorkingGroup forassistancewithpertinentreferences.

ReferencesBirdLifeInternational.2009.Speciesfactsheet:Aquila hastata. Downloaded

fromhttp://www.birdlife.orgon12/7/2009.Naoroji, R., 2006. Birds of prey of the Indian Subcontinent. London:

ChristopherHelm.Parry,S.J.,Clark,W.S.,&Prakash,V.,2002.Onthetaxonomicstatusof

theIndianSpottedEagleAquila hastata. Ibis144:665–675.

J. Ch

anda

AdultIndianSpottedEagleAquila hastateflyingawayfrom nest with eaglet.


Thick-billedGreen-PigeonTreron curvirostra inSimilipalHills,Orissa:

anadditiontotheavifaunaofpeninsularIndiaManoj V. Nair

Nair,M.V.,2010.Thick-billedGreen-PigeonTreron curvirostrainSimilipalHills,Orissa:anadditiontotheavifaunaofpeninsularIndia.Indian Birds6(1):19–20.

ManojV.Nair,DivisionalForestOfficer,HirakudWildlifeDivision,Brook’sHill,Sambalpur,Orissa,India.Email:[email protected] received on 12 August 2009.

Thick-billedGreen-PigeonTreron curvirostra is a resident bird in theHimalaya—fromwesternNepal eastward toSikkim, north Bengal duars and Bhutan, to extreme eastern

ArunachalPradesh—asalso in thehillsofnorth-easternIndia,southoftheBrahmaputraRiver.Itaffectswell-woodedareasandforestsfromplainstoatleast1,500ma.s.l.(Ali&Ripley1987).ItsoccurrenceinpeninsularIndiahasnotbeenrecorded(Ali&Ripley1987;Grimmettet al.1998;Kazmierczak2000;Rasmussen&Anderton2005).Here,IreportitspresenceinSimilipalhills,north-eastern Orissa.

The Similipal Hil ls (21º55’52”N85º59’40”E)inMayurbhanjdistrictofOrissaborder the states of Jharkhand andWestBengal, and harbour within their limits both atigerreserve(withanareaof2,750km2),and a biosphere reserve (5,569km2). Theterrain is undulating, the altitude ranges from300to1,200ma.s.l.,andforesttypesincludedrydeciduous,moistdeciduous,and semi-evergreen. Some authoritiesconsider Similipal a part of the EasternGhats(Sinha1971),whileotherstreatitasthe south-eastern extension of the Chota NagpurPlateau(Ray2005).Thearea fallsunder theprovinceof ‘Chhotanagpur’ intheDeccanPeninsulabiogeographiczoneofRodgers&Panwar(1988).DespitebeinganImportantBirdArea(IBACodeIN-OR-06),itsbirdlifeisnotwelldocumented(Islam&Rahmani2004).

On18October2006,at0917hrs,aflockofsixbirdswerefleetinglysightedonafruitingFicus sp.treeatBadamakabadiinPithabatarange,asallofthemflushedonapproach,evadingconfirmation.Subsequently,duringthecourseofthenextone-and-a-halfyearsofactivebirdinginSimilipal,Ihadfivemoreconfirmedsightings,allfromdensesemi-evergreen,andmixedmoist-deciduousforests.Thebroadblue-greenorbitalskin,andheavybillwith its redbasewerediagnosticpointers. Specificlocalityrecordsanddetailsareasfollows:

2March2007,Jenabil:asolitarybirdseenperchedonaleaflessemergingbranchofaShorea robustatreeindensesemi-evergreenforestadjoiningthefieldsofJenabilvillage.

11March2007,UpperBarakamura:sixbirdsonafloweringBombax ceiba,alongwithamixedspeciesflockgorgingonnectar.Despiteobservationsforabout20minutes,thepigeonswerenotseenfeedingonnectar.

7November2007,Bhanjabasa:Looseflockofabout20birdsfeeding on a Ficus sp.inmoist-deciduoussalforestinterspersedwith semi-evergreenpatches,alongwithYellow-footedGreen-Pigeon T. phoenicopterus, and a flock of four Pale-cappedWoodpigeonsColumba punicea.

5 January2008,Nekedanocha:Apair seenperchedon thebranchof aMesua ferrea, indense evergreen forest, along theNageswarkochastreambed.

26May2008,Gurguria:Acourtingpair,withfiveYellow-leggedGreen-Pigeons,onaleaflessfruitingFicus mysorensis, inthemixedmoist-deciduousforests surrounding the orchidarium.Confiding, andallowing closeapproach;themalecouldbephotographedasitsatbaskingonanexposedbranch(Fig. 1).

These observations, which spreadthroughouttheyear,seemtoindicatethatthe species ismost likely a rare residentinthehillsofSimilipal,andconstitutethefirst records of the species’ presence inpeninsular India.This also supports theputative role of the SimilipalHills as alink between the forests of north-eastern India,andthoseoftheWesternGhats.ThenorthernEasternGhatsarestillrelativelyunexplored, and intensive investigationsalong the unexplored patches of theserangesmight revealmore occurrencesof unrecorded birds fromnorth-easternIndia.

ReferencesAli,S.,&Ripley,S.D.,1987.Compact handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. 2nd ed. Delhi:OxfordUniversityPress.Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C., & Inskipp, T.,1998. Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. London:

ChristopherHelm,A&CBlack.Islam,Z.-u.,&Rahmani,A.R.,2004.Important Bird Areas in India. Priority

sites for conservation. 1st ed.Mumbai: IndianBirdConservationNetwork:BombayNaturalHistorySocietyandBirdLifeInternational(UK).

Kazmierczak,K.,2000.A field guide to the birds of India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and the Maldives.1sted.London:PicaPress/ChristopherHelm.

Rasmussen,P.C.,&Anderton,J.,2005.Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide. 2vols.Washington,D.C.&Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution&Lynx Editions.

Ray,G.C.,2005.Geography of Orissa.Cuttack:KitabMahal.

M. N

air

Fig.1.MaleThick-billedGreen-PigeonTreron curvirostrainGurguria,Similipal,Orissa.


StatusofLesserFloricanSypheotides indicus inPratapgarhdistrict,Rajasthan,India

Gobind Sagar Bhardwaj

Bhardwaj,G.S.,2010.SomeobservationsofLesserFloricanSypheotides indicus inPratapgarh,Rajasthan,India.Indian Birds6(1):20–21.

GobindSagarBhardwaj,WildlifeInstituteofIndia,Chandrabani,Dehradun248001,Uttarakhand,India.Email:[email protected] received on 20 August 2009.

G. S

. Bha

rdw

aj

Fig.1.LesserFloricanSypheotides indicusinagriculturalfields.

Rodgers,W.A.,&Panwar,H.S.,1988.Planning a wildlife protected area network in India.2vols.Dehradun:WildlifeInstituteOfIndia.

Sinha, B. N., 1971. Geography of Orissa. New Delhi: National Book Trust.

Editor’s note:Kulasekhara C. S., posted a photograph of a Thick-billedGreen-Pigeon on the IndiaNatureWatchwebsite (http://

www.indianaturewatch.net/displayimage.php?id=24809)on20September2007,whichwasphotographedatLingambudhilake,Mysore(Karnataka,India).Hesaidthatthebirdlookedtired,andflewawayafter15minutesofobservation.Ornithologists(KumarGhorpadé,BillHarvey,andAasheeshPittie)feltitcouldhavebeenanescapee.Thiswasneverproved,nordisproved.

IntroductionTheLesserFloricanSypheotides indicus is the smallest bustard (Otididae) in theworld (Fig. 1). It is endemic to the IndianSubcontinent, and listed asCritically Endangered (Collar&Andrews 1994), and is a Schedule I speciesunder the IndianWildlife(Protection)Act,1972.ItsbreedingrangeisconfinedtoIndia(Ali&Ripley1983).ItiscommonlyseenduringthemonsoonineasternRajasthan,andGujarat.Itinhabitstallgrasslands,withscatteredbushes,andstandingcropsofcotton,andmillet(Ali&Ripley1983).ItsestimatedpopulationinIndia,in1999was3,530birds(Sankaran2000).Sankaran(1996)listedPratapgarhasthemost importantareaforLesserFloricaninsouthernRajasthan.However,detailed information is not available regarding thestatus,anddistributionofthisspeciesfromhere(Sankaran2000).Thisstudypresentsthecurrentstatus,anddistributionofLesserFloricaninPratapgarhdistrict.

Study areaThe present studywas conducted in theKariawad area ofPratapgarhdistrict,Rajasthan (24º08’N 74º47’E),which is anextension of the Malwa Plateau in Rajasthan. Other areas of Pratapgarh, includingSidhpura,Bajrangarh, andMowdikherawerealsosurveyedforLesserFlorican.Treecoverinthisregionis negligible except for scatteredgrowthofButea monosperma

and Acacia nilotica.Theentirelandscapeisamosaicofcultivatedfields interspersedwith isolatedpatchesof grasslands.Thesegrasslands extendup to theboundariesof individualplotsofagricultureland.

MethodsObservationswerecarriedoutinthemorning,andevening,inthemonthsofJuly–September2006,2007,and2008.Birdswerecounted followingSankaran (2000), byvisually searching forbirdsalloverthegrasslandsandagriculturelandscapesthroughapairofbinoculars,andanSLRcamera.GPScoordinates(withaGarmin72)oftheobservationpoints,andsightingsofbirdsweretaken.VillagerswerealsointerviewedaboutthepresenceofLesserFloricansinthepastandpresent.Onsevendifferentoccasions,thejumpingdisplaybythemaleLesserFloricanwasobserved.

Results & discussionStatus and distribution of Lesser Florican in Pratapgarh regionSankaran(2000)estimatedapopulationof28LesserFloricansfromthis region in 1999. Of these, all but two birds were sighted either incultivatedlandorgrasslandconvertedintoagriculturelands(Sankaran2000).Iwasabletocounteightbirdsin2006,andjustfourindividualsduring2007–2008 (Table 1).

In1999Sankaran(2000)reportedseven,andeightbirdsfromSidhpura, andBajrangarhareasofPratapgarh respectively.Butbetween2006and2008IdidnotspotLesserFloricansaroundthesetwovillages.However,floricansweresightedaroundtwoothervillages—Ratniyakheri and Bori grass bir (Table 1). Sankaran (1996)statedthatPratapgarhattractsatleast30–50malefloricansduringagoodmonsoon.ThedrasticdeclineinnumbersofLesserFloricanin2008inPratapgarh,ascomparedtotheirpopulationin1999mightbeduetochangesinthelandusepattern,andanincreaseinthedisturbancesprevailinginthelandscape.

Observation of Lesser Florican in PratapgarhThepresenceofLesserFloricanisinvariablyrecordedonlywhenadisplayingmaleissighted.On23July2006onemalewasseeningrasslandc.2kmfromKariabad,onthewaytoKhoriyavillage.

Nair:Thick-billedGreen-PigeoninOrissa


Themalewasontheedgeofgrasslandandtheagriculturalfield,whichcontainedsoybeanGlycine max, and jowar Sorghum vulgare. Thecropwasc.60cmhigh,whereastheheightofthegrasswasless than15 cm.Later, in theKariabadarea, threemoremalefloricanswereseen.Thepeculiarjumpingdisplayaccompaniedbythecall,kat..kat..kat ..kat,emittedateachjumpisdiagnostic.Thecallisaudibleupto500mfromthedisplayingbird!Intheseareas theLesserFlorican isalsoknownaskatkata or fudakaryeo (onewhojumps).

During2006–2008,acockLesserFloricanhasusedthesameareaforitsjumpingdisplay.Thisareaisamosaicofagriculturalfieldswithpatchesofgrasslands.Thecropswereofsoybean,maizeZea mays,andjowar.Thelek,ortheactualjumpingareawasalwaysinthecropfieldwherethecockfindscovertohide.Atthistimetheheightofthesurroundinggrasslandwaslessthan30–45cm.Onafewoccasionsthecockdisplayedinthegrasslandwherethegrasswasmorethan45cm,adjacenttoafieldwithtallercrop,asalsoreportedbyGadhvi(2003).Thismightbeaprecautionarymeasure,whereitcanquicklyseekcovereitherinthetallcroporthegrass.Srivastav&Rana(1998)notedthatcockfloricansutilizedfirelinesasdisplayareas,andtheirmarginaltallgrasstohidefromdanger.Itwasobservedthatwheneverapersonnearedthejumpingcockflorican,itstoppedjumpinguntiltheintruderleftthearea.In2007twomalefloricanswereseenjumping,separatedbyadistanceofaround450mwithasmallseasonalstreamflowingbetweenthem.Onewasat24º8’N74º47’E,whiletheother,24º08’N74º46’E.Theyjumpedalternately,asthoughindulginginaterritorialdisplay.Iestimatedthemeannumberofjumpsperhouras51.19±se10.64varied from15.21 to94.28.Whenundisturbed itwasobservedjumpingasmuchas94timesinanhour.Thejumpingfrequencyincreasedwithfailinglightatdusk—themaximumfrequencybeingreachedbetween1800and1900hrs.

Conservation measuresThereisanurgentneedforprotectionandconservationofsomeof thegrasslands.Mostof thegrassland, locally called charnot or charahgah, hasbeenencroached for agricultureor forotheractivities.Plantationactivitiesongrassland,bydifferentagencies,including state forest departments, convert amajority of thegrasslands into shrub land—byplantingProsopis juliflora, and otherspecies.Theremaininggrassbirsareauctionedeveryyearforfodder,therebyincreasingthethreattonestsofthebird.

Asystematicsurvey/populationestimationofLesserFloricanshouldbecarriedoutduringthemonsoon.Forthis,adetailedstudyandaninventoryofallfloricanareashavetobemadeonpriority.Thiswilladdvaluetotheexistingeffortsofthestateforestdepartment,whichconductsacensusinsummer.VolunteersfromNGOs,andexpertsshouldberecruited toenhancework forcerequirements.ThevillagecommunitiesaroundLesserFloricanhabitatsshouldbeeducatedabouttheneedforconservinghabitatforthebird,andrewardedforgivinginformationaboutthebirdintheirvicinity.Incentivesshouldalsobegiventothosefarmerswhopracticeorganicfarmingandrestrict/preventgrazingtheircattleduringrainyseasons (Fig. 2).

AcknowledgementsIthankthestateforestdepartmentofRajasthan,ChiefWildlifeWardenR. N. Mehrotra, Harkirat Sangha, Y. V. Jhala, Dananjay Mohan, and K. Sivakumar for their constructive commentsandhelpful suggestions. Ialso thankDevenderMistry, andPrehladSingh for their support andcontinuousassistance.

ReferencesAli, S.,&Ripley, S.D., 1983.Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan

together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.Compacted.Delhi:OxfordUniversityPress.

Collar,N.J.,&Andrew,P.,1988.Birds to watch: the ICBP world checklist of threatened birds.Cambridge:ICBP.

Gadhvi,I.R.,2003.MonitoringnestingsitesofLesserFloricans(Sypheotides indica)inandaroundBlackbuckNationalPark,Gujarat.Zoo’sPrintJournal18(7):1135-1142

Hume,A.O.,&Marshall,C.H.T.,1879.The game birds of India, Burmah, and Ceylon.Vol.I.Calcutta:Publishedbytheauthors.

Jerdon, T. C., 1864. The birds of India: being a natural history of all the birds known to inhabit continental India; with descriptions of the species, genera, families, tribes, and orders, and a brief notice of such families as are not found in India, making it a manual of ornithology specially adapted for India. .VolII.-PartII.Calcutta:Publishedbytheauthor(PrintedbyGeorgeWymanandCo.).

Osborne,P.,Collar,N.J.,&Goriup,P.D.,1984.Bustards. Dubai: Dubai WildlifeResearchCentre.

Rahmani,A.R., 1987. Endangered birds of Indian grasslands: theirconservationrequirements.In: Rangelands: resources and management (Eds.,P.Singh&P.S.Pathak).Pp.421–427.Jhansi:IndianGrasslandandFodderResearchInstitute.

Rahmani,A.R.,&Manakadan,R., 1988.Bustard sanctuariesof India.TechnicalReportNo.18.Pp.40.Mumbai:BombayNaturalHistorySociety.

Rodgers,W.A.,&Panwar,H.S.,1988.Planning a protected area network in India. 2vols.Dehradun:WildlifeInstituteofIndia.

Sankaran, R., 1994. Status of the Lesser Florican in 1994.Unpubl.Report.Coimbatore: Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History.

Sankaran,R.,1996.ThestatusandconservationoftheLesserFloricaninRajasthan.SalimAliCentreforOrnithologyandNaturalHistory&BombayNaturalHistorySociety.

Sankaran,R., 2000.The statusof theLesserFloricanSypheotides indica in 1999. Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History in collaborationwithBombayNaturalHistorySociety,June2000.

Srivastav,A.K.&Rana,V.1998.VelavadarNationalPark-aparadiseforLesserFlorican.Tigerpaper25(3):1–4.

Table1.SightingsofLesserFloricanSypheotides indicusinPratapgarhdistrict,Rajasthan

Name of the areaSightings

1999* 2006 2007 2008Kariabad 11 4 2 1Ratniyakheri NA 2 NA 2Bori grass bir NA NA 1 1Sidhpura 7 0 0 0Bajrangarh 8 0 0 0Mowrikhera 2 2 2 0Total 28 8 4 4

*AfterSankaran(2000)

G. S

. Bha

rdw

aj

Fig.2.LesserFloricanSypheotides indicus habitat is threatened by livestockgrazing.

Bhardwaj:LesserFloricaninRajasthan


Sqn Ldr SS Mahesh

NestmaterialkleptoparasitismbytheOrientalWhite-eyeZosterops palpebrosus

S. S. Mahesh, L. Shyamal & Vinod Thomas

Mahesh,S.S.,Shyamal,L.,&Thomas,V.,2010.NestmaterialkleptoparasitismbytheOrientalWhite-eyeZosterops palpebrosus. Indian Birds6(1):22–23.

Sqn Ldr S. S.Mahesh, DeputyDirector Flight Safety, D-II/284, VinayMarg, Chanakyapuri,NewDelhi 110021, India. Email: [email protected]

L Shyamal, 261, 9thCrossTatanagar,Bengaluru560092,Karnataka,India.Email:[email protected] Vinod Thomas, F-170, Swastik Apartments, Flat No-101, Lado Sarai, Mehrauli, New Delhi 110030, India.

Email: [email protected] received on 7 November 2009.

Thetermkleptoparasitism,or‘parasitismbytheft’,isusedinecologytodescribea“strategyofstealingitems,suchasfoodornestmaterials,fromotherindividuals”(Sibley2001).

Inbirds,kleptoparasitismisrelativelyuncommoninpasserinesbutwellknowninskuas(Stercorariidae),andfrigatebirds(Fregatidae),whichrelyextensivelyonsuchbehaviortoobtainfood.Othergroupssuchas raptors (Accipitridae;Falconidae),gulls (Laridae), terns(Laridae),coots(Rallidae),someducks(Anatidae),andshorebirdsareknowntoengageinopportunistickleptoparasitism.

NestmaterialstealingbypasserineshasbeenreportedintheJapaneseWhite-eyeZosterops japonica, CedarWaxwing Bombycilla cedrorum,CeruleanWarblerDendroica cerulea,AmericanRedstartSetophaga ruticilla,Blue-grayGnat-catcherPolioptila caerulea, Red-eyed Vireo Vireo olivaceus,Black-throatedGreenWarblerDendroica virens, Northern Parula Parula americana,HouseSparrowPasser domesticus,andOrchardOrioleIcterus spurius(Joneset al. 2007;McGillivray1980).Membersof theTyrannidae,Ploceidae,andothercolonialnesters,areknowntoindulgeininterspecific,andintraspecificnestmaterialkleptoparasitism(Hansell2000).Thisbehavior is said tobe common in the JapaneseWhite-eyes inOahu, Hawaii, where material was lifted from the nests of House Sparrow,LinnetCarpodacus mexicanus,andtheElepaioChasiempis sandwichensis(Guest1973;Frings1968).

On23May2009,duringaroutinebirdingtriptoNandiHills,Bengaluru,wespottedanOrientalWhite-eyeZosterops palpebrosus inside thickundergrowth. Itwasperchedbelowacup-shapednest about ameter andahalf aboveground, andappeared to

beconstructingthenest.Wetookaphotographthatshowsthewhite-eyeholdingthelintofaflyingseedinitsbeak(Fig. 1). On ourwaybackwecheckedthesamespot,andnoticedthataRed-whiskered Bulbul Pycnonotus jocosusoccupiedthenest—onfurtherexaminationitwasobviousthatthenestwasthatofabulbulandnot of a white-eye (Fig. 2).

NotesonbirdBehaviorareoftennotpublishedbybirdwatchersintheIndianregion,andthisappearstobethefirstpublishedrecordofkleptoparasitism in theOrientalWhite-eye, but it ispossiblethatthebehavioriscommoner,consideringthebehavioroftheJapaneseWhite-eyeaswellasreportsontheinteractionsoftheOrientalWhite-eyewithothernestingspecies—suchastherecordsofinterspecificfeeding(Balar2009;Tehsin&Tehsin1998). Inthelattercase,OrientalWhite-eyeappearstohavegonetothenestforstealingnestmaterialbutwas‘trapped’bythegapingchicks(Tehsin&Tehsin1998).

ReferencesBalar,R.,2009.InterspecificfeedingofAsianParadise-FlycatcherTerpsiphone

paradisinestlingsbyOrientalWhite-eyeZosterops palpebrosus. Indian Birds 4(5):163–164(2008).

Frings, S.C., 1968.ThebreedingbiologyofOahuElepaioChasiempis sandwichensis.Thesis.Honolulu:UniversityofHawaii.

Guest,SandraJ.,1973.AreproductivebiologyandnaturalhistoryoftheJapaneseWhite-eye (Zosterops japonica) inurbanOahu.TechnicalreportNo.29.Honolulu:UniversityofHawaii.

Hansell,MichaelHenry, 2000.Bird nests and construction behavior. Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress.

Fig. 2. Nest of Red-whiskered Bulbul Pycnonotus jocosus, Nandi Hills, Bengaluru.

Fig.1.AnOrientalWhite-eyeZosterops palpebrosus stealing nesting material from the nest of a Red-whiskered Bulbul Pycnonotus jocosus,

Nandi Hills, Bengaluru.


Jones,KellyC.,Roth,KirkL., Islam,Kamal,Hamel,PaulB.,&SmithIII, CarlG., 2007. Incidence of nestmaterial kleptoparasitisminvolvingCeruleanWarblers.The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 119 (2):271–275.

Llambías,P.E.,Ferreti,V.,&Rodríguez,P.S.,2001.Kleptoparasitisminthe Great Kiskadee. Wilson Bulletin113:116–117.

McGillivray,W.B.,1980.CommunalNestingintheHouseSparrow.Journal of Field Ornithology 51(4):371–372.

Mountjoy,D.J.,&Robertson,R.J.,1988.Nest-constructiontacticsintheCedarWaxwing.Wilson Bulletin 100 (1): 128–130.http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Wilson/v100n01/p0128-p0130.pdf

Sibley,David,2001.The Sibley guide to bird life and behavior.Knopf.Tehsin,RazaH.,&Tehsin,Himalay,1998.White-eye(Zosterops palpebrosa)

feeding the chicksofParadiseFlycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 95(2):348.

Fig leafNina Bhatt

Bhatt, N. 2010. Fig leaf. Indian Birds10(1):23–24.NinaBhatt,26,ArunodayaSociety,Alkapuri,Vadodara,Gujarat,India.Email:[email protected].

Our‘adda’doesbriskbusiness.Weneversufferlowspiritsorbootlegger-troublethoughwedooperatefroma‘dry’state.Infact,whatbeganasapilotplantinthebackyard,

grewtodevelopoffshootsacrossourneighbourhood.Nopublicityneededeither,totemptinthesteadyflowofcustomers!Theycrawlinunderthegates,leapwalls,orsimplydropoutofthesky.

Ankledeepinrussets,corduroybrowns,andshockingpink,the‘Udumbar’(Sanskrit)or‘Gular’(Hindi/Urdu)growsinasteamof its own ferment leaningagainst our compoundwall like avoluptuousyakshini.‘Umri’(inthelanguageoftheBhiltribefromBanswara,Rajasthan),ourwildfigtree,ispatronizedbyaneclecticclientele—birds,beasts,andhumans.

Figsarepoked,pecked,andflungfromtrunk,andbranches,wheretheycluster,weavingathickcarpetbeneath.Withequalspeedaworkforceofants,beetles,earthworms,grubs,etc.,unravelitsgaudyfabricastheywheelthebrokenfruittoundergroundfactories.Foraweekeverymonththehousereeksofspilledliquor.Tostepintothegardenistowadeintoapotofafternoon-toddy.

“Oh, so youhave anAthi in your garden!” exclaimed anacquaintanceasshebegantorecallherhometown,Coorg,andthewildfigtreesgrowntheretoshadecoffeeplantations.“Buffaloestooarefeditsfruittoincreasemilk-yield,andyet”,shegiggled,“tobecalledanAthi,istobecomparedtoaverybeautiful,veryindolent,woman!”

Someofthosewhofrequentour‘Shebeen’1 are no larger than particlesoflight.Thetinyfigwaspthatlaysitseggsintherawfigisonesuch.Whenitripensandbursts,theadultwaspscrowdoutfromitsplushinteriorslikeanafter-showmobatthemovies.Insearchofinsectsnumerousfeatheredcreaturesflickeramongthe leaves,performingdizzyacrobatics—theblack-and-yellowsongster—iora,tailorbird,wren-warbler,andfantail-flycatcher.

Rosypastorsarriveby thebus-load—likeaweddingpartydescending inadinof excitement followedbymuch feasting,yelling,grooming,andgenerallyhangingout.Butterscotch,andsootyblack—membersof the ‘Starling’ family—theyemigratefromEasternEuropewheretheybreedinsummer.TheirCVsclaimtheyaresomeofthegreediestlocusteatersofIndia.

Onanyodddayonecanspotanumberofgardenlizardstip-toeinguptheUmra’strunk.Theygrowpaleuponitsbranches,blushinaclusteroffigs,orscuttlewithgapingmouthaftermoths.Inhotpursuit of the lizards come the crow-pheasants, fondlyknownas‘Dholku’(countrydrum)afterit’sresonatingcall.

Ourtavernstaysopenallnightforflyingfoxes.Theselargefruitbatsdescendinaflourishofdesignercapes.Inthemorning

onecanpick,fromthegroundbelow,anoddassortmentofrawguavas,badam, jamun, or mango smuggled in from neighbouring gardens,andchewedatleisure—hangingupside-downbythetoes, that is.

Green pigeons, elusive residents of the forests, disguisethemselves in the leaf-shadowsof theUmri.They feedonfigsingroupsoftwentyorthirty,andtakecaretoremainincognito.Nothingwillbetraytheirpresencebutaseductive—‘coo-ee?’Asneezeisenoughtoscattertheminaflashofyellowfeet,olivewings.

A curious phenomenon sweeps over our tree every yeararound the time of the Navratri festival—mid-September tomid-October.Arainofbrown,sand-sizeddroppingscoversthefloorofthegarden.Ifonelistenscarefully,awhisperisaudibleinthecanopy.Minimizeathousand-foldthesoundofapersongoingthroughapacketofchips,andyouwillcomprehendthesound.Itisthemurmurofatreefullofwildsilk-mothcaterpillarssystematicallychewingupalltheleaves.

Atfirstwewatchedinhorrorasthetreelostmostofitsfoliage.Butthebaretreeprovidedexcellentviewsofcuckoos,andgoldenoriolesthatrelishthecaterpillars.Soonalltheleavesthatsurvivedtheholocaustwerecoveredwithbrightgreenpupae.Thenextact inthismesmerisingnaturaldramawasaspectacularshowinaerodynamicsasthepupaemetamorphosedintoadultmothsthatemergedontransparentwings.TheskyabovetheUmri was fragmentedby thousandsof glassy shards.Bee-eaters caughtthem from wires under the glare of the sun, drongos stationed themselves on the topmost branches, andflycatchers chasedthemfromtheshadeofthetree,swivelingtheirheadsfromsidetosideasifwatchingatennismatch.Afteranentiremonth,theUmri restoredeverysingleleaf,andbehavedasifnothinghadhappened.

Livingnext to thisFicus glomerata is likehaving theGreatGatsbyasone’sneighbour.Itwasatoneofitsfamousorgiesthatwespottedourfirstminivet. Ihadneverseensuchashadeofvermillioninabirdbefore!

Langursadore the fruit.Aftergorging themselves, theyfillupthestaircasetoourterrace—oneoneachstep—inadazeofinaction,mostun-monkeylike.

Aferalpigtoowasaregularforsomemonths,sleepingoffthehighunderthetree,andlurchingouteveryevening.

Yet itwas the coppersmith thatwasmost addicted tofigpopping.ShecametousinaCDcontainerafterbeingrescuedfrom a bowl of sambar atasit-outeatery.Herconstantrefrainof

Mahesh et al.:KleptoparasitismbyOrientalWhite-eye


1. Irishillicitliquorden.

‘toonk, toonk, toonk,’couldonlybesilencedbyabitof freshfigpushedfardownherbeak.BythetimeshecouldflyI had been conditionedtouttera‘toonk’attheverysightofafig!

AfriendfromDahodhadasimilarstory to tell.Asachildhehadwanderedfromhistribalvillageintothejunglesnearhishome,andcouldnotbetracedfordays.HadhenotfedonUmri figshewouldnothavesurvivedtotellthetale.Asheranhishanddownthetree’srotundtrunk,onecouldseeheowedhislifetothetree,asdidthelittlecoppersmith.Hewentontolistthemanymedicinalusesofthetree.Itsmilkysapisfedtolactatingmothers,usedasamouthwashtocureulcers,therawberriescookedasasabjiorturnedintocountryliquor.Forthetribal,onetreeislikethelocalsupermarketbutonethatcontinuestofeedthemevenintimesoffamine.Healsoshowedushowthetree’srootscrosstheirkneesandformalap-shapeundertheearth.

Thistree,plantednearasourceofstagnantwaterinneedofdryingup,canmopupthiswasteatgreatspeedandconvertitintoalifeforce,oxygen.Builtalongthelinesofabanyan,theUmri thoughhasnosupportingarial roots.Grownclose toasourceofwateritcanattainlargeproportions.Thisobesityitcombatsbydistributingtheexcessweighttohigherbranches,sothat it

balancesitselfwithalongheavycrossbar,thesamewayatightropeartistdoes.Ileavetoyourimaginationwhatwouldhappenifthetreeisunequally,andthoughtlessly,trimmed.

AssociatedwithLordDattatraya,thetreeiscalledKalpa vruksha andissaidtoshareapartialityforallanimalswiththedeity.Ourneighboursdropbytotakeitstwigsforpooja. Otherstellus;onlyaveryluckyfewfindanUmragrowingspontaneouslyintheirgarden.

Soonafterthefirstrainsamagicaltownshipofmushroomsspringsupunderthetree,puttingupumbrellasunderitsdeepshade,climbinganthills,andsettingshopontheexposedroots.

During the monsoons our Umri is almost lifted into the air. Eagles,crows,hawks,andegretsblunderintoitstopmostbranchesseekingsanctuaryfromangrywinds.Thetreegrowswildwiththeweather. Itrears itsgreenmasklikeaKathakalidancerandshuddersalongthebreathofwide-flungarms.

Buttree,Ihaveseenyoutakenandtossed,AndifyouhaveseenmewhenIslept,YouhaveseenmewhenIwastakenandswept,And all but lost.

Robert Frost, Tree at my window

Ficus glomerata.Inkonpaper.21.5x27cm.Artist:NinaBhatt

Bhatt: Fig leaf


On the Yellow-throated Bulbul in Tamil Nadu, andapleaformoreself-explanatorytitles

Ragupathy Kannan & Douglas A. James

Kannan,R.,&James,D.A.,2010.OntheYellow-throatedBulbulinTamilNadu,andapleaformoreself-explanatorytitles.Indian Birds6(1):25.

RagupathyKannan,DepartmentofBiology,UniversityofArkansasatFortSmith,FortSmith,Arkansas72913,U.S.A.DouglasA.James,DepartmentofBiologicalSciences,UniversityofArkansas,Fayetteville,Arkansas72701,U.S.A.

Sreekar&Srinivasulu(2010)erroneouslystatethatKannan’s(1993) record of theYellow-throatedBulbulPycnonotus xantholaemuswasfromKerala.Infact,aspointedoutinthe

note,thesightingwasnearAliyarDamnearValparai(whichisatea-townintheCoimbatoredistrictofTamilNadu),rightbyaroadsidewaterfallalongthebusyPollachi–Valparaihighway.Theauthorsapparentlysawtheword“Anaimalais”inthetitleandassumed,assomepeopledo,thatthelocationwasinKerala.AlargeportionoftheAnaimalaiHills(includingthe1,250km2IndiraGandhiWildlife Sanctuary,withinwhichKannan’s sightingoccurred)liesinTamilNadu.

Thisbringsintoissuetheneedformoreself-explanatorytitles,especially for shortnotes. In thisageof the informationsuperhighwaywithreadyaccesstotitlesandcitations,butoftennotwholedocuments,authorsoftenyieldtothetemptationtocitefromtitleswithoutreadingthewholepaper.Sometimesauthorsareunable(orsimplytoobusyorlazy!)tolookuptheoriginalpapers and therefore resort to citing from secondary sources.TheaforementionederrorcouldhavebeenavoidedhadKannantitledhisnote“YellowthroatedBulbulintheAnaimalaiHillsof Tamil Nadu”(italicsappliednowforemphasis).Instead,heleftitdubiously,withouttheitalicisedpart,thusleavingitopentobemisconstrued.Similarly,Mehta’s(2010)“PossiblesightingofanOrientalHoney-BuzzardPernis ptilorhynchus orientalis”couldhaveendedwith“….nearJalpaiguri,WestBengal.”

Someauthorsinapparenthastemerelyglance at a title and jump into egregiously erroneous conclusions. Sengupta (1976:340,1982:71)incorrectlycitedInglis(1910:985)ashaving“foundtheCommonMynafeedingonPiedMyna(Sturnus contra).”Infact,Inglishadreported,“CommonMynafeedingyoung of Pied Myna”(italicsours).WereportedthisinourmonographontheCommonMyna(Kannan&James2001).

Sometimestitlescanjustbewrongandtheerrorcanonlybefounduponcloseinspectionofthepapers.Darwin(1871:778),quotingHorne(1869)reported,“TheFemaleHorn-bill(Buceros)…plastersupwithherownexcrementtheorificeoftheholeinwhichshesitsonhereggs.”HornehoweverwasactuallyreferringtotheIndianGreyHornbill,Meniceros birostris(nowOcyceros birostris),butwhichheerroneouslynamedM. bicornis.DarwinperpetuatedtheerrorwhenheincorrectlyassumedHornewasdescribingtheGreat Hornbill Buceros bicornis!(James&Kannan2007).

Most titles that startwith “Unusualnest of…” couldbereworded to reflecthowunusual thenestwas.Bhardwaj et al. (2008)couldhavetitledtheirpapersimply,andmoreeffectively,“CrestedBuntingMelophus lathaminestinginalowbush.”Iftheauthor(s)feelscompelledtorefertotheanomalousnatureofthenestinthetitle,somecleverchoiceofwordsmayhelp,like“Anunusualbush-nestof theCrestedBunting…”SeeBradley&Cooke(2001)foranexampleofsuchatitleintheliterature.

Errors that enterpublished literature are verydifficult to

expungeor rectify.Titles that convey thegist of thefindingsare more likely nottobemisinterpreted.“WildGreatHornbillsdonotusemudtosealnestcavities”(James&Kannan2007)ismuchbetterthananebulous,“OnthenestsealingmaterialusedbywildGreatHornbills”.Similarly,“HouseSparrowsassociatedwithreducedCliffSwallownestingsuccess”(Leasureet al.2010)ismuchlesslikelytobemisconstruedthanthestandard,“EffectofHouseSparrowsonthenestingsuccessofCliffSwallows.”Both thesepapersdonot force the researcher to huntdowntheentirepaper.Althoughreadingthewholepaperisalwaysadvisable, stating themainfindingunequivocally,wheneverpossible,inthetitle,reducesthelikelihoodofthepaperbeingmisinterpretedbysomeonewhodidnot(orcouldnot)accesstheentiredocument.

ReferencesBhardwaj,G. S., Sangha,H. S.,&Mistry,D., 2008.Unusual nest of

Crested Bunting Melophus lathamiatSuhagpura,PratapgarhDistrict,Rajasthan,India.Indian Birds 4(5):165–166.

Bradley,R.W.,&Cooke,F.,2001.Cliffanddeciduoustreenestsofmarbledmurrelets in southwestern British Columbia. Northwestern Naturalist 82:52–57.

Darwin, C., 1871. The descent of man and selection in relation to sex. Philadelphia,Pennsylvania,U.S.A.:RandomHousereprint.

Horne,C.,1869.NotesontheCommonGreyHornbillofIndia(Meniceros bicornis)Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1869: 241–243.

Inglis,C.M., 1910.CommonMyna (A. tristis) feedingyoungofPiedMyna(Sturnus contra)andnestinghabitsofCommonPariahKite(M. govinda)andBrahminyKite(H. indus).J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 19(4):985.

James,D.A.,&Kannan,R.,2007.WildGreatHornbills(Buceros bicornis)donotusemudtosealnestcavities.The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 119(1):118–121.

Kannan, R., 1993. Yellowthroated bulbul in the Anaimalai Hills. Newsletter for Birdwatchers 32(7–8):19.

Kannan, R., & James, D.A., 2001. CommonMyna (Acridotheres tristis).In: The birds of North America,No.583(A.Poole&F.Gill,eds.).Philadelphia,PA.:TheBirdsofNorthAmerica,Inc.

Leasure,D.L.,Kannan,R.,&James,D.A.,2010.HouseSparrowsassociatedwith reducedCliff Swallownesting success.The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 122(1):135–138.

Mehta,S.,2010.PossiblesightingofanOrientalHoney-BuzzardPernis ptilorhynchus orientalis. Indian Birds 5(5):150.

Sengupta,S.,1976.FoodandfeedingecologyoftheCommonMyna.Proc. Indian Nat. Sci. Acad. 42:338–345.

Sengupta,S.,1982.The Common Myna.NewDelhi:S.Chand&Co.,Ltd.Sreekar,R.,&Srinivasulu,C.,2010.NewsiterecordofYellow-throated

Bulbul Pycnonotus xantholaemus from Andhra Pradesh. Indian Birds 5(5):157.


More Indian birds Red-listed …BirdLife International (BLI) has shown interest this year insomeofthe“splits”proposedinThe Ripley Guide (Rasmussen&Anderton2005),andare-evaluationofconservationstatuswasrequestedthroughtheGloballyThreatenedForums.Asaresultoftheinformationpooledin,fewoftheWesternGhatsendemicbirdsgotre-listed,andthesebeenprovisionallypublished.Thetwo subspeciesofWhite-belliedShortwingBrachypteryx major havebeen re-evaluatedand thenorthern form,now renamedNilgiri Blue-Robin Myiomela major, classifiedas “endangered”while the southern form remains in the old super-species as“vulnerable”.Newly lumpedBlack-chinnedLaughingthrushStrophocincla cachinnans retains the“endangered” conservationstatusof itsnominate form (formerlyNilgiriLaughingthrush)while Kerala Laughingthrush S. fairbanki,nowstrictlydelimitedsouth of thePalghatGap, is elevated to “vulnerable”.OthermajorupdatesincludetheelevationoftheWesternGhatendemicGrey-headed Bulbul Pycnonotus priocephalus, and the migrant wader Great Knot Calidris tenuirostristo“near-threatened”.(www.birdlife.org)

Save migratory birds in crisis – every species counts!This is the themeof theWorldMigratoryBirdDay (WMBD)celebratedon8–9May2010,an initiativestarted in2006asanannualawarenesscampaignhighlightingtheneedforprotectionofmigratorybirdsandtheirhabitats.UnitedNationshasdeclared2010 the International Year of Biodiversity, and consequentiallyWMBD focuses on Globally ThreatenedMigratory Birds,especiallythose31migratorybirdspecies,whichareclassifiedasCriticallyEndangered in the IUCNRedList.Migratorybirdsrelyon severaldifferenthabitats; theyneeddifferent locationsfor breeding and raising their young, and for feeding. Some of themmigrateuptothousandsofkilometerstofindsuitableareasandcrossmanydifferenthabitats,regardlessofpoliticalborders.Thus, savingmigratorybirds saves thehabitats they require,whichbenefitsotherspeciesaswell.WMBDactivitiestakeplaceinmanydifferentcountriesandplaces,butarealllinkedthroughasingleglobalcampaignandtheme.At themoment192birdsareclassifiedasCriticallyEndangeredasaresultofhabitatloss,hunting,pollution,climatechange,humandisturbanceandotherreasons.Without immediateaction,manyof theseendangeredspecieswillnotbehereinafewyearstime.Someofthekeybirdspecies thathave receivedattentionduring the celebrationareBalearicShearwaterPuffinus mauretanicus, Slender-billed Curlew Numenius tenuirostris, NewZealand Storm-petrelOceanites maorianus, and Rueck’s Blue-flycatcherCyornis ruckii. (www.worldmigratorybirdday.org)

Tracking Amur Falcon migrationBlackStorksCiconia nigra,Black-tailedGodwitsLimosa limosa, and nowAmurFalconsFalco amurensisarebeingtrackedbyscientistsusing satellite telemetry.Anumberof these falconshavebeenfittedwithtiny5gtransmittersinSouthAfricaearlythisyear.

Now,thefirstbirdhasbeenlocated,inearlyMay,inChinaeastofMongoliaandscientistswonderiftheywillcontinuefurthernorth.Thediminutiveraptorhasalreadyflownmorethan13,750kminsevenweeks,sometimescoveringover1,000kminasingleday.Scientistsfoundthattheroutedifferedfromwhathasbeenspeculatedinallthehandbooks.Moredetailsonthemigrationshall be revealedduring theupcoming conference onAsianRaptors.(www.raptor-research.de)

The day of the sparrowThefirstWorldHouse SparrowDay (WHSD)was celebratedon20March2010,andfocusedonraisingawarenessaboutthedeclineoftheHouseSparrowPasser domesticus throughout the world,anddiscussedtheproblemsfacedbythebirdinitsdailyfight for survival.This is an international initiativebyNatureForeverSociety incollaborationwithBombayNaturalHistorySociety, Eco-SysAction Foundation (France),AvonWildlifeTrust (UK), andothernational and internationalorganisationsacross theworld.Actingasaflagshipspecies,HouseSparrowsymbolisesbiodiversityfoundinandaroundurbanspacesanddraws attention towards the conservation andmonitoringofcommonspecies.More than180 individualsandorganisationsfromdifferentpartsoftheworldjoinedthecelebrationsthisyearbyconductingcommonbird-watchingtrips,publicdiscussions,exhibitions, presentations, bird rallies, art competitions, andeducationalandpublicevents,allaimedatpayingmoreattentiontothebirdsintheirneighborhood,andtheirconservation.(www.worldhousesparrowday.org)

Bird races & statistics Birdracesarefuneventsandaregenerallynotmeantforstatisticalrecords.However, an attemptwasmade byMike Prince atBangalore toderivepatterns fromthe team logbooksofHSBCBangaloreBirdRace2010.Thoughquiteaninvolvedexercisewithlotsofprivatecorrespondence,somesensiblepatternsemerged,whichmight beof local importance.Compared to other birdraces,itwasfoundthatthepercentageofbirdspeciesseenbythewinningteam(63%)asagainstthetotalnumberofspeciesseenbyallteamsiscomparativelylow.Itprobablymeansthatallthe‘good’habitatsinBangalorearefarflung,andthatitisimpossibletovisitallofthemonasingleday,cuttingacrossthebusycitytraffic. The following specieswere recorded by all 33 teamsindicatingthemtobethecommonestduringtherace;LittleGreenBee-eater Merops orientalis, Rose-ringed Parakeet Psittacula krameri, Brahminy Kite Haliastur indus, Little Cormorant Phalacorocorax niger,PurpleSunbirdCinnyris asiaticus,BlackDrongoDicrurus macrocercus, House Crow Corvus splendens, and Jungle Myna Acridotheres fuscus.Similarlyapercentageabundancefigurewasalsoarrivedforall the238speciesrecordedduringtherace.AsimilaranalysishasbeenattemptedduringthefirstKeralaBirdRacetoobtainthecommonestspeciesineachofthethreecities.Birdracetakesawholelotofbirdwatchersoutonasingleday–thedatageneratedatleastcouldbeusedformonitoringcommonbirdspecies(Bngbirds).

—Inthenews—Compiled by Praveen J.


From the fieldJohnGregory reported amaleWestern TragopanTragopan melanocephalus, Cheer Pheasant Catreus wallichii, eight Koklass Pheasants Pucrasia macrolopha,andupto50HimalayanMonalsLophophorus impejanusduringaweeklongtriptoGreatHimalayanNationalParkinearlyMay(OrientalBirding).

GinuGeorgeandothersreportedanunusual“laughingcall”of Malabar Parakeet Psittacula columboides from Idamalayar,Keralaon1May2010.Theyalso reportedCeylonFrogmouthBatrachostomus moniliger,Grey-headedBulbul,andWhite-belliedTreepieDendrocitta leucogastraamongotherbirdsfromIdamalayar&Thattekkad(KeralaBirder).

SChandrasekarandiscovered a nesting colony ofWhite-rumpedVulturesGyps bengalensis atMangalapatti inMoyarRivervalley,Satyamangalam,TamilNaduduringApril2010.Thenestingsitehadabout20nestsandaugmentstheknownvulturenestsites inthisbeltspreadacrossthethreesouthernstatesofTamilNadu,Karnataka,andKerala(www.hinduonline.net).

DavidRajureportsmanyspecialtiesfromnorth-easternIndiaduringhis 10-day trip in earlyApril—a Jerdon’sBazaAviceda jerdoniwas spotted inGibbonSanctuary;Red-billedLeiothrixLeiothrix Jutea,Chestnut-crownedWarblerSeicercus castaniceps, White-browed Shrike-BabblerPteruthius f1aviscaps, Small NiltavaNiltava macgrigoriae, Rufous Sibia Heterophasia capistrata, Grey-sided Laughing-thrush Dryonastes caerulatus,Spot-wingedGrosbeak Mycerobas melanozanthos, Little Bunting Emberiza pusilla, Small-billedScalyThrushZoothera dauma, Cutia Cutia nipalensis, andDark-sided FlycathcerMuscicapa sibirica fromSikkim; anestingpairofSilver-breastedBroadbillSerilophus lunatus,Thick-billed Green Pigeon Treron curvirostra,RosyMinivetPericrocotus roseus, Pale-capped PigeonColumba punicea, andWreathedHornbill Aceros undulates fromManas;PiedFalconetMicrohierax melanoleucos,White-wingedDuckCairina scutulata,andAbbott’sBabbler Malacocincla abbottifromNameri;Yellow-breastedBuntingEmberiza aureola,SwampFrancolinFrancolinus gularis, Pied Harrier Circus melanoleucos, andapairofBengalFrancolinHoubaropsis bengalensisatKasiranga(birdsofNEIndia).

SayamChowdhury and others reported 25 Spoon-billedSandpipersEurynorhynchus pygmeus,24Nordmann’sGreenshanksTringa guttifer, and 450Great Knots from Sonadia Island,BangladeshearlyMarch2010(OrientalBirding).

RahulAnandreportedanincidenceofnestparasitismwhenhesawaCommonHawk-CuckooHierococcyx varius chick being fed byagroupofYellow-billedBabblersTurdoides affinis at Kannur, KeraladuringlastweekofMarch2010(KeralaBirder).

ABlackBazaAviceda leuphotes,onpassage,wasphotographedby JamesWilliams fromGalibore fishing camps on 11April2010;thisisthesecondtimethatthisspecieswasreportedfromBangaloreareaduringspringpassage.

FivetosevenOrange-breastedGreen-PigeonsTreron bicincta werephotographedfromTambaram,Chennaion10March2010byP.Hopeland,whileVivekChandranandSeshadriKSreportedphotographedthreeofthisspeciesfromPondicherryuniversitycampuson20February2010.TheyalsophotographedPaddyfieldWarblerAcrocephalus agricolaandWhite-wingedTernChlidonias leucopterusfromKallivelimarshes,TamilNadu(TamilBirds).

HRudresh reported a JungleCrowCorvus macrorhynchos buryinganegginmudandcoveringitwithdryleavesandstones.Crowsareknowntocachetheirfinds,mainlyfood,andreturntothesamespotslatertoclaimtheirloot!(Bngbirds).

During afieldvisit toNagaland in lateApril 2010, SumitK. Sen andBikramGrewal reported goodies likeGrey SibiaHeterophasia gracilis, Red-headed Laughing-thrush Trochalopteron erythrocephalum, and Flavescent BulbulPycnonotus flavescens

amongotherbirds(www.kolkatabirds.com).RamkiprovidedaglimpseofBengalFloricans inbreeding

courtshipwith excellent photographs fromManaswhere hespottednotlessthantenbirds,allofthemwithinhalfakilometerofeachother(IndiaNatureWatch).

GeethaRadhakrishnanandothersreportedaflockofsevenAshyMinivetsPericrocotus divaricatusfromTheosophicalsocietyarea,ChennaiduringfirstweekofApril(TamilBirds).

Rarest bird through lensAnew international photo competition covering theworld’s623mostthreatenedbirdshasbeenlaunched.Thisisafollow-upto thephotocompetitions that led to theproductionof thehighlyacclaimedRare Birds Yearbook 2008, and 2009.Thephotossubmitted for thenewcompetitionwill feature ina landmarkpublication–The World’s Rarest Birds–thatwillbeproducedbythenot-for-profitpublisherWILDGuidesnextyear.TheproceedswillbedonatedtoBirdLifeInternational’sPreventingExtinctionsProgramme, aswas the casewith theRare Birds Yearbooks. The World’s Rarest Birdswillbealavishlyillustratedhardbackbook,coveringthe362speciescategorisedasEndangered,65thatareDataDeficient,192CriticallyEndangeredspecies,andthefourspeciesthatareExtinctinthewild,andonlynowexistincaptivity.Itwillbeacomprehensivedirectoryoftheworld’smostthreatenedbirdspeciesandincludespeciallywrittenfeaturearticlesonthekeybirdconservationissuesineachoftheworld’sregions.Atalocallevel,itwouldinterestmanyofourphotographersthatfiveof ‘our’vultures,Great IndianBustard, twoof ‘our’floricans,Black-chinnedLaughing-thrush,White-wingedDuck,GreaterAdjutant,andJerdon’sCourserarelistedamongstthesought-afterbirds.(www.birdlife.org)

Praveen J:Inthenews

Common Hawk-Cukoo Hierococcyx varius.

Clement Francis


Goats and the Narcondam Hornbill Aceros narcondami“Agroupof eight includingornithologistsvisitedNarcondamIslandbetween13and16April2010.Wespentabout22hoursontheislandandcanconfirmthatweneithersawagoat,goattrail,ordroppingsduringthistime.Wefolloweddifferentpaths—alongastreamthatprovideswatertothepolicecamp,atrailthatskirtedalongthenorthtoabeachoppositePigeonIsland,andapathfromthepolicecampupa430mhill.Wealsoclimbedthishillfromthenorth-westernside.Accesstomuchoftherestoftheislandis reportedly treacherouswith loose rocks thatmake climbingupinsinglefileadangerousproposition,soitwouldbehardtoascertainhowmanygoatsremain.Wealsocircumnavigatedtheislandalmosttwicebyboatanddidnotseeanygoats.

“Apparentlysomeofthepolicemenstationedtheresawtwogoatsduring thepreviousweek.There iswater in theupperreachesofthestream(weclimbedupasfarasawaterfall),whichmaysustainthegoats.Whilethehardestpartofthejobisgettingthe last few that remain, there is no doubt that these should be removedbeforetheyre-colonizetheisland.Literaturefromotherpartsoftheworldrecommendsusingaradio-collaredJudasgoat.Theprincipleisthatthisgoatwouldeventuallyjoinupwiththerest,making it easier to locate them.Nevertheless, actingon

—Correspondence—

—Editorial—

Don’tmiss Indian Birds — RENEW YOUR SUBSCRIPTION NOW

the recommendationofornithologists, theadministration, andpoliceneedtobecommendedfordoingareasonablygoodjobofremovingthegoats.”

– Tasneem Khan– Janaki Lenin

– Umeed Mistry– Divya Mudappa

– T. R. Shankar Raman– Kalyan Varma– Rom Whitaker

Cover of Indian Birds vol. 5. no. 6TheShaheen’sFalco peregrinuspreyinthecoverphotographofIndian Birdsvol.5no.6,isaNorthernShovelerAnas clypeata and not a Common Teal A. crecca,ascaptioned.Thewingsandmirrorclearlypoint to the former;moreover, the latterdoesnothavepinkishlegs.

– Harkirat S. Sangha

Indian Birds has completed five years: five volumes, 30issues,956pages,529colourphotographs,and430-oddpapers,notes, letters, columns, etc.The support of itswell-wishers—ornithologistswho’vesentwrite-ups,andwaitedpatiently forourresponse,photographerswho’vedonatedpictureswithoutanyreservationsordemands,refereeswho’verespondedwithalacritytorepeatedemailqueries,andsponsorswhobolsteredoursaggingfinances—allhavemadethisareality.Yetallthiseffortwouldhavebeennaughtbutforourenthusiasticreadershipthat supportsaprinted journal even in these timesof instantgratificationbypublicationontheInternet.Ithankallofyouformaking Indian Birds what it is.

Thenumberofsubscribersremainsaconcern. Ifyouhavenotrenewedyoursubscription,pleasedoso(youcouldsendmeanemailtoenquireyoursubscriptionstatus).Ifyouhave,pleaserecruitanotherreaderforIndian Birds.Ifyoucansupportthroughadvertisements,docontactus.

Woodpeckers always spark ripples of excitement amongbirdwatchers.Theyareoneofmyfavouritegroupofbirds,andI’vehadmywoodpeckermoments—birdingwithfriendsintheforestsaroundDehradun,fivespeciesdartingfromonetreetrunkto another, the still, humid air resounding with their whirring wings,theirenergeticMorsecodetapping,theirmaniclaughter;andwe,mesmerised, simply rotatedwith their gyrations, asthoughlockedinanincomprehensiblecosmicspiral.Inthisissue,ArunSinghstudiestheroleofwoodpeckersinthecontroloftheforest destroying sal heartwood borer.

Wehaveamixed sheafof articles foryou in this issueofIndian Birds—White-napedTit,wetlands inBihar, a surpriseoccurrenceofThick-billedGreen-PigeoninOrissa,LesserFloricaninRajasthan,kleptoparasitism,etc.

Enclosedwith this issue is the index tovolume5.Happyreading!

– Aasheesh Pittie

For private circulation only

Woodpeckers White-naped Tit Oriental White-eye - Indian Birds

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