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Vol. 1 No. 4 July-August 2005

Indian Birds

�� India Birds: http://www.indiabirds.com/Birds of Kerala: http://birdskerala.com/

BirdLife International: http://www.birdlife.net/Indian Jungles: http://www.indianjungles.com/Birds of Kolkata: http://www.kolkatabirds.com/Sanctuary Asia: http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/

Red Data Book: http://www.rdb.or.id/index.html/The Northern India Bird Network: http://www.delhibird.com/

Zoological Nomenclature Resource: http://www.zoonomen.net/N.C.L. Centre for Biodiversity Informatics: http://www.ncbi.org.in/biota/

fauna/John Penhallurick’s Bird Data Project: http://worldbirdinfo.net/

Saving Asia’s threatened birds:http://www.birdlife.net/action/science/species/asia_strategy/pdfs.html/

Optics: http://www.betterviewdesired.com/

� ��Ali, Salim, 2002. The book of Indian birds. 13th revised edition. Mumbai:

Bombay Natural History Society.Ali, Salim & S. Dillon Ripley, 2001. Handbook of the birds of India and

Pakistan, together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and SriLanka. 10 vols. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Grimmett, Richard, Carol Inskipp and Tim Inskipp, 1998. Birds of theIndian subcontinent. London: Christopher Helm.

Harrison, John, 1999. A field guide to the birds of Sri Lanka. Oxford:Oxford University Press.

Inskipp, Carol & Tim Inskipp, 1985. A guide to the birds of Nepal.London: Croom Helm.

Inskipp, Carol, Tim Inskipp & Richard Grimmett, 1999. Birds of Bhutan.New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Kazmierczak, Krys, 2000. A field guide to the birds of India, Sri Lanka,Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and the Maldives. New Delhi:Om Book Service.

Roberts, T. J. 1991-92. The birds of Pakistan. 2 vols. Karachi: OxfordUniversity Press.

Robson, Craig, 2000. A field guide to the birds of South-East Asia. London:New Holland.

English and scientific names should follow Manakadan, R., and Pittie,A. 2001. Standardised common and scientific names of the birds of the

Indian Subcontinent. Buceros 6 (1): i-ix, 1-38.

��

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Guidelines to contributors of Indian BirdsIndian Birds publishes original articles and notes about birds and birdwatching with an emphasis on South Asian birds (South Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh,Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka). We welcome articles on behaviour, ecology and conservation, counts and censuses(particularly those covering multiple years), annotated checklists, trip reports, book reviews, reviews of audio recordings, letters, announcements, notices,news from the birding world, etc. Authors proposing reviews of published material should first discuss this with the editor. All manuscripts should be easy toread and understand. Manuscripts will be edited for length, content and style, and will be sent to referees when appropriate. The Editor will discusscontributions with authors and advise on modifications. Some basic guidelines are given below:General When a bird species is first mentioned, both the English and scientific name must be given, thereafter the English name only. English and scientificnames should follow Manakadan, R., and Pittie, A. 2001. Standardised common and scientific names of the birds of the Indian Subcontinent. Buceros 6 (1):i-ix, 1-38. Metric units and their international symbols must be used; dates and times should be of the form 1.i.2005 and 13:45hrs respectively. Numbers oneto ten should be written in full, except when used with a measurement abbreviation or higher number, thus: five birds, but 5km and 5-15 birds. Numerals areused for all numbers greater than ten: 12, 120, 1,200 and 12,000.Preparation and submission of manuscripts These should preferably be sent electronically as an email attachment or mailed on a PC-formatted floppy diskor CD-ROM to the contact addresses given below. The text, tables, figure legends (which must be self-explanatory) and appendices should be combined in oneMS Word file. Alternatively, hard copies of typescripts, original maps and diagrams can be sent by mail, but this should be an option of last resort.Images Photographs, artwork, maps, diagrams, etc. should be digitised and sent either as an email attachment or on CD-ROM. These should be in TIFF andat least 8”x11” in 300dpi resolution. JPEG files must be “maximum” quality, that is, at their minimum compression. Maps should be marked with a scale andnorth arrow.Disclaimer While every care is taken, Indian Birds cannot be held responsible for accidental loss or damage of any material sent for publication or for theirreturn whether they are accepted for publication or not. Material published in Indian Birds reflects the views of the authors and not necessarily those of thepublishers. The Editor reserves the right to make necessary changes in manuscripts in consultation with the author. All contributors submitting material toIndian Birds also give permission for its use on the New Ornis Foundation website. All submissions are evaluated under the assumption that the conditionslisted here have been understood and accepted by the author(s).Contact addresses The Editor, Indian Birds, P.O. Box 2, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad 500034, India. Email: [email protected]

Indian Birds Vol. 1 No. 4 (July-August 2005) 73

Indian Birds

Indian BirdsVol. 1 No. 4. July-August 2005. Date of publication: 30 August 2005.

Contents

ISSN 0973-1407

Editor EmeritusZafar Futehally

EditorAasheesh Pittie

Associate EditorV. Santharam, PhD.

Subscription informationSix issues will be published annually in

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Send manuscripts and subscriptions toEditor, Indian Birds

New Ornis FoundationP.O. Box # 2, Banjara HillsHyderabad 500034, India

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NEW ORNIS FOUNDATIONRegistration No. 314/2004URL: www.indianbirds.in

TrusteesZafar FutehallyAasheesh Pittie

V. Santharam, PhD.Rishad Naoroji

Taej Mundkur, PhD.S. Subramanya, PhD.Suhel Quader, PhD.

Aims & Objectives• To publish a newsletter that willprovide a platform to birdwatchers forpublishing notes and observationsprimarily on birds of South Asia.

• To promote awareness of birdwatching amongst the general public.

• To establish and maintain links/liaisonwith other associations or organizedbodies in India or abroad whoseobjectives are in keeping with theobjectives of the Trust (i.e. to supportamateur birdwatchers with cash / kindfor projects in ornithology).

Editorial. 74Birds of Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, Bahraich district, Uttar Pradesh.Abdul Kalam 74

Munias of Mt. Abu (Rajasthan, India) with special emphasis on threatenedGreen Munia Amandava formosa.Satya P. Mehra, Sarita Sharma & Reena Mathur 77

Bird ringing aroiund Hyderabad city, Andhra Pradesh, India.Humayun Taher, Hyder Jaffer & Hatim Jaffer 79

Distribution of White-winged Tern Chlidonias leucopterus in Indiaand a new record from Andhra Pradesh.Aasheesh Pittie, Suhel Quader & Prakriti Pittie 81

Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris in Arunachal Pradesh.Ramana Athreya 83

Some vocalizations of the Jungle Prinia Prinia sylvatica during thebreeding season in Maharashtra.Sharad Apte 84

Melanism in Spotted Owlet Athene brama.Satish Pande, Amit Pawashe & Anil Mahabal 86

Recoveries from Newsletter for Birdwatchers - 7.Zafar Futehally 87

International Conference on Bird and Environment, Haridwar, India.Vinaya Kumar Sethi, Vivek Saxena & Dinesh Bhatt 88

Indian White-backed Vulture Gyps bengalensis nesting in Sakrohar village,Khagaria district, Bihar, India.S. K. Choudhary, S. K. Tiwari, S. Dey & S. Dey 90

A record of Oriental Bay-owl Phodilus badius from Kaziranga National Park,Assam, India.Rathin Barman 91

Range extension of Blue-eared Kingfisher Alcedo meninting in the northernWestern Ghats, Maharashtra, India.A. Shivaprakash 91

Northern Lapwings Vanellus vanellus in an agricultural field in Manipur, India.Laishangbam Sanjit 92

Egg cannibalism in Jungle Babbler Turdoides striata.Laishangbam Sanjit & Dinesh Bhatt 92

Reviews. 92

Correspondence. 95

Front Cover Picture: Male Citrine Wagtail Motacilla citreola, Tikse Marshes,Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir (12.vii.2005).

Photographer: Clement Francis.

Indian Birds Vol. 1 No. 4 (July-August 2005)74

EditorialLet’s flock together for Indian ornithology

Indian ornithology requires a consistentlong-term effort at surveys that build up

data over several years. Without concretedata it is impossible to indicate trends ofbird populations, which in turn areincreasingly being used as a reflection ofthe state of the environment. Britain has along history of such surveys like, CommonBird Census (1962-2000) and Breeding BirdSurvey (started in 1994), to name just two,which have been used judiciously to mouldgovernment policy. “The UK governmentuses an annually-updated indicator basedon trends in over 100 breeding bird speciesas one of its 20 ‘framework indicators’ ofprogress towards sustainable development.Since it was first launched by theDepartment for Environment, Food andRural Affairs (Defra) in 1998, the wild birdindicator has become valuable as a tool forcommunicating the status of birdpopulations in the UK to a wide audience,as a surrogate measure of the health of the

environment and for recognising thatcontact with birds enriches people’s lives,”(RSPB. 2005. The state of the UK’s birds2004.).

I believe that there are enoughbirdwatchers in India to make such surveysmeaningful. The highly participatoryAnnual Waterbird Census, commenced in1987, is an example of what can be achieved.All that is needed is serious commitment tochannelise volunteer birdwatchers’ effortstowards a coordinated nation-wideprogramme. Such surveys will alert ustowards changes in bird populations. TheBombay Natural History Society is suitablypositioned to take up such a task, perhapsas a project of the Indian Bird ConservationNetwork.

Records CommitteeIt is high time too that India had a RecordsCommittee. Among South Asian countries,only Sri Lanka has one for some time now.Records Committees scrutinise sighting

reports of rare and unusual birds from anarea and convert sighting reports of rare andunusual birds into authenticated records andinformation that can be reliably used forscientific studies, such as determiningspecies distributions and patterns of avianvagrancy. To do this it has to first determinethe adequacy of the documentation ofsubmitted reports. Records Committees alsomaintain an ‘official list of birds’ of thearea(s) they are responsible for.Complimentary goals of Record Committeesinclude: Publishing periodic findingsreports; maintaining an informationrepository, consisting of: (a) submittedreports, (b) the deliberations of theCommittee, (c) opinions received fromoutside experts, and (d) copies of some ofthe relevant literature.

In fact, given the size of the country, thereis scope for a Records Committee in eachstate of India.

- Aasheesh Pittie

Birds of Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, Bahraich district, Uttar PradeshAbdul Kalam

Department of Wildlife Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202002, Uttar Pradesh, India. Email: [email protected]

Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary(28°15’N, 81°61’E; c. 400km2) is located

on the Indo-Nepal border, in Bahraich district(Uttar Pradesh). It is c. 30km east of DudhwaNational Park and was declared a sanctuaryin 1976. It lies in the Tarai-Bhabharbiogeographic subdivision of the upperGangetic Plain and supports a variety ofhabitats. I recorded seven types of habitatswhile working on my M.Sc. dissertation(31.i.2003-8.iii.2003). These are:1. Sal Forest: Dominated by Sal Shorea

robusta and to a lesser extent by asnaTerminalia alata, haldu Adinacardifolia, kusum, Schleichea oleosaand rohini Mallotus phillipensis.

2. Teak forest: Dominated by Teak Tectonagrandis. The others being, rohini,chamraudhi Ehretia laevis and jamunSyzygium cumini.

3. Scrub forest: Main flora comprising ofber Zyzyphus jujuba, khair Acaciacatechu, rohini, and Eucalyptus spp.

4. Grassland: Alluvial grassland, with

specifics like Saccharum munja,Shaccharum spontaneum, and Antidonspp. In the Katerniaghat range thegrassland is planted with khair Acaciacatechu, semal Bombax cieba andshisham Dalbergia sisso trees.

5. Mixed forest: Dominated by Terminaliaalata, D. sisso, T. grandis and S. cumini.

6. Forest edge: Zone between grasslandand forest, forest and PWD road.Grassland and forest edge is a good areafor sightings of Oriental Pied Hornbill.

7. Riverine: Girwa River, flows through thesanctuary, and provides habitat formigratory waterfowl and otherwaterbirds. Dense cane-brakesDendrocalamus sp., dominate thishabitat.

Birds were recorded from all the seventypes of habitat. It was found that somebirds were specific to a particular habitat,but in most of the cases some overlap wasfound in utilization of habitat by differentspecies of birds. A checklist was made and

birds were classified according to order andspecies. Status of a particular species of birdwas assigned on the basis of number ofsightings. The occurrence of species indifferent types of habitats is also given inthe checklist.

Some interesting species sighted were:The Critically Endangered White-rumpedVulture Gyps bengalensis breeds on tallBombax sp., trees, planted on the river bank.The Vulnerable Swamp FrancolinFrancolinus gularis was seen once in theKaternighat range, while its call was heardmost of the time. The Sarus Crane Grusantigone, also Vulnerable, is uncommon inthe sanctuary. The Near Threatened GreatPied Hornbill Buceros bicornis is very rarein the sanctuary. Oriental Pied HornbillAnthraceros albirostris was sighted 4-5times in flocks of 12-16 birds. Great CrestedGrebe Podiceps cristatus is not common,and was sighted thrice on Girwa River.

Indian Birds Vol. 1 No. 4 (July-August 2005) 75

Podicipedidae (Grebes)Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis 7 CGreat Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus 7 UCPhalacrocoracidae (Cormorants)Little Cormoant Phalacrocorax niger 7 CGreater Cormorant P. carbo 7 UCAnhingidae (Darters)Darter Anhinga melanogaster 7 UCArdeidae (Heron, Egrets, Bitterns)Little Egret Egretta garzetta 7 CGrey Heron Ardea cinerea 7 UCPurple Heron A. purpurea 7 UCLarge Egret Casmerodius albus 7 UCMedian Egret Mesophoyx intermedia 7 CCattle Egret Bubulcus ibis 3,7 CIndian Pond Heron Ardeola grayii 7 CCiconiidae (Storks)Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala 7 UCAsian Openbill-Stork Anastomus oscitans 7 CWhite-necked Stork Ciconia episcopus 7 CThreskiornithidae (Ibises, Spoonbill)Black Ibis Pseudibis papillosa 7 CEurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia 7 UCAnatidae (Geese, Ducks)Lesser Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna javanica CBrahminy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea 7 CNorthern Shoveller Anas clypeata 7 CNorthern Pintail A. acuta 7 CRed-crested Pochard Rhodonessa rufina 7 CAccipitridae (Hawks, Vultures)Oriental Honey-Buzzard Pernis ptilorhyncus 3 UCBlack Kite Milvus migrans 3,6,7 CEgyptian vulture Neophron percnopterus 3,7 CIndian White-backed Vulture Gyps bengalensis 3,7 CCrested Serpent-Eagle Spilornis cheela 3 UCWestern Marsh-Harrier Circus aeruginosus 3 CShikra Accipiter badius 2,4 CTawny Eagle Aquila rapax 3 CSteppe Eagle A. nipalensis 3,6 UCChangeable Hawk-Eagle Spizaetus cirrhatus 3,4 CFalconidae (Falcons)Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus 4 UCPhasianidae (Pheasants, Partridges, Quails)Black Francolin Francolinus francolinus 3 CGrey Francolin F. pondicerianus 3 CSwamp Francolin F. gularis 3 VU, UCRed Juglefowl Gallus gallus 1,2,4,5,6 CIndian Peafowl Pavo cristatus 4,6 CGruidae (Cranes)Sarus Crane Grus antigone 3 VU, UCRallidae (Rails and Coots)White-breasted WaterhenAmaurornis phoenicurus 7 CPurple Moorhen Porphyrio porphyrio 7 CCommon Moorhen Gallinula chloropus 7 UCCommon Coot Fulica atra 7 CCharadriidae (Plovers, Lapwings)River Lapwing Vanellus duvaucelli 7 C

Red-wattled Lapwing V. indicus 3,7 CScolopacidae (Sandpipers)Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia 7 CCommon Sandpiper Actis hypoleucos 7 CRecurvirostridae (Stilts, Avocets)Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus 7 CGlareolidae (Pratincoles)Small Pratincole Glareola lactea 7 CLaridae (Gulls and Terns)Caspian Tern Sterna caspia 7 UCRiver Tern S. aurantia 7 CColumbidae (Pigeons, Doves)Blue Rock Pigeon Columba livia 6 COriental Turtle-Dove Streptopelia orientalis 2,6 CSpotted Dove S. chinensis 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 CEurasian Collared-Dove S. decaocto 2,3,6 CEmerald Dove Chalcophaps indica 1,2,3,4,5,6 COrange-breasted Green-Pigeon Treron bicinta 6 RYellow-legged Green-PigeonT. phoenicoptera 2,3,6 CPsittacidae (Parakeets)Alexandrine Parakeet Psittacula eupatria 1,2,4,5,6 CRose-ringed Parakeet P. krameri 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 CPlum-headed Parakeet P. cyanocephala 3,6 CCuculidae (Cuckoos, Malkohas, Coucals)Brainfever Bird Hierococcyx varius 2,6 CDrongo Cuckoo Surniculus lugubris 6 UCAsian Koel Eudynamys scolopacea 2,6 CLarge Green-billed MalkohaPhaenicophaeus tristis 4,6 CGreater Coucal Centropus sinensis 6,7 CLesser Coucal C. bengalensis 3,6 CStrigidae (Owls)Collared Scops-Owl Otus bakkamoena 1 UCEurasian Eagle-Owl Bubo bubo 6 UCAsian Barred Owlet Glaucidium cuculoides 1,5,6 CJungle Owlet G. radiatum 1,2,5,6 CSpotted Owlet Athene brama 1,2 CCaprimulgidae (Nightjars)Large-tailed Nightjar Caprimulgus macrurus 2,6 CCommon Indian Nightjar C. asiaticus 2,6 CAlcedinidae (Kingfishers)Stork-billed kingfisher Halcyon capensis 3,7 CWhite-breasted Kingfisher H. smyrnensis 3,6,7 CLesser Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis 3,7 UCMeropidae (Bee-Eaters)Small Bee-eater Merops orientalis 3,6,7 CCoraciidae (Rollers)Indian Roller Coracias benghalensis 3,6 CUpupidae (Hoopoes)Common Hoopoe Upupa epops 6 CBucerotidae (Hornbills)Indian Grey Hornbill Ocyceros birostris 2,6 COriental Pied HornbillAnthracoceros albirostris 2,3,6 CGreat Pied Hornbill Buceros bicornis 3 RCapitonidae (Barbets)Brown-headed Barbet Megalaima zeylanica 3,6 C

Checklist of birds of Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary

Indian Birds Vol. 1 No. 4 (July-August 2005)

Coppersmith Barbet M. haemacephala 6 CPicidae (Woodpeckers)Brown-capped Pygmy WoodpeckerDendrocopos nanus 1 UCRufous Woodpecker Celeus brachyurus 3 UCLittle Scaly-bellied Green WoodpeckerPicus xanthopygaeus 4,5,6 CBlack-naped Green Woodpecker Picus canus 4 UCLesser Golden-backed WoodpeckerDinopium benghalense 1,2,3,4,5,6 CGreater Golden-backed Woodpecker Chrysocolaptes lucidus 1,2,4,5,6 CAlaudidae (Larks)Common Crested Lark Galerida cristata 3,6 CHirundinidae (Swallows)Common Swallow Hirundo rustica 7 CRed-rumped Swallow H. duarica 6,7 CMotacillidae (Pipits, Wagtails)White wagtail Motacilla alba 6,7 CLarge Pied Wagtail M. maderaspatensis 7 UCYellow Wagtail M. flava 7 CGrey Wagtail M. cinerea 6,7 CRichard’s Pipit Anthus richardi 6 CEurasian Tree Pipit A. trivialis 4,6 CCampephagidae (Minivets)Small Minivet Pericrocotus cinnamomeus 4 UCLong-tailed Minivet P. ethologus 2,4,5,6 CScarlet Minivet P. flammeus 2,4,5,6 CPycnonotidae (Bulbuls)Red-whiskered Bulbul Pycnonotus jocosus 1,2,3,4,5,6 CRed-vented Bulbul P. cafer 2,3,4 CMuscicapidae: Turdinae (Thrushes, etc.)Orange-headed Thrush Zoothera citrina 1,4,5 CEurasian Blackbird Turdus merula 4,5,6 COriental Magpie-Robin Copsychus saularis 2,6 CWhite-rumped Shama C. malabaricus 4,5,6 CIndian Robin Saxicoloides fulicata 2 CBlue-capped RedstartPhoenicurus caeruleucocephalus 6 UCBlack Redstart P. ochruros 1,2,6,5 C Blue-fronted Redstart P. frontalis 1,3,6 CCommon Stonechat S. torquata 3 CPied Bushchat Saxicola caprata 3 CMuscicapidae: Timaliinae (Babblers, etc.)Striated Babbler Turdoids earlei 3 UCJungle Babbler T. striatus 2,6 CMuscicapidae: Sylviinae (Prinias, Warblers)Yellow-bellied Prinia Prinia flaviventris 3 UCAshy Prinia P. socialis 2,3,6 CPlain Prinia P. inornata 2,3,6 CCommon Tailorbird Orthotomus sutorius 1,2,4,5,6 CHume’s Warbler Phylloscopus humei 1,2,4,6 C

Greenish Leaf-Warbler P. trochiloides 2,4 CCommon Lesser Whitethroat Sylvia curruca 2,4,6 CMuscicapidae: Muscicapinae (Flycatchers)Red-throated Flycatcher Ficedula parva 1,6 CVerditer Flycatcher Eumyias thalassina 2,4 CGrey-headed Flycatcher Culcicapa ceylonensis 6 UCMuscicapidae: Monarchinae (Paradise-Flycatchers)Asian Paradise-Flycatcher Terpsiphone paradisi 2 UCRemizidae (Penduline-Tits)Fire-capped Tit Cephalopyrus flammiceps 2 RParidae (Tits)Great Tit Parus major 1,2,3,4,5,6 CSittidae (Nuthatches)Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch Sitta castanea 2,4,5,6 CWallcreeper Tichodroma muraria 4 UCDicaeidae (Flowerpeckers)Tickell’s Flowerpecker Dicaeum erythrorynchos 2 UCNectariniidae (Sunbirds)Purple Sunbird Nectarina asiatica 2,6 CCrimson Sunbird Aethopyga siparaja 2 UCZosteropidae (White-eyes)Oriental White-eye Zosterops palpebrosus 4,5,6 CEstrildidae (Munias)Red Munia Amandava amandava 3,6 CWhite-throated Munia Lonchura malabarica 3 UCSpotted Munia L. punctulata 3 CPloceidae: Passerinae (Sparrows)House Sparrow Passer domesticus 6 CYellow-throated Sparrow Petronia xanthocollis 6 UCPloceidae: Ploceinae (Weavers)Baya Weaver Ploceus phillippinus CSturnidae (Starlings, Mynas)Brahminy Starling Sturnus pagodarum 6 UCCommon Starling S. vulgaris 3,7 CAsian Pied Starling S. contra 3,6 CCommon Myna Acridotheres tristis 6 CBank Myna A. ginginianus 6 CJungle Myna A. fuscus 6 UCDicruridae (Drongos)Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus 6 CAshy Drongo D. leucophaeus 2,4,5,6 CWhite-bellied Drongo D. caerulesceus 4,5,6 CLesser Racket-tailed Drongo D. remifer 2 CSpangled Drongo D. hottentottus 1,2,3,4 CGreater Racket-tailed Drongo D. paradiseus 1,2,4,5,6 CCorvidae (Crows, Treepies)Indian Treepie Dendrocitta vagabunda 1,2,3,4,5,6 CHouse Crow Corvus splendens 2,6 CJungle Crow C. macrorhynchos 2,6 C

76

StatusC = Common (Sighted more than five times).UC = Uncommon (Sighted less than fivetimes). R = Rare (Sighted once).VU=Vulnerable.

AcknowledgementsI would like to thank Department of Wildlife Sciences, AMU, Aligarh forsponsoring the study. My sincere thanks to Forest Department,Katerniaghat for providing accommodation in the forest rest house andother help.

ReferencesAli, S. and S. D. Ripley 1987. A pictorial guide of birds of Indian

Subcontinent. Oxford University Press.Grimmett, R., C. Inskipp and T. Inskipp. 2001. Pocket guide to the birds of

Indian Subcontinent. Oxford University Press.

Habitat1 = Teak forest2 = Scrub forest3 = Grassland4 = Sal forest5 = Mixed forest6 = Edge forest


Munias of Mt. Abu (Rajasthan, India)with special emphasis on threatened Green Munia Amandava formosa

Satya P. Mehra1, Sarita Sharma2 and Reena Mathur3

1Kesar Bhawan, 90, B/D Saraswati Hosp., Ganeshnagar, Pahada, Udaipur 313001, Rajasthan, India. Email: [email protected].��

3Professor, Department of Zoology, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. Email: [email protected].

Introduction

McCann (1942) spent a short holiday atMt. Abu and wrote, “It is an ‘oasis’

in the Rajputana desert, and a delightfulplace for a holiday”. On the one hand, therain-fed eastern side is full of semi-evergreenand deciduous flora, on the other, the drierwestern side gives way to xerophytic anddeciduous plants (Champion 1961). In thisvaried habitat is found a diverse avifauna(Mehra & Sharma, in prep.). The Munias(Estrildinae) form an important part of thisdiversity, especially as this is the westernlimit of the distribution of the GloballyThreatened Green Munia Amandavaformosa. Mt. Abu has been assessed as anImportant Bird Area due to the presence ofthis species. (Islam & Rahmani 2004).

Seven species of munias namely RedMunia Amandava amandava, Green MuniaA. formosa, White-throated MuniaLonchura malabarica, White-rumpedMunia L. striata, Black-throated Munia L.kelaarti, Spotted Munia L. punctulata andBlack-headed Munia L. malacca arereported from India (Ali and Ripley 1987).Five of these, namely, Red, Green, White-throated, Spotted and Black-headed Muniasare present at Mt. Abu. Grimmett et al. (1999)show that White-throated Munia is the mostwidely distributed munia in India followedby Spotted, Red, White-rumped and Black-headed, whereas distribution of Black-throated is restricted to the hills ofsouthwest and east India, and that of GreenMunia to patches of central India. Mt. Abuis the western limit of the Green Munia’sdistribution.

Study AreaMt. Abu (Ar-Booda, “the hill of wisdom”;Shyamaldas 1886) (24º36’N, 72º45’E, Sirohidistrict, Rajasthan) is the only hill station(unnotified) in Rajasthan or Gujarat and issituated at the average height of 1,219 m.s.l.in the Abu Hills, on the south-westernextremity of the Aravalis. Mt. Abu wasdeclared as a ‘closed area’ in the early 1960s(pers. comm., Karan Singh Rathore, RFO,Mt. Abu Wildlife Sanctuary). Although theentire 328km2 of Abu Hills have beendeclared as protected, officially only

112.98km2 is under unnotified sanctuaryarea (Anonymous 2003). Mt. Abu WildlifeSanctuary is long and narrow in shape, butthe top spreads out into a picturesqueplateau, which is about 19km in length and5-8km in breadth.

MethodologyRegular seasonal surveys were conductedfrom January 2004 – August 15, 2005. Noteswere taken on different species and thealtitude and habitat they occupied. Forconvenience, five altitudinal zones werecreated and the study area along with itsaltitudinal zones was mapped (Figures 1 and2).

The status of a species was establishedupon the following criteria: Very Common -More than ten birds of a species during asurvey or at any time of the day; Common -More than five birds of a species during asurvey or at any time of the day; Rare - Lessthan five birds during a survey or at anytime of the day; Very Rare - One or twosightings of a bird or two during the entirestudy period.

ObservationsWhite-throated Munia was sighted almostin every part of the Abu Hills irrespectiveof the altitudes. Itwas observed from thehighest peak, Gurushikhar (1,722m), to thefoothills of Mt. Abu. Spotted Munia wascommonly sighted in the agricultural fieldsin the altitudinal range of 600-1,500m. GreenMunia and Red Munia were found at thealtitudinal range of 900-1,500m. Green Muniawas very common on almost the entireplateau region above 900m, whereas RedMunia was rare and found in a few limitedpatches of dense bushes. Black-headedMunia was very rare and this is the firstrecorded sighting at Mt. Abu. Only threebirds were sighted during June-July 2004.Except Green Munia, all the four species ofmunias were sighted throughout the day.Green Munias were seen during morningand evening, mainly on open ground, in theshort dense bushes of Lantana camara orCarissa spinarum, as well in ripe maize andjowar fields. On overcast days we sightedthem throughout the day.

Distribution of MuniasAbove 1,500m: Gurushikhar and Bhairon kaPathar are two prominent points within thisrange. Only White-throated Munia wassighted within this altitudinal range. GreenMunia was sighted around Taramandal(Planetarium), at 1,630m.1,200-1,500m: Charlie Point (Jalara Fields),Achalgarh, Oriya Village, Trevor’s Tank,Palanpur Point, Jawai Dam, Shergaon, KodraDam and Sunset Point are important pointswithin this range. First five sites wereselected for the avifaunal studies. ExceptBlack-headed Munia, all the other fourspecie were sighted in this range. Red Muniawas rare and only sighted at Achalgarhwhereas Green, White-throated and Spottedwere very common in this zone. Achalgarhis important for the number of Green Muniassighted there.900-1,200m: The main city along withDelwara, Sunrise Valley, Salgaon, NestingValley and Arna Village are important pointswithin this range. All of them were selectedas study sites. In this zone all five specieswere sighted from different points. Delwarawas the main site for Green Munia.600-900m: No prominent point was presentwithin this zone. Only White-throated andScaly-breasted Munias were sighted withinthese limits. Scaly-breasted were mainlysighted in and around agricultural fieldswhereas White-throated were commoneverywhere.Below 600m: Chipaberi and Rishikesh templeare among the important points of this zone.Only White-throated and Spotted Muniaswere abundant in the lower area of Abu Hills.

ThreatsThe major threat for munias especially theGreen Munia, is habitat alteration. Althoughconstruction activities are banned by theHonorable Supreme Court from 2002, illegalclearing of land is still rampant. Being atourist spot, the development of hotels, andtemporary camping grounds or parking lotson the feeding areas of this bird are constantthreats. The activities of religious pilgrimsalso tend to disturb Green Munias.

There have been unconfirmed reports ofpoaching of this species (Mehra and Sharma

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2004). This has now been confirmed by thetribals of village Gopala Nana, Saroopganj.Although the trapping of this species is notintensive, they are occasionally trapped fortraditional medicinal use (remedial propertieswere not disclosed to us) as well as to meetthe demand for aviary birds (?)from Gujarat.

Results and DiscussionsFive species of munias, out of the sevenreported from India, were sighted in thestudy area. The Black-headed Munia isreported for the first time from Mt. Abu.Butler (1875-1876) documented four speciesfrom here, excluding Black-headed Munia.Other works on the avifauna of Mt. Aburecord the presence of Green, White-throated and Spotted Munias (Prakash andSingh 1995; Sharma 2002). Devarshi andTrigunayat (1989) mention only White-throated Munia.

The overall status of munias in the AbuHills is: Red Munia Amandava amandava -Rare; Green Munia A. formosa - Common;White-throated Munia Lonchuramalabarica - Very Common; Spotted MuniaL. punctulata - Common; Black-headedMunia L. malacca - Very Rare.

Ahmed (1997, 1998) considered trade amajor threat to Green Munia, and as a resultof continued trapping, its populationsappears to have been wiped out in manyareas (Bhargava 1996). Although trappingis prevalent at Mt. Abu, it cannot beconsidered a major threat to the species. Itspopulation can be monitored by regularpatrolling and involving local residents inprotecting its habitat. Increasing humanpopulation pressurises the sites where GreenMunias feed. Strict implementation of theorder of the Honorable Supreme Court isthe only solution to check the humanactivities in the forest area.

ConclusionsAt Abu Hills the Green Munia is restrictedto the altitudinal range which is highly proneto anthropogenic activities like constructionand habitat alteration. This needs immediateaction if the dwindling population of thespecies is to be protected.

AcknowledgementsWe thank Dr Asad R. Rahmani, Director

BNHS, who encouraged us to study theGlobally Threatened Green Munia insouthern Rajasthan. We are thankful to theDepartment of Forest (Wildlife Division), Mt.Abu, especially to Mr Karan Singh Rathoreand Mr Mahendra Saxena for their kind andgenerous help during the study. Further weare thankful to Mr Ramesh Mali for helpingand making arrangements for our study.Special thanks to Mr Ainsley Priestman, MrWalter Aubert and their families forproviding us with historic information onthe birds. We are also grateful to Dr A. K.Sharma, Mr Ajay Mehta, Mr Pradip Daveand Mr Praveen Mehra for their kindassistance. Last but not least, we thank ourfriends Shambhu Sharma and PraveenSharma for their technical assistance andhelp in photography.

ReferencesAhmed, A. 1997. Live bird trade in northern

India. Delhi: TRAFFIC-India.Ahmed, A. 1998. Some observations of the

Green Munia in the Indian bird trade.Oriental Bird Club Bulletin 27: 21–25.

Ali, Salim, and S. Dillon Ripley. 1987.Compact handbook of the birds of Indiaand Pakistan together with those ofBangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and SriLanka. 2nd ed. (Sponsored by theBombay Natural History Society.) Delhi:Oxford University Press.

Anonymous. 2003. Rajasthan foreststatistics, 2003. Forest Department,

Rajasthan.Bhargava, R. 1996. Notes on Green Munia.

J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 93: 588.Birdlife International 2001. Threatened birds

of Asia: the Birdlife International RedData Book. Cambridge, UK: BirdlifeInternational.

Butler, E. A. 1875–1877. Notes on theavifauna of Mount Aboo and northernGuzerat. Stray Feathers 3: 437–500; 4: 1–41; 5: 207–235.

Champion, H. G. 1961. A preliminary surveyof the forest types of India. Indian ForestRecords, Silviculture 1 (1): 123-125.

Devarshi, D. and Trigunayat, M. M. 1989.Checklist of the birds of Mt. Abu(Rajasthan). Pavo 27 (1&2): 59-63.

Grimmett, R, Inskipp, C. and Inskipp, T. 1999.Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. OxfordUniversity Press, New Delhi.

Islam, M. Z. and Rahmani, A. R. 2004.Important Bird Areas: Priority sites forconservation. Indian Bird ConservationNetwork: Bombay Natural HistorySociety and Birdlife International (UK).

McCann, C. 1942. A Bushman’s Holiday inthe Abu Hills. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.43: 206-217.

Mehra, S. P.and Sharma, S. (in prep.).Altitudinal distribution of avifauna of Mt.Abu, Rajasthan, India.

Mehra, S. P. and Sharma, S. 2004. Additionalsite records of Green Munia Amandavaformosa (Latham) from Mt. Abu, Sirohi.Newsl. Ornithologists 1(6): 84-85.

Prakash, I. and Singh, P. 1995. Someobservations on the birds of Abu hill,Aravalli ranges. Pavo 33 (1–2): 99–110.

Sharma, S. K. 2002. Preliminary biodiversitysurvey of protected areas of southernRajasthan. Unpublished. Pp 24.

Shyamaldas. 1886. Veer Vinod - Mewar kaItihaas (in Hindi). Vol 1-3. MotilalBanarsidas, Delhi.

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Altitude Red Munia Green Munia White-throated Munia Spotted Munia Black-headed MuniaAmandava amandava A. formosa Lonchura malabarica L. punctulata L. malacca

Above 1,500m Not sighted Rare Common Not sighted Not sighted

1,200-1,500m Rare Common Common Common Not sighted

900-1,200m Rare Common Common Common Very rare600-900m Not sighted Not sighted Common Common Not sightedBelow 600m Not sighted Not sighted Common Common Not sighted

Table 1: Status of Munias (Estrildidae) at Mt. Abu


Bird ringing around Hyderabad city, Andhra Pradesh, IndiaHumayun Taher1, Hyder Jaffer2 & Hatim Jaffer2

12-B Atlas Apartments, Road No. 10, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad 500034, India. Email: [email protected]. Corresponding author.218-7-360/8 Yakhutpura, Hyderabad 500023, India. Email: [email protected]

The Birdwatcher’s Society of AndhraPradesh (BSAP), in conjunction with the

Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS),has been conducting bird ringing activitiesaround Hyderabad city (Andhra Pradesh,India) for five years (from 1998 through2002). Most of the birds so far ringed havebeen raptors, particularly Common KestrelFalco tinnunculus, with one Red-headedFalcon Falco chiquera, three ShikrasAccipiter badius, one Black-shoulderedKite Elanus caeruleus, one Western Marsh-Harrier Circus aeruginosus and one BarnOwl Tyto alba. In addition to these, we havealso ringed, at various times, two PiedCrested Cuckoos Clamator jacobinus, twoIndian Pittas Pitta brachyura and oneCommon Quail Coturnix coturnix, plus afew Baya Weaver Ploceus philippinus.Some of the birds which we have ringed fromtime to time are given in Table 1.

Below is given a brief account of ringingactivities, with specific reference to raptorialbirds (Table 1). All the data collected fromthe birds so far ringed is not presented. Thiswill form the subject matter of a future article.The non-raptorial birds that were ringedwere mostly acquired from the illegal birdmarket near Charminar, in the ‘Old City’.Most of the raptors were trapped by us for

the express purpose of ringing.Bearing in mind that, with the exception

of Falco tinnunculus, none of the othersmaller raptors found around the city weremigratory, we confined our activities to theCommon Kestrel. The other birds of prey(Falco chiquera, Accipiter badius, Elanuscaeruleus, Tyto alba and Circusaeruginosus) that we ringed, had either beenpurchased or inadvertently caught, as wewere rather new to ringing at that stage andtended to become a trifle over-enthusiastic.

Ringing was mostly conducted in theareas around Nadergul, Jalpally,Mamidipally, Tukkuguda and Balapur, (allin Rangareddi district), within a 10-15kmradius, east of Hyderabad. This area hassuitable habitat for small raptors,particularly Common Kestrel, because of theopen grass areas and an abundance oflocusts and other small prey species thatform the staple diet of this falcon. As aresult, there is always a sizeable populationof this species in the area during the seasonwhen the birds migrate to south India.

Unfortunately, none of the ringed birdshas been recovered from outside India.However, a few interesting aspects haveemerged from our ringing activities, whichwe describe below:

1. One of the main things that we havenoticed is that Common Kestrels are highlyterritorial birds, and this territoriality is seenin successive years. The territoriality hasalso apparently given rise to a stronghoming instinct. These observations arebased on our trapping and re-trappingrecords. We have only twice managed toactually re-trap an earlier ringed bird (seebelow), but we have seen the ringed birdsin the area from where they had originallybeen trapped. For example, a first year maleCommon Kestrel which was trapped andringed (ring no. 44920) in Balapur on5.xii.1999, was seen later in the same area forover three months from that date. Our lastsighting of the bird was on 23.iii.2000.Another Common Kestrel bearing ringnumber C-44909 was caught near Nadergulon 11.i.1999, ringed and released. It was againtrapped in the same locality on 21.xi.1999.This indicates that the birds return eachseason to the same locality.2. Territoriality also appears to havedeveloped a good homing instinct in thisspecies. On one occasion, an adult male,which had been trapped in Nadergul on28.xi.1998, was brought to the city andreleased near the Kasu Brahmananda Reddy(K.B.R.) National Park in Jubilee Hills.

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Subsequent to this, the bird was re-trappedon 5.xii.1999 in Nadergul, in fact from thesame electricity pylon from which we hadaffected the first capture! (Ring No. C-56009).3. In the winter of 1999-2000 we recorded(saw) a Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanii nearNadergul. Despite several attempts, we wereunable to catch that bird and so cannotconfirm its sex. However, the many sightrecords that we have of it seem to indicatethat it was an immature bird.4. The Indian Pitta and the Pied CrestedCuckoo were acquired by one of us (HJ)from the Charminar bird market inHyderabad.5. The Common Quail was acquired by

chance at the house of one of the authors(HT) on the night of 3.iv.2001. The bird wasseen sitting on the veranda of a second floorin an apartment block. Using a towel and apowerful torch, we were able to secure thebird and keep it for the night. It was ringedand released the next morning at the KasuBrahmananda Reddy National Park inJubilee Hills (Hyderabad city).6. Baya Weavers were ringed by BSAPmember Suhel Quader who was at that timeinvolved with studies on the breeding ofthis species at the ICRISAT Centre. Thebirds were ringed in the course of his studies,and the details have been communicated to theBNHS, as part of the BSAP bird ringing data.

DiscussionThe area near Nadergul is rich in raptorial birds

and deserves to be protected. At various timeswe have seen several species of raptorial birdshere, including, at one time, a sighting of overfifty Indian White-backed Vultures Gypsbengalensis (14.iv.2000). Some of these sightingsare extremely interesting and of uncommon / rarespecies – of particular interest are the Bonelli’sEagle Hieraaetus fasciatus, Booted Eagle H.pennatus, Lesser Kestrel, Laggar Falco jugger,Eurasian Eagle-Owl Bubo bubo and Short-earedOwl Asio flammeus. This is one of the few areasaround Hyderabad where we have seen threespecies of mammals: chinkara Gazella bennettii,jackal Canis aureus and striped hyena Hyaenahyaena.

Details of the ringing activities are given inTable 1.

Table 1: Ringing data.

Ring No. Species Sex Age Moult Plu. Brd. Ptch. Wing Bill Tars. Tail Wt. Locality Habitat Date Remarks Recaptured

5 6 0 0 1 Falco chiquera M 5 4 4 1 2 0 0 2 0 4 0 1 6 0 1 7 0 15 .04 .98 Jalpally

5 6 0 0 2 Accipiter badius M 5 1 4 1 1 8 0 2 0 5 5 1 4 0 1 7 0 26 .04 .98 Balapur

5 6 0 0 3 Accipiter badius M 5 1 4 1 1 8 5 2 0 5 5 1 4 0 1 7 5 26 .04 .98 Jalpally

5 6 0 0 4 Falco tinnunculus F 2 1 2 1 2 3 3 2 0 4 0 1 7 5 2 0 0 19 .10 .98 Nadergul

5 6 0 0 5 Falco tinnunculus F 5 1 4 1 2 4 3 1 0 4 0 1 5 9 2 0 0 A X 22 .10 .98 H. Sagar

5 6 0 0 6 Falco tinnunculus F 5 1 4 1 2 4 5 1 2 4 0 1 6 5 2 1 0 B X 22 .10 .98 Mamidipally



5 6 0 0 9 Falco tinnunculus M 5 1 4 1 2 5 0 2 2 3 3 1 8 2 2 2 0 28 .11 .98 Nadergul 05 .12 .99


4 4 9 0 3 Circus aeruginosus M 2 4 2 1 3 5 6 3 0 8 1 1 6 0 5 5 0 A X 23 .11 .90 B.Hills (c.f.m.)

4 4 9 0 4 Accipiter badius F 6 4 8 1 1 9 6 1 8 5 2 1 4 9 1 7 5 A X 22 .01 .91 B.Hills (c.f.m.)

4 4 9 0 5 Falco tinnunculus M 5 8 4 1 2 5 6 1 9 4 3 1 7 8 1 5 5 A X 22 .03 .92 B.Hills (c.f.m.)

4 4 9 0 6 Tyto alba F 6 1 5 1 3 0 0 4 3 8 0 1 3 8 3 0 0 A X 13 .02 .93 B.Hills (c.f.m.)

4 4 9 0 9 Falco tinnunculus M 5 1 4 1 2 4 7 2 0 4 0 1 7 6 2 0 5 11 .01 .99 Nadergul 21 .11 .99

4 4 9 1 0 Falco tinnunculus F 5 1 4 1 2 6 0 2 0 4 0 1 8 0 2 5 0 10 .02 .99 B. Hills


4 4 9 1 2 Falco tinnunculus M 5 1 4 1 2 3 8 2 0 4 0 1 7 0 2 1 0 29 .03 .99 Nadergul





4 4 9 1 7 Falco tinnunculus M 5 4 4 1 2 4 7 2 1 4 0 1 8 0 1 8 0 05 .12 .99 Balapur

4 4 9 1 8 Falco tinnunculus F 2 7 2 1 2 5 0 2 2 4 0 1 9 0 2 5 0 05 .12 .99 Balapur

4 4 9 2 0 Falco tinnunculus M 2 7 2 1 2 4 0 2 0 4 0 1 6 6 1 8 0 05 .12 .99 Balapur



4 4 9 2 3 Falco tinnunculus M 3 1 3 1 2 4 0 2 0 4 0 1 7 0 2 5 0 10 .04 .00 Tukkuguda


4 4 9 2 5 Falco tinnunculus M 2 1 2 1 2 4 5 2 2 3 6 1 8 0 2 6 0 14 .04 .00 Tukkuguda

4 4 9 2 6 Falco tinnunculus M 5 1 4 1 2 4 0 2 2 3 7 1 9 0 1 8 0 13 .12 .01 Keesaragutta


4 4 9 2 8 Falco tinnunculus F 2 1 2 1 2 4 5 2 2 4 0 1 9 3 2 0 0 12 .01 .02 Badangpet

4 4 9 2 9 Falco tinnunculus M 3 1 3 1 2 4 0 2 2 3 8 1 9 2 1 8 0 12 .01 .02 Badangpet

5 6 0 1 7 Falco tinnunculus F 2 1 3 1 2 6 1 1 5 4 6 1 7 3 2 0 5 31 .12 .01 Balapur

A B - 1 4 7 5 1 0 Coturnix coturnix F 5 1 4 1 1 0 5 2 9 1 2 4 1 3 . 04 . 01 B. Hills

Z - 2 7 9 0 1 Ploceus benghalensis M 5 1 4 1 7 3 1 2 . 1 2 1 . 5 4 5 2 2 21 .06 .97 Icrisat

Z - 2 7 9 0 2 Ploceus benghalensis M 5 1 4 1 7 2 1 2 . 6 2 1 4 1 2 2 . 5 21 .06 .97 Icrisat

A B - 1 4 7 5 0 1 Pitta brachyura ? 6 1 4 1 1 0 8 2 6 3 9 2 7 4 0 08 .10 .98 B. Hills (c.f.m.)

B - 4 4 5 0 1 Clamator jacobinus F 6 1 4 1 1 4 4 2 5 3 2 1 5 8 6 0 03 .07 .98 B. Hills (c.f.m.)

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AbbreviationBrd. Ptch. = Brood patch.c.f.m = Captive from market.Plu = Plumage.Tars. = Tarsus.Wt. = Weight in grams.Key to tableAge1=Nestling.2=Juvenile (First Year).3=Subadult.

4=Immature - stage unknown.5=Adult.6=Full grown but stageunknown.Moult1=No moult.2=Wing.3=Tail.4=Wing & tail.5=Head.6=Body.

Distribution of White-winged Tern Chlidonias leucopterus in India and a new record from Andhra PradeshAasheesh Pittie1, Suhel Quader2 and Prakriti Pittie3

1, 38-2-545 Road No. 7, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad 500034, India. 1Email: [email protected] of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom. Email: [email protected]

The White-winged Tern Chlidoniasleucopterus has been described as a

winter visitor to “Assam, Bangladesh andSri Lanka, irregularly in the rest of the Indianpeninsula and in the Maldive and AndamanIs.” (Ripley 1982). Ali and Ripley (2001) givea few additional references of sightings fromPakistan. Surprisingly, without anysupporting evidence, Baker (1929) stated,“In India…common all down the Eastcoast.” This, despite Blanford’s (1898)statement, “This Tern has not been clearlyidentified from any part of India west ofTipperah [=Tripura]…”. Whistler andKinnear (1937) also emphasised thisdiscrepancy. When Abdulali and othersspotted it on Mahim Causeway, Bombaycity (=Mumbai) on 26.iii.1950, he wrote,“…has not been recorded before fromanywhere in peninsular India,” (1950).

Since Abdulali’s observation, severalrecords of this square-tailed marsh tern havebeen published from India and we summarizethese here, placing them roughly into threezones: western coast, eastern coast andinland records.

Western CoastGujarat: On 12.v.1955, it was spotted atJasdan, purportedly the second such recordfrom the area (Shivrajkumar 1955). Mundkur(1987) saw it on 14.v.1985 at Jamnagar.Parasharya and Mukherjee (2001) spottedthree birds at Porbander on 27.iv.1997. On6.vi.2004, Varu (2004) reported it from DevisarTank, Bhuj.Maharashtra: Twenty-seven years afterAbdulali’s record, it was reported once againfrom Bombay (Mumbai), this time fromColaba Point by Sinclair (1977). Prasad (2004)gives a summary of records from westernMaharashtra.

Goa: Lainer (2004) reports sightings betweenAugust-September 1998.Kerala: On 27.iv.1997, Ravindran (2001) sawup to three birds on different occasionsbetween 12-15.ix.1998 at Kole wetlands,Thrissur. On 25.iv.2003, Mathew (2003) sawone at Thattekkad. Ravindran (2004) reportssightings from Kole wetlands in March,April and September 1998-2000.

Eastern CoastEastern Coast: Perennou and Santharam(1990) recorded it as “a regular and commonpassage migrant along the Coromandel (i.e.,East) coast,” including “a large roost of c.50,000 migrant terns in Kaliveli (Tamil Nadu)(which) held over 2,000 whitewinged blackterns.” [“During late 1989 and 1991, theWhiskered Tern congregation at Kaliveliwas not more than 5,000 birds,” (in litt. S.Balachandran).]Orissa: Rao et al. (1994) include it in theirchecklist of birds for Chilika Lake. [“Occursregularly in small numbers of 100-200. Seenthroughout the year except May-June. InJuly-August 10-30 birds would be seen inbreeding plumage. Was difficult todifferentiate from September onwards, fromWhiskered Terns, due to its winteringplumage,” (in litt. S. Balachandran).]Tamil Nadu: Melluish (1966) saw it on30.iv.1966 at Pulicat Lake, Chennai anddescribed it as “…something extraordinaryand entirely unfamiliar”. Fifty birds wereringed in December 1970 at Point Calimere(Raju and Shekar 1971). Sugathan (1983)lists it as a common migrant at Point CalimereSanctuary. Kannan (1986) recorded about“a hundred” on 17.iv.1983 at Adyar Estuaryin Chennai. See Perennou and Satharam’s(1990) record, below. [“Present in PointCalimere, but none have been ringed even

though 500 Whiskered Terns have, between1980-2000,” (in litt. S. Balachandran).]

InlandJammu and Kashmir (J&K): Pfister (2001)records one on 23.vi.1995 in Ladakh. Naorojiand Sangha (2004) saw two birds on3.ix.2000, at Trishul Tso, Ladakh, one ofwhich was in breeding plumage and theother a juvenile. They did not see any otherterns.Punjab: Undeland also recorded three andfour birds on 10.v.1998 and 26.vii.1998 atHarike Bird Sanctuary (Robson 1998a).Rajasthan: On 9.iv.1996, a male in breedingdress was seen at Phulera Lake, Jaipur bySangha and Vardhan (1998). Craig Robsonspotted a single bird at Suriwal Lake nearRanthambhor Tiger Reserve on 6.xii.2001(Robson 2002).Jharkhand: Baillie (1946) reported a singlebird on “Lakes” from 6-11.v.1945, Hazaribaghtown.Delhi: Jackson (1969) reported it formNajafgarh Jheel on 5.v.1968. Vyas (1996) sawone bird in breeding plumage on 9.vi.1986at Okhla Barrage. He also saw one in firstwinter plumage on 20.x.1996, again at Okhlaand three on 30.viii.1997, at Madanpurvillage (Vyas 2002). Undeland reported(Robson 1998a) four birds at Okhla on25.viii.1997 and one on 9.viii.1998 (Robson1998b).Karnataka: Thejaswi (2005) observed sixbirds in September 1999, at Kunthur Lake(Chamarajanagar district, Karnataka) amidsta “huge flock of over 2,500 Whiskered TernsChlidonias hybridus, all in flight…”

On 9.v.2005, we had gone birdwatching(06:30-08:30hrs) to Osman Sagar (17º22’N,78º18’E; a.k.a. Gandipet), one of the lakesthat supply water to Hyderabad city (Andhra

7=Head & body.8=General moult.Plumage1=Down.2=First year (Juvenile).3=Intermediate.4=Adult.5=Eclipse.6=Breeding.7=Partial breeding.8=Stage unknown.

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Brood patch1=Absent.2=Present but details not recorded.3=Skin smooth, glossy, free of feathers.4=Skin smooth, network of blood vessels noticeable.5=Skin thickened, blood vessels not seen, fluid layer underepidermis, brood patch resembles second degree burn.6=Skin wrinkled, dried up, begins to form scales.7=Skin becomes smooth, feather calami formed, broodpatch begins to be covered up.


Pradesh). This was primarily to investigatea newspaper report about the presence offlamingos (Phoenicopteridae) there. Thewater-spread had shrunk drastically andstanding on the bund we could easily seethe opposite shoreline and count the birdson it through a scope. Flying about overthe water were four or five River TernsSterna aurantia and 10-12 Whiskered TernsChlidonias hybridus, both in breedingplumage. As we watched them, we saw asmallish tern that, on first glance, lookedlike a Black-bellied Tern Sterna acuticauda.However, this one was different. Its squarewhite tail glistened against the darker shadesof its remaining plumage. Black featherscovered its entire belly, chest, throat, head,nape, back, and under-wing coverts. Itswings were grey. The plumage was acombination of vividly contrasting shadesof white, grey and black. What we wereseeing was a White-winged Tern Chlidonias

leucopterus in full breeding plumage! Thebird worked an area of water close to us andall three of us had excellent, long andrepeated views as it flew about. This is thefirst report of this species from AndhraPradesh, and thus it should be added to thestate’s checklist (Raju 1985, Taher and Pittie1989).

It is clear that on migration the White-winged Tern is more common along theeastern (EC) and western coasts (WC) ofIndia, than it is in central (inland) India, andrecent reports of its presence on the easterncoast support Baker’s (1929) assumption(Table 1). Records from central India are few.The first was from Raipur (MadhyaPradesh) from before 1929, most probablyon the authority of D’Abreu (Baker 1929).Ali and Ripley (2001) erred in datingD’Abreu’s record from 1935, based on hispaper in the Journal of the Bombay NaturalHistory Society (D’Abreu 1935), when it had

already been reported by Baker from before1929. The other records from inlandlocations are from Jammu and Kashmir,Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi and Karnataka(Table 1).

Ali and Ripley (2001) state, “Possibly lessvagrant than appears, as liable to beoverlooked among the numerousWhiskered terns with which it keeps inwinter, and is impossible to distinguish fromsatisfactorily before it starts moulting intoits distinctive summer dress.” Its gregariousnature and the fact that it “keeps” withWhiskered Terns is well-documented(Henry 1971, Roberts 1991, Grimmett et al.1998, Harrison 1999, Kennedy et al. 2000)and is reinforced in Table 1 where 50% ofthe observers recorded seeing White-winged Terns accompanying a flock of thecommoner Whiskered Terns. Thisemphasises the cardinal rule of observingevery single bird, even in a flock!

Author (Year) Observation date Other terns present Coastal InlandAbdulali 1950 26.iii.1950 Gull-billed Mumbai (WC) —

Baillie 1946 6-11.v.1945 No information — HazaribaghBaker 1929 — No information — Raipur

Jackson 1969 5.v.1968 Whiskered — DelhiKannan 1986 10-29.iv.1983 Whiskered, Little Chennai (EC) —Lainer 2004 18.viii.1998, mid-Sept.

and 1st week of Oct. No information Goa (WC) —Mathew 2003 25.iv.2003 No information Thattekad (WC) —Melluish 1966 30.iv.1966 Gull-billed Pulicat Lake (EC) —Mundkur 1987 14.v.1985 Whiskered Jamnagar (WC) —

Naoroji & Sangha 2004 3.ix.2000 No other tern — LadakhParasharya & Mukherjee 2001 27.iv.1997 Whiskered Porbander (WC) —

Pfister 2001 23.vi.1995 No information — LadakhRaju & Shekar 1971 xii.1970 No information Pt. Calimere (EC) —

Ravindran 2001 12-15.ix.1998 Whiskered Kole (WC) —Ravindran 2004 iii-iv.2000 Whiskered Malappuram (WC) —Robson 1998a 25.viii.1997 No information — OkhlaRobson 1998b 10.v; 26.vii; 9.viii.1998 No information — Harike; OkhlaRobson 2002 22-26.i.2002 No information — Suriwal Lake

Sangha & Vardhan 1998 9-10.iv.1996 No information — JaipurShivrajkumar 1955 12.v.1955 Whiskered Jasdan (WC) —

Sinclair 1977 27.x.1974 Whiskered Mumbai (WC) —Thejaswi 2005 ix.1999 Whiskered Chamarajanagar district,

KarnatakaVaru 2004 6.vi.2004 Whiskered Bhuj (WC) —Vyas 1996 9.vi.1986 Whiskered — OkhlaVyas 2002 20.x.1996; 30.viii.1997 Whiskered, Gull-billed — DelhiThis study 9.v.2005 Whiskered — Hyderabad

Table 1: White-winged Tern: Inland vs. coastal records and presence of other terns when it was sighted.

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AcknowledgementsWe would like to thank S. Balachandran for

commenting on an earlier version of this note.

ReferencesAbdulali, H. 1950. Occurrence of the

Whitewinged Black Tern [Chlidonias

leucopterus (Temm.)] in Bombay. J. BombayNat. Hist. Soc. 49 (2): 310-311.

Ali, S. and S. D. Ripley. 2001. Handbook of the


birds of India and Pakistan together with thoseof Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Ceylon. 2nded. Vol. 3 (Stone Curlews to Owls). Delhi:Oxford University Press .

Baillie, R. H. 1946. Hazaribagh bird recordings.J. Bengal Nat. Hist. Soc. XX (4): 111-127.Baker, E. C. S. (Ed.) 1929. The fauna of British

India, including Ceylon and Burma. Birds. 2nded. Vol. 6. London: Taylor and Francis.

Blanford, W. T. (Ed.) 1898. The fauna of BritishIndia, including Ceylon and Burma (Birds).Vol. 4. London: Taylor and Francis.

D’Abreu, E. A. 1935. A list of the birds of theCentral Provinces. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.38 (1) (15 August): 95-116.

Grimmett, R., C. Inskipp, and T. Inskipp. 1998.Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. 1st ed.London: Christopher Helm, A & C Black.

Harrison, J. 1999. A Field Guide to the Birds ofSri Lanka. 1st ed. Oxford, U.K.: OxfordUniversity Presss.

Henry, G. M. (Ed.) 1978. A Guide to the Birds ofCeylon. Reissued 2nd ed. London: OxfordUniversity Press.

Jackson, P. 1969. Some new bird records forDelhi. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 65 (3): 780-782. (1968).

Kannan, R. 1986. The Whitewinged Black TernChlidonias leucopterus in the CoromandelCoast. Newsletter for Birdwatchers 26 (1-2):11-12.

Kennedy, R. S., P. C. Gonzales, E. C. Dickinson,H. C. Miranda Jr. and T. H. Fisher. 2000. Aguide to the birds of the Philippines. Oxford:Oxford University Press.

Lainer, H. 2004. Additions to ‘The birds of Goa’(Lainer 1999). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 101(1) (20 May): 163-165.

Mathew, M. J. 2003. Birds of Thattekkad.Newsletter for Birdwatchers 43 (4) (July-August): 60.

Melluish, R. A. S. 1966. Unfamiliar visitors toMadras. Newsletter for Birdwatchers 6 (6): 1-2.

Mundkur, T. 1987. The Whitewinged Black TernChlidonias leucopterus (Temminck) inSaurashtra, Gujarat. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.84 (1): 208.

Naoroji, R. and Harkirat Sangha. 2004. ProjectGolden Eagle: Raptor surveys in Ladakh 1997-2003 (In collaboration with the Indian Army).Unpublished report.

Parasharya, B. M., and A. Mukherjee. 2001.Sightings of Whitecheeked Tern Sternarepressa, Whitewinged Black Tern Chlidoniasleucopterus and Saunder’s Little Tern Sternasaundersi at Porbander coast, Gujarat. J.Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 98 (1): 113-114.

Perennou, C., and V. Santharam. 1990. Status ofsome birds in southeastern India. J. BombayNat. Hist. Soc. 87 (2): 306-307.

Pfister, O. 2001. Birds recorded during visits toLadakh, India, from 1994 to 1997. Forktail.17: 81-90.

Prasad, A. 2004. Annotated checklist of the birdsof Western Maharashtra. Buceros 8 (2&3): i-ii, 1-174 (2003).

Raju, K. S. R. K. 1985. Checklist of Birds ofVisakhapatnam Region. Visakhapatnam:Andhra Pradesh Natural History Society.

Raju, K. S. R. K. and P. B. Shekar. 1971. Someinteresting bird records from Point Calimere.J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 68 (2): 457-459.

Ravindran, P. K. 2001. Occurrence of the White-winged Black Tern Chlidonias leucopterus inKerala. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 98 (1): 112-113.

—. 2004. Random notes. Newsletter forBirdwatchers 44 (4) (July-August): 62.

Ripley, S. D. 1982. A synopsis of the birds ofIndia and Pakistan together with those ofNepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Ceylon. 2nd ed.Bombay; Oxford: Bombay Natural HistorySociety; Oxford University Press.

Roberts, T. J. 1991. The Birds of Pakistan:Regional Studies and non-passeriformes. Vol.1. 2 vols. Karachi: Oxford University Press.

83

Robson, C. 1998a. From the field: India. O. B. C.Bull. 27: 61-66 (62).

—. 1998b. From the field: India. O. B. C. Bull.28: 44.

—. 2002. From the field: India. O. B. C. Bull. 35(June): 84-86.

Sangha, H. S. and H. Vardhan. 1998. Occurrenceof the Whitewinged Black Tern Chlidoniasleucopterus in Rajasthan. J. Bombay Nat. Hist.Soc. 95 (1): 113-114.

Shivrajkumar. 1955. Occurrence of theWhitewinged Black Tern (Chlidoniasleucopterus Temm.) in Saurashtra. J. BombayNat. Hist. Soc. 53 (1): 130.

Sinclair, J. C. 1977. Sight records of unusual birdsfrom Colaba Point, Bombay, Maharashtra. J.Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 73 (3): 530-531.(1976).

Sugathan, R. 1983. Some interesting aspects ofthe avifauna of the Point Calimere Sanctuary,Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu. J. BombayNat. Hist. Soc. 79 (3): 567-575 (1982).

Taher, S. A. and A. Pittie. 1989. A Checklist ofBirds of Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabad, India:Published by the authors.

Thejaswi, S. 2005. Black Tern Chlidonias niger(Linn.) in Mysore, Karnataka: First recordfrom inland southern India. J. Bombay Nat.Hist. Soc. 101 (3) (27 April): 454-455 (2004).

Varu, S. N. 2004. White-winged Black TernChlidonias leucopterus in Kutch. Newsletterfor Ornithologists 1 (5): 77.

Vyas, S. 1996. Checklist of the birds of the Delhiregion: an update. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.93 (2): 219-237.

—. 2002. Some interesting bird records from theDelhi area. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 99 (2):325-330.

Whistler, H. and N. B. Kinnear. 1937. TheVernay Scientific Survey of the Eastern Ghats.(Ornithological section). Part XV. J. BombayNat. Hist. Soc. 39 (2): 246-263.

Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris in Arunachal PradeshRamana Athreya

National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, (Post Bag 3), Pune University Campus, Pune 411007, Maharashtra, India. Email: [email protected]

On 11.x.2004 I photographed a HornedLark Eremophila alpestris in

Arunachal Pradesh. While Ali and Ripley(1987) report the species from all along theHimalayas including Bhutan and NEFA(earlier name for Arunachal), Grimmett, et al.(1998), and Kazmierczak (2000) havecompletely excluded Bhutan from its rangeand put a question mark on ArunachalPradesh. Whatever be the reason for thischange in status it suggests that sightingsof this species in Arunachal have been veryscarce at best.

The photographs accompanying thisnote speak for the identification and I willnot delve on it in detail. The bird appears to

be a sub-adult / first-winter female, from thethinness of the gorget and the lack of theforecrown black band. The races elwesi andlongirostris differ in body size and lengthof beak (Ali and Ripley 1987).

Not having the bird in hand and nothaving seen any longirostris I can only saythat the beak length did not appear to beincompatible with it being elwesi as indeedthe distribution as per Ali and Ripley (1987).

The bird was seen early in the morning at3,600m altitude along a road cutting in awell-wooded (and well-watered) coniferforest, quite unlike the “Tibetan facies” thatthis species is partial to. However, there is arecord of this species even from Delhi

(Kelsey, et al. 2001: http://www.delhibird.org). The bird allowed close viewsfor several minutes. On flying away to thetop of a dead tree it uttered a subdued lark-like warbling. (Photo: www.indianbirds.in).

ReferencesAli, S., & S. D. Ripley. 1987. Handbook of the

birds of India and Pakistan. Compact edition.Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Grimmett R., C. Inskipp and T. Inskipp. 1998.A guide to the birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal,Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and theMaldives. Princeton University Press.

Kazmierczak, K. 2000. A field guide to the birdsof the Indian Subcontinent. Pica Press.


Sightings of Sociable Lapwing Vanellus gregarius in Rajasthan, excluding Bharatpur recordsHarkirat Singh Sangha

B-27, Gautam Marg, Hanuman Nagar, Jaipur 302021. Email: [email protected]

The Sociable Lapwing Vanellusgregarius is a monotypic species of the

sub-family Vanellinae (family Charadriidae)and a winter migrant to north-west India.The species is classified as Vulnerablebecause it has suffered a rapid decline andrange contraction (BirdLife International2000).

There are very few records of the speciesfrom Rajasthan, except from KeoladeoNational Park, Bharatpur. The prevailing dryconditions in the park facilitated by anunprecedented water shortage since lastfour-five years seem to have favouredSociable Lapwing and other species. TheYellow-wattled Lapwing Vanellusmalabaricus is commoner in the park thanbefore and the Indian Courser Cursoriuscoromandelicus is breeding in the park thisyear (Bholu Khan, verbally). Regularsightings of Sociable Lapwing in recentyears at Bharatpur suggest that today it isthe most consistently visited site, by thespecies, in India. However, from othersuitable areas in Rjasthan, like Tal Chhapar,records are few and far between. UnlikeKeoladeo there is too much ground to coverthere. Moreover, such sites have generallyremained under-observed.

This paper reviews and supplementshistorical, published, data on this decliningspecies. Keoladeo records have beendeliberatey excluded as these have beengenerally well documented (BirdLifeInternational 2001).

The first record from Rajasthan is morethan 135 years old (Adam 1873). AlthoughAdam collected four specimens on 5.xii.1869,5.xii.1872, 17.x.1873 and 6.xii.1873 fromSambhar, he found the species “not verycommon; during the cold weather it is to bemet with sparingly about the plains,” (Adam1873). A January 1912 record is from Bikaner(specimen in BMNH) and A. E. Jones

collected a specimen on 30.xii.1937 fromNasirabad, Ajmer (BirdLife International2001). Whistler (1938) merely described itas “a cold weather visitor and commonaccording to Hume.” Many of the refrencesin Whistler’s paper (1938) are “in verygeneral terms”, for he has not mentionedany date or site and his sources are R. M.Adam, Dr King (who collected birds at Mt.Abu and Jodhpur for nearly two years, butpublished no account of his observations,except for supplying specimens to Hume),and A. O. Hume. Of the fourteen specimensin the collection of the Bombay NaturalHistory Society none is from Rajasthan(Abdulali 1970).

All other published records fromRajasthan are shown in Table 1.

Unpublished records of Sociable Lapwingin Rajasthan are from Jaisalmer, Bikaner andHanumangarh districts. I observed a flockon 18.x.2003 comprising of six birdsincluding one juvenile, foraging on a swardat Baramsar depression west of Jaisalmer.Shantanu Kumar (verbally) recorded anindividual at Badopal, Hanumangarh districtin December 2000 / January 2001. ManojKulshreshtha (verbally), Bryan Bland andmembers of a birding group observed sevenbirds on 26.xii.1998 at Ganga village on wayto Sudasri, Desert National Park, Jaisalmer.R. G. Soni (verbally) observed /photographed one juvenile on 22.x.1991,foraging on the edge of Jor-Bir depression,Bikaner.

AcknowledgementsI thank Shantanu Kumar, R. G. Soni, ManojKulshreshtha and Bholu Khan forsupplying their unpublished data.

ReferencesAdam, R. M. 1873. Notes on the birds of the

Sambhur Lake and its vicinity. StrayFeathers 1: 361-404.

Abdulali, H. 1970. A catalogue of the birdsin the collection of the Bombay NaturalHistory Society-5. J. Bombay Nat. Hist.Soc. 66 (3): 542-559.

BirdLife International. 2000. Threatenedbirds of the world. Barcelona andCambridge.: Lynx Edicions and BirdLifeInternational.

BirdLife International. 2001. Threatenedbirds of Asia: The BirdLife InternationalRed Data Book. Cambridge: BirdLifeInternational.

Sangha, H. S. 2000. Recent sightings ofVanellus gregarius (Pallas) at TalChhapar and Revasa, Rajasthan. J.Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 97 (2): 278-279.

Sangha, H. S. 2002. A supplementary noteon the avifauna of the Thar Desert(Rajasthan) J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 99(1): 120-126.

Whistler, H. 1938. The ornithological surveyof Jodhpur State. J. Bombay Nat. Hist.Soc. 40 (2): 213-235.

Table 1: Records of Sociable Lapwing in Rajasthan (excluding Bharatpur)

No. of birds Date Site Source5 14.x.1995 Tal Chhapar, Churu Sangha 20001 11.i.1998 Revasa, Sikar Sangha 200015 28.i.1998 Tal Chhapar, Churu Sangha 200011 1.ii.1998 Tal Chhapar, Churu Sangha 20002 18.i.1999 Jaisalmer Sangha 2002

Some vocalizations of the Jungle Prinia Prinia sylvatica during the breeding season in MaharashtraSharad Apte

“Ushahkal”, 1766 Ganeshnagar, Dr Ambedkar Road, Sangli 416416. Email: [email protected]

Introduction

Bird vocalizations are of interest for atleast two reasons. First, in taxonomy

and systematics, similarities and differencesin the structure of vocalizations can help

resolve disputes about whether a taxon is a“good” species, and can provideinformation on the degree of relatednessbetween species and subspecies, Second,the study of vocalizations tells us about the

behaviour of birds: we can ask whatinformation is being transmitted throughthese sounds, to whom, and under whatcircumstances. Much remains to be learntabout the structure of bird vocalizations and

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the contexts in which these are made. Istudied the songs and calls of the JunglePrinia to elucidate these aspects of theirvocalizations.

Study AreaSagareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary (16º5’-17º9’N, 73º-74º22.5’E) is situated inKadegaon taluka of Sangli district insouthern Maharashtra, India. The1,087.75ha sanctuary is devoid of humanhabitation and is covered by southerntropical thorn forest (type 6a; Champion andSeth 1967). The climate is hot and dry. Thearea lies at an average of about 500m abovem.s.l. The highest point is at about 900mabove m.s.l. Annual temperatures vary froma minimum of 8ºC to a maximum of 41ºC. Theaverage rainfall is about 400mm, most ofwhich falls from June to October. July andAugust are the wettest months.

I carried out an extensive study of birdlife in Sagareshwar sanctuary from August1997 to November 2000 (Unpublished). Totaltaxa, including subspecies, include 114forms representing 50 families. Out of these114, 47 are residents, 22 are winter migrants,15 are breeding migrants and 30 arerepresented by stray records within thesanctuary, but are resident in neighbouringareas. During my study, I made a particulareffort to investigate the nesting,vocalizations and behaviour of the JunglePrinia Prinia sylvatica.

Study SpeciesFour geographical races of the Jungle Priniaoccur in the Indian region: 1) P. s. gangetica,Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab,and Northern Madhya Pradesh; 2) P. s.sylvatica, the Indian peninsula fromMaharashtra and nothern Madhya Pradeshsouth to Kanyakumari; 3) P. s. valida of SriLanka; 4) P. s. insignis, Kutch andRajasthan; and 5) P. s. mahendrae ofMahendragiri, Orissa (Ali and Ripley 1973).All these five races are strictly resident(Whistler 1963).

The subspecies of concern here, P. s.sylvatica, is distributed in peninsular India(Ali and Ripley 1973). This bird breeds atvery high density in Sagareshwar sanctuary.Except for deep ravines and hill tops, nestsare spread all over the sanctuary, the highestdensities occurring around the guest houseand dormitory. P. s. sylvatica prefers arid,bushy, fallow land and bushy hills. Becausesuch fallow lands are consideredunproductive they are always under threat

of encroachment by humans for horticultureor construction of industrial estates,townships or housing colonies. The BanjarBhoomi Vikas Yojana, a project of the centralgovernment, has brought thousands ofacres of land under cultivation, destroyingthe breeding and feeding grounds of suchspecies.

Materials and MethodsThe sanctuary was visited fortnightly duringthe main study period (a total of 55 overnightstays). Thereafter, I made monthly visits inthe breeding season until November 2002.The vocalizations of the Jungle Prinia wererecorded. These were digitised andspectrographs were prepared in the soundanalysis program Syrinx, version 2.4s.

Results and DiscussionThe breeding season of the Jungle Priniaextended from March to November, with apeak from June to September. The materialused in nest construction was grass andnests were always situated in a thorny bushor in an Agave plant. The nests seemedlargely located alongside forest roads orfootpaths well-traversed by humans. Thismay indicate that the birds get protectionfrom predators from proximity to humanactivity. Two nests were found within 100mfrom each other along the main road of thesanctuary. Of eight nests found (Table 1),six were located near the rest house. On28.viii.1998, a nest under construction wasfound and it was observed that a singleindividual (sex?) did all the constructionwork; its partner was nearby throughout.No distinctive vocalizations were heardduring nest construction.

Table 1: Seasonal changes in number ofJungle Prinia nests found

Month Number of activenests found

August 4September 2October 1

November 1

It appeared that only one bird (female?) of apair feeds chicks, while the other (male?)guards the nest. While young, the chickswere fed with insect larvae. Older chickswere fed with adult insects as well. Foodselection in relation to the age of the chicksneeds further study.

Three distinct vocalizations were heard(Fig. 1).

Figure 1: Spectographs of the three vocaliza-tions recorded. The frequency describes the pitchof the sound; darker pixels indicate louder sound.Note that the time scale (on the horizontal axis)is not the same for the three calls. Lines are drawnunder each syllable, together with a verbal de-scription.

Call type I: This call is described as pitpretty, a loud triple note with pit subdued,by Ali and Ripley (1973). I verbalise it inMarathi as “chidriyak chidriyakchidriyak”. Although the call sounds like atriple note, the spectrograph shows thatthere are at least five syllables in eachphrase (Fig. 1).

This song starts to be heard in March,but remains sporadic until the end of May.Upon the arrival of the monsoon, singingactivity becomes vigorous. This song ispresumably given by males; theseindividuals select a high perch such as tallbush or sapling, or electric poles and wiresto deliver the song. The song continues for5 to 7 minutes with short pause of a fewseconds. Every now and then the birdchanges its perch; thus it sings from variousparts of its territory. This song ispresumably used to demarcate theboundaries of the territory and to attractfemales. Singing males are often seen drivingintruders out of the territory.

When the pairs are formed, males showan elaborate courtship flight. The male risessome distance up in the air, nosedives andjerks up again. This up and down movementis repeated several times until male alights

85


in a bush. During this flight, a snappingsound is made either by wing or beak, but Iwas unable to record it. Most of thesecourtship flights were observed in July andAugust.

Call type II: This call is delivered when thenest has hatchlings. The male (?) selects aperch in the canopy or crown of a bush ortree to deliver this call. Exposed perches areavoided. As the observer approaches thenest, the bird becomes restless andincreases the tempo of the call. I verbalisethis call as a long-drawn chuui-ek chuui-ek(Fig. 1).

This vocalization seems to be an alarmcall, but the precise function needs furtherstudy. This call allowed me to locate severalnests (Table 2).

Call type III: I transcribe this as pit pit pit(Fig. 1). The male selects a high perch in thevicinity of the nest and delivers this call froman exposed branch. The bird appears restlesswhile delivering the call. Like type II, thistoo appears to be an alarm call. On closeobservation, I noticed the following points.1. When the female (?) approaches thenest with food, the male (?) starts calling.

2. When the female (?) is away and out ofthe male’s (?) sight, the calling bird becomessilent.3. The female (?) collects food from acertain area and uses a particular route toapproach the nest. Male (?) select a highperch along this route.

DiscussionSeveral aspects of the ecology of these birdscan be studied with the help of the callsthey make. First, by basing censuses on thecall type I, one can estimate the populationsize and density of territorial males. It shouldalso be possible to measure the sizes ofterritories by mapping the singing locationsof individual males. Second, one can usecall types II and III to locate nests to estimatethe density of active nests to study parentalfeeding behaviour, and to measure thesuccess rate of broods.

ReferencesAli, Salim, and S. Dillon Ripley. 1973. Handbook

of the birds of India and Pakistan togetherwith those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan andCeylon. Vol. 8 (Warblers to redstarts). 10 vols.Delhi: (Sponsored by Bombay NaturalHistory Society.) Oxford University Press(2001).

Melanism in Spotted Owlet Athene bramaSatish Pande1, Amit Pawashe1, Anil Mahabal2

1Ela Foundation, C-9, Bhosale Park, Sahakarnagar-2, Pune 411009, India. Email: [email protected] Survey of India Western Region Station, Akurdi, Pune, Maharashtra, India.

Melanism is the occurrence ofabnormally black coloured

individuals due to the excess presence of apigment called melanin in their skin, hair,feathers, etc. Colours of feathers in birdsdepend on combinations of the bichromepigments such as melanin, porphyrin andcarotinoids. Genetic, hormonal andenvironmental ultimately dictate theirexpression. In contrast to melanism,albinism is the total absence of pigmentmelanin from the feathers, eyes, and skin.Detection of the absence of a particularpigment is often not possible, thegeneralized terms leucism or isabelline arepreferred. Reports of melanism in birds arerare and in nocturnal species are sparse.Pande et al. (2003) report partial melanism inthe following Indian birds: BrahminyStarling Sturnus pagodarum and JungleBabbler Turdoides striatus near Pune andChiplun, Maharashtra, respectively.

A study of the population, ecology andbreeding biology of the Spotted Owlet

Athene brama was initiated near Pune,beginning from January 2002. During thisstudy, the authors noticed a melanistic formof this owlet in the year 2003. The exactlocation of the nest hole where themelanistic owl was recorded was18020’64”N, 74001’41”E at 800m nearSaswad, Purandar taluk, Pune district,Maharashtra. The nest was in a 75-year oldFicus bengalensis tree, at a height of 8m,measuring 30x20cm with a depth of 45cm. InJune 2003, four owlets were first seen nearthe nest, of which two were chicks and bothwere melanistic. One parent was of normalplumage and the other parent was partiallymelanistic. No photographs were taken atthat time. The observations were howevercontinued.

In February 2004, two adult spottedowlets of normal plumage occupied thesame nest. Two chicks hatched from twoeggs and both the chicks were of normalplumage. These chicks were ringed. Two,plastic, lemon yellow coloured rings with

numbers 261 and 262 were placed in rightand left tarsus respectively. In April 2004,the chicks fledged and subsequently thenest site was unoccupied. In July 2004, threeowlets were again seen to be occupying thesame nest. Two were adults and one wasjuvenile. One adult was normal and the otherwas partially melanistic but the juvenile wasmelanistic. Photographs were taken this time(Uploaded on www.indianbirds.in), and itwas assumed that the pair that was seen inJune 2003 had returned. This was aconjecture since ringing was not done earlier.It was also assumed that the pair nestingand fledging normal owlets from Februaryuntil April 2004 was different from the pairthat fledged a melanistic owlet, even thoughboth the pairs used the same nest.

The distribution of Southern SpottedOwlet A. b. brama is confined to peninsularIndia south of 200N latitude and has not beenreported from Sri Lanka. The NorthernSpotted Owlet A. b. indica is seen north ofthis arbitrary line but overlap is seen around

86

Table 2: Nests found by locatingindividuals giving call type II.

Date Notes on nest15.viii.1997 With two chicks25.viii.1997 With two chicks15.x.1997 With two chicks01.xi.1998 Female seen carrying

larvae but nest remaineduntraced

24.viii.2002 One chick; almost fledged29.ix.2002 Nest with three chicks22.ix.2002 Female seen carrying

larvae but nest remaineduntraced

Champion, H. G. and S. K. Seth. 1968. A revisedsurvey of the forest types of India. Govt. ofIndia Press: New Delhi, India.

Whistler, Hugh. 1963. Popular handbook ofIndian birds. Reprint of Revised & Enlarged4th ed. London: Oliver & Boyd Ltd.

[Editors’ note: Sound files of the three calls(MP3 format) have been uploaded on our website(www.indianbirds.in).]


200N latitude. The species is resident andaffects ruins, old buildings, groves andancient trees near human habitation andcropland. Southern race is about 21 cm. inlength, is darker grey and slightly smallerthan the northern race. The plumagedifferences between the normal (Ali andRipley 1969, Grimmett et al. 1998) andmelanistic plumages in the owlet that werecorded are shown in Table 1.

The irides of both were golden-yellow;however, it appeared that the eyes of themelanistic form were smaller.

Partially melanistic plumage of parent: Oneparent with this plumage was darker overallthan the other, which had a normal plumage.There were black to dark brown colouredpatches on the pale colored chest andabdomen, instead of brown streaks. Thefacial disc was dark with smoky eyebrows.White spots on the crown, mantle and wingcoverts and the tail bars, though visible,were not very prominent.

We observed an interesting behavior inthe melanistic owlet. When the nest tree wasapproached for observations and collectingpellets, the owlet with normal plumage firsttook wing, followed after closer approach

by the partially melanistic parent, while thejuvenile melanistic owlet only reluctantlyflew away on even closer approach. It wasoften difficult to locate the melanistic owletwhen it was perched and immobile. In ourstudy of several nests of the spotted owletswith normal plumage in the same locality,the chicks and parents took wing almostsimultaneously.

For obvious reasons, it is extremelydifficult to identify melanism in nocturnalbirds. True incidence of melanism innocturnal birds is unknown. We report inthis paper, probably the first instance ofmelanis, in wild population of any owl fromIndia, in this case, in the Southern SpottedOwlet.

Table 1: Normal and melanistic plumage

Normal plumage Melanistic plumagePlumage: grey brown. Dark brown to black.Facial disc and hind collar: white. Dark, collar not seen.Eyebrows: white, distinct. Indistinct.Crown, mantle, wing coverts: white spotted. Indistinct white spotting.Chest and belly: pale white with brown streaks. Uniformly dark with indistinct bars.Beak, feet and claws: grey. Dark black.Tail: conspicuously barred. Bars indistinct.Cere: smoky green. Dark.

ReferencesAli, Salim and S. Dillon Ripley. 1969. Handbook

of the birds of India and Pakistan togetherwith those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan andSri Lanka. Vol. 3. New Delhi: OxfordUniversity Press.

Duncan, James. 2003. Owls of the world. Canada:Key Porter Books.

Grimmett, Richard, Carol Inskipp and TimInskipp. 1998. Birds of the IndianSubcontinent. Christopher Helm: London.

Pande, S., S. Tambe, C. M. Francis and N.Sant. 2003. Birds of Western Ghats, Kokanand Malabar (including birds of Goa). OxfordUniversity Press: India.

Recoveries from Newsletter for Birdwatchers – 7Zafar Futehally

#2005 Oakwood Apartments, Jakkasandra Layout, Koramangala, 3rd Block, 8th Main, Bangalore 560034, India. Email: [email protected]

My pace has been too slow, and theEditor is right in suggesting that I

write about the main happenings not on amonthly but on a yearly basis. My lastcontribution brought the story up to July1961. This note covers the period up toDecember 1961.

The August 1961 issue carried extractsfrom a lecture by Salim Ali on “Birds andPlants”, to the Singapore Branch of theMalayan Nature Society. It is a fascinatingpiece and I quote one paragraph which willbe of interest not merely to ornithologistsbut also to our sportsmen.

“On the credit side of the bird’s seeddispersal account, also, two significantentries may be cited. The flourishingsandalwood and oil industry of SouthernIndia, which yields a substantial revenue tothe State of Mysore, owes its existencelargely to frugivorous birds like bulbuls andbarbets which swallow the berries of thesandalwood tree (Santalum album) anddisseminate the seeds far and wide, thusensuring widespread natural regeneration

of the tree. And such are the complex chainsof cause and effect in Nature that one feelsalmost tempted to give vicarious credit toour native birds, at least in part, for India’ssupremacy in the sport of hockey. The linksin this chain are as follows: The basis of thecomparatively young but vigorous sportsgoods industry in the Punjab, whichsupplied all the championship-winninghockey sticks, is the mulberry tree (Morusindica). When the desert areas of the Punjabwere first colonized by the introduction ofthe vast network of irrigation canals, themulberry tree was planted along their banksas a fast-growing soil binder.

“The local birds took to the fruit with suchzest that within a very short period themulberry tree became abundant and pavedthe way for the flourishing plantationswhich furnish the raw materials forbadminton and tennis rackets, cricket bats,hockey sticks and numerous sportsrequisites. The bird-assisted industry nownot only caters for practically the entireneeds of the country, but also earns a

sizeable amount of much-needed foreignexchange by exports abroad.”

“Some birds around Badrinath”, in twoparts, (Aug. 1961 and Oct. 1961, by K. S.Lavkumar) describes many of the commonbirds which visitors are certain to comeacross – white-capped redstarts, Plumbeousrestarts, Himalayan whistling thrush, littleForktail, and the extraordinary brown dipper,which procures its meal by “plunging intothe eddying water straight to the bottom;then if the water is clear it can be seenwalking on the floor against thecurrent…This suicidal feat of the little birdhas always been rather alarming to watch…”

Among the land birds described is the wallcreeper, “about the size of a large sparrow,with round full wings like a hoopoe and thesame uncertain flight of a butterfly…but itis the habit of alighting and running up sheerwalls that is diagnostic of the wall creeper,and it lives its perpendicular life on cliff facesabove 14,000 ft…descending to the foothillsin winter…”

No one can fail to be impressed by the

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antics of the two species of choughs, onewith its coral red bill and legs, (Pyrrhocoraxpyrrhocorax), and the other with a yellowbill and red legs (P. graculus). “…A choughis a bird of the unfettered Himalayanelements, forever circling and tossing, risingand falling, and as free as the winds thatbreathe across these magnificentmountains.”

In July 1961, I accompanied Salim Ali toRudrapur, in Uttar Pradesh, from where therewas news about the recently re-discoveredlarge-billed weaver bird (Finn’s Baya). Ourhost was Mr C. M. Chaudhri, a retired ChiefConservator of Forests from Orissa. His farmof 350 acres, covered with grass and reeds,typical of “Bhabar” country, was anespecially good habitat for warblers, andfrom elephant-back we listed 85 specieswithin the confines of the farm. Among thesewas the yellow-headed fantail warbler(Cisticola exilis) recorded for the first timein Kumaon a few years ago. Three speciesof bayas were nesting on the farm, thecommon, the striated and the black-throated,and it was instructive to see the differingarchitecture of each species. My onlydisappointment was that we had not seen atiger. These beasts are frequent visitors tothe farm and our host showed us a few dampand shady spots where they occasionallyhave their afternoon siesta. However, nothaving come across tigers on the premisesalso has its advantages.

One of the keenest and most reliablebirders of this period was Mrs Usha Ganguli.On 28.v.1961, she waded through knee-deepwater at Najafgarh Jheel to find live nests ofblack-winged stilts, and she gave a veryuseful account of birds present there in May

– where she had “never seen as muchwater”, and again on 23.vii.1961, when “thewaters had been drained to a very greatextent”. In spite of this she was able to saythat the place was “not only a paradise forwater birds but the greatest variety ofraptors is to be found here. I have seen 7kinds of eagles, apart from buzzards,harriers, falcons.”

Capt. N. S. Tyabji (October 1961)expressed his surprise at Mrs Ganguli notmentioning the little Indian pratincole(Glareola lactea), seen by him in largeflocks of 3,000-5,000 birds. Among theseveral other birds reported by Tyabji wasa flock of about 200 pheasant-tailed jacanas,20 sarus cranes and 50 black-necked storks.

Salim Ali followed up Tyabji’s note in theNovember 1961 issue, questioning some ofthe identifications. Rain Quail: “Is it not morelikely that the ‘small flock (about 12 birds)observed in a newly ploughed field’ were infact bush quails? The place and habitcertainly suggest that latter. For the benefitof future observers it seems desirable tostraighten out these doubts.”

In the September 1961 issue Salim Aliproduced a useful note on “FieldIdentifications of some Migratory SongBirds”. In this “a beginning (was) made witha group of wagtails in whose plumageyellow is predominant.” This should be ofgreat interest to birders even today, for inspite of several illustrated books which arenow available, the different races ofmigratory wagtails are difficult to separateone from the other. With his characteristiccaution he wrote “Subspecies of individualexamples of wagtails are often impossibleto determine with certainty even from

museum skins in breeding plumage; in thefield it would be rash and of doubtfulscientific value to attempt to do so…” Ifany wagtail-ophile is interested in a copy Iwill be glad to forward it.

In 1961 the Newsletter was sent free to all“subscribers”. When we wrote to thePostmaster General for a concessional postalrate because the publication was of“educational value”, his reply was that sincethe Newsletter was being sent free, therecan be no question of concession. FromJanuary 1961, the subscription was Rs. 5/-per annum for 12 issues. In spite of its notbeing “free” all subsequent attempts to getthe concession failed. I hope we have betterluck with Indian Birds.Many of the persons who encouraged theNewsletter during its initial year by letters /articles have fallen by the way or are out ofsight, but I mention them here as a mark ofgratitude. I am listing only those who havenot featured in Recoveries. So far Prof. K.K. Neelakantan, Y. S. Shivrajkumar, M. K.Fatehsinhji, M. Sasikumaran, C. Nandini,George P. V., S. Thomas Satyamurti, LalsinhM. Raol, R. A. Stewart Melluish, R. N.Chatterjee, P. V. Bole, M. M. Mistry, AnwarKhan, Naresh Singh (WLW UP), Ahi Rudra(DFO Darjeeling), P. K. Rajagopalan (VirusResearch Centre, Shimoga), J. T. M. Gibson,K. Janaskuraman, P. W. Soman, Amir J. Ali,M. Sasaikumar, R. S. Prasad (HaffkineInstitute, Bombay), Mrs Desiree Proud(Kathmandu), Dr W. Rydzewski (Editor, TheRing), H. G. Acharya, Dr J. P. Joshua (Liberia,West Africa), A. S. Tyabji (Jamshedpur), MrsJamal Ara (Ranchi), B. A. Palkhiwala and, B.G. Ghate.

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International Conference on Bird and Environment, Haridwar, IndiaVinaya Kumar Sethi1, Vivek Saxena1 & Dinesh Bhatt1*

1Avian Diversity & Bioacoustics Lab., Dept. of Zoology & Environmental Sciences, Gurukula Kangri University, Haridwar, Uttaranchal, India.* Corresponding author ([email protected]) and Organising Secretary of the Conference.

A four-day international conference on‘Bird and Environment’ was held in

Gurukula Kangri University, Haridwar from21-24.xi.2004. Over 160 ornithologists,conservation biologists, governmentrepresentatives and naturalists, including 31from 17 countries, participated in themeeting. There were 9 plenary lectures, 25invited talks, 60 oral and, 51 posterpresentations during the sessions.

In the first and second sessionsnamely, “The biology of avian vocalbehaviour” and “Advances in avian

bioacoustics”, speakers examinednumerous biological aspects of vocalbehaviour such as diversity of acousticcommunication, sexual selection andneurobiology of bird song, discriminationof temporal fine structures of songs bybirds, etc.

In his Plenary, in the first session,entitled, “The science of bird songs: nature’smusic”, Peter Marler (University ofCalifornia, Davis, USA), the father of ‘aviancommunication system’, said,“Environmental factors influence the

communicative efficiency of acousticsignals and thus their evolution withconsequences for their use byconservationists in monitoring populationof endangered species.” In the first session,presentations were made on various aspectsof the uses of songs and calls in the sociallife of birds by Dietmar Todt (Free University,Berlin Germany), J. E. Vielliard (UniversityEstadual de Campins, Brazil), Ole NeasbyeLarsen (University of Southern Denmark,Denmark), Nicolas Mathevon (UniversityJean Monnet-Saint-Etienne, France, Anil


Kumar (Wildlife Institute of India,Dehradun) and Vinaya Kumar Sethi(Gurukula Kangri University, Haridwar).

The second session began with aPlenary by Clive K. Catchpole (Universityof London, UK) on the neurobiology ofbirdsong. He pointed out that the maindriving force behind the evolution of songis sexual selection and female choice hasexerted pressure to make male songs morecomplex and attractive to females. MariaLusia da Silva (University do Guama, Belem,Brazil), R. A. Suthers (Indiana University,Bloomington, USA), Theirry Aubin(University of Paris, France), Robert Dooling(University of Maryland, USA), KazuoOkanoya (Chiba University, Japan), MikiTakahashi (Chiba University, Japan), K KSharma (Jamshedpur Cooperative College,Jamshedpur) and Christina B. Castelino(Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA)contributed significantly to the theme of thesession.

The role of birds in agriculturalecosystem is well known. In the session,“Agriculture Ornithology”, participantsdiscussed and developed strategies for themanagement of avian diversity inagricultural ecosystem so that therequirements of all the species are met,benefits of insectivorous birds in pestcontrol could be explored and the pressureof granivorous birds on crops could beminimized. In his invited talk, B. M.Parasharya (Anand Agricultural University,Anand, Gujarat) pointed out that for theconservation of birds found in agriculturalareas, eco-friendly management ofagricultural landscapes is required. K. L.Mathew (Gujarat Agricultural University,Jamnagar, Gujarat), V. R. Reddy (A.N.G.R.Agricultural University, Rajendranagar,Hyderabad), Mani Chellappan (KeralaAgricultural University, Thrissur, Kerala),and C. S. Malhi (Punjab AgriculturalUniversity, Ludhiyana) presented theirfindings in this session.

With increasing industrialization andurbanization of the landscapes in India andabroad it has become important to protectecologically important habitats from furtherhuman impacts. Under the sessions, “Avianbiodiversity and conservation” I and II, thisconference discussed the current status anddistribution of birds in IBAs (Important BirdAreas) and other landscapes. In addition,the presentations provided an update onthe situation in India highlighting a numberof critically threatened sites of high

biodiversity values. It has been realized thata systematic and regular biomonitoring ofthe wetlands in bird sanctuaries and wildlifehabitats of India is required.

Lei Fumin (Chinese Academy ofSciences, Beijing) delivered a Plenary lecturein the session, “Avian biodiversityconservation I” on the topic ‘An alternativehotspot for the avian diversity conservationpriority’ and emphasized that HengduanMountains to Qinling Mountains in southeastern China along the eastern,southeastern and northeastern TibetanPlateau should be promoted as the hottestarea of Chinese biodiversity with the highestconservation priority. Lalitha Vijayan(SACON, Coimbatore), H. S. A. Yahya(Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh)described the avifauna of Andaman andNarcondom Islands respectively andsuggested that some mangrove forests andmoist deciduous forests in MiddleAndaman may be declared as protectedarea. Other speakers of the session such asShwartz Assaf (The Hebrew University ofJerusalem, Israel), S. Somasundaram(SACON, Coimbatore), Anika Tere (GujaratAgricultural University, Anand), Romesh Kr.Sharma (Z.S.I., Dehradun) presented dataon avian biodiversity of different parts fromIndia / Israel.

Under the session, “Avian biodiversityand conservation II”, the Plenary wasdelivered by Lalitha Vijayan (SACON,Coimbatore) on the conservation of wetlandbirds in India. She pointed out that a total of655 wetlands were identified and surveyedfor birds all over India and all the wetlandsshowed contamination by heavy metals andpesticide residues. Aeshita Mukherjee(University of Capetown, South Africa),Arun Kumar (Z.S.I., Dehradun), P. K. Saikia(Guwahati University, Guwahati ), P. C. Tak(Z.S.I., Dehradun), R. C. Gupta (KurukshetraUniversity, Kurukshetra), Kailash Chandra(Z.S.I., Jabalpur) presented papers.

The session “Avian endocrinology,photoperiodism and seasonal reproduct-ion”, highlighted the role of hormones,annual changes in day length, temperatureand humidity in causing or phasingseasonal events in birds, like migration andreproduction. This knowledge hasimplications to issues related toconservation and management ofthreatened and endangered species andadaptation of birds to the threat of globalwarming. The Plenary lecture was deliveredby Prof. Asha Chandola-Saklani (Garhwal

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University, Srinagar) on seasonalreproduction in birds of tropics. In herlecture through two superb models, namelyBaya Weaver Ploceus philippinus andSpotted Munia Lonchura punctulata, sheexplained how tropical / subtropical birdshave provided significant insights intoenvironmental control of seasonalreproduction in birds. During this sessionVinod Kumar (Univeristy of Lucknow,Lucknow) in his invited talk, pointed outthat melatonin, which is a part of the aviancircadian system, did not play a direct rolein photoperiodic induction of circadianrhythms mediated seasonal reproduction.Saumen Kumar Maitra (Viswa BhartiUniversity, Shantiniketan) showed that theseasonal recovery of gametogenesis mightnot be a function of photoperiods and / orthe pineal organ in Rose-ringed Parakeet.Besides these invited talks in this sessionoral presentations were made by B. K.Tripathi (Regional Institute of Education,Bhopal) Sangeeta Rani, Sudhi Singh, AmitKumar Trivedi (University of Lucknow,Lucknow) and Anushi (Meerut University,Meerut).

Global climatic change is probably themost important environmental challenge thatfaces our planet. In the session “Avianecology and breeding biology I”, thisconference discussed the impact of thesechanges on birds’ lives. In her invited talk,Michele Loneux (Zoological Institute, VanBeneden, Belgium) reported the effect ofclimatic fluctuations and global warming onEuropean Black Grouse populationdynamics. Lo-Liu-Chih (Shu-Te University,Taiwan) and Anoop Das (SACON,Coimbatore) also presented their findingson avian ecology and breeding biology. Itwas discussed that aspects of avianbehaviour and ecology could be used asinformative indicators of large scale climaticchange.

Under the session “Avian ecology andbreeding biology II”, Wina Meckvichai(Chulalongkorn University, Bankok,Thialand) and T Shivanandappa (CentralFood Technology Reseach Institute,Mysore) delivered invited talks on thebreeding biology of island birds of theAndaman Sea and Ranganathittu BirdSanctuary respectively. Other speakers,namely, N. Gomathi (B.N.H.S., Mumbai), K.C. Soni (Lohia Post Graduate College,Rajasthan), V. C. Soni (Saurashtra University,Rajkot) also presented their data. In herstudies Gomathi found a decreasing trend


in the population of Long-billed Vulture, amost critically endangered species, atBayana, Bharatpur (Rajasthan).

The senior Indian ornithologist, S. A.Hussain (Karkala, Karnataka) and, HansWinkler (Austrian Academy of Sciences,Austria) delivered invited talks in thesession, “Avian migration, habitat use andgeneral behaviour”. S.A. Hussain describedthe bird migration pattern in the IndianSubcontinent. He gave an overview of themost recent research work conducted in thisfield. Hans Winkler reported that migrantspossessed smaller brains than residents.The other participants of this session, A.Mukherjee (University of Cape town, SouthAfrica), Sangeeta Rani (Lucknow University,Lucknow), Pratyush Patankar (M SUniversity of Baroda, Vadodara), Mohd.Arshad (B. Z. University, Pakistan), V. K.Tomar (I.A.R.I., New Delhi), D. M. Jathewa(Junagarh Agriculture University,Jamnagar), and M. Soma (University of

Tokyo, Japan) highlighted research in thefield of habitat use and behavioural biology.

Three poster sessions (51 participants)exhibited avian biodiversity on a globalscale including reports from deterioratinghabitats of the world and their impact onbird biodiversity.

In the valedictory session, chief guestR. S. Tolia (Chief Secretary of Uttaranchal)stated that India is one of the 12 mega-biodiversity countries of the world whichprovide suitable habitat for the conservationof all kinds of biodiversity. Peter Marler(University of California, Davis), Co-chairperson of the International AdvisoryCommittee of the conference presented theconference report and suggested that thereis need for such conferences to fill the large-gap in the conservation efforts at globallevel. The recommendations of theconference were presented by S. A. Hussain(Karkala, Karnataka). It was recommendedthat:

Indian White-backed Vulture Gyps bengalensis nesting in Sakrohar village, Khagaria district, Bihar, IndiaSunil K. Choudhary, Santosh Kr. Tiwari, Sushant Dey & Subhasis Dey

University Department of Botany, T. M. Bhagalpur University, Bhagalpur 812007, Bihar, India. Email: [email protected]

On 3.iii.2004 while on a distribution survey of Greater Adjutant-Stork

Leptoptilos dubius, we saw 20 Indian White-backed Vultures Gyps bengalensis inSakrohar village (25°36’26.0”N,86°49’53.7”E), which is located in thefloodplain area of the Kosi River in Khagariadistrict of Bihar, about 107km north-east ofBhagalpur. Local people reported that thevultures had arrived in the village 10-12 daysago, around 20-22.ii.2004. We located twonests on Palmyra Palms Borassus flabellifer.We could not see inside the nests at thattime, as we were on a different mission.

We visited the village again on 11.iv.2004,especially to document the details of thenesting of the vultures. Both the nests, oneeach on a Palmyra, were located at a heightof about 20m. The nests were built at thejunction of three fronds’ bases. The insidesof the nests were not visible from theground. A bamboo ladder was erected closeto the palms that could be climbed up to aheight that matched that of the nest. Thiswas done with great difficulty with the helpof local people. One researcher climbed upto peep into the nests. Each nest was 90cmlong, 45cm wide and 12cm deep and had nodistinct shape. The base of the nest wasmade up of haphazardly arranged dried twigs

and leaves of Arjuna Terminalia arjuna,palm trees, and of other unidentified plantmaterial. Only one chick (c. 70cm long) waspresent in each of the two nests. The chickswere able to move around the nest on theirown. A parent attacked the researcher andhis palm was injured in defending himself.We watched the nests for three days afterthis observation and found to oursatisfaction that the vultures did not desertthe nests. From interviews with localresidents about the vulture’s arrival in thevillage (around 20-22.ii.2004), and our firstsighting of the vultures in the village on3.iii.2004, when the nests were already built,we estimated the age of the chicks as one-month old. At great risk we were able totake some photographs and took somevideo-footage of the nests, chicks and thesurrounding place in general. It will beinteresting to mention that we had spotteda group of 50 Indian White-backed Vulturesfeeding on a buffalo carcass, in an Navtola(25°31’48”N, 86°41’45”E, Khagaria district,c. 80km from Bhagalpur), adjacent to thepresent sighting on 8.vii.2002. That flockhad many juveniles in it.

Our present observation of two IndianWhite-backed Vultures in north-east Biharhas been documented by The Peregrine

Fund, as part of their Asian VulturePopulation Project (http://www.p e r e g r i n e f u n d . o r g / v u l t u r e /coverage.asp?speciesID=2). A map on thiswebsite displays active nesting sites ofGyps vultures in India (26 in all, 1985/86-2003/04). This record was the first one fromBihar.

We have numerous secondary reportsabout the sighting of Gyps vultures in thislocality. In view of the Critically Endangeredstatus of Indian White-backed Vultures(Islam and Rahmani 2002), more search tripsin the locality are required to establish itsrange of distribution in the area, and a studyon annual basis on its habitat, populationabundance and nesting.

AcknowledgementsWe are grateful to Wildlife Trust of India forfinancial assistance in the Greater Adjutant StorkSearch Project under RAP. Our observation onGyps bengalensis is an offshoot of this project.We are also thankful to Mr Harischandra Singhand Mr Arun Kumar, owners of the two Palmyrapalms in Sakrohar village, who permitted andhelped us to investigate the nests.

ReferenceIslam, M. Zafar-ul, and Asad R. Rahmani. 2002.

Threatened birds of India. Buceros 7 (1&2): 6pr.ll., iii-x, 1-102.

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(a) There is a need to increase knowledgeand awareness of wetlands and theirvalues and all wetland-type habitatsshould be conserved throughlegislation and government policies.

(b) Studies should concentrate on satellitetracking of migratory birds involvingboth laboratory and field scientists indeveloping a richer understanding ofthe subject and for the conservation ofmigratory birds.

(c) The state and central governmentshould establish an integratedconservation and developmentnetwork for newly identified IBAs andstrengthen national legislation for theprotection of sites that are ofexceptional importance for biodiversity.

(d) Detailed studies on the ecology andbreeding behaviour of endangeredavian species should be undertaken forbetter conservation and managementmeasures.


A record of Oriental Bay-owl Phodilus badius from Kaziranga National Park, Assam, IndiaRathin Barman

Wildlife Trust of India, Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation, Kaziranga National Park, Borjuri, Bokakhat, Assam, India.Email: [email protected]

Oriental Bay-owl Phodilus badius isscarce and uncommon in the forests

of north-east India. Baker (1901) reportedthis bird from the bamboo forests of NorthCachar and mentioned that at times it maystray into secondary forest. Stevens (1915)recorded it once from the plains of Dibrugarhin 1904 and once from Pathalipam of northLakhimpur in 1908. It was recorded in inFebruary 1998 in Namdapha National Park,Arunachal Pradesh (Paul Holt, verbally, toMaan Barua) and from Pakee Tiger Reserve,Arunachal Pradesh (Aparajita Dutta,verbally, to Maan Barua). In 1999 MaanBarua had an unconfirmed record of this birdfrom the eastern range of KaziranagaNational Park, Assam. Choudhury (2000)listed this bird as rare and uncommon andhad no sightings from Assam himself.

On the morning of 29.i.2003 an adultOriental Bay-owl was rescued by somevillagers when it was strayed into a housein Bokakhat Town, Assam. It was

immediately brought to the Centre forWildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation(CWRC), which is a facility to rescue andrehabilitate wild animals, established byWildlife Trust of India and Assam ForestDepartment at Borjuri, near Bokkhat, thehead quarters of Kaziranga National Park.Eyewitnesses said they saw an uncommonbird being chased by a crow (Corvidae) inthe morning. The bird tried to fly away, butsomehow dropped into the courtyard of ahouse on the outskirts of the town. It waspicked up by residents who realized it wasan owl. The bird was examined at CWRCand no external injury was found. It wasthen kept in a carton for further observationsfor any internal injuries, if any. At the endof the day, none were apparent. The birdwas perfectly healthy and it was decided torelease it at night. Photographs were takenand it was released at night. It waited forfive minutes in the open carton beforevanishing into the darkness. The

photographs taken during its brief stay atCWRC were the first ever photographstaken of this bird, in Assam and probably inIndia, as few experts said.

AcknowledgementsKaziranga Park Authority, Assam ForestDepartment, Mr L. N. Barua, ACF, KazirangaNational Park, Mr Maan Barua, Dr A. U.Choudhury, Mr Vivek Menon, and MrBhupendra Nath Talukdar.

ReferencesBaker, E. C. Stuart. 1897. The birds of north

Cachar. Part VIII. J. Bombay Nat. Hist.Soc. XI (2) (1 November): 222-233.

Choudhury, A. 2000. The birds of Assam.Gibbon Books and WWF-I-NERO.

Stevens, H. 1914-15. Notes on the birds ofupper Assam. 3 parts. J. Bombay Nat.Hist. Soc. 23: 234-268, 547-570, 721-736.

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Range extension of Blue-eared Kingfisher Alcedo menintingin the northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra, India.

A. Shivaprakash478, “Bidadi”, 3rd Cross, 8th Main, ‘H’ Block, Ramakrishna Nagar, Mysore 570022, Karnataka, India. Email: [email protected]

While on a trek in the northern WesternGhats in Pune district of Maharashtra,

a solitary Blue-eared Kingfisher Alcedomeninting was observed at the MangalaGanga stream, a tributary of River Mula nearPayalichiwadi village, at the foothills ofKalad Gad Hill. This place is located in thevalley between Kalad Gad and Ganachakkarrange of hills, the eastern expanse of theWestern Ghats. The forest type that is seenhere is a stunted evergreen forest. The birdwas seen at 07:30hrs on a cold morning. Itwas almost the size of the Small BlueKingfisher Alcedo atthis but with an intenseblue back, distinct blue ear coverts and deeprufous under parts.

The bird was busy fishing, and behavedlike a Small Blue Kingfisher. It was perched

on a low overhanging branch of a tree,keenly watching the water below. It madeseveral unsuccessful attempts to catch fish.After each dive, it flew to a new position ona rock nearby or to other low branches ofthe tree. The bird was observed for twelveminutes when the harsh sound of a dieselpump startled it and it flew away.

Ali & Ripley (1987) list this kingfisher’sdomain as the humid Western Ghats strip inGoa, Mysore, Tamil Nadu (Nilgiri hills) andKerala. Prasad (2004) lists it from HedviKonkan and Sindhudurg district(Maharashtra). This sighting is noteworthyto establish the range extension of the Blue-eared Kingfisher to the northern WesternGhats in Maharashtra. It also indicates thatthe kingfisher could possibly occur in the

intervening ghat forests in the state wheresuitable habitat is present.

ReferenceAli, Salim, and S. Dillon Ripley. 1987.

Compact handbook of the birds of Indiaand Pakistan together with those ofBangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and SriLanka. (Sponsored by the BombayNatural History Society.) Delhi: OxfordUniversity Press.

Prasad, Anand. 2004. Annotated checklistof the birds of Western Maharashtra.Buceros 8 (2&3): i-ii, 1-174 (2003).


Northern Lapwings Vanellus vanellus in an agricultural field in Manipur, India.Laishangbam Sanjit

Department of Zoology & Environmental Science, Gurukula Kangri University, Haridwar, Uttaranchal, India.

On 1.i.2000, I did a census of birds in theagricultural fields near Uyung

Makhong village (24°28’N, 93°40’E), whichlies on the periphery of the Thangjing Hillranges in the east Himalayan state ofManipur (India). Some local boys, who wereworking in the field, had caught a bird witha crested head. They told me that the birdwas called “Salangkhak”. This is a Manipuriname for all species of the lapwing family. Itook the bird from them and realised thatthe lapwing with the crested head was a

Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus. I thenlooked around for more birds of this species.I found ten more individuals sitting /standing on the raised paths (locally called“loubuk louri”) in the agricultural field. Themild breeze made their crests veryprominent.

Locals informed me that it was commonin winter and quite numerous in the monthof January, particularly in this area. The birdwas observed during the winter of 2001-2003, in the same field or area. Grimmett et

al. (1998) mentioned it as an erratic visitor inthe area. My rescued bird was nursed andset free after 5 days.

ReferenceGrimmett, Richard, Carol Inskipp, and Tim

Inskipp. 1998. Birds of the IndianSubcontinent. 1st ed. (With thecollaboration of Sarath Kotagama andShahid Ali.) (Helm Identification Guides.)London: Christopher Helm, A & C Black.

Egg cannibalism in Jungle Babbler Turdoides striataLaishangbam Sanjit and Dinesh Bhatt

Avian Biodiversity and Bioacoustic Lab, Department of Zoology and Environmental Sciences, Gurukula Kangri University, Hardwar 249404.Email: [email protected]

Jungle Babbler Turdoides striata is aresident bird, endemic to the Indian

Subcontinent. Jungle Babblers are chieflyinsectivorous, augmenting their diet withfruits, seeds and nectar. They feed chieflyon the ground, hopping about and buisilyturning over leaves (Grimmett et al. 1998).On 2.ix.2003, we found a cup-shaped nestof dry grass and twigs of Turdoides striatain Kankhal area of Hardwar (29° 57’N,78°12’E). It was about 4m above ground, ontop of a bush and seemed quite exposed topredators (birds of prey) which were aplenty

in the area. On 4.ix.2003 at 08:30hrs, weobserved an unusual behavior. As soon asthe female laid an egg, she broke the shellof the egg and ate its contents. (Egg-eatingis apparently prevalent in poultry and issupposed to result from a calcium-defficientdiet. In poultry, stress is also a cause foregg-eating.) She then picked up the lovelygreen-coloured shell with her beak and flewaway with it. She leaves the egg-shell onthe roof of a nearby house.

This entire sequence was recorded in aten-minute video which has been deposited

with the Records of Avian Biodiversity andBioacoustic Laboratory, Department ofZoology and Environmental Sciences,Gurukula Kangri University, Hardwar (India).

ReferenceGrimmett, Richard, Carol Inskipp and Tim

Inskipp. 1998. Birds of the IndianSubcontinent. Oxford University Press,New Delhi.

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Reviews

Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide.Field guide. Vol. 1; Birds of South Asia.The Ripley Guide. Attributes and status.Vol. 2. — By Pamela C. Rasmussen and JohnC. Anderton. 2005. Barcelona: LynxEdicions. ISBN: Vol. 1: 84-87334-65-2; Vol. 2:84-87334-66-0; Vols. 1&2: 84-87334-67-9.Copies can be ordered from: www.lynx.com.Price for the set: • 75/- [= c. Rs 4,000/-].

Vol. 1: Hardback (15.0 x 22.0cm, withillustrated cover), pp. 1-378+6, plates I-II(endpapers, front), III-IV (endpapers, rear),plates 1-180, 1,450+ maps (colour,distribution). Vol. 2: Hardback (15.0 x 22.0cm,with illustrated cover), pp. 1-683+5,endpapers [Maps (front: South Asia,physical; back: South Asia, main regionalhabitat zones)], 3 portraits [b&w: S. D.Ripley (p. 8), Pamela Rasmussen (p. 11), John

C. Anderton (p. 11)], text-figs. 1-5 (Fig. 1:Bird topology; fig. 2: Geographic andpolitical names mentioned in text; fig. 3:Number of breeding species; fig. 4: Numberof regional endemic species; fig. 5: samplesonagrams); 1,000+ sonagrams.

Pamela Rasmussen and John Anderton’slong-awaited Birds of South Asia (2005)

has finally arrived. This two-volume setmagnificently caps a decade of high-qualityornithological publications on the avifaunaof South Asia (Inskipp et al. 1996;Kazmierczak & Singh 1998; Grimmett et al.1998, 1999; Kazmierczak 2000). The firstvolume comprises a field guide while thesecond, entitled “Attributes and status”,detailed information about species. Theauthors include the following political areas

within the ambit of “South Asia”:Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal,Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldivesand Chagos Archipelago. This is the firstfield guide to cover Afghanistan or ChagosArchipelago.

The field guide (vol. 1) contains over 3,400illustrations in 180 colour plates paintedespecially for this book. These depictvirtually all species and most distinctivesubspecies and plumages, some of whichappear in no other guide. The plates arelargely of a very high standard and are placedon the right-hand-side (recto) of an openbook while on facing pages (verso) are colourrange maps, 1,450 in all, annotated as togeographic variation, status (breedingvisitor, endemics, geographic variation,year-round resident, two-way migration,


spring migration, fall migration, wintervisitor, isolated record, etc.), and habitat.On the verso too are concise texts givingthe information necessary to identify eachspecies. The endpapers have keys to themain plates for quick access.

Birdwatchers in India may have becomefamiliar, by now, with the field guides ofGrimmett et al. (1998) and Kazmierczak(2000). Let me assure you that the bookunder review is a march ahead of both. Ithas a convenient layout that includesplates, distribution maps, and texts, onfacing pages. There is no need to flip pagesto look at maps. Neither of the earlier booksachieved this. On the text and map page,families are broken further into convenientsections, based either on genera and/orphysical characters, with light blue bands,thereby reducing the searchable options inthe field. The judicious use of space isastounding. The exquisite plates are byleading artists of the world, (none is fromSouth Asia). But it is gratifying to note thatthere are several Asian ornithologists, e.g.,Pratap Singh, Dhananjaya Katju and DeepalWarakagoda, who have made importantcontributions to the work. Theacknowledgements (Vol. 2, pp. 36-38) brimwith many more names of South Asianornithologists. If I had to choose favouriteplates from this volume, it would have to bethe works of John Schmitt (birds of prey)and L. McQueen (owls), and those are notnecessarily my favourite bird families! JohnAnderton’s plates grow on you. Initially, Imust confess, I did not take to them.Gradually I realised that he lends theillustrated bird a remarkable volume and lifethat imparts it a very realistic three-dimensional quality. However, some likeplate 132 do not depict the true plumagecolour of the Turdoides species, which tendgenerally towards a dirty brown rather thanthe grey shown. On some plates, plumagesare depicted much darker than actualcolours (e.g., plates 84 and 104), giving awrong impression of some taxa (e.g.Coracina melanoptera on pl. 104). Idaresay, given the fabulous jizz thatAnderton has breathed into his birds, hiscolouring too would be scrupulous. Thiscould well be a case where the printed platesdo not do justice to the originals!

The distribution range maps maydisappoint some users and may indeed bedeemed inaccurate by others, which werethe general verdicts for those in Grimmett(1998) and Kazmierczak (2000). In all fairness,

maps of the scale and size used in fieldguides, by their very nature, cannot becompletely accurate nor to everyone’ssatisfaction. Frankly, more detailed oneswould end up being cluttered and messy.The maps in the Ripley Guide are basedlargely on verified specimens, which factmight reduce the range of species whencompared with those in the other books, butone could say they are more defensible intheir accuracy. Too, they are usefullyannotated and, for the first time (anotherfirst!), differentiate winter from spring andfall records. The authors are quite clear aboutwhat they have done. They categoricallystate, “Records routinely admittedelsewhere to checklists and maps are ofvarious types and often of uncertainreliability and provenance. The backboneof our knowledge of distributions of birdsin South Asia has always been based onmuseum specimens. Specimens form muchof the most reliable source of distributionaldata because they are tangible evidence that(theoretically) may be re-evaluated by anyresearcher at any time. However, ourknowledge of bird distributions has longbeen compromised by the fact thatstatements based on specimen data havebeen confounded by statements not basedon such data but on surmise…as well as onmistaken identifications and localities, andconfused taxonomies. In more recent years,specimen collecting has largely beenreplaced by observational data (sightrecords). We consider that sight reportshave too often been taken as reliable withoutadequate documentation (for the entireregion, only Sri Lanka has had a long-standing records committee). We havetaken the conservative position ofconsidering that important recordswarranting inclusion as definite here arethose supported by extant specimens orclearly identifiable, extant photographs thatmay be re-examined as necessary,accompanied by published details thatconfirm the identity of the bird withoutquestion and provide additionalcorroborative data,” (vol. 2, p. 27). Theyhowever clarify that, “…the absence ofindication for a given region on a mapcannot be taken as absolute proof that aspecies has never been recorded in a givenarea; original research is required todocument each case history. We believe thisbook will facilitate such research and willprovide the background for understandingproblems in the historic record of bird

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distributions within South Asia,” (ibid.). Inthe present work, more details of distributionare provided in the second volume,including questionable records, frauds, etc.

The second volume contains detailedattributes and status of each taxon. It isarranged in the following order: Contents(p. 5); List of families (p. 6); Preface: Anappreciation of S. Dillon Ripley (by BruceBeehler, pp. 8-10); About the authors (p. 11);Introduction [pp. 12-35: Coverage of thebook; Geography and avifauna; Moult andplumages; Measurements; Illustrations;Identification (ID); Vocalisations;Taxonomy; Names; Maps; Records; Historyof ornithology in South Asia;Conservation]; Acknowledgements (pp. 36-38); Species accounts and sonagrams (pp.39-601); Appendix 1: Hypothetical species(pp. 603-604); Appendix 2: Rejected species(p. 605); Appendix 3: Taxonomic changes(pp. 606-613; Appendix 4: Glossary (pp. 614-616); Appendix 5: Gazetteer of localitiesmentioned in text (pp. 617-623); Appendix6: Major birding localities (pp. 624-625);Appendix 7: Useful addresses and contacts(p. 626); Appendix 8: Brief regional histories(pp. 627-629); Appendix 9: Major regionalspecimen holdings by museum (p. 630);Appendix 10: Threatened species (p. 631);References (pp. 633-640); Main index (pp.641-683).

Species accounts have sub-sections thatdeal with identification (including variationand size), occurrence, habits, voice, andtaxonomy. They are cross-referenced to Aliand Ripley’s Handbook (1983) by the serialnumbers used by the latter, and to the platesin volume one.

Volume two, entitled “Attributes andstatus,” is, according to this reviewer, whatmakes the two-volume set so special. Theprint is small, no doubt, but the wealth ofinformation that is packed into it isphenomenal, making it an ideal lodestoneto return to after a day of field-work. Splittingthe work into two volumes is a brilliant ideafor it provides the best of both worlds to auser – a highly portable classic field guideand a road-worthy, information-packed data-bank, for reference. Bruce Beehler’s“Appreciation of S. Dillon Ripley” is a neatsummation of the phenomenalornithological work that Ripley has leftbehind. More than that, it gives tantalisingviews of the man behind the scientist.

Some of the important aspects of thisvolume are as follows: Taxonomy: Theauthors state that, “During preparation of


this book, we realised that it wascounterproductive to retain many taxa assubspecies when it became obvious throughcomparisons of morphology andvocalisations that they would not continueto be thus treated in the future…Remembering that the decisions to lumpspecies were made in the absence (or withoutconsideration) of much of the data nowavailable, we propose, in a number ofinstances, a different taxonomic arrangementfrom that currently accepted by mostsources,” (p. 25). This has resulted in 198species-level differences from the taxonomictreatment of Ali and Ripley (1983) and 128species-level differences from that of Inskippet al. (1996)! These changes fall under fivecategories: those split from extralimitalspecies, splits within region, new oroverlooked taxon, reallocation of race(s), andthose that have been deleted. An exampleis the polytypic Golden Oriole Oriolusoriolus, treated in Ali and Ripley (1983) asO. o. oriolus and O. o. kundoo. The presentwork treats them as two separate species,the “European Golden Oriole O. oriolus”and “Indian Golden Oriole O. kundoo” andstates that the latter “Does not appear tointergrade with O. oriolus, despite proximityof breeding ranges. Differences inmorphology and (evidently) vocalisationsare comparable or greater than thosebetween certain other oriole species; hencekundoo treated here as full species,” (p.586). Brief justifications are provided for allsuch taxonomic decisions, and in most casesdetailed vocal analyses and sonagrams arealso provided as substantiation.

Vocalisations: The study of avianvocalisations has advanced considerably inthe past decade and is being usedincreasingly in taxonomy and systematicsthe world over. The work under reviewpresents, for the first time, over a thousanddetailed sonagrams of bird vocalisationsfrom South Asia. It might take a while beforewe get used to sonagrams and adept at usingthem as tools for study and identification.This is a good place to start, for theintroduction gives samples of the maintypes of bird vocalisations (vol. 2, p. 24,figure 5), depicting whether a squiggle onthe graph is a trill or a warble or indeed abuzz! Ideally, bird vocalisations are moreuseful in a field guide, for on-the-spotreference in the field. However, theelaboration meted vocalisations in volumetwo, wherein detailed analyses for mostspecies are made directly from tape

recordings, would not have been possiblethere.

Names: The authors have taken pains toensure that the genders of specific andsubspecific names agree with genericnames as suggested by David and Gosselin(2002a, b). In addition, “All specific andsubspecific names used herein have beenreviewed by N. David and M. Gosselin,whose additional unpublished suggestionsfor gender agreement have been enactedherein,” (p. 26). It is heartening to read thatthe authors have prudently “chosen tofollow the relatively familiar order used bythe Bombay Natural History Society ENVISlist (Manakadan and Pittie 2001),” having“enacted a few minor well-corroboratedmodifications to the order indicated bypresent data…Where we have notintroduced any taxonomic changes,common (English) names used mainlyfollow the ENVIS list…”

This volume also contains a list of 85taxon that are “Hypothetical in [the] region”,i.e. those that might occur or have actuallybeen reported to occur within the regionwithout adequate supportive evidence ofthe claim. This is the first time that such alist has been compiled for South Asia,where, unfortunately, records have beengenerally either accepted or rejected quitesummarily in the past. This list sets aconsistent standard for the acceptance ofeach species. Such records should ideallybe vetted by national records committees,which are inexplicably lacking in allcountries except Sri Lanka.

There are interesting sections on theinnumerable serious frauds committed byCol. Richard Meinertzhagen and the lapsesof Stuart Baker, one of the most prolific ofwriters on matters ornithological, and a veryeducative history of ornithology of SouthAsia as well as brief regional histories.

The one flame that illuminates thisstupendous work is the amount of originalresearch that has been assimilated into it.Almost every aspect of south Asianornithology has been re-evaluated afterstudying original sources and nothingseems to have been accepted just becauseit was published earlier! The authors are tobe commended for this rigourous scrutiny,which sets a remarkably high standard ofscientific accuracy among publications onsouth Asian ornithology. A brief view ofthis laborious process was revealed by thelead author in the last issue of Indian Birds(Rasmussen 2005). All-in-all this is a

splendid set, and is highly recommended.

ReferencesAli, Salim, and S. Dillon Ripley. 1983. Handbook

of the birds of India and Pakistan togetherwith those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan andSri Lanka. Compact ed. (Sponsored by theBombay Natural History Society.) Delhi:Oxford University Press.

David, Normand, and Michel Gosselin. 2002a.Gender agreement of avian species names.Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 122(1): 14-49.

David, Normand, and Michel Gosselin. 2002b.The grammatical gender of avian genera.Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 122(4): 257-282.

Grimmett, Richard, Carol Inskipp, and TimInskipp. 1998. Birds of the IndianSubcontinent. 1st ed. London: ChristopherHelm, A & C Black.

Grimmett, Richard, Carol Inskipp, and TimInskipp. 1999. Pocket guide to the birds of theIndian Subcontinent. 1st Ed. New Delhi:Oxford University Press.

Inskipp, Tim, Nigel Lindsey, and WilliamDuckworth. 1996. An annotated checklist ofthe birds of the Oriental Region. Bedfordshire,U.K.: Oriental Bird Club.

Kazmierczak, Krys, and Raj Singh. 1998. Abirdwatchers’ guide to India. 1st ed. Sandy,U.K.: Prion Ltd.

Kazmierczak, Krys. 2000. A field guide to birdsof the Indian Subcontinent. 1st ed. London:Pica Press / Christopher Helm.

Manakadan, Ranjit, and Aasheesh Pittie. 2001.Standardised common and scientific names ofthe birds of the Indian Subcontinent. Buceros6 (1): i-ix, 1-37.

Rasmussen, Pamela C. 2005. On producing Birdsof South Asia. Indian Birds 1 (3): 50-56.

-Aasheesh Pittie

Handbook of Indian wetland birds andtheir conservation. By Arun Kumar, J. P.Sati, P. C. Tak, and J. R. B. Alfred. 2005. 1sted. Kolkata: Director, Zoological Survey ofIndia. Price: Rs 1,500; $80; £60. 35% discountto students, scholars and amateur birders.Available from: http://www.weblineinfosoft.com/zsi/hbiwb.pdf.

Having participated every year in theAsian Waterbird Census, since its

inception in 1987, I feel a surge of happinesswithin me whenever a publication onwetlands comes to hand. If it deals with birdsit is a double-blessing. In those early daysof coordinated effort (and yet so individual),it was difficult to come by a book with goodillustrations of wetland birds. Gradually,better quality material got published, till wehad the fabulously portable “Waterbirds of

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Asia” [Sonobe & Usui (Eds.) 1993] and thesubsequent general field guides of Grimmettet al. (1999) and Kazmierczak (2000). Theseinvariably had brief texts containingidentification notes, no more. The workunder review has a great deal more to offerin the areas of status and conservation ofwetland birds and comes at an opportunetime when wetlands are under threat all overthe country either from overuse, abuse ordraining for agriculture.

This work can be divided into two distinctparts. The first part (comprising chaptersone and two) is a field guide of 310 taxa ofwetland birds (as defined by the authors),with species accounts that includeinformation on diagnostics, voice, habitat,habits, food, status and distribution, remarksand threshold number. A distribution mapis provided alongside each species. One ormore colour photographs illustrate theseaccounts, interspersed with colour plates.

The second part, which is truly thestrength of this book, is a compilation oforiginal as well as previously publishedmaterial ranging from the status of wetlandbirds (chapter 3), the socio-economics ofwetlands (chapter 4), to the wide network ofprotected areas in India (chapter 5). Theauthors also provide the student of wetlandbirds with information on the framework forconservation that is present in the country.Various conventions on wetlands andmigratory species and an overview of IndianRamsar sites are listed in several appendicesat the end, which might be eye-openers formany who do not realise the amount of workthat goes into making countries agree onways and means of protecting migratingspecies and their habitats. The entire sectionis replete with graphs, tables and maps used

to convey data graphically.Some criticisms that surface are:The following wetland-dependant taxa

have not been included in this work: Thefamilies Ploceidae (Weavers) andEstrildidae (Munias), and the reed-lovingwarblers (Locustella and Acrocephalusspp.) of the Sylviidae. Inclusion ofTroglodytes troglodytes seemsunnecessary.

Page numbers of plates are not includedin the species accounts, making themdifficult to find, as they are not gatheredtogether, but scattered throughout thebook.

The distribution maps for WesternMarsh-Harrier Circus aeruginosus andEastern Marsh-Harrier C. spilonotus are thesame (p. 251). This is wrong as the latter isreported from the extreme NE of the country.The map for Peregrine Falcon Falcoprergrinus (sic) (=peregrinus) (p. 255), isalso incorrect, in that it depicts the speciesto be a resident of most of the country. Onthe contrary, the race that not only frequentswetlands more but also spreads across thecountry (F. p. calidus, earlier treatederroneously under F. p. japonicus) ismigratory. The map should have had a washof blue colour (denoting a migrant) insteadof green, or ideally, a mixture of both, for theresident Shaheen (F. p. peregrinator)though prefering hilly regions and foothills,uses wetlands opportunistically.

“Accentors (Family Prunellidae)” iswrongly given as the title of the Turdinae(Muscicapidae), on p. 284, even though itis correctly placed as that on p. 41. As aconsequence, the description of the familyPrunellidae (p. 284) becomes irrelevant.

Several of the photographs have been

taken outside India, and therefore may depictraces that are not found within India. Anexample is the photograph of Ceyx erithacarufidorsa (p. 263), which is often treated asa conspecific of the dark-backed nominaterace. Now each is elevated to species status,C. erithaca and C. rufidorsa. C. rufidorsais a vagrant in Sikkim, but is commoner inSE-Asia. C. erithaca is the one found widelyin the Western Ghats and in NE India, whosepicture would have been more relevant. Atleast C. erithaca is depicted on pl. 37 (p.270). This does not however, dim thespotlight from several top-classphotographs from within and outside thecountry sprinkled throughout the work.Gehan’s magnificent full-page portrait of theLarge Egret (penultimate page) shows a birdin courting colours with flaming red legs andblue-black bill [not “nbr” (= non-breeding)as stated]. Vijay Cavale’s pair of Bar-headedGeese (p. 108) captures the graceful lines ofthis most delicate bird, even though the pairsits in grass.

The Glossary (p. xxi) contains severalinitial abbreviations, “R/LM” to “V Com”,that are repeated with some extra explanation,from the preceding “Terms andabbreviations used” (pp. xix-xx). Quite a fewphotos are also repeatedly used, whichcould have been avoided.

All these glitches can be easily overcomein a second edition. For all students ofwetland birds this book is a must and forevery budding ornithologist, allbiodiversity-, irrigation- and tourism-relateddepartments of various state and centralgovernment fora, this book contains vitalinformation, conveniently compiled in oneplace.

-Aasheesh Pittie

95

Correspondence

Was this a 12-hour Tsunami warning?On 25.xii.2004 I observed an unusualbehavior of birds in Neelangarai, a coastalsuburban locality of Chennai (Tamil Nadu).In a locality full of parakeets, treepie, greyshrike, crows, pariah kites, egrets, bulbuls,green bee-eater, kingfishers, the occasionalhoopoe, the pet peacock next door and manymore, this unusual activity caused alarm.

It all started with a murder of about 100crows gathering on the electricitytransmission wires. There was an unusualcalm. I had initially reckoned it was a carcassin the vicinity that brought them together.

A dog fed in the dustbin, but none of thecrows came down alongside it to feed. In amatter of minutes the number of birds beganto grow as mynas, drongos, parakeets andseveral other species started to gather onthe coconut trees nearby. Yet there was anunusual lull, but they were restless. Theremight have been at least 500 birds of variousspecies. It was also seen that they continuedto look around in an alert way.

This behavior was observed between17:30—17:45hrs on 25.xii.2004.They thenflew away towards the shore, groupingtogether again and again on top of

hoardings, buildings, etc., at every 200-300mintervals.

On the ill-fated day of 26.xii.2004, thechirping of birds, which starts early in themorning was absent. The familiar crow, witha hooked beak, which comes every morningfor its mandatory rice, failed to turn up at05:45hrs.

The earthquake occurred at 06:28hrs offthe Sumatran coast (magnitude 9.0, one ofthe most powerful ever in the world). TheTsunami then struck the coast 2-3hrs later.

The birds did not resume their normalactivity till late in the afternoon the same


day.There were reports on television that

the Tsunami would recur due to after shocks.I failed to believe the meteorologydepartment, the birds were moving aboutnormally. There have been no Tsunamis,aftershocks on our coast since.

As early as 1961 similar observationson behaviour of birds and animals were madeby Laurens van der Post, in his book, ‘Theheart of the hunter’. I wonder whether thiswas, in some unfathomable way, a warningof things to come.

Kaushik KrishnanNew #2/775, Old # 3/458A, Kazura

Gardens, 1st Street, Nellangarai, Chennai600041, India.

Sighting of Steppe Eagles Aquilanipalensis near Belgaum,

Maharashtra, IndiaOn 25.xii.2004, I was 20km east of Belgaum(Maharshtra, India). About 07:00hrs Inoticed seven large Aquila eagles sittingon the top of a tree, basking. A closer lookrevealed that their cere clearly reachedbeyond the pupil, which identified all of themas Steppe Eagles Aquila nipalensis. Thesurrounding landscape consisted of fallowagricultural land with some scrubby areas.A garbage dump, used by neighbouringvillages and poultry farms, was also present.

The eagles were seen in the company ofBlack Kites Milvus migrans, Brahminy KitesHaliastur indus and Cattle Egrets Bubulcusibis. All eagles were perched on mangoMangifera indica and tamarind Tamarindusindus tree.

I visited the area six times, with intervalsof two to three days in between each visit.The number of eagles remained the sameand I saw hardly any activity. Once in a whilethey chased a kite and pirated a morsel fromit.

These eagles were seen in the area for alittle over three weeks till 23.i.2005. Threeyears ago, I had seen more than 25 eagles (?sp.) in this area, when they had remained inthe vicinity for less than one week.

Niranjan SantEmail: [email protected]

Storm-blown Shikra family rehabilitatedA Shikra Accipiter badius family wasreunited (9.v.2005) after a storm had knockeddown the nesting tree. There were threeyoung at various stages of development.We made a basket nest and placed that in anadjoining tree. The parents came back and

started feeding the young the next day.Taej Mundkur

Swarankit, Plot No 6, Mahatma HousingSociety, Kothrud,

Pune City 411029, India.Email: [email protected]

Nesting of Common Moorhen Gallinulachloropus in Kerala

I am very happy to get the Newsletter forOrnithologists as Indian Birds, and to learnabout the New Ornis Foundation.

This is a response to the note on thenesting of Common Moorhen Gallinulachloropus in Kerala by P. K. Ravindran(Indian Birds 1: 17). On reading it, it wouldappear that this is the first record of nestingfrom Kerala. The nesting of this species wasfirst recorded by K. K. Neelakantan fromMunnar in April 1974 (J.Bombay Nat. Hist.Soc. 72: 537). Again it was found nesting inSultan’s Battery in the Wynaad district inOctober 1984, 1985, 1986 by P. K. Uthaman.Three-four chicks were found then at a reed-filled tank in Poomala. They are alsobreeding in Brahmakulam in Palghat district.In many of the “chalees” (lagoons) and atthe famous large “chalee” in Thirunnavayathey are regularly seen and occasionalbreeding is recorded by local birdwatchers.

L. NamassivayanKerala Natural History Society,

Elappully, Palakkad 678622, Kerala.

An incident between a Black DrongoDicrurus macrocercus and an IndianCourser Cursorius coromandelicus

On 11.i.2005, at 10:30hrs, while watching apair of Indian Coursers Cursoriuscoromandelicus at Pandavleni grasslands(Nashik district, Maharashtra) we saw thatone of the birds had caught a largecaterpillar and hurried off in one direction inorder to prevent (?) its mate from taking itaway.

A Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercuswas sitting ten feet away on an Acaciaarabica bush at a height of five feet. It sawthe courser carrying this caterpillar, andswooped down at it, coming face to facewith courser. On landing, it flattened itselfon the ground, simultaneously beating itswings in slow motion, constantly staring atthe courser with its bill open. The courserdropped the caterpillar, which the drongograbbed and flew back to the bush it hadcome from.

It is difficult to say whether the drongowas begging for the caterpillar or

96

threatening the courser. However as thisbehaviour was indeed strange we felt that itwas worth recording.

B. Raha & N. BhureEmail: [email protected]

Agumbe, Karnataka, IndiaI was one of four people on a recce between12-14.ii.2005 to establish a multi-purposefield base in the Western Ghats at Agumbe(670m above m.s.l., Shimoga district,Karnataka). The base was initially intendedfor herpetology, ornithology and botany.The location was previously cleared to farmpaddy and areca-nut. The site is well knownfor its heavy annual rainfall. Being the dryseason, the area and its surroundings wereextremely dry, with recorded relativehumidity below 40% with temperaturesbetween 17ºC-32ºC.

On 12.ii.2005 we noticed a flock of fiveSpotted Doves Streptopelia chinensisforaging at the base of a creeper. Out ofnowhere, a Besra Sparrowhawk Accipitervirgatus scattered the flock and struck whatappeared to be a sub-adult dove, after whichthe victim hid within the creeper. Some twominutes later, visibly shaken and possiblyinjured, it flew out of the bush and wasimmediately grabbed by the hawk andspirited away. A White-necked StorkCiconia episcopus was observed amongstriparian vegetation at a nearby stream. Thesole ophidian observed was the non-venomous and endemic Bedomme’sKeelback Amphiesma beddomei at around10:00hrs on 13.ii.2005.

The location for the field station has hugepotential for study on a variety of organisms,and while my colleagues’ and my owninterest largely relates to herpetofauna, birdsof the region have to be documented andornithologists are welcome to assist ingathering baseline information on theavifauna. Please contact me for details.

Nikhil WhitakerMadras Crocodile Bank / Centre for

Herpetology, P. O. Box 4, Mamallapuram,Tamil Nadu 603104.

Email: [email protected]

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G. B. K. Charitable TrustRajan House, 2nd Floor, A. M. Marg, Prabhadevi, Mumbai 400025.

Manufacturers of electrical laminations & stampingsPhones: 040-23312774, 23312768, 23312770. Fax: 040-23393985. Grams: PITTILAM

Email: [email protected]. Website: www.pittielectriclam.com

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Oriental Bay-owl Phodilus badius Photo : Rathin Barman

Stepppe Eagle Aquila nipalensis Photo : Niranjan Sant

Documents

Indian Birdsindianbirds.in/pdfs/IB_1.4.pdf · 2015-09-14 · India Birds : Birds of Kerala: BirdLife International : Indian Jungles :