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a subsequent analysis of the same in ZSI Kolkata museum re- Ali, S., & Ripley, S. D., 1983. Handbook of the birds of and together with identified it as Great Frigatebird (Maheswaran & Alam 2014). those of , , and . Compact ed. Delhi: Oxford This note describes sight records of five different Christmas University Press. Pp. i–xlii, 1 l., pp. 1–737, 56 ll. Island Frigatebirds from locations spanning Ankola on the western Ali, S., 1964. Frigate Birds. Newsletter for Birdwatchers 4 (8): 10. Anonymous. 1981. The Christmas Island Frigate . Newsletter for Birdwatchers 21 (8): coast, to Rameswaram on the eastern coast. It is interesting to 2–3. note that out of the collected sightings, the ‘Critically Endangered’ Dwarakanath, A., 1981. Christmas Island Frigate Bird seen in Karnataka. Newsletter for Christmas Island Frigatebirds are more numerous than the other Birdwatchers 21 (7): 16. two species, which is in contrast with the historical trend. The high Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C., & Inskipp, T., 2011. Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. 2nd ed. number of sightings in the same season indicates that this species London: Oxford University Press & Christopher Helm. Pp. 1–528. may not be as rare as previously considered. The increase in the James, D. J., 2004. Identification of Christmas Island, Great and Lesser Frigatebirds. number of sightings and confirmation of species level identity in BirdingASIA 1: 22–38. recent years can be attributed to higher number of observers in Kumar P, M., & Kumar P, M., 1997. Occurrence of Christmas Frigate Bird. Newsletter for Birdwatchers 36 (6): 113–114. the field, increased accessibility to literature detailing Frigatebird Maheswaran, G., & Alam, I., 2014. What is the specific identity of the frigatebird Fregata identification, improvements in digital imaging, and ease of wide sp., in the collection of the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India? Indian BIRDS networking using e-mail, and social media. 9 (4): 97–99. Pillai, N. G., 1964. Occurrence of the Christmas Island Frigate Bird Fregata andrewsi Mathews at Ernakulam. Newsletter for Birdwatchers 4 (7): 4. Acknowledgements Prater, S. H., 1929. Occurrence of the Xmas Island Frigate-Bird Fregata andrewsi on the We would like to acknowledge Praveen J, for reviewing the draft and for overall west coast of India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 33 (2): 445–446. support and encouragement. DK also wishes to thank Neil Cheshire for helping with Praveen J., Jayapal, R., & Pittie, A., 2013. Notes on Indian rarities—1: Seabirds. Indian identification of one bird. VR would like to acknowledge the support and advice from BIRDS 8 (5): 113–125. Shivashankar M, which prompted him to look out for wind-blown pelagic birds, resulting Rasmussen, P. C., & Anderton, J. C., 2012. Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide. 2nd ed. in his sighting. Washington, D.C. and Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. 2 vols. Pp. 1–378; 1–683. Santharam, V., 1982. Some rare encounters. Newsletter for Birdwatchers 22 (5-6): 5–8. References Sashikumar, C., Praveen J., Palot, M. J., & Nameer, P. O., 2011. Birds of Kerala: status and Abdulali, H., 1961. The Christmas Island Frigate-Bird, Fregata andrewsi Mathews, in distribution. 1st ed. Kottayam, Kerala: DC Books. Pp. 1–835. Indian waters - a correction. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 57 Saxena, A., 1994. Sighting of Christmas Island Frigate Bird (Fregata andrewsi Mathews) (3): 667–668. in the Andamans. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 91 (1): 138.

Notes on breeding of Ashy Prinia socialis in Gujarat, India Raju Vyas & Kartik Upadhyay

Vyas, R., & Upadhyay, K., 2015. Notes on breeding of Prinia socialis in Gujarat, India. Indian BIRDS 10 (5): 118–121. Raju Vyas, 505, Krishnadeep Tower, Mission Road, Fatehgunj, Vadodara 390003, Gujarat, India. E-mail: [email protected] [Corresponding author.] Kartik Upadhyay, B-104 Premsagar Apartment, Near Rameshwar Temple, Ellora Park, Vadodara 390023, Gujarat, India. Manuscript received on 06 October 2012.

shy Prinia Prinia socialis is an insectivorous, sparrow-sized During the monsoon of 2012, we witnessed some interesting member of the Passeriformes. It is widely distributed breeding, and nesting, behaviour of the species. We did not find Athroughout the Indian Subcontinent, including areas in any record of such behaviour of Ashy Prinia in available literature. Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and western Our casual, but relevant, observations are presented here. (Grimmett et al. 1998). Its altitudinal range is from the On 26 June 2012, we found a bird’s nest in the lush foliage mean sea level up to 1500 m in the Himalayas, and up to 2000 of RV’s office garden, which is situated in the middle of Vadodara m in southern India (Ali 2002). It is a commonly occurring species city, on the banks of Vishwamitri River, while some of the over- along forest edges, and in dry open-grasslands, open-woodlands, grown trees were being trimmed scrub, urban gardens, and agricultural landscapes. Its small size, This nest, presumably of a small-sized bird, was distinctive colours, and upright tail make it easily identifiable. The unattended, and seemed to have been abandoned by it. It was northern populations of the bird have a rufous rump and back, at a height of about two metres from the ground, in a thick bush and a distinct breeding and non-breeding plumage while other of wild figs Ficus( sp.). The nest consisted of three large leaves populations lack such a variation. Its nesting season ranges from stitched together with fibers and webs, and lined with fine thin March to September, but more commonly starts immediately fibers, and twigs. Its entrance faced east, was exactly opposite after the onset of the monsoon. RV’s office window [102, 103], and therefore, easy to observe. Vyas & Upadhyay: Ashy Prinia 119

Ali and Ripley (1997) state that the Ashy Prinia also constructs a continued observing the chicks being fed, and alerted of threats similar nest of large leaves stitched together. But we presumed with alarm calls, by the parent birds. that Common Tailorbirds Orthotomus sutorius had constructed this nest, on the basis of nests we had seen earlier, and also based on its design, shape, and the construction materials used. Moreover, it was built in the same corner of the garden that a pair of Common Tailorbirds frequented.

104. The abandoned nest occupied by an Ashy Prinia in the second week of July 2012.

102. The Ashy Prinia Prinia socialis is a common bird of urban gardens.

105. An Ashy Prinia parent brings food for the chicks.

103. Ashy Prinia nest as seen from the office.

In the first week of July 2012, we observed an adult pair of Ashy [104] continuously visiting the bushes that held that nest, taking interest in it, and even adding new fibers to it. We

Photos: Vyas Raju were alert on the activities of this Ashy Prinia pair. We found three small, crimson-red, eggs in the nest, which were presumably laid between 12 and 15 July 2012. The parents constantly attended to the eggs, except for a few minutes in the morning, at noon, and occasionally in evening. On 24 July, three chicks hatched out from the eggs after 10–12 days of incubation. Both the 106. An adult Ashy Prinia with a spider in its beak. parents fed all three chicks constantly. We scheduled hour-long observations, in the morning, afternoon, and evening, for five days, to understand the feeding activities, and their frequency. The feeding activities were low at dusk. A higher number of visits were noted between 0800 and 0900 hrs, with an average of 30 visits in that hour (range: 30–32). This gradually declined towards the evening, and between 1700 and 1800 hrs they averaged ten visits (range: 10–13). Both adults fed the chicks continuously Photos: Kartik Upadhayay Kartik Photos: with various types of small insects, caterpillars, and spiders [105, 106]. They not only fed the chicks, but also cleaned the nest, by removing the fecal sacs of the chicks. After a week we noticed that one chick was missing from the nest; only two were left. We were unable to ascertain why the chick disappeared. Both the surviving chicks grew well, and were fed, and attended to constantly by the parents. On 03 August 2012, both the chicks left the nest in early morning [107], and hid within the thicket. We 107. A full grown chick about to leave the nest on 03 August 2012. 120 Indian Birds Vol. 10 No. 5 (Publ. 2 November 2015)

After the two chicks successfully fledged, we assumed that the pair of Ashy Prinia had finished with breeding. But in the second week of August 2012, we again observed a pair of Ashy Prinias showing some interest in the same nest (we couldn’t ascertain whether it was the same pair). On 17 August, after carefully inspecting it, the pair repaired the nest with fibers and other nest materials. We noticed that one bird often sat in the nest briefly. We began observing this nest regularly. On 23 August 2012 there were three small crimson-red eggs in the nest. On 04 September 2012, a chick hatched out after 12 days of incubation. The next day, the remaining two chicks also hatched [108, 109]. Photo: RajuPhoto: Vyas

109. Three twelve-days old chicks in the nest. Photo: Kartik Upadhayay Kartik Photo:

108. Three eight-days old chicks of the second brood.

All parental activities, of feeding the chicks, and nest sanitation were similar to those of the earlier brood [110]. But this time, both birds checked the condition of the nest often, and made minor repairs on its entrance, and to the base of the nest (See 110. Adult Ashy Prinia removing a fecal sac. condition of the nest: [111]. In the morning of 15 September 2012, all three chicks left the nest. Both parents looked after, and fed, the chicks for three days in the office garden, and then the entire family disappeared from the vicinity. Our observations of egg laying, incubation period, and feeding behavior of this species match with the earlier observations of Dharmakumarsinhji (1955), George (1961), Ajmeri et al. (1962), Bhambral (1966), Jairamdas (1977), Karthikeyan (1993), Ramanan (1995), and Ali & Ripley (1997). There is even a record of nest material from an old nest being used in constructing a new one (George 1961). But we did not come Photos: Vyas Raju across any literature that recorded an abandoned nest being

repaired, and used twice by the species. RajuPhoto: Vyas Some questions do remain unanswered. Which species did the nest belong to originally? Was it the same pair of Ashy Prinias that nested both times? However, if it was the same pair, it means that Ashy Prinia bred twice within a short period, but this fact 111. On 15 September 2012: The last chick leaves a bedraggled nest. requires further investigation. There is a paucity of literature on the phenomenon of one species of bird using a nest made by another. This is, however, (Corvus sp.), and the Pariah Kite Milvus migrans, but the nests known for certain species: Indian Silverbill Lonchura malabarica were constructed by the same species of birds themselves (R. using the abandoned nest of Baya Weaver Ploceus philippinus; Vyas, personal observations). Indian Robin Saxicoloides fulicata using the nest of Laughing In controlled conditions, a number of bird species are known Dove Streptopelia senegalensis (Saxena 1995). There are also to lay eggs twice or thrice or multiple times (Verhulst 1998), but examples of species using the same nest from season to season, in nature it depends on the environmental conditions or when after repairing it at the beginning of the season, e.g., crows the first breeding attempt fails (either by loss of eggs or loss Sharma et al.: White-winged Duck 121

of fledglings). Best examples are noted in Sarus CranesGrus Birdwatchers 6 (8): 7. antigone (Kathju 2007), Blue Rock Pigeon Columba livia, Purple Dharmakumarsinhji, R. S., Undated. Birds of Saurashtra, India: With additional notes on Sunbird Nectarinia asiatica, (R. Vyas, personal observations) Red- the birds of Kutch and Gujerat. 1st ed. Bhavnagar, Saurashtra: Published by the vented Bulbul Pycnonotus cafer (Prabhakarachari et al. 1990). author. Pp. i–liii, 1–561 (1955). George, J. C., 1961. Nest-shifting behaviour of the Ashy Wren-Warbler. Auk 78: 435–436. Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C., & Inskipp, T., 1998. Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. 1st ed. Acknowledgments London: Christopher Helm, A & C Black. Pp. 1–888. Jairamdas, A., 1977. Three nests of Ashy Wren Warbler - diary of one season. Newsletter We are thankful to Diren Talpada, Executive Engineer, Vishwamitri River Project, for Birdwatchers 17 (2): 4–6. Vadodara, and Santhosh Kandam, office Guard for the work. Without their support it Karthikeyan, S., 1993. Monogamy in Ashywren Warbler Prinia socialis: How much do would not have been possible to conduct this study. Thanks to K. R. Vyas for improving sexes share domestic duties. In: Bird Conservation: Strategies for the Nineties the manuscript, and special thanks to Pranav Trivedi of Nature Conservation Foundation, and Beyond. Verghese, A., Sridhar, S., & Chakravarthy, A. K., (eds.). Bangalore: Mysore, for a critical review, comments and suggestions on the earlier draft manuscript. Ornithological Society of India: Pp. 200–201. Kathju, K., 2007. Observations of unusual clutch size, renesting and egg concealment References by Sarus Cranes Grus antigone in Gujarat, India. Forktail 23 (August): 165–167. Prabhakarachari, N., Ravikumar, R., Ramamurthi, R., 1990. Ecobiolog of Redvented Ajmeri, R. M., Das, A. R. K., & Sasikumar, M., 1961. An unusual nest of the Ashy Wren- Bulbul Pycnonotus cafer cafer in a scrub jungle at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. warbler (Prinia socialis). Newsletter for Birdwatchers 1 (4): 1. Journal of Ecobiology 2 (1): 45–50. Ali, S., & Ripley, S. D., 1997. Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan together with Ramanan, R. V., 1995. The nest of Ashy Wren Warbler Prinia socialis. Newsletter for those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Warblers to redstarts. 2nd Birdwatchers 35 (1): 17. (Hardback) ed. Delhi: (Sponsored by Bombay Natural History Society.) Oxford Saxena, R., 1995. Alternate use of nest by Little Brown Dove and Indian Robin. Newsletter University Press. Vol. 8 of 10 vols. Pp. i–xiv, 1–281, 8 ll. for Birdwatchers 35 (1): 16. Ali, S., 2002. The book of Indian birds. 13th (Revised) ed. Mumbai: Bombay Natural Verhulst, S., 1998. Multiple breeding in the Great Tit: The costs of rearing a second History Society & Oxford University Press. Pp. i–lvii, 1–326+7. clutch. Functional Ecology 12 (1): 132–140. Bhambral, R., 1966. Dog’s hair used for nest by Ashy Wren Warblers. Newsletter for

White-winged Duck Asarcornis scutulata in Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary, Assam, India Narayan Sharma, Samrat Sengupta, Dilip Boruah, Noren Bhuyan, Deben Borah, Lalit Saikia & Gunin Saikia

Sharma, N., Sengupta, S., Boruah, D., Bhuyan, N., Borah, D., Saikia, L., & Saikia, G., 2015. White-winged Duck Asarcornis scutulata in Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary, Assam, India. Indian BIRDS 10 (5): 121–123. Narayan Sharma, National Institute of Advanced Studies, IIS Campus, Bengaluru 560012, Karnataka, India. E-mail: [email protected] [Corresponding author.] [NS] Samrat Sengupta, Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Assam University, Silchar 788011, Assam, India. E-mail: [email protected] [SS] Dilip Boruah, Meleng Lakhipur Village, Meleng, Jorhat 785634, Assam, India. [DB] Noren Bhuyan, Meleng Lakhipur Village, Meleng, Jorhat 785634, Assam, India. [NB] Deben Borah, Meleng Lakhipur Village, Meleng, Jorhat 785634, Assam, India. [db] Lalit Saikia, Meleng Lakhipur Village, Meleng, Jorhat 785634, Assam, India. [LS] Gunin Saikia, Divisional Forest Office, Near SS College, Hailakandi 788151, Assam, India. [GS] Manuscript received on 01 September 2014.

he White-winged Duck Asarcornis scutulata has a wide, Schedule I of the Indian Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. but highly fragmented, distribution across Bhutan, India, With an estimated population of over 400 individuals TBangladesh, and Southeast Asia (Green 1993; Choudhury (Choudhury 2002), or more than a third of the global population, 2007; BirdLife International 2014). The species has declined India is one of the last strongholds of this charismatic duck. In India, precipitously over much of its historical distribution range from the species is mostly distributed in the lowland tropical rainforests north-eastern India and Bangladesh through Southeast Asia to of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh (Talukdar 1992; Choudhury Sumatra and Java in Indonesia primarily due to loss of riverine 2000; Rahmani & Islam 2008), and in Meghalaya (Hume 1890; forests (BirdLife International 2014). Less than c. 1000 individuals, Choudhury 2002). Although, in the past, it was reported from or 5% of the original wild population, of this duck now survive Nagaland (Hutchinson 1946), and Manipur (Higgins 1913), in the wild (Green 1993; Birdlife International 2014). Owing to there are no recent reports of its occurrence from these states. In its precarious demographic status, the species is categorised Assam, the White-winged Duck is reported from both, the north as Endangered (BirdLife International 2013), and listed under (Gee 1959; Choudhury 2007; Das & Deori 2012), and the south