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A Review of Recent Occurrences of Blyth's Kingfisher

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A Review of Recent Occurrences of Blyth's Kingfisher Correspondence 185 Table 1. Sight records of Blyth’s Kingfisher reported from various locations of Correspondence Arunachal Pradesh from 1987 to 2020 Site Date Site District Coordinates Remarks References # Athreya 1996 Namdapha NP Changlang NA Seen A review of recent occurrences of Blyth’s Kingfisher (1996) 27.530N 31/03/96 Namdapha NP Changlang 2 Seen Barua (1996) Alcedo hercules from Arunachal Pradesh 96.440E Blyth’s KingfisherAlcedo hercules is a riverine species that is Athreya et widespread across South-east Asia. It extends its range into al. (1997); 1997 Namdapha NP Changlang NA Seen north-eastern India, the eastern Himalayas till about extreme Rahmani eastern Nepal (Rasmussen & Anderton 2012; Woodall (2012) 2020). Listed as Near Threatened under the IUCN’s Red Birand & Pawar List of Threatened Species (BirdLife International 2016), this Laungka Nala, 27.480N 20/06/01 Changlang 3 Heard (2004); Namdapha NP 96.450E species exists in low numbers, as a result of its narrow habitat Rahmani requirements, and is likely to be declining as a result of habitat (2012) loss and fragmentation (BirdLife International 2020). Though 27.440N 06/03/03 Namdapha NP Changlang 4 Seen it is listed as ‘rare’ in north-eastern India (Woodall 2020), 96.60E Rasmussen & Anderton (2012) indicated it as ‘fairly common’ Flying Nampong, 27.290N Praveen & 29/03/06 Changlang 5 across in Arunachal Pradesh, up to an altitude of 1,200 m. Grimmett Jairampur 96.060E Dalvi (2007) et al. (2019) map seven patches in Arunachal Pradesh as its the river range. However, sight records of Blyth’s Kingfisher in India are Praveen Manmao, 27.250N (2006b), 30/03/06 Changlang 6 Perched generally rare, and hill streams of Arunachal Pradesh form an Jairampur 95.910E Praveen & important habitat for this species in its Indian range. Dalvi (2007) Among 107 eBird records (https://ebird.org/india/species/ Doimara West 26.980N Rahmani 01/12/06 18 Seen blykin1) of Blyth’s Kingfisher across its range, 39 are from India Bridge Kameng 92.40E (2012) of which 35 are from Arunachal Pradesh. In contrast, amongst Nitu pers. comm. the 34 specimens listed in http://portal.vertnet.org/, 23 are West 27.040N 26/01/07 Eaglenest WLS 17 Seen (2007), from India and only three are from Arunachal Pradesh; 15 Kameng 92.410E Rahmani additional are from areas along the border with Assam (old (2012) localities could lie in either of the present states). We compile Shashank (Table 1) all known published, and online records of Blyth’s Dalvi pers. 12/2008 to Namdapha 27.460N Kingfisher (49 records) to provide an insight into the past and Changlang 7 Seen comm. 2010; 01/2009 (27th mile) 96.380E recent records through this note. We map (Fig. 1) the records Rahmani that have location precision and the site numbers (27 sites) (2012) Srinivasan et are included in the table for cross-reference. Most photographic 2010 Namdapha NP Changlang NA Seen al. (2010) and sighting records in recent years have been mainly from Flack (2010); Doimara River, West 26.980N Namdapha National Park and the West Kameng region (Eagle 14/04/10 18 Photo Kennewell Eaglenest WLS Kameng 92.40E Nest Wildlife Sanctuary, Pakke Tiger Reserve)—clearly attributed (2010) to better coverage by visiting birdwatchers, to birdwatching 02/2009 to Doimara River, West 26.980N Rahmani 18 Seen hotspots. Our aim is to highlight recent sight records to aid in the 05/2010 Eaglenest WLS Kameng 92.40E (2012) Bompu West 27.020N conservation of Blyth’s Kingfisher across its known distributional 29/03/10 19 Seen Paal (2010) range in north-eastern India. Khellong Kameng 92.410E West Bunting 20/02/12 Eaglenest WLS NA Photo Kameng (2012) Table 1. Sight records of Blyth’s Kingfisher reported from various locations of West Ekins 10/02/13 Eaglenest WLS NA Photo Arunachal Pradesh from 1987 to 2020 Kameng (2013) Site West Bonpo Date Site District Coordinates Remarks References 28/03/13 Eaglenest WLS NA Photo # Kameng (2013) 1987 Namdapha NP Changlang NA Seen Ghosh (1987) Manmao, 27.230N Singhal 23/10/13 Changlang 8 Seen West 27.10N Jairampur 95.920E (2013) 1994 Sessa 15 Seen Singh (1995) Kameng 92.60E Deban River, Kuriakose West 27.020N 05/03/14 Namdapha Changlang NA Photo 1994 Tipi 16 Seen Singh (1995) (2014) Kameng 92.630E National Park Papum West 1994 Itanagar NA Seen Singh (1995) 26/04/15 NA Photo Islam (2015) pare Kameng Papum 27.120N West 27.130N Dixit & Dalvi 1994 Karsinghsa 23 Seen Singh (1995) 26/04/15 Nameri Lama 20 Seen pare 93.790E Kameng 92.540E (2015) Wakro 27.680N Sessa Orchid West 27.130N Schweinhart 1994 Changlang 1 Seen Singh (1995) 05/05/15 20 Seen Glao-Lake 96.450E Sanctuary Kameng 92.540E (2015) Choudhury Sessa Orchid West 27.10N Campbell 1996 Namdapha NP Changlang NA Seen 09/04/15 21 Seen (1996) Sanctuary Kameng 92.560E (2015) 186 Indian Birds VOL. 16 NO. 6 (PUBL. 28 DECEMBER 2020) Table 1. Sight records of Blyth’s Kingfisher reported from various locations of Table 1. Sight records of Blyth’s Kingfisher reported from various locations of Arunachal Pradesh from 1987 to 2020 Arunachal Pradesh from 1987 to 2020 Site Site Date Site District Coordinates Remarks References Date Site District Coordinates Remarks References # # West 27.290N Palliser 28/11/2018 & Pange, Talle Lower 27.540N Pratim 17/05/15 Near Suba 22 Seen 24 Seen Kameng 92.80E (2015) 18/02/2019 WLS Subansiri 93.890E (2018, 2019) 27.710N Namdapha NP 27.490N Sharm 26/01/15 Wakro Lohit 27 Seen Surya (2015) 24/02/19 Changlang 9 Seen 96.320E (Deban) 96.390E (2019) 28.20N Namdapha NP 27.490N Deb 26/02/17 Pangin Area East Siang 26 Photo Dhar (2017) 21/02/19 Changlang 9 Seen 94.980E (Deban) 96.390E (2019) Disi Village, 27.930N Menon & 20/11/18 West Siang 25 Photo This work Pakke Jungle Pakke 26.980N Basar 94.730E 01/03/19 13 Seen Thakoor camp Kessang 93.030E Pakke 26.980N Stanton (2019) 27/04/18 Pakke WLS 10 Seen Kessang 92.910E (2018) Pakke 26.980N Vijairaghavan 08/04/19 Pakke WLS 10 Seen Pakke 26.980N Vyas et al. Kessang 92.910E (2019) 30/03/18 Pakke WLS 0 10 Photo Kessang 92.91 E (2018) Pakke 26.980N Nalawade Pakke 01/03/19 Pakke WLS 0 10 Seen 27/04/18 Pakke WLS NA Photo Shaw (2018) Kessang 92.91 E (2019) Kessang Pakke 26.980N Kothiala Naik & 22/02/19 Pakke WLS 0 10 Seen Pakke 27.080N Kessang 92.91 E (2019) 14/06/18 Pakke WLS 11 Seen Munshi Kessang 92.810E Pakke 27.080N Thangaraj (2018) 10/11/19 Pakke WLS 11 Photo Kessang 92.810E (2019) Pakke Gaikwad 29/10/18 Pakke WLS NA Photo Pakke Jungle Pakke 26.990N Srinivas et al., Kessang (2018) 23/02/20 14 Seen camp Kessang 93.020E 2020 Pakke Tiger Pakke 26.940N Pradhan 30/03/18 12 Photo Reserve Kessang 92.980E (2018) Abbreviations: NP=National Park; WLS=Wildlife Sanctuary Fig. 1. Distribution of Blyth’s Kingfisher in Arunachal Pradesh with districts and sites marked. Map: d-maps.com. Correspondence 187 On 20 November 2018, when the authors were on a routine birding trip to Disi (27.90°N, 94.73°E), a remote village in the Basar circle of the newly created district of Lepa Rada, two different individual adult Blyth’s Kingfishers were photographed by the first authorc .750 m asl [192A]. The individuals were roosting on boulders in Kidi River, close to the village. In total, three different individuals were sighted on a 5 km walk [192B]. Also, a burrow nest [193] was observed during the visit, which was presumed to be of this species, indicating that they might be breeding in the area. The surrounding tropical semi-evergreen forest [194], has a prevalence of species such as Terminalia myriocarpa, Shorea assamica, Bischofia javanica, Altingia excelsa, Anthocephallus chinensis, and Ficus drupacea (Singh et al. 2002). However, the habitat was quite disturbed with wet rice cultivation along the Kidi River, and there was huge logging activity in the nearby forests. 194. Habitat of Blyth’s Kingfisher. Villagers were fishing in the river using traditional methods of fishing. This is the first report of the species from Lepa Rada District. The sight records of this species from a new area in central Arunachal Pradesh indicate a population in that part of the state as well, while its presence in eight low-lying districts indicates that appropriate habitats for the species still exist. More focused conservation efforts may be expended in the conservation of these limited habitats that hold this rare kingfisher within Arunachal Pradesh. The authors wish to acknowledge Tomo Basar, President GRK (a nature conservation society based in Basar), Toba Riba a teacher by profession and our guide, and the people of Disi village. Also special thanks to Murali Krishna, Assistant Professor Department of Wildlife Science, Amity University, Noida for reviewing this paper. 192A. References Athreya, V. C., 1996. Birds of Namdapha Tiger Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh, India. Newsletter for Birdwatchers 36 (4): 72–74. Athreya, R. M., Captain, A. S., & Athreya, V. R., 1997. A faunal survey of Namdapha Tiger Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh, India. (October, 1996 & January - February, 1997). Unpublished report submitted to the Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department. Avibase – the world bird database, Assessable on 20 November 2015 at http://avibase. bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?avibaseid=56A1C8E5B82959EF. Barua, M., 1996. Website URL: https://ebird.org/checklist/S56786157. [Accessed on 27 November 2020.] Birand, A., & Pawar, S., 2004.
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