New Records on the Wintering Range of Variable Wheatear Oenanthe Picata Opistholeuca from Northern India
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A Systematic Ornithological Study of the Northern Region of Iranian Plateau, Including Bird Names in Native Language
Available online a t www.pelagiaresearchlibrary.com Pelagia Research Library European Journal of Experimental Biology, 2012, 2 (1):222-241 ISSN: 2248 –9215 CODEN (USA): EJEBAU A systematic ornithological study of the Northern region of Iranian Plateau, including bird names in native language Peyman Mikaili 1, (Romana) Iran Dolati 2,*, Mohammad Hossein Asghari 3, Jalal Shayegh 4 1Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran 2Islamic Azad University, Mahabad branch, Mahabad, Iran 3Islamic Azad University, Urmia branch, Urmia, Iran 4Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary, Shabestar branch, Islamic Azad University, Shabestar, Iran ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT A major potation of this study is devoted to presenting almost all main ornithological genera and species described in Gilanprovince, located in Northern Iran. The bird names have been listed and classified according to the scientific codes. An etymological study has been presented for scientific names, including genus and species. If it was possible we have provided the etymology of Persian and Gilaki native names of the birds. According to our best knowledge, there was no previous report gathering and describing the ornithological fauna of this part of the world. Gilan province, due to its meteorological circumstances and the richness of its animal life has harbored a wide range of animals. Therefore, the nomenclature system used by the natives for naming the animals, specially birds, has a prominent stance in this country. Many of these local and dialectal names of the birds have been entered into standard language of the country (Persian language). The study has presented majority of comprehensive list of the Gilaki bird names, categorized according to the ornithological classifications. -
Western: Desert Specials Forest Owlet Extension
India Western: Desert Specials 17th January to 29th January 2021 (13 days) Forest Owlet Extension 29th January to 31st January 2021 (4 days) Demoiselle Cranes by David Shackelford The wonderfully diverse nation of India is well-known for its verdant landscapes and the snow-capped Himalayas. It therefore surprises many people to learn that India is also blessed with some incredible deserts, and our tour showcases this much-underrated habitat by exploring some of India’s less RBL India - Western Desert Specials and Forest Owlet Extension Itinerary 2 frequented parks and reserves in the county’s dry, western parts. Desert National Park, Tal Chappar and the Great and Little Ranns of Kutch are amongst the most important of the protected areas of western India and we will visit all of them. We will also pay a visit to the more verdant Mt Abu along with an extension to the deciduous forests of Tansa Reserve. Along the way we are going to see some of the most threatened and rare birds not only of India but of the whole world. Species we are searching for include the Great Indian Bustard which sadly teeters on the brink of extinction, the almost equally rare White-browed Bush Chat, along with Indian Spotted Creeper, Yellow-eyed Pigeon, Green Avadavat, Sociable Lapwing, Macqueen’s Bustard, White-naped Tit, Marshall’s Iora, and for those doing the extension the recently rediscovered Forest Owlet. We also stand a great chance at picking up two of the more difficult monotypic families in the world, namely Crab-Plover and Grey Hypocolius. -
Western India Tour Report 2019
We had great views of the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard in Desert National Park (Frédéric Pelsy). WESTERN INDIA 23 JANUARY – 8 FEBRUARY 2019 LEADER: HANNU JÄNNES Another very successful Birdquest tour to western of India traced an epic route through the states of Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, with a short visit to the state of Maharasthra to conclude. We recorded no fewer than 326 bird species and 20 mammals, and, more importantly, we found almost every bird specialty of the dry western and central regions of the subcontinent including a number of increasingly scarce species with highly restricted ranges. Foremost of these were the impressive Great Indian Bustard (with a world population of less than 100 individuals), the stunningly patterned White-naped Tit, White-browed (or Stoliczka’s) Bush Chat and the Critically Endangered Indian Vulture. Many Indian subcontinent endemics were seen with Rock Bush Quail, Red Spurfowl, Red-naped (or Black) Ibis, Indian Courser, Painted Sandgrouse, the very localized Forest Owlet, Mottled Wood Owl and Indian Eagle-Owl, White-naped Woodpecker, Plum-headed and Malabar Parakeets, Bengal Bush, Rufous-tailed and Sykes’s Larks, Ashy- crowned Sparrow-Lark, the lovely White-bellied Minivet, Marshall’s Iora, Indian Black-lored Tit, Brahminy 1 BirdQuest Tour Report: Western India www.birdquest-tours.com Starling, Rufous-fronted Prinia, Rufous-vented Grass-Babbler, Green Avadavat, Indian Scimitar Babbler, Indian Spotted Creeper, Vigors’s Sunbird, Sind Sparrow and the range restricted western form -
India's National Action Plan for Conservation of Migratory Birds and Their Habitats Along Central Asian Flyway
India’s National Action Plan for Conservation of Migratory Birds and their Habitats along Central Asian Flyway (2018-2023) CAF National Action Plan 2018 -India Drafting Committee: The Draft India National Action Plan for Conservation of Migratory Birds in Central Asian Flyway was prepared by the following committee constituted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change: Dr. Soumitra Dasgupta, IG F (WL), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Chairman) Dr. Nita Shah, Bombay Natural History Society (Member) Dr. Ritesh Kumar, Wetlands International South Asia (Member) Dr. Suresh Kumar, Wildlife Institute of India (Member) Mr. C. Sasikumar, Wildlife Division, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change The Committee met at Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur on December 12-13, 2017 and at the office of IG F (WL) on March 15, 2018 and April 12, 2018 to review drafts. The final draft National Action Plan was submitted by the Committee on April 14, 2018. Final review of the draft was done in the office of IG (WL) on May 8, 2018. [1] CAF National Action Plan 2018 -India Contents Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................... 3 Preamble ........................................................................................................................................... 4 Goal and Objectives ......................................................................................................................... -
Birdwatching in the United Arab Emirates
BIRDWATCHING IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES DIARY 961226 - 970109 Petter Haldén, Fredrik Malmaeus, Mikael Malmaeus, Mats Waern This is a try to write down the most important details of our trip to UAE. We had very good help from other people's travel reports made by Joakim Djerf, Tim Earl, Annika Forsten, Henk Hendriks and Erik Hirschfelt - we thank them. We hope that someone someday will have good help from this report. We also have to thank Colin Richardson who gave us useful information during the trip. Two books we used very much were Colin Richardson's "The Birds of the United Arab Emirates" and R F Porter, S Christensen and P Schiermacker-Hansen's "Field Guide to the Birds of the Middle East" (The excellent 1996 edition). Here follows a chronological view of what happened, which sites we visited, what birds we saw and perhaps some good advice. For a complete list of noted birds see the list of species at the end of the report. 961226. We arrived at Dubai airport around 4 p.m. At the airport we saw LAUGHING DOVE and PALLID SWIFT. We got our car, a little white Toyota, from Budget (195 dollars/week) immediatly at the airport and we drove to Dallas Hotel and checked in. Dallas Hotel was OK, situated in central Dubai. Most of the birding sites we visited during our trip were located one or two hours from Dubai, and therefore we found it suitable and convenient to stay at the same hotel during the whole trip. After checking in we took a walk down town. -
Survey of Avifauna of the Gharana Wetland Reserve: Implications for Conservation in a Semi-Arid Agricultural Setting on the Indo- Pakistan Border Pushpinder S
Jamwal et al. BMC Zoology (2017) 2:7 DOI 10.1186/s40850-017-0016-z BMC Zoology RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Survey of avifauna of the Gharana wetland reserve: implications for conservation in a semi-arid agricultural setting on the Indo- Pakistan border Pushpinder S. Jamwal1, Pankaj Chandan1, Rohit Rattan1, Anupam Anand2, Prameek M. Kannan3 and Michael H. Parsons4,5* The original version has been revised. Abstract Background: The Gharana wetland conservation reserve (GWCR) is a semi-arid wetland adjacent to agricultural areas on the Indo-Pakistani border. Despite being declared an Important Bird Area (IBA) by Birdlife International, the occurrence and distribution of birds has not been well-documented in this area. Our aims were to systematically document the composition, relative abundance and feeding guilds of all avian fauna in order to form a baseline to monitor changes from—and to underwrite—future conservation actions. Results: From 24 surveys over 1 year, we recorded 151 species from 45 families and 15 orders. 41% of species were listed as ‘rare’ and only 22% were ‘very common’. The largest number of families belonged to the order Passeriformes (40%), followed by Charadriiformes (14%) and Coraciiformes (11%). The most species (12%), were found in the family Anatidae (Anseriformes—widely recognized as bio-indicators), followed by Accipitridae (Falconiformes;12%) and Muscicapidae (Passeriformes; 6%). Carnivores and insectivores were the feeding guilds most frequently observed. Indeed, more than 50% of all species fed on the abundant fish, mollusks and insects and larvae. Bark-feeders and nectarivores were the least common. Conclusions: Winter visitors were frequently found, while summer visitors were rare, reinforcing the importance of GWCR as a wintering site for high-altitude species. -
Birding in Iran
Birding in Iran Magnus Ullman or most foreign birders, Iran is very mysterious Other minority languages apart from Arabic are Fand generally difficult to get to. The country’s Azerbaijani, Kurdish and Turkmen. When I visited position makes for an impressive diversity of bird- Iran the first time in 2003, few people understood life. Iran is a large country, measuring 1.6 million English. Today this is totally different. The average km2, thus larger than Belgium, France, Germany, man in the street usually does not know English Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands together. It but many youths, academics, staff of main hotels covers 1350 km from the south-west to the north- and guides speak good English. east and 2250 km from the south-east to the north- Iranians are in general very open, welcoming west, which makes it the second largest country in and friendly. Among the growing minority that the Middle East besides Saudi Arabia. In 2014, the speaks English it is quite common that they will population was estimated at 78.5 million, includ- contact you – simply out of curiosity and to find an ing 8.3 million in Tehran, the capital. The largest opportunity to practise their English. It is obvious ethnic group are the Persians but there are several that Iranians are very pleased to hear that you en- others, for instance Azerbaijani and Kurds in the joy their country. north-west, Turkmens in the north-east, Balochs in This paper is based on my experiences during the south-east and there is an Arabic minority in 13 trips to Iran between April 2003 and December the south-west. -
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 23-26 February 2007 Mike Cram, Neville Davies, Neil Tovey
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 23-26 February 2007 Mike Cram, Neville Davies, Neil Tovey I finally made the much awaited planned visit to long time birding buddy and best man Neil Tovey in Dubai. Neil has been working out there for 2 years and is due to return after Easter. With domestic approval sorted, a full three days beckoned to ‘cram’ in as many species and lifers as possible. The UAE consists of the seven former ‘Trucial States’. By the time the British left in the 1970s, Dubai, Sharjah, Umm-al-Qaiwain, Ras-al-Khaimah, Fujairah, Abu Dhabi and Ajman formed the nation of the United Arab Emirates. DAY 1 Fri 23rd Feb 2007 – Dubai, Central Coast & Northern Region Birding pal Neville Davies accompanied me as we took our overnight 6-hour Virgin Atlantic flight from Heathrow to Dubai (£295 return) on the evening of 22nd Feb. We landed at Dubai just after dawn on Fri 23rd and with a fairly swift and painless transit through security, we met up with Neil just outside the airport. With accommodation and transport already sorted (we were staying with Neil), bags were slung in the boot and we hit the ground running! We left the airport and made our way to one of Dubai’s finest sites. Along the way, we saw the first of many Laughing Dove and Common Myna and a few birds on pools near the entrance to the site, mainly the first of many Great White Egret, Greater Flamingo and Black-winged Stilt. The Pivot Fields, Dubai We worked the reed beds and fields in among the sprinkler systems and encountered many Pipits and Wagtails. -
Field Guides Birding Tours Oman & the Uae Birding
Field Guides Tour Report OMAN & THE UAE: BIRDING ARABIA Dec 1, 2011 to Dec 17, 2011 George Armistead The sun sets over Oman's Empty Quarter, a sand-desert the size of Texas! (Photo by guide George Armistead) When you tell people that you are going on a two-week birding trip to Arabia, you get a lot of different reactions. One of the questions you hear is "There are birds there?!". That was a question we were able to answer resoundingly on this tour. Between the farms, the wadis, the ayns, the jebels, the khawrs and even a mubazzarah, we tallied over 200 species and discovered some wonderful country to boot. And we were not disappointed by the inhabitants of these two welcoming countries, or the lodgings and food they provided us. We began in the utterly strange metropolis of Dubai, one of seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates. There is no place like Dubai. Where until recently there was essentially only sand, now a bumper crop of incredible, affecting skyscrapers loom. Construction is a national obsession, and one wonders where it's all headed. Still, one happy result of all this development is that there are now a lot of new green areas and wetlands, and the birding is quite good. Our first day we were joined by local expert Steve James, and with his help we had one of our most productive days of the trip. We began at the Dubai Pivot Fields and were greeted by a good variety of passerines and some shorebirds too. -
Birds of Kazakhstan: New and Interesting Data, Part 2
Birds of Kazakhstan: new and interesting data, part 2 Arend Wassink fter the first edition of Birds of Kazakhstan: Barnacle Goose Branta leucopsis Anew and interesting data (Wassink & Oreel On 13 February 2006, a flock of six Barnacle Geese was 2008), another selection of data is presented here. found at the Shoshkakol lakes (43:00 N, 68:33 E), South It includes the first records of Long-billed Kazakhstan province (Kovalenko & Kravchenko 2007). This is the fifth record in Kazakhstan and the first in the Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus, Western southern half. Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros gibraltarien- sis, White-capped Redstart Chaimarrornis leuco- Long-tailed Duck Clangula hyemalis cephalus and Large-billed Reed Warbler Acro- Between 21 April and 17 May 2006, 390 birds were cephalus orinus for Kazakhstan. I also reviewed found at lakes in northern Qostanay province, between reports from publications and trip reports, which 51:00 and 52:00 N. Of these, 320 were found at Big resulted in the rejection of several records (for de- Aksuat lake (51:27 N, 64:29 E), Naurzum nature reserve tails, see Removed species and rejected records), on 14 May (Berezovikov 2007). The largest number and the acceptance of the occurrence of Eastern recorded so far was 46 birds in the Tengiz-Korgalzhyn region, Aqmola province, in October 2002 (Wassink & Black-eared Wheatear Oenanthe melanoleuca Oreel 2007). and Variable Wheatear O picata. Common Quail Coturnix coturnix New species and interesting records On 9 December 2006, a Common Quail was found at Karashengel hunting zone (43:44 N, 77:36 E), Almaty Swan Goose Anser cygnoides province (Bevza 2007). -
Dubai, United Arab Emirates 2018
Report of a one-day Birding Trip to the United Arab Emirates 24th February 2018 Participants: Arjan Brenkman, Jan van der Laan, Marc Smiles (guide) Plain Leaf Warbler, 24 February 2018, Masafi Wadi, Fujairah UAE; © Jan van der Laan Birds observed in the United Arab Emirates on 24 February 2018. © The Virtual Birders 2018 2 Birds observed in the United Arab Emirates on 24 February 2018. Introduction Between 23rd February and 5th March 2018, Arjan Brenkman and I (Jan van der Laan) travelled to peninsular Malaysia. We thought it would be interesting to have a stopover at Dubai for a one day birding. Peter van Scheepen advised us to choose Mark Smiles - a British expat in Dubai - as our birding guide. Our most-wanted list consisted of Hypocolius, Plain Leaf Warbler, Crab Plover, Variable, Persian and Hume’s Wheatear, Socotra Cormorant and Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse. For Hypocolius, a Saturday was not the best day to Visit Lulu Island as the island is guarded. Best day is Friday when guides or not on duty. For Variable Wheatear it was just too late, the birds leave the UAE at the start of February. Despite not going after the Hypocolius, the trip turned out to be very fruitful, with Mark as a very good guide. 1. Khor al-Beida, Umm al-Qaiwain 2. Umm al-Qaiwain Breakwater, Umm al-Qaiwain 3. Masafi Wadi, Fujairah 4. Kalba Corniche, Fujairah 5. Saih al Salam, Al Qudra Pivots, Dubai © The Virtual Birders 2018 3 Birds observed in the United Arab Emirates on 24 February 2018. Itinerary 23 Feb We took the EK 148 flight of 14:30 (with the huge Airbus 380) from Amsterdam to Dubai. -
Oman 16-30 November 2017
Oman 16th–30th November 2017 Stephen Menzie, Marc Illa, Martí Franch & Marcel Gil Velasco Oman, November 2017 1 Introduction Trip reports There are loads of trip reports available, mainly on Oman has become a very popular birding destination CloudBirders. However, we mainly followed one by for many reasons. First, because it’s an easy-to-travel our friend Àlex Ollé, with detailed data on the most country to enjoy most Arabian specialties but, maybe remarkable species they saw during their successful most importantly, because it’s placed in a corner of the trip last winter. world, something in between Europe, Asia and Afri- ca. Indeed, this is the essence of the Middle East and Oman is pure Middle East at its best. The diversity and Sounds quantity of birds is mesmerizing and, since they are All sounds were downloaded from xeno-canto.org. If mainly concentrated around oasis areas, most species you want to use our library (proved very useful with are easy to locate. most species) feel free to email us asking for it. We wanted to see some of the most sough-after Ara- bian specialties, but we mainly wanted to gather ex- perience with potential WP vagrants, not rushing to Itinerary see widespread species such as Verreaux’s Eagle and spending a good time with, for instance, Sand Plovers’ We followed the classical circuit clockwise, which side-by-side comparisons. In the end we managed a included the following locations: good mix although there’s that much to see that we all want to come back. Soon.