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Journal of Threatened Taxa Building evidence for conservaton globally www.threatenedtaxa.org ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) Short Communication Study of nesting behaviour of Asian Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone paradisi (Aves: Passeriformes: Monorchidae) from southern West Bengal, India
Nilemesh Das & Shuvadip Adhikari
26 April 2019 | Vol. 11 | No. 6 | Pages: 13782–13785 DOI: 10.11609/jot.4868.11.6.13782-13785
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Threatened Taxa Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 April 2019 | 11(6): 13782–13785
Study of nesting behaviour of Asian Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone paradisi (Aves: Passeriformes: Monorchidae)
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) from southern West Bengal, India Short Communication Short ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) Nilemesh Das 1 & Shuvadip Adhikari 2 PLATINUM OPEN ACCESS 1 ICAR-Central Inland Fisheries Research Insttute, Barrackpore, Kolkata, West Bengal 700120, India. 2 Ecotoxicology Project Laboratory, Government College of Engineering and Leather Technology, Block LB, Sector III, Salt Lake, Kolkata, West Bengal 700106, India. 2 Department of Zoology, The University of Burdwan, Golapbag, Burdwan, West Bengal 713104, India. 1 [email protected] (corresponding author), 2 [email protected]
Abstract: The Asian Paradise Flycatcher has always been a famboyant brooding, and feeding of the young (Mizuta & Yamagishi passerine to be photographed quite ofen throughout the Gangetc 1998). It is relatvely robust to habitat loss, evident Bengal in India, but hardly any behavioural documentaton is enlisted tll date. The nestng behaviour of the subject bird encompassing its from its appearance in forest edges and urban green parental behaviours was studied on a wetland stretch of Ishapore, spaces. Combined with its extraordinarily widespread southern Gangetc Bengal. The present study mainly deals with the nestng behaviour, incubaton actvites, hatching, and parental care distributon, it is not locally nor globally threatened and is to fedging of a wild pair. The behavioural changes at par with the currently rated as Least Concern (LC) by the Internatonal changing weather conditons and the neighbouring species too were Union for the Conservaton of Nature (IUCN 2019). studied. Studies on the courtship, nestng, and feeding behaviour Keywords: Bart Beel, behaviour, brooding, courtng, fedging, are available sparsely (Mizuta & Yamagishi 1998; Gokula hatching, incubaton, Ishapore, parental care, Passeriformes. & Vijayan 2003). Many sightngs of this passerine variety were noted throughout the state but no informaton on its biology, ecology, or behaviour is available from The Asian Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone paradisi the lower Gangetc plain despite a good number of is a medium-sized passerine bird that inhabits forests photographic records. The present work aimed to study and well-wooded habitats in diferent parts of Asia. It the behavioural aspects of the Asian Paradise Flycatcher is a widespread resident in the Indian subcontnent in relaton with courtship, nestng, and parental care and migrates seasonally. In West Bengal State in India, from the southern part of West Bengal. however, the species is a summer visitor (Grimmet et al. 2011; Rasmussen & Anderton 2012). Asian Paradise Study site Flycatcher exhibits sexual dimorphism. Breeding pairs The study area was located near a wetland named are monogamous. Being socially monogamous, both Bart Beel (Bengali: lake; 22.782°N & 88.391°E) in male and female take part in nest-building, incubaton, Ishapore, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. It is an
DOI: htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.4868.11.6.13782-13785
Editor: P.O. Nameer, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur, India. Date of publicaton: 26 April 2019 (online & print)
Manuscript details: #4868 | Received 02 February 2019 | Final received 09 April 2019 | Finally accepted 12 April 2019
Citaton: Das, N. & S. Adhikari (2019). Study of nestng behaviour of Asian Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone paradisi (Aves: Passeriformes: Monorchidae) from southern West Bengal, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 11(6): 13782–13785. htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.4868.11.6.13782-13785
Copyright: © Das & Adhikari. 2019. Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of this artcle in any medium by adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton.
Funding: None.
Competng interests: The authors declare no competng interests.
Acknowledgements: Authors thankfully acknowledge Dr Subhra Kumar Mukhopadhyay, UGC Emeritus Fellow, Government College of Engineering and Leather Technology, for his comments during feld study and manuscript preparaton. Special thanks to Mr Rajib Kumar Paul, Dr Mriganka Bhangar, and Mr Prasun Kumar Chakraborty for their immense help and support during the study.
13782 Nestng behaviour of Asian Paradise Flycatcher Das & Adhikari isolated place with very less human actvites or of eggs was not confrmed in one go. A safe hideout disturbances. The forest covered a long range of mostly at a distant bush resulted in locatng/recording the bamboo vegetaton, with mango and guava trees lining repeated visits of the couple to the nest, with alternate a narrow mud path. Agricultural felds, ponds, and the (mostly, the female was engaged in the incubaton wetland area are fooded during the monsoon. process) intervals of sitng (assumed to be incubatng the eggs), which confrmed the presence of eggs in the Behaviour study nest, though the number could not be confrmed then. Observatons were carried out from 05 June to 19 July Being socially monogamous, both male and female took 2017 on a single nest. The observatons were made from part in nest-building, incubaton, brooding, and feeding a safe hide-out with proper camoufaged clothing and of the young. A sudden heavy rain on the 11th day of ambience. A considerable distance from the nest was the observaton period showed the fact that both the maintained to avoid disturbances during observaton. A parents guarded the nest sitng at its edges spreading pair of Olympus 8×40 DPS I binoculars and Nikon Coolpix their wings. A stroll along the circumferental area where P600 camera was used for documentaton. Tree and nest the nest was spoted confrmed the presence of nests of heights and distances were measured by TruPulse 300 a few other species, namely Lineated Barbet Megalaima laser range fnder. The girth of the tree at chest height lineate, Coppersmith Barbet M. haemacephala, and was measured using a measuring tape. The birds were Black-hooded Oriole Oriolus xanthornus. On the 27th day not marked, the size of the clutch was not measured, of the observaton period, the peeping of a chick was the and nest was not touched or brought down for observed inside the nest. The act of feeding the juvenile measurement purposes even afer being deserted by by the parents in alteraton, mostly again by the female, birds as chances remained for another couple to use the facilitated the documentaton. Right afer six days (i.e., same. on the 33rd day of the observaton period) from the frst observaton of the chick, two more chicks were observed Results and Discussion inside. Since the nest was not hampered or no atempt The nest was built at a height of 4.15m in the branch was made to have an eye-level view of the nestng, the of a Mango Tree Mangifera indica (height 6.35m, girth exact clutch size could not be determined; however, the 179cm). The nest was chiefy made with twigs and number of chicks (here, three in number) could possibly spider webs on the end of a short branch. The nest give an overview of the same. The feeding behaviour was located on the third day of the observaton period was observed prior to fedging, even when the chicks (Table 1). Initally, due to the height at which the nest were capable of coming out of the nest to the nearby was located and the tendency of the observers to not twigs/branches. Feeding mostly comprised of ants, disturb the ambience and the conditon of the nest, small insects, and damselfies torn into parts. it was not approached directly. Hence, the presence The breeding season of the species lasts from May to
Table 1. Chronology of the breeding cycle of Asian Paradise Flycatcher at Bart Beel in West Bengal, India.
Day in the Date Observaton at nest site observaton period 05.vi.2017 1 Three to four Asian Paradise Flycatcher (rufous) seen in the study area.
07.vi.2017 3 Nest was found.
12.vi.2017 8 Repeated atending of both the parent to the nest confrmed the presence of eggs.
14.vi.2017 10 Incubaton was done by both the parents, the female being a bit more regular. A sudden heavy rain showed the fact that both parents guarded the nest sitng at the edges spreading their 15.vi.2017 11 wings. Nests of Lineated Barbet, Coppersmith Barbet, and Black-hooded Oriole were observed in the circumferental 18.vi.2017 14 reach of the studied spot. 01.vii.2017 27 One chick was observed.
04.vii.2017 30 Feeding mostly comprised of ants, small insects, and damselfy parts.
05.vii.2017 31 Both the parents were observed in the afair of feeding.
07.vii.2017 33 Two more chicks were observed peeping. Feeding behaviour was observed prior to fedging, even when the chicks were capable to come out of the nest 19.vii.2017 45 to nearby twigs/branches.
Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 April 2019 | 11(6): 13782–13785 13783 Nestng behaviour of Asian Paradise Flycatcher Das & Adhikari
Image 1. Asian Paradise Flycatchers observed at Bart Beel in West Bengal, India: A - the female parent visitng the nest, perching on the brim of the nest | B - female parent observed sitng inside the nest, incubatng the egg(s) | C - peeping of a chick | D - peeping of two more chicks | E - feeding of insects, damselfies, and larvae torn apart by the parent birds (mostly female) to the chicks | F & G - a young bird that recently fedged but is stll dependent upon parental care for feeding | H - the onset of the colouraton of the feathers on the sub-adult bird, confrming its rufous morph | I - the newly atained adulthood of the bird. © Nilemesh Das.
13784 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 April 2019 | 11(6): 13782–13785 Nestng behaviour of Asian Paradise Flycatcher Das & Adhikari
July; in this study, it started in June and ended by the end and abdomen (Gokula & Vijayan 2003). The present of July. The incubaton period lasts 14–16 days and the study observed a similar set of pieces of damselfies, nestling period 9–12 days (Mizuta & Yamagishi 1998), ants, and larvae being fed to the chicks by the parent though our study recorded 23–26 days of incubaton. birds. The birds usually perch high on a shade-covered Three eggs were laid in the neat cup nest on the end of a branch, sallying out to catch insects on the wing and low branch. Chicks hatched in about 21–23 days. returning to the perch to consume them, ofen singly In general, most of the studies showed lower or in pairs (del Hoyo et al. 2006). Here, the nest was breeding success in tree cavites compared to nest boxes constructed on a twig which was about 50% shade- (van Balen et al. 1982; Nilsson 1986; East & Perrins 1988; covered, with the parent birds perching on the edges of Alatalo et al. 1990; Lundberg & Alatalo 1992). Contrary the brim of the nest. to these studies, Mitrus (2003) and Czeszczewik (2004) reported higher breeding success in tree cavites than References in nest boxes. In our study, reproductve success was 100% as we could observe the juveniles grow up to their Alatalo, R.V., C. Glynn & A. Lundberg (1990). Singing rate and female atracton in the Pied Flycatcher: an experiment. Animal Behaviour adulthood and hovering around, though further such 39(3): 601–603. documentaton or spotng was not carried out. Czeszczewik, D. (2004). Breeding success and tming of the Pied The site selecton for nestng plays a crucial role Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca nestng in natural holes and nest- boxes in the Białowieża Forest, Poland. Acta Ornithologica 39(1): in the success of the progeny. Nests built in the close 15–20. proximity of a breeding pair of predatory birds like del Hoyo, J., A. Elliot & D.A. Christe (eds.) (2006). Handbook of treepies and drongos ofen results in a signifcant the Birds of the World, Vol. II. Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers. Lynx Edicions, 798pp. reproductve success, where predaton poses one of East, M.L. & C.M. Perrins (1988). The efect of nestboxes on the major threats to the chicks (Nolan 1963; Ricklefs breeding populatons of birds in broadleaved temperate woodlands. Ibis 130(4): 393–401. 1969). In our study, the nestlings of Lineated Barbet and Gokula, V. & L. Vijayan (2003). Foraging and nestng behaviour of Asian Coppersmith Barbet pairs were seen at an approximate Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone paradise in Mudumalai Wildlife circumference of 60m and that of a Black-hooded Oriole Sanctuary, Tamil Nadu, India. Forktail 19: 142–144. Grimmet, R., C. Inskipp & T. Inskipp (2011). Birds of the Indian at about 150m. Subcontnent. Helm Field Guide - 2nd Editon. Oxford University The breeding season for the non-migratory Press, India, 528pp. subspecies afnis is March–July, while for the migratory IUCN (2019). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2019-1
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Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 April 2019 | 11(6): 13782–13785 13785 PLATINUM The Journal of Threatened Taxa (JoTT) is dedicated to building evidence for conservaton globally by publishing peer-reviewed artcles online every month at a reasonably rapid rate at www.threatenedtaxa.org. OPEN ACCESS All artcles published in JoTT are registered under Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License unless otherwise mentoned. JoTT allows allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of artcles in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton.
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
April 2019 | Vol. 11 | No. 6 | Pages: 13631–13814 Date of Publicaton: 26 April 2019 (Online & Print) www.threatenedtaxa.org DOI: 10.11609/jot.2019.11.6.13631-13814
Editorial Diversity and community structure of Odonata (Insecta) in two land use types in Purba Medinipur District, West Bengal, India Building evidence for 20 years! – Prit Ranjan Pahari, Shubha Sankar Mandal, Subhadeep Mait & – Sanjay Molur, P. 13631 Tanmay Bhatacharya, Pp. 13748–13755
Artcles Foraging preferences of honey bees Apis cerana in Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka, India Efect of socio-ecological factors and parasite infecton on body conditon of – A.G. Suhas Krishna & Rajashekhar K. Patl, Pp. 13756–13764 Brown Mouse Lemur Microcebus rufus (Mammalia: Primates: Cheirogaleidae) – Andry Herman Rafalinirina, Jeannot Randrianasy, Patricia C. Wright & Additons to the lichen biota of Assam State, India – Rupjyot Gogoi, Siljo Joseph, Sanjeeva Nayaka & Farishta Yasmin, Jonah Ratsimbazafy, Pp. 13632–13643 Pp.13765–13781 Identfcaton of suitable habitat for Swamp Deer Rucervus duvaucelii Short Communicatons duvaucelii (Mammalia: Artodactyla: Cervidae) in Chitwan Natonal Park, Nepal Study of nestng behaviour of Asian Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone – Shravan Kumar Ghimire, Man Kumar Dhamala, Babu Ram Lamichhane, paradisi (Aves: Passeriformes: Monorchidae)from southern West Bengal, Rishi Ranabhat, Khim Bahadur KC & Shashank Poudel, Pp. 13644–13653 India – Nilemesh Das & Shuvadip Adhikari, Pp. 13782–13785 Communicatons A checklist of fsh species from three rivers in northwestern Bangladesh The diversity and conservaton of mammals in the Dodo Coastal Forest in southwestern Côte d’Ivoire, western Africa: a preliminary study based on a seven-year survey – Serge Pacome Keagnon Soiret, Célestn Yao Kouakou, Béné Jean-Claude Kof, – Imran Parvez, Mohammad Ashraful Alam, Mohammad Mahbubul Hassan, Blaise Kadjo, Philippe Kouassi, Peñate José Gomez, Reiko Matsuda Goodwin & Yeasmin Ara, Imran Hoshan & Abu Syed Mohammad Kibria, Pp. 13786–13794 Inza Kone, Pp. 13654–13666 New plant distributon records to Indian states and additon to the fora of Resource selecton by Javan Slow Loris Nyctcebus javanicus E. Geofroy, 1812 Myanmar (Mammalia: Primates: Lorisidae) in a lowland fragmented forest in – Kanakasabhapathi Pradheep, Ganjalagata Dasaiah Harish, Ranbir Singh Central Java, Indonesia Rathi, Joseph John Katukkunnel, Sheikh Mohmmad Sultan, Khoisnam – Mahfut Sodik, Satyawan Pudyatmoko, Pujo Semedi Hargo Yuwono & Naveen, Iyyappan Jaisankar, Anjula Pandey, Sudhir Pal Ahlawat & Rita Gupta, Muhammad Ali Imron, Pp. 13667–13679 Pp. 13795–13804
Species compositon and abundance of rodents in Kafa-Sheraro Natonal Park, Notes Ethiopia: preliminary results – Alembrhan Assefa & Chelmala Srinivasulu, Pp. 13680–13689 Sightng of Arunachal Macaque Macaca munzala Sinha et al., 2005 (Mammalia: Primates: Cercopithecidae) in Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary, Colour aberraton in Indian mammals: a review from 1886 to 2017 Bhutan – Anil Mahabal, Radheshyam Murlidhar Sharma, Rajgopal Narsinha Patl & – Sonam Tobgay, Kumbu Dorji & Norbu Yangdon, Pp. 13805–13807 Shrikant Jadhav, Pp. 13690–13719 Rediscovery of an endemic Indian moth Gurna indica (Moore, 1879) Nestng trees of the Red Giant Gliding Squirrel Petaurista petaurista (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctinae) afer 125 years (Mammalia: Rodenta: Sciuridae) in a tropical forest of Namdapha Natonal – Aparna Sureshchandra Kalawate, Neha Upadhyay & Banani Mukhopadhyay, Park, India Pp.13808–13810 – Murali Chatakonda Krishna, Awadhesh Kumar & Om Prakash Tripathi, Pp. 13720–13726 The Nepal Pipewort Eriocaulon nepalense var. luzulifolium (Commelinids: Insights into the diet and feeding behaviour of Red-capped Lark Poales: Eriocaulaceae): a new distributon record for southern India Calandrella cinerea (Aves: Passeriformes: Alaudidae) – Murugan Soumya & Maya C. Nair, Pp. 13811–13814 – Mary Mwangi, Nathan Gichuki, Robert Chira & Peter Njoroge, Pp. 13727– 13733
Baseline biodiversity and physiochemical survey in Parvat Kunda and surrounding area in Rasuwa, Nepal – Jessie Anna Moravek, Mohan Bikram Shrestha & Sanjeevani Yonzon, Pp. 13734–13747 Publisher & Host
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