Indian Birds Vol. 2 No. 1 (January-February 2006) 17

Parakeets Psittacula columboides all over well as the Redwattled Lapwing Vanellus stations: Ootacamund, Coonoor, Kotagiri, the place - the latter preferring Guava trees indicus - how he has learnt the call of the Yercaud and the country around. 2 vols. for nesting. Also, the Malabar Whistling- last I cannot say as the few we hear pass Matthew, K.M. 1999. The flora of the Palni Thrush Myophonus horsfieldii, more heard high overhead. Hills, south India. 3 vols. Tiruchirapalli: The Rapinat Herbarium. than seen, but sometimes flying past, always I have not used any Latin names because I Pallithanam, J.M. 2001. A pocket flora of the in groups of six or eight, cobalt–blue wings still think Rhopodytes viridirostris for the Sirumalai hills, south India. Tiruchirapalli: The glistening and, on such occasions, raucous Green-billed Malkoha (common in scrub and Rapinat Herbarium. screeches rather than song. And, bush on lower slopes/foothills), but I am Santharam, V. 2005. Bird conservation in Tamil interestingly, our resident (and fiercely aware the evolutionary taxonomists or DNA Nadu - beyond the Red Data Book and IBAs. aggressive) Magpie Robin Copsychus wallahs have gone and revised that name! Mistnet 6 (1): 4-7. saularis makes a very passable imitation of the Malabar Whistling-Thrush and the References Black-headed Oriole Oriolus xanthornus as Fyson, P.F. 1932. The flora of south Indian hill

The birds at home Pragati Nayak Aashirwad, Sampe, Post Aryapu, Puttur Taluk, Dakshin Kannad 574210, Karnataka. Email: [email protected]

aving lived all my life in the urban I do take great pleasure in spending the early adjacent vacant plot getting filled. Hjungle of Kolkata (= Calcutta), I was mornings of most Sundays roaming around The following is a list of the birds I have fascinated by the greenery of my in-law’s our garden and the adjacent mill compound, seen around my house in the past ten years. residence in rural Karnataka (Dakshin together comprising about three and a half White-breasted Waterhen Amaurornis Kannad). The first things I noticed about acres of land. phoenicurus my new home were the many birds in the Cut logs stacked around the saw mill Red-wattled Lapwing Vanellus indicus garden and in the trees around the house attract woodpeckers, wagtails, bee-eaters Blue Rock Pigeon Columba livia and the family sawmill nearby. I did not, and flycatchers. There are two trees, locally Spotted Dove Streptopelia chinensis however, begin to study them seriously till called “Daddal” Careya arborea and Indian Hanging-Parrot Loriculus vernalis about ten years ago when my husband “Maruwa or Hunal” Terminalia paniculata, Rose-ringed Parakeet Psittacula krameri presented me with a copy of Martin which attract many birds. Sometimes I have Plum-headed Parakeet Psittacula cyanocephala Woodcock’s Collins handguide to the birds seen more than fifteen or twenty species Brainfever Bird Hierococcyx varius Asian Koel Eudynamys scolopacea of the Indian sub-continent including India, foraging on the trees at the same time. They Greater Coucal Centropus sinensis Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri-Lanka and are always visited by practically every Asian Palm-Swift Cypsiurus balasiensis Nepal. species that can be seen here. House Swift Apus affinis Armed with the book and an ancient pair The plot adjacent to the mill compound Small Blue Kingfisher Alcedo atthis of binoculars belonging to my father-in-law, was vacant till three years ago. It used to be White-breasted Kingfisher Halcyon I started taking great pleasure in identifying visited by many birds, particularly babblers smyrnensis the birds around me. The black birds with Turdoides spp., and Pittas Pitta brachyura. Small Bee-eater Merops orientalis forked tails were Black Drongos Dicrurus But now people have bought the land and Chestnut-headed Bee-eater Merops macrocercus, the small purple bird with built houses and as a result I no longer see leschenaulti White-cheeked Barbet Megalaima viridis curved beak was the Purple Sunbird these birds there. Coppersmith Barbet Megalaima Nectarinia asiatica, the black and yellow One interesting fact is that Indian Robins haemacephala bird that sang beautifully was the Black- Saxicoloides fulicata were the most Small Yellow-naped Woodpecker Picus headed Oriole Oriolus xanthornus, etc. common birds in the mill area. One could chlorolophus All my bird watching is done around my always see them on trees or on the logs. I Lesser Golden-backed Woodpecker Dinopium house and as I don’t see the same birds once even found a nest, in a hole in one of benghalense week after week, the thrill of bird watching the logs, containing three off-white pitted Heart-spotted Woodpecker Hemicircus has not yet declined for me. Our garden has eggs. Funnily, there were never any Indian canente flowering plants like rose, jasmine, lantana, Robins in our house garden though only a Indian Pitta Pitta brachyura Large Pied Wagtail Motacilla maderaspatensis marigold and hibiscus and trees like simple fence separated the mill compound Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea coconut, areca nut, mango, jackfruit, chikoo from the garden. About three years ago, the Large Cuckoo-Shrike Coracina macei and silk cotton. We also have plants like numbers of Indian Robins began to dwindle Black-headed Cuckoo-Shrike Coracina papaya, banana and pineapple. Though from the usual number of about five to ten melanoptera there is no water body here, the ditches get pairs till I no longer saw them anymore. Their Small Minivet Pericrocotus cinnamomeus full with water from the surrounding habitat, the logs and the trees, are still Scarlet Minivet Pericrocotus flammeus elevated places in the monsoons and present, as is plenty of food in the shape of Ruby-throated Bulbul Pycnonotus common kingfishers Alcedo atthis, red- insects, and the only explanation seems to melanicterus gularis wattled lapwings Vanellus indicus and be that they were preyed upon by crows Red-whiskered Bulbul P. jocosus Red-vented Bulbul P. cafer white-breasted waterhens Amaurornis Corvus spp., and Greater Coucals Yellow-browed Bulbul Iole indica phoenicurus make their appearance. I have Centropus sinensis. The disappearance of Common Iora Aegithina tiphia not made a scientific study of the birds but the Indian Robins also coincided with the 18 Indian Birds Vol. 2 No. 1 (January-February 2006)

Jerdon’s Chloropsis Chloropsis Tickell’s Flowerpecker Dicaeum References cochinchinensis erythrorhynchos Ali, S. 1996. The book of Indian birds. Bombay: Golden-fronted Chloropsis Chloropsis Purple Sunbird Nectarinia asiatica Bombay Natural History Society. aurifrons Loten’s Sunbird Nectarinia lotenia Krys Kazmierczak, K. 2000. A field guide to the Orange-headed Thrush Zoothera citrina Black-headed Munia Lonchura malacca birds of India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Oriental Magpie-Robin Copsychus saularis Grey-headed Starling Sturnus malabaricus Bhutan, Bangladesh and the Maldives. New Indian Robin Saxicoloides fulicata Common Myna Acridotheres tristis Delhi: Om Book Service. Spotted Babbler Pellorneum ruficeps Eurasian Golden Oriole Oriolus oriolus Woodcock, M. 1980. Collins handguide to the Black-headed Babbler Rhopocichla atriceps Black-headed Oriole O. xanthornus birds of the Indian sub-continent including Jungle Babbler Turdoides striatus Black Drongo Dicrurus microcercus India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri-Lanka and Common Tailorbird Orthotomus sutorius Ashy Drongo D. leucophaeus Nepal. London: Collins. Asian Paradise-Flycatcher Terpsiphone Greater Racket-tailed Drongo D. paradiseus paradisi Indian Treepie Dendrocitta vagabunda Pragati Nayak is a housewife who is also Black-naped Monarch-Flycatcher Hypothymis House Crow Corvus splendens interested in watching birds. azurea Jungle Crow Corvus macrorhynchos

Can we augment the Important Bird Area concept in India? The role of large landholdings outside Protected Areas Lt. General Baljit Singh House 219, Sector 16-A, Chandigarh 160015, India. wo crucial aspects to bird conservation conservation, regardless of whether or not Jerdon’s Courser) threatened with extinction Tare identifying areas that are important these areas are under legal protection. But by the loss of its habitat. So, we must look for birds and then protecting these areas highlighting valuable wilderness areas is to other options. from habitat destruction or other threats to only the first step: what should we do next? wildlife. BirdLife International has made a One strategy to protect key areas is to Conservation outside Protected Areas promising start in finding key areas by purchase them outright. This option has Today, with forest cover declining at coming up with criteria that can be used been successfully pursued by BirdLife alarming rates, our wildlife is being pushed identify Important Bird Areas (IBAs). A International’s partner in the UK, the Royal to extreme limits of survival. This being so, recent compendium of IBAs in India (Islam Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). we should press for the conservation of all & Rahmani 2004), compiled by the Bombay The RSPB purchases land where needed, remaining habitat that have the potential to Natural History Society (BNHS) through the and establishes a scientifically managed bird support populations of wild species, Indian Bird Conservation Network (IBCN) reserve under its own ownership. Where whether or not these habitats are under the highlights the utility of this approach. the looming extinction of a species is control of the Forest Department. I suggest Once important sites are identified, how attributed basically to the loss of its habitat that we should negotiate partnerships with should we go about protecting them? Some (e.g. Jerdon’s Courser Rhinoptilus establishments, public and private, that own of these areas are already under nominal bitorquatus) and the fight for its survival vast real estate, which in many cases are protection by the designated government has reached a critical juncture, the strategy already avian havens or have the potential agencies: the Forest Departments of various of purchasing land would appear to be the to become so. Such areas are unlikely to States. These areas stand notified as only pragmatic course of action with high hold much intact forest, but instead may Protected Areas (PAs), such as Biosphere probability of success. contain woodland or other habitats, and still Reserves, Ramsar sites, National Parks, Regrettably, we in India have little be valuable for conservation. Tiger Reserves, Sanctuaries, and so on. If chance of adopting this strategy. The kind of areas that come to mind are these wilderness entities were to be afforded Wilderness areas in India usually fall under on the very extensive campuses that are the protection that their designated status land classified by the government as under that control of large government prescribes, most of India’s current agricultural, wasteland, or forest. The limit establishments and private enterprises. biodiversity would be likely to survive in to private ownership of agricultural land Such areas exist in every biogeographic zone the long term. under our laws is in the region of 20 ha, so of India. Large wooded areas have become Sadly, the reality is quite different. Today there is little chance of acquiring a large, a common feature in the layout of the work the entire network of PAs is under an contiguous patch. Acquiring government places and living spaces of these unrelenting siege (political, administrative, “wasteland” or forest land is next to organisations. Almost as a rule, these socio-economic and societal), which impossible. Furthermore, the demands on spaces are inviolate to trespass, with their constricts it increasingly by the day. Hardly land for agricultural, industrial and urban perimeters being walled or fenced. Besides a year passes without one or the other of needs are so extensive and growing by the providing security to the inhabitants and these critical wildernesses being violated day that altogether this strategy will find equipment, these measures also ensure that through their denotification as protected few enthusiasts. And lastly, it is a tall order the enclosed wooded areas are relatively landscapes. Conservationists do protest, indeed for the BNHS or any other Indian undisturbed. In large part, these areas will but are largely ignored by the State. Given conservation organisation to be able to raise not fit the criteria for inclusion as IBAs. this scenario, the IBA programme is a the funds for purchasing even one Nevertheless, they are of potential laudable concept, in that it shines the substantial area, say 1000 ha in extent, to importance for conservation (as I describe spotlight on areas important for bird provide space just for one species (like the below), and the IBCN would do well to use