Observations on wintering Pallid Scops Otus brucei at Zainabad, Little Rann of Kachchh, Surendranagar district, Gujarat

Harkirat Singh Sangha & Dhanraj Malik

Sangha, H. S., & Malik, D., 2010. Observations onwintering Pallid Otus brucei at Zainabad, Little Rann of Kachchh, Surendranagar district, Gujarat. Indian 5 (6): 176–177. Harkirat Singh Sangha, B-27, Gautam Marg, Hanuman Nagar, Jaipur 302021, Rajasthan, India. Email: [email protected] Dhanraj Malik, Camp Desert Coursers, Zainabad, District Surindernagar, 382765 Gujarat, India. Email: [email protected] Manuscript received on 5 May 2009.

Introduction and a third from Thane (1960). The fourth is in the collection of St The Pallid Scops Owl Otus brucei is found from the Middle-East Xaviers High School, obtained from Andheri (1965). (south-central Turkey, northern Syria, Iraq, Iran, eastern Arabia) Thus it has been recorded only on few occasions from India, to western and central Asia, south to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and all the recent records are not from Maharashtra but from and north-western India. Although it is present all year round western and northern India. A was caught and measured on in south-eastern Arabia, and Iran, other populations are mostly 13 November 1984 at Rajkot, Gujarat (Mundkur 1986). A specimen migratory, wintering in the Levant region, north-eastern Egypt, was collected from Ambala, Haryana and sent to the BNHS in Arabia, and in India south to Mumbai (König et al. 1999). It breeds January 1982 (Roberts 1992). A pair was observed roosting in the from Palestine to the Aral Sea and Afghanistan, and winters at the branches of the only tree below Hanle monastery, Ladakh, on 8 southern part of this range, and northern India (Marshall 1978), October 1997 (Pfister 2001). preferring cultivated, and riverine woodlands, and in northern India, and Pakistan, stony semi-deserts, steep cliffs, and rocky A new record from Gujarat gorges where trees grow larger than bush size (Voous 1988). On 15 October 2008, this rare owl was discovered by chance by Specimens of the nominate brucei (breeding in northern Central DM in his wildlife resort, Desert Coursers, Zainabad (23º16´51N Asia) have been collected in autumn, and winter, in Pakistan, and 71º46´09E), in the Little Rann of Kachchh, Surendranagar district, the Mumbai region of western India, but not elsewhere (Cramp Gujarat, India. It was roosting in a tree by day. Subsequently one 1985). From Afghanistan, Paludan (1959) has mentioned “one more bird was found here, roosting in a hollow of a wall, and record (Wakhan)”, but doubted that it bred there. a third was discovered in the beginning of February 2009. HSS Ali & Ripley (1981) consider the Pallid Scops Owl an imperfectly known species within the Indian Subcontinent. In Pakistan it is reported from Gilgit, Punjab (Salt Range), Quetta district, Baluchistan—from Chaman to central Makran. It is recorded only during winter in Sind (Murray 1884). Indian records are from Mumbai, Pune, Thane, and Ahmednagar (its type locality) (Ripley 1982). Its distributional status in Pakistan is that of a scarce resident and local migrant, summering in the hills, with a few winter records from the plains. Kylänpää (2000) mentions Pallid Scops Owl as a rare resident around Sheikh Budin, Dera Ismail Khan in North West Frontier Province of Pakistan but gives no other information. In India it is a rare visitor (Grimmett et al 1998). del Hoyo et al. (1999) describe it as rare visitor in India. Baker (1927) described it as a straggling visitor to India. Ali (1945) did not find it during his 1943–1944 surveys in Kachchh; nor has he listed it for Gujarat (Ali 1956). However, Dharmakumsinji (1955) stated that it was a rare straggler in Saurashtra and recorded collecting specimens at Hathab, Bhavnagar. H. S. Sangha According to Rasmussen & Anderton (2005) it disperses in winter to the plains of Pakistan, “commonly reaching western Maharashtra (numerous verified specimens)”. However, Prasad (2003, 2006) gives its status as unclear, and rare, in Maharashtra. Abdulali (1972) presents details of only four specimens from Maharashtra, in the Bombay Natural History Society’s (BNHS) collection: two old skins from Pune (1882) and Ratnagiri (1874), Fig. 1. Day-roosting Pallid Scops Owl Otus brucei.

176 Indian Birds Vol. 5 No. 6 (Publ. 6th May 2010) Sangha & Malik: Pallid Scops Owl

observed them from 29 to 31 December 2008, and on 31 January indica and khejri Prosopis cineraria trees, attracted the birds. 2009. The spent most of the day motionless at their daytime roost. One bird, holed up in a wall, was relaxed, and kept its Description plumage rather loose. Another, which roosted in neem and khejri, effectively disguised itself as a snag. Scops-owls (Genus Otus) have an intricate pattern of colouring Although both birds were tolerant of human presence, the one resembling bark and dry leaves, which camouflage them roosting in trees was seen changing its roost due to disturbance appropriately among regional flora, while it roosts in the daytime from people. It flew a short distance into another tree if disturbed (Marshall 1978). The bird exhibits a whole cline of colour variation by day. from sandier to grey plumages (Mikkola 1983). The bird at DM did not hear them calling any time. Zainabad was the nominate brucei, rather grey with sharply The owls were present till 1 April 2009, after which there were defined streaks. Of the four distinct size-groups at least nominate no further reports. brucei migrates to northern India (Cramp 1985). The identification was fairly straightforward facilitated by the best of views and good light conditions. Stop press: 2009–2010 winter One bird, roosting upright in a tree, appeared rather slim, with The first Pallid Scops Owl arrived at Desert Coursers on 27 October its plumage sleeked and its rounded ear-tufts raised (Fig. 1). 2009, and two more were seen about a fortnight later. They spent However, at night it appeared dumpier, with relaxed body the winter there, and were last seen on 12 March 2010. Most likely plumage, a more rounded head, and ear-tufts only slightly raised they were the same birds as the previous year. with feathers of head held loose (Figs. 2–3). Overall the bird looked creamy-grey with fine sharp black Acknowledgement streaks. Under parts were comparatively paler with black We thank Aasheesh Pittie for his help with additional references. striations thicker and longer on breast side. These appeared to become narrower and sharper towards tips, whereas on Otus scops they normally become slightly broader and References diffuse. Ali, S. 1945. The birds of Kutch. Kutch; Bombay: Government of Kutch; Oxford University Press. The facial disc appeared paler, greyer and much plainer- Ali, S. 1956. The birds of Gujarat. Bombay: Gujarat Research Society. looking with tiny grey specks, and short whitish eyebrows. Ali, S., & Ripley, S. D. 1981. Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan together The bristles at sides of bill were creamy white. Feathers of ruff with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Stone Curlews to bordering facial disc were black and rather prominent, the border Owls. Vol. 3. 2nd ed. Delhi: Oxford University Press. not developed near forecrown and chest. Abdulali, H. 1972. A catalogue of the birds in the collection of the The birds kept their eyes closed during the day but at night Bombay Natural History Society—11. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 69 iris appeared bright yellow (although in Figs. 2–3 they look quite (1): 102–129. different in flash light). The bill was horn-brown, dark black on Baker, E. C. S. 1927. Fauna of British India. Birds. Vol. 4. 2nd ed. London: Taylor & Francis. tip and feet light grey, claws were light horn at base but tips lead Dharmakumarsinhji, R. S. 1955. Birds of Saurashtra. Bhavnagar: Published coloured. by the author. Cramp, S. (Ed.) 1985. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Behaviour North Africa. The birds of the Western Palearctic.Volume IV. Terns to Woodpeckers. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Three birds wintered in Desert Courser Camp, Zainabad from Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C., & Inskipp, T. 1998. Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. 15 October 2008 to 1 April 2009. Two birds were seen regularly London: Christopher Helm. in the camp during this period. A third bird was found towards König, C., Weick, F., & Becking, J. 1999. Owls: a guide to the owls of the world. the end of winter. The camp, on the eastern edge of the Little Sussex: Pica Press. Rann of Kachchh, is the better-wooded part, for miles, in the area. Kylänpää, J. 2000. Birds of Dera Ismail Khan District of NorthWest Frontier Undoubtedly, this oasis, with its scattering of neem Azadirachta Province in Pakistan. Forktail. 16: 15–28. Marshall, J. T. 1978. Systematics of smaller Asian night birds based on voice. Ornithological Monographs 25: Pp. i–viii, 1–58. Mikkola, H. 1983. Owls of Europe. Calton: T & A D Poyser. Mundkur, T. 1986. Occurrence of Pallid Scops Owl Otus brucei (Hume) in Rajkot, Gujarat. Newsletter for Birdwatchers 26 (1–2): 10–11. Murray, J. A. 1884. The Vertebrate Zoology of Sind: a systematic account. London; Bombay: Richardson & Co; Education Society’s Press. Paludan, K. 1959. The 3rd Danish Expedition to Central Asia. Zoological resutls 25. On the birds of Afghanistan. Videnskabelige Meddelelser Dansk Naturhistorisk Forening 122: [ii], 1–332. Prasad, A. 2003. Annotated checklist of the birds of western Maharashtra. Buceros: 8(2&3): 1–174. Prasad, A. 2006. Birds of western Maharashtra: a reference guide. Goa: Other India Press. Pfister, O. 1999. Owls in Ladakh. Oriental Bird Club Bulletin 29: 22–28. Pfister, O. 2001. Birds recorded during visits to Ladakh, India, from 1994 to 1997. Forktail 17: 81–90. Ripley, S. D. 1982. A synopsis of the birds of India and Pakistan together with those of Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. 2nd ed. Bombay: Bombay Natural History Society. Roberts, T. J. 1992. The birds of Pakistan. Vol. 1. Karachi: Oxford University Dhanraj Malik Press. Fig. 2. Pallid Scops Owl Otus brucei at night. Voous, K. H. 1988. Owls of the northern hemisphere. London: Collins.

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