Indian BIRDS | Vol. 13 No. 1 V ol . 13 N o . 1 White-browed Shortwing Seabirds ofGoa Indian Skimmer CONTENTS

1 Breeding biology of Indian Skimmer Rynchops albicollis at Mahanadi River, Odisha, India Indian BIRDS Sumant Kumar Rajguru www.indianbirds.in Vol. 13 No. 1

Date of Publication: 20 April 2017 8 Seabirds of Goa, India: Recent updates ISSN 0973-1407 Pronoy Baidya, Mandar Bhagat, Omkar Dharwadkar & Harshada Gauns

Editor: Aasheesh Pittie [email protected] 18 Records of White-browed Shortwing Brachypteryx montana from Uttarakhand, and a review of its status in the Himalaya west of Nepal Associate Editors: V. Santharam, Praveen J. Gunjan Arora, Puja Sharma, Tim Inskipp & Paul R. Elsen Editorial Board Maan Barua, Anwaruddin Choudhury Bill Harvey, Farah Ishtiaq, Rajah Jayapal, Girish Jathar 22 Winter records of Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus from Ragupathy Kannan, Madhusudan Katti Sambhar Lake and its environs, Rajasthan R. Suresh Kumar, Taej Mundkur, Rishad Naoroji Harkirat Singh Sangha Prasad Ganpule, Suhel Quader Harkirat Singh Sangha, C. Sashikumar Manoj Sharma, S. Subramanya, K. S. Gopi Sundar 24 Breeding of White-tailed Lapwing Vanellus leucurus in Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, Gujarat, India Layout & Cover Design: K. Jayaram Devvratsinh Mori & Kasam Sama Sidani Office: P. Rambabu Pied Wheatear Oenanthe pleschanka in Goa: A retrospective record 25 Mark Newsome New Ornis Foundation Registration No. 314/2004 First definitive documentation of Forest WagtailDendronanthus indicus 26 Founder Trustees from Okhla Bird Sanctuary, Delhi NCR Zafar Futehally (1920–2013) Rohit Arora Aasheesh Pittie, V. Santharam

Trustees Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata: A new record for Goa, India Aasheesh Pittie, V. Santharam, Rishad Naoroji, 27 Omkar Dharwadkar, Pronoy Baidya, Pankaj Lad, Prasanna Parab, Taej Mundkur, S. Subramanya, Mandar Bhagat, Madhura Niphadkar, Parag Rangnekar& Shraddha Suhel Quader, Praveen J. Rangnekar

Aims & Objectives • To publish a newsletter that will provide a platform to birdwatchers for publishing notes and observations Letter to the Editor primarily on birds of South Asia. 28 • To promote awareness of birdwatching amongst the general public. Snapshot sightings • To establish and maintain links/liaison with other 28A associations or organized bodies in India or abroad whose objectives are in keeping with the objectives of the Trust (i.e. to support amateur birdwatchers with cash / kind for projects in ornithology).

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Cover: Indian Skimmer Rynchops albicollis

Photographer: Panchami Manoo Ukil Address for correspondence: New Ornis Foundation, 2nd Flr, BBR Forum, Rd. No. 2, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad 500034, India. Rajguru: Indian Skimmer 1

Breeding biology of Indian Skimmer Rynchops albicollis at Mahanadi River, Odisha, India

Sumant Kumar Rajguru

Rajguru, S. K., 2017. Breeding biology of Indian Skimmer Rynchops albicollis at Mahanadi River, Odisha, India. Indian BIRDS 13 (1): 1–7. Sumant Kumar Rajguru, Odisha Wildlife Hub, 181, Chandresekharpur, Bhubaneswar 751024, Odisha, India. E-mail: [email protected]. Manuscript received on 25 March 2016.

Abstract Riverine birds are an integral part of a river’s ecosystem. They play a pivotal role in maintaining its ecological balance. Presently, due to untold biotic and abiotic factors, they are on the decline, and some of them are today in the rare, threatened, or vulnerable lists of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Therefore, there is an urgent need to study these threatened bird species to form conservation strategies to not only help save the species, but also to ultimately help sustain the balance of nature. Among such, the Indian Skimmer Rynchops albicollis is a ‘Vulnerable’ species as per the IUCN. Indian Skimmers are found in the Mundli area of Cuttack District, Odisha, India. There is barely any scientific documentation available on the Indian Skimmer. Therefore, an attempt has been made to study the breeding biology of this vulnerable species at Mundli, Odisha, India. The nesting site that was studied, the first such from Odisha, was discovered in the last week of February 2016, during a regular birdwatching trip, when the author saw a pair of skimmers flying overhead. Extensive field survey was carried out between March and June 2016 (about 90 days) at the study area as per standard methods of data collection on breeding biology of avian species. The courtship, nesting, and breeding behaviours were studied. For a proper scientific study the associated flora, fauna, soil, fish, and water of study area were enumerated. Skimmers were ringed, and the nocturnal behaviour of the chicks was studied. The nesting area contained diverse aquatic and sand dune flora as well as faunal species with surface feeding fish, crustaceans, and small telescopic snails. It was noted that 181 eggs of Indian Skimmer survived from 64 nests. Out of these, 139 eggs hatched successfully. A clutch comprised two to five eggs. The present study highlights the biodiversity and geographical conditions that are conducive in encouraging the nesting of the Indian Skimmer. Sumant Kumar Rajguru

1. Indian Skimmer at Mundli, River Mahanadi, Odisha, India 2 Indian BIRDS Vol. 13 No. 1 (Publ. 20 April 2017)

Introduction scrape in loose and porous sand, without any cover of foliage, The Indian Skimmer Rynchops albicollis [hereinafter, IS] is a boulders, rocks, etc. Most of these mid-river sand-spits, chosen riverine bird [1] that belongs to the family Rynchopidae. It is a for nesting, are usually remote and inaccessible. Therefore, it is mid-sized tern-like bird, black above and white below, with a extremely difficult to conduct detailed observations while the long red bill (BLI, 2014; Mohsanin 2014). Its lower mandible is species is breeding. Hence the IS remains one of the most much longer than the upper, and laterally compressed towards under-studied birds in India with much of the information the tip. It has long pointed wings, a short tail, and short red available on its ecology and habits being anecdotal and legs with toes linked by incised webbing. It is gregarious and descriptive (Sundar 2004). Very few studies are reported on colonial, often loafing in flocks. It is monogamous, and while the the breeding of this species (Sundar 2004; Mohsanin 2014). sexes look similar, the male is larger. Juveniles are mottled with In the present study, we attempt to illustrate the breeding paler beaks. It does not swim or dive, but feeds on calm water biology of the IS. by skimming the surface with the lower mandible, which snaps shut on the prey. It is listed as Vulnerable by IUCN (BirdLife Study area International 2016), and hence it requires urgent conservation This study was conducted in the Mundali Dam area (20.44ºN, measures. The presence of IS has been reported from 85.75ºE) in Cuttack District, Odisha, India. The nesting site is various habitats of Odisha, including River Mahanadi at a sand-bar (c. 600x700 m) situated mid-stream on the River Mundali, which comes under Chandaka-Dampada Wildlife Mahanadi, and lies to the south of the Mundali bridge (Fig. 1) Division, Cuttack. This paper reports upon its breeding and (85.73ºN, 20.43ºE–85.73ºN, 20.42ºE; 85.73ºN, 20.43ºE– nesting behaviour, and hope it will help in framing a proper 85.73ºN, 20.43ºE). Much of the sandbar is composed of loose conservation strategy. and porous sand with clumps of Sachrum spontaneum grass. It is The IS is confined to the large rivers of India, Bangladesh, in close proximity to the Chandaka–Dampada Wildlife Sanctuary, Pakistan, and some countries that are part of Indochina and is only about 300 m away from a busy road with vehicular (Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam). It is a rare visitor to Nepal traffic. It is also close to Sukasan Forest Division, Athagarh, with and was previously recorded in China. It is now extinct from the small and discontinuous hill ranges towards the west. The Mundali Mekong Delta (BirdLife International 2001; J. W. Duckworth in Dam regulates floodwaters of the Mahanadi River, released from litt., 2003). It is seen in very small numbers in Pakistan while the Hirakud Reservoir, during peak monsoons. The area further Myanmar reports recent sightings from only three localities. west is adjacent to many small reserve forests in the Athgarh With the species being present in good numbers in various Wildlife Division. riverine habitats in India, it is believed that India is currently the The climate is typically tropical monsoon. During the period stronghold of this vulnerable species and therefore, any study of study, the temperature ranged between 35ºC and 48ºC, of it is greatly relevant from the perspective of conservation with occasional dry ‘kaalbaisakhi’ or localised thunderstorms. (Sundar 2004). In India, it is reported in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, No significant rainfall was registered locally though a few spells Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, were recorded in some nearby areas. This site sees a large and Odisha. In Odisha, the IS has marked its presence around number of wintering waterbirds during December–February, the year in various habitats, especially in the Mahanadi River including Red-crested Pochard Netta rufina, Tufted Duck Aythya belt, even though for a long time it was presumed to be a winter fuligula, Northern Pintail Anas acuta, Gadwall A. strepera, visitor to the state. The species has been sighted in Bhitarkanika, Ruddy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea, and Pacific Golden Plover Nalabana in Chilika, Satkosia, Mundali in Cuttack, Dhamra, Pluvialis fulva. Local villagers use the river for fishing and grazing and Hirakud. While the birds were observed mating in some cattle in the sand-beds. Asiatic elephants Elephas maximus are of these places, no nesting site of the species had yet been known to use this area as a passage during trans-river migration. discovered (Rahmani & Nair 2015). Its only known nesting site Approach to the nesting site was by a 20–30 min. boat ride, is Chambal Wildlife Sanctuary. Recently there was a report of its over about 21–24 m deep water, in a fishing boat hired from nesting on the Son River in Madhya Pradesh, India (Dilawar & local fishermen. Sharma 2016). The IS’s diet mainly consists of crustaceans, insect larvae, and fish. Its eye is uniquely adapted for nocturnal activity as well as for brilliant, reflected light, daytime conditions. It is crepuscular and nocturnal with juveniles actively foraging at night (Rasmussen & Anderton 2012). Its call is a soft low-frequency bark, like that of a dog. Birds bark as an anti-predatory response, to warn neighbours of potential danger, and also as a display aggression when neighbours intrude into their territory. Typical barking calls can last about five seconds. Head tosses and upright posturing often accompany these barks. Skimmers may also keep their bills open for prolonged periods without uttering any sound. As this is a social species, the congregation consists of dense flocks of both, young, and adult birds. Individuals in the flocks communicate with each other vocally and through posturing displays (Burger & Gochfeld 1990; Gochfeld & Burger 1994). The IS breeds on broad undisturbed sandbank spits, and islands in large rivers. Its nest is in the open, a mere shallow Fig. 1. Map of study area. Rajguru: Indian Skimmer 3

Methodology to make the nesting scrapes in a 30 m wide region circumventing Instruments used the edge of the sand-bed (c. 1 m above the water level) instead of the higher and safer regions in the centre. The nests were The following instruments were used in the present study: (a) One situated at least 15–20 m away from the bank: the closest to ‘Toplind’ measuring tape of 50m length, (b) a small 30cm ‘Essess’ the water was at a distance of six meters. They displayed strong scale, (c) one slide calipers, (d) one ‘Eurotech’ electronic weighing territorial behaviour against any intrusion into their nesting space machine, (e) five sample collection jars, (f) two cameras, Canon by other individuals of the flock. Watching these activities, I was 1D mkIV, and Canon 7D mkII with 10–18 mm, 28–300 mm, and certain that the skimmers would soon lay eggs. Simultaneous a 400 mm lens, (g) temperature meter, hygro meter, and a clock, nesting of Black-bellied Tern Sterna acuticauda, River Tern S. and (h) a few zip pouches for sample collection. aurantia, River Lapwing Vanellus duvaucelii, Great Thick-knee Esacus recurvirostris, Small Pratincole Glareola lactea, Spotted Data collection Dove Spilopelia chinensis, and Spot-billed Duck A. poecilorhyncha In June–July 2015 local birdwatchers, and the author had regularly was observed. As the discovery of a nesting habitat of vulnerable sighted and photographed a flock [2] of more than 150 ISs, and endangered species is of critical importance, the matter was including sub-adult birds, on a sand-spit to the north of the bridge. conveyed to the PCCF and Chief Wildlife Warden of the State In the year of 2016, noticing their presence so early (February Forest Department, who sent the DFO of the area to study and 2016) in this habitat, SKR regularly visited the site and observed report on the developments. Permission was then granted to the increasing congregations, and flocking [3], and behaviour that author to carry on documentation of the nesting process under pointed towards pairing of birds: moving out from flocks and the supervision of the state forest department (vide letter no. displaying courtship behaviour. The number of individuals ranged 2484/4WL-170/2016, dt., 20 March 2016). After a first few visits, between 60 and 205 this year during the breeding period. the boatmen, who are fishermen by profession, were apprised Studying the behaviour of the IS, SKR was convinced that the by SKR about the relevance of the sandbar because of nesting birds would nest and breed here. Pairing of birds and courtship by vulnerable birds. During conversations with them, it was display was observed. Over the next few days, mating between understood that they had been seeing nesting by skimmers in several pairs of birds was documented. The pairs were also this habitat and on the same sandbar for many years now. Locally observed making shallow scrapes in the sand. They mostly chose the bird is called ‘chirei’ (Odia name: ‘paanichiri’) but the author

2. Indian Skimmers in 2015 at Mundali, Odisha, India. 4. The largest flock of c. 205 birds was recorded in March 2016, during breeding season. Pics: Sumant Kumar Rajguru 3. Indian Skimmer at the sand bar of Mundli, Odisha, India. 5. A large congregation of Indian Skimmer during April 2016 at study area. 4 Indian BIRDS Vol. 13 No. 1 (Publ. 20 April 2017)

realised that the name was used to refer to skimmers as well as all the terns that inhabited the area.

Physiochemical analysis of soil and water The physiochemical analysis of soil was carried out at the Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, and water was analyzed at Bio-Lab Private Limited, Bhubaneswar using standard methods. Rajguru Kumar Sumant Pics: Results and discussion Population of Indian Skimmer at study area The population of IS was analysed during dusk to dawn, each day during the study periods. Maximum numbers were noted. It was observed that birds were in flocks on the sand bar; 24 individuals

were counted in February 2016, c. 205 in March, c. 147 in April, 7. Different stages of pre-nesting behaviour of IS at study area. and c. 159 in May [4, 5].

Pre-nesting behaviour, nest making activities and mating of Indian Skimmer Courtship, pairing, and mating between a few pairs was observed from 01 March 2016 onwards. The mating pairs move away from the flock, exhibiting courtship behaviour, marked with aerial displays, and indulging in nest-making or scrape-making [6, 7, 8]. In one instance, the pre-mating, and mating time was recorded to be 1min 40 sec. The mating time lasted for only 40–50 sec. It was observed that the period of nest construction was about six– eight days. Both parents participated in shuffling sand to make the nest-scrape; while one parent made the scrape the other one stood by. When selecting a nesting location, male and female of the pair communicated by kicking sand to establish a scrape at that particular spot. The first egg was seen on 30 March 2016. Grey bricks were placed near each nest as nest-markers from 05 April 2016 with details such as date, and number of eggs, written 8. Mating series of IS at study area on them [9].

The clutch and egg Nests were found about 6–10 m away from the bank [10]. The distance between clutches was 4–5 m, either forming a triangle or a quadrangle. One nest contained three River Tern eggs, and one of an IS. The River Tern was seen incubating the eggs in this

9. Nest marker, eggs, and the chick at study site Mundali, River Mahanadi, Odisha, India.

nest, and all its eggs hatched successfully after 22 days, but the IS’s egg was found abandoned [11]. The mean clutch size of IS was 3.12 (SD=0.41, n=64; range=2-5). It was also observed that average diameter of the nest scrape was 132.85 mm, and its depth was 33.39 mm. The diameter varied between 120 and 143 mm and depth between 28 and 40 mm. The laying periods 6. Aerial display of Indian Skimmer at Mundli, Odisha, India. at study area was 14 days (i.e. from 30 March 2016 to 12 April Rajguru: Indian Skimmer 5

2016). A total of 200 eggs were counted in 64 nests, of which 181 were examined. Out of 181 eggs, 139 hatched successfully, and 19 (from six nests) were washed away on 26 April 2016 due to rise in water level. The hatching period lasted 14 days: 19 April to 02 May 2016. It was also observed that the size of the eggs were 42.83 mm (LV: Length vertical) and 30.11 mm (LH: Length horizontal) where (n=10). It was observed that the first reading of the weight of the egg taken on 05 April 2016 was 18.70 g (mean, n=10) and the last reading taken on 12 April 2016 from the same nests was 18.56 g (mean, n=10) (Table 2). It was noticed that eggs were laid at the rate of one egg per day. The base colour of a fresh egg was more creamy-grey with bold chocolate brown blotches [11]. There was also a sub- layer of faded deep-brown markings. It was also observed that as the eggs matured (16 to 17 days old eggs) the base colour

turned brownish cream with the markings acquiring a deep 11. Odd nest with three eggs of River Tern, and one egg of IS at study area. coppery hue. In a nest holding only 2 eggs, the shape of the eggs was noticeably more elongated while the size was marginally bigger [12]. The atmospheric temperature varied between 38°C and 42°C during the hatching period and the mean value was 39.43°C (n=64) (Table 1).

Table 1. Morphological variation of nests (n=10) of Indian Skimmer at Mundli, India Clutch size Temperature (°C) Incubation period (IP) Diameter (mm) Depth (mm) 3.12 ±0.41 39.43 ±1.34 22.17 ±0.86 132.85 ±7.07 33.39 ±3.78

Table 2. Morphological variation (n=10) clutches of Eggs of Indian Skimmer at Mundli, India Vertical length (mm) Horizontal length (mm) First weight (g) Last weight (g) 12. A clutch with two eggs of IS at Mundli, River Mahanadi, Odisha, India 42.83 ± 0.90 30.11 ± 086 18.70 ± 0.30 18.56± 0.40 Incubation and hatching Both parents attended to nest duties periodically. Individuals of pairs kept looking in opposite directions as they attended to nest duties. They were seen soaking their bellies, and sitting on the eggs to cool them during the oppressive heat. Incubation was comparatively less at sunset when the parent birds would congregate in flocks at the edge of the water, some of them indulging in bathing and preening activity. The first egg, which was laid on 30 March hatched exactly after 21 days, on 19 April 2016. The eggs in various nests hatched in stages thereafter with the entire hatching concluding by 02 May 2016. All eggs hatched between 21–24 days, registering a median incubation period of 22 days.

Food habits It was observed that the IS feed mainly on available surface feeding fish species. Its diet primarily consists of small fish of 04–14 cm length. Fish that were smaller than 02 cm were fed to young birds. However, Gochfeld & Burger (1994), and Hammerson & Cannings (2006) reported that the Black Skimmer R. niger usually consumes common arthropods, crustaceans, and other marine invertebrates. It was enumerated that IS feeds mainly on five major species of fish[13] as observed in the study area. Samples (fish) were collected from dry dead fishes found near the nests of IS and submitted to, and identified by Dr Satyaranjan Behera, Zoologist, Odisha Biodiversity Board, Bhubaneswar. The Pics: Sumant Kumar Rajguru 10. The nest closest to the river edge at study area of Mundali. identified fishes are as follows: 6 Indian BIRDS Vol. 13 No. 1 (Publ. 20 April 2017)

scrapes at the edge of the water, so that they are less exposed to predators and elements, thus making it extremely difficult to detect them. Older hatchlings and near-fledglings were seen to be actively foraging on the ground at night on small fish that were washed over to the edge of the water [14, 15]. The length of the lower mandible was observed to be longer than upper mandible by 1.5 mm in a fledgling assumed to be more than 20 days old as recorded by SKR. The chicks were born with down feathers but it could not be ascertained whether they were born with eyes open. However they did open their eyes on the first day of hatching. The parent birds fed hatchlings with regurgitation of tiny fish until the first week of hatching [16]. They were observed to be encouraging hatchlings to move out of the nest on the third day after hatching into a fresh scrape nearby. They would sit close to the nest and call constantly (a typical call pattern observed and

13. The food of Indian Skimmer during breeding and non-breeding period. From top: documented). First three Pethia ticto; 4th large razorbelly minnow; 5th Dermogyns pusilla; 6th sardinella razorbelly minnow; 7th to 9th Systomous sarana.

Salmophasia bacaila: Is a fish which is commonly found at the study area during the breeding season of IS. It is popularly known as large razorbelly minnow, and belongs to the family Rajguru Kumar Sumant Pics: Cyprinidae. Locally it is called ‘Jalla.’ It is distributed in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Nepal (Rema Devi & Dahanukar 2011).

Salmophasia sardinella: It belongs to family Cyprinidae and locally known as ‘Sana Jalla.’ It is distributed in India, Bangladesh and Myanmar (Devi & Boguskaya 2009). 14. Camouflage of Indian Skimmer chick at night at study area, Mundali, River Mahanadi, Systomous sarana: It is popularaly known as Olive barb or Odisha. Peninsular Olive barb belonging to the family Cyprinidae. Locally known as ‘Jalla bedi.’ It is distributed in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Pakistan (Dahanukar 2010).

Pethia ticto: It is popularly known as Ticto barb belonging to the family Cyprinidae. It is locally known as ‘Kerandi.’ It is distributed in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, China and Myanmar (Hamilton 1822).

Dermogenys pusilla: It is commonly known as Wrestling Halfbeak belonging to the family Zenarchopteridae. It is locally known as ‘Gania.’ It is distributed in India, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Phillipines, Malaysia and Indonesia 15. Indian Skimmer chick actively moving at midnight. (Hossain et al. 2016).

Hatchlings and fledglings IS hatchlings are semi-precocial. The hatchlings were born with uniform length of upper and lower mandibles. It was noticed that the chicks were able to drag themselves around inside the scrape within 15–20 mins of hatching. The parents diligently removed eggshells from the nest, carrying, and discarding them in the water. This is probably to avoid predation. The egg tooth of new born was visible as a white spot on top of the upper mandible. After a while the chicks would slowly stand and walk out of the nest and settle into another scrape. This attempt to keep un- hatched eggs separate from the hatchlings was noticed in almost all the nests. Incubation of un-hatched eggs by parent birds and cooling of un-hatched eggs and hatchlings continued until all the chicks were able to move out of the nest. After attaining adequate mobility (within five to six days), the cryptic hatchlings would also be found hiding inside grassy vegetation or in shallow 16. A new-born chick being guarded and fed by its parent in the study area. Rajguru: Indian Skimmer 7

Major threats to Indian Skimmer should address the identified threats urgently. The site-protection The main threats were rise in water level, cattle grazing, and during the breeding season and surveying the area, conducting fishing activities by the local fishermen. It was also observed that awareness camps in the adjacent villages will definitely curb local people burnt the grass S. spontaneum for the purpose of depletion of populations, and encourage the establishment of a hunting small animals for food. It was also noticed that fisherman, safe haven for the IS in particular, and all other endangered and sometimes, used pesticides to catch prawns, which would have threatened species in general, which were found breeding on a negative impact on the skimmer. The industrial waste being the stated study site. released into the river pollutes the water, and in turn, affects the prey base of riverine birds, and needs to be checked. Acknowledgements I am extremely thankful to the PCCF& DFO, State Forest Department of Odisha; Dr. Ringing of Indian Skimmer S. Balachandran, BNHS; The Executive Engineer & SDO Water Resource Department; Dr. Sanjeet Kumar, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack; Satyaranjan Behera, Odisha Dr S. Balachandran, of the BNHS, and his team were requested Biodiversity Board, Bhubaneswar and S. K. Pattanayak (HOD), Orissa University to ring the birds. Prior permission was obtained from the PCCF, of Agriculture & Technology, Bhubaneswar. I am also thankful to the local fishing Govt. of Odisha. 21 adults and 36 juveniles were individually community, especially to Manas Behera of the village Sana Mundali, for his colour-marked [17]. continuous support and effort. I express my thanks to the team members who participated in this venture; and to Sudhanya, and Sidhhant for their contribution in documenting the story as it unfolded. A special note of thanks to The Honorable Secretary Forest, Govt. of Odisha for taking interest and conducting a Pressmeet & assuring to declare the study site as a protected area.

References BirdLife International. 2013. Rynchops albicollis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK. BirdLife International. 2014. Species factsheet: Rynchops albicollis. http://www.birdlife. org. Burger, J., & Gochfeld, M., 1990. The Black Skimmer: Social dynamics of a colonial species. Columbia University Press, New York. Dahanukar, N. 2010. Systomus sarana. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: e.T166567A6237905. Website URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN. UK.2010-4.RLTS.T166567A6237905.en. Devi, R. & Boguskaya, N. 2009. Salmophasia sardinella. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2009: e.T166514A6226115. Website URL: http://dx.doi. org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009-2.RLTS.T166514A6226115.en. Dilawar, M., & Sharma, V., 2016. A new breeding location of Indian Skimmer Rynchops albicollis, and notes on tther birdsin Son Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary, Madhya Pradesh, India. Indian BIRDS 11 (2): 35–38. Gochfeld, M., & Burger, J., 1994. Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger). In The Birds of North America, No. 108 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists’ Union. Gochfeld, M., & Burger, J., 1994. The Birds of North America Online: Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca. Haines, H. H., (1921–1925). The botany of Bihar and Orissa. Adlard & Son, and West Newman Ltd., London. Hamilton, F., 1822. Pethiaticto: An account of the fishes found in the river Ganges and its branches. Edinburgh & London.

Sumant Kumar Rajguru Hammerson, G., & Cannings, S., 2006. NatureServe Explorer” (On-line). 17. The ringing of an adult Indian Skimmer at Mundali, Odisha. Comprehensive Report Species - Rynchops niger. Website URL: http://www. natureserve.org/explorer. [Accessed 11 October 2006.] Hossain, M. Y., Hossen, M. A., Pramanik, M. N. U., Yahya, K., Bahkali, A. H., & Elgorban, Floral diversity of study area A. M., 2016. Length-weight relationship of Dermogenys pusilla Kuhl & Van Hasselt, 1823 (Zenarchopteridae) and Labeo bata (Hamilton, 1822) (Cyprinidae) A floral survey of the study area revealed that it is rich with edible, from the Ganges River (NW Bangladesh). Journal of Icthyology 22 (4): 744–746. medicinal, sand dune and aquatic plants. About 103 plant species Mohsanin, S., 2014. Survey of wintering Indian Skimmer Rynchops albicollis in of 57 families were recorded. Among them, five floating, 47 sand Bangladesh. BirdingASIA 21: 105–106. dune, and seven submerged floras are recorded. Rahmani, A. R., & Nair, M. V., 2015. Threatened birds of Odisha. New Delhi: Indian Bird Conservation Network; Bombay Natural History Society; Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; BirdLife International; and Oxford University Press. Pp. Conclusion i–xii, 1–180+4. The IS is an extremely poorly studied species and does not give Rasmussen, P. C., & Anderton, J. C., 2012. Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide. 2nd much opportunity for documentation of its breeding biology ed. Washington, D.C. and Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. as most of its habitats are inaccessible. This study provides a 2 vols. Pp. 1–378; 1–683. Rema Devi, K. R., & Dahanukar, N., 2011. Salmophasia bacaila. The IUCN Red List description of the skimmer’s breeding area, so comparisons can of Threatened Species 2011: e.T166502A6223386. Website URL: http://dx.doi. be made with other breeding locations, which might benefit org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-1.RLTS.T166502A6223386.en. conservation initiatives. Hopefully the ringed birds will throw light Sundar, K. S. G., 2004. Observations on breeding Indian Skimmers Rynchops albicollis in understanding additional aspects of its ecology. The authorities in the National Chambal Sanctuary, Uttar Pradesh, India. Forktail 20: 89–90. 8 Indian BIRDS Vol. 13 No. 1 (Publ. 20 April 2017)

Seabirds of Goa, India: Recent updates

Pronoy Baidya, Mandar Bhagat, Omkar Dharwadkar & Harshada Gauns

Baidya, P., Bhagat, M., Dharwadkar, O., & Gauns, H., 2017. Seabirds of Goa, India: Recent updates. Indian BIRDS 13 (1): 8–17. PronoyBaidya, TB-3, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, Karnataka, India. E-mail: [email protected] (Corresponding author) (PB) Mandar Bhagat, ‘Madhumangal’, New Vaddem, Vasco-Da-Gama, Goa 403802, India. E-mail: [email protected] (MB). Omkar Dharwadkar, Flat No. F-2, First Floor, Kurtarkar Commercial Arcade, Kaziwada, Ponda, Goa 403401, India. E-mail: [email protected] (OD). Harshada Gauns, House No. 102/2, Bharoni Wada, Navelim, Sanquelim, Goa 403505, India. E-mail: [email protected] (HG).vManuscript received on 04 July 2016.t

Abstract A comprehensive review of the status of seabirds off the Goa coast is presented here. This is based on the results of five offshore seabird surveys organised by the Goa Bird Conservation Network; tracking of wind-blown, and coastal seabirds from social media platforms, and animal rescue groups; and a review of all available literature on the seabirds of Goa. This exercise of field surveys, and literature trawls has led to the addition of four species to the Goa checklist, namely, Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus, Swinhoe’s Storm-petrel Hydrobates monorhis, Flesh-footed Shearwater Ardenna carneipes, and Red-footed booby Sula sula; the up-listing of Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus, Brown Noddy Anous stolidus, and Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla from the list of unconfirmed species to the main checklist; and down-listing Wedge-tailed Shearwater A. pacifica as an unconfirmed species for the state: bringing the number of seabirds recorded from Goa to 25 confirmed species, and one unconfirmed.

Introduction three other species as unconfirmed, all of which were sight The offshore waters of India have been historically less explored records, with no photographic documentation of the majority of with respect to pelagic avifauna, leading to a paucity of data the seabirds reported till 2013 (Lainer & Alvares 2013). (Robertson 1995; Karuthedathu et al. 2013). Most past reports In 2014, drawing inspiration from the offshore surveys being of pelagic birds from India have been from observations made by initiated from neighboring states, the Goa Bird Conservation sailors from ships at sea (published in Sea Swallow; http://www. Network (GBCN) organised the first offshore seabird survey from rnbws.org.uk/publications/), wind-blown specimens collected Goa, with the aim to systematically document these birds off from India’s coasts, sight records of wind-blown individuals, and a the state’s coast. Between 2014 and 2015, five surveys were few ornithological expeditions to offshore islands, most of which conducted, all initiating at the Malim Jetty, Betim, situated in were restricted to the Vengurla Rocks off Maharashtra (Hume the Mandovi Estuary where Goa’s Mandovi River drains into the 1876; Abdulali 1942; Abdulali 1970; Abdulali 1983; Madsen Arabian Sea. 1988; Mohan 1989; Lainer 2003; Katdare et al. 2004; Pande et The continental shelf extends to c. 57 nm (100 km) from al. 2007), and the Lakshadweep Islands (Aitken 1900; Mathew the coastline of Goa, and all the surveys have been conducted & Ambedkar 1964; Daniels 1992).This constituted the majority within a distance of 16 nm (30km) of the shoreline, and hence of what we knew about these elusive birds of the Arabian Sea cannot be termed as pelagic surveys (Bailey 1968)—so we use till 2009. In the years 2010, and 2011, KeralaBirder, and the the term, ‘offshore survey’ throughout this paper. For preparing Malabar Natural History Society jointly organised three offshore checklists, the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) boundary, expeditions from Kerala (Praveen et al. 2011), which became a which is 200 nm from the nearest land (including island) is template for others to emulate, and led to such surveys being used for including birds in lists, and the rationale behind this initiated from Karnataka, and Maharashtra off the western coast, follows Jaramillo (2003). However, in case the boundaries of and from Tamil Nadu off the eastern coast of India (Praveen two political entities overlap, the median distance between the 2014). These offshore surveys have added much information two entities is chosen as the offshore limit (Praveen 2011). about the seabirds that are seen in the pelagic waters of the Cherbaniani Island, in the Lakshadweep archipelago, abuts the country, particularly the western coast, with many photographs EEZ region off Goa’s coast, and hence the offshore boundary of these species now archived in Oriental Bird Images of Goa would be a parabolic arc with foci as Cherbaniani who’s (http://www.orientalbirdimages.org/). northern and southern limits is situated at 153 nm, and 116nm, Unlike other states of India, very little was known about from Goa’s coast, respectively. For the purpose of this paper, the bird life of Goa during its occupancy by Portuguese. Post we consider the above-defined zone as the offshore area of liberation of the state till the year 2000 there were only a handful Goa. It is also important to note that the islands of Vengurla, of studies done on the birds of the state which includes, the from where considerable information about seabirds exists, are first ornithological survey in 1972 (Grubh & Ali 1976), followed politically a part of Maharashtra, and are not, therefore, part of by surveys conducted by the Zoological Survey of India (Saha & the discussion in this paper. Dasgupta 1992), and surveys by Heinz Lainer (Lainer 1999a, b). Other than the records from offshore surveys, a few wind- Whatever little was known about seabirds from off the coast of blown, and coastal species of seabirds have been reported, by Goa was due to the efforts of Heinz Lainer, who kept a regular local bird watchers, between 2013 and 2015, which have been sea watch from the Anjuna coast, and made a few trips by boats tracked, identified, and listed from social networking platforms, to report pelagic birds. and animal rescue groups in the state. In addition to the surveys, Lainer (2013) confirmed 19 species of seabirds, and listed and tracking records of wind-blown species, a review of all Baidya et al.: Seabirds of Goa 9

‘Birds of Goa’ In this paper, when we refer to the list of ‘Birds of Goa’, we imply the list in Lainer & Alvares (2013). We treat those species of seabirds that do not figure in this list, but which have been reported from either the seabird surveys, monitoring of wind-blown seabirds, or our review of all relevant literature on seabird sightings off Goa’s coast, as ‘additions to the bird list of Goa.’

Goa off-shore survey 28 September 2014 Offshore survey methodology 13 September 2015 26 September 2015 Each survey was carried out with an average of 12 participants 27 September 2015 0.1x0.1 Degree grids and it was ensured that at least three people were on the lookout Map layers for birds at all times during the duration of the survey. Birds were ESRI boundaries & places observed using binoculars, and identified using Grimmett et al. Bing Satellite (2011), and Rasmussen &Anderton (2012). Photographers took Fig. 1. Travel paths of four surveys and 0.1x0.1 degree grids. as many photos as they could, which further aided in comparing, and confirming identifications. existing literature on the seabirds off Goa’s coast has been done During the survey, species, and the number of individuals in order to present a checklist of seabirds of Goa (Appendix 1). encountered, were immediately noted, along with the time of such observations. A simple Android-based application, Definition of seabirds ‘GPSLogger’, was used to log the path that was taken during There is no single definition explaining which groups, families, the survey. After the survey, the bird list was entered in an Excel and species could be classified as seabirds, with considerable file of a standard format. A simple Python Script (Dipu 2016; confusion in all sources of literature (Bourne & Cheshire 2013; Karuthedathu & Praveen 2016) was then used to combine the Paleczny et al. 2015; BirdLife International 2016; Wetland bird list and GPS path data to generate an output of multiple International 2016). In this paper, the term ‘seabird’ is used in a restricted manner, since the aim of this paper is to focus on the species of the open oceans. We treat all storm-petrels (Oceanitidae, and Hydrobatidae), boobies (Sulidae), frigatebirds (Fregatidae), tropicbirds (Phaethontidae), and skuas/jaegers (Stercorariidae) as seabirds. Amongst waders (Scolopacidae), phalaropes (Phalaropus) are treated as seabirds Bridled Tern Common Tern as all other species frequent coastal or inland waters. Amongst gulls and terns (Laridae), we treat noddies (Anous), kittiwakes (Rissa), Ichthyaetus gulls, Onychoprion, Thalasseus, and Sterna terns, except the two freshwater species, River Tern S. aurantia, and Black-bellied Tern S. acuticauda, as seabirds, since all these species have a stronger affinity towards open waters Wilson's Storm-petrel Swinhoe's Storm-petrel than other members of the Laridae.

Frequency 40–100% 28 September 2014 25–40% 13 September 2015 10–25% 26 September 2015 2–10% 27 September 2015 1–2% 10x10 km grids 0% Frontal zone

"Frequency" is the percentage of checklists that Masked Booby Parasitic Jaeger report a species within a grid.

Fig. 2. Species frequency maps from four offshore surveys. 10 Indian BIRDS Vol. 13 No. 1 (Publ. 20 April 2017)

Table 1. Seabirdsightings off the Goa coast, from five off-shore surveys Number of individuals Sl.No Species 27-09-‘14 28-09-‘14 13-09-‘15 26-09-‘15 27-09-‘15 Oceanitidae 1 Wilson’s Storm-petrel Oceanites oceanicus - 1 - 235 430 Hydrobatidae 2 Swinhoe’s Storm-petrel Hydrobates monorhis - - - 13 21 Procellariidae 3 Flesh-footed Shearwater Ardenna carneipes - - - 1 - 4 Tropical (Persian) Shearwater Puffinus bailloni persicus 1 1 - - 1 Sulidae 5 Masked Booby Sula dactylatra 3 3 1 3 3 Stercorariidae 6 Arctic Skua Stercorarius parasiticus 1 1 - 5 2 Laridae 8 Brown Noddy Anous stolidus - - 2 - - 9 Bridled Tern Onychoprion anaethetus 50 160 200 350 345 11 Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii - - - 7 10 12 Common Tern S. hirundo 30 45 23 11 61 13 Lesser Crested Tern Thalasseus bengalensis 30 7 1 9 - 14 Greater Crested Tern T. bergii 20 1 - 1 -

Species Occurence Frequency Results 70 Offshore survey 60 A total distance of approximately 60 km along the coast, and 30 km outward from it was covered during these five surveys, and 50 data generated was represented within 16-(0.1 x 0.1) degree 40 grids on eBird (Fig. 1). Out of the five trips, GPS data could not be retrieved from the first trip due to technical errors and hence 30 has not been represented in the map (Fig. 1). Of the 22 species reported by Lainer & Alvares (2013), including unconfirmed 20 records, 14 have been reported, and photo documented during 10 these surveys (Table 1), while two species, namely, Swinhoe’s Storm-petrel H. monorhis, and Flesh-footed Shearwater A. 0 carneipes were recorded during these surveys (they were Bridled Wilson’s Swinhoe’s Common Masked Parasitic Persian Roseate Brown Flesh Tern Strom- Strom- Tern Booby Jaeger Shearwater Tern Noddy Footed not listed in Lainer & Alvares 2013). It was observed that the Petrel Petrel Sherewater Bridled Tern O. anaethetus was the most frequently recorded Percentage of total checklists that report a species pelagic species, occurring in 69% of all checklists from the four trips, while Wilson’s Storm-petrel O. oceanicus was the Fig. 3. Percentage of checklists in which species is reported. second most frequently recorded species, occurring in 52% of checklists (Figs. 2, 3). lists that represented birds observed in a 0.1x0.1 degree grid (Fig. 1). These lists were then uploaded to eBird (www.ebird. Interesting observations from seabird surveys org), and each grid designated an eBird hotspot. None of the Wilson’s Storm-petrel Oceanites oceanicus survey tracks, during the five trips, went beyond the marine boundaries of Goa. During the two surveys in 2014, only one bird was spotted on 28 September, 11nm off the Baina coast, flying rapidly in a northwardly direction. In the surveys of 2015 however, Collection of data on wind-blown seabird species this species was the most common seabird encountered! We gathered information on wind-blown species in Goa from We started observing individuals about two nautical miles online Facebook groups, GBCN’s website (www.birdsofgoa.org), away from the coast on both, 26, and 27 September. On 26 and from animal rescue groups in the state. All records from September, a high count of c. 40 individuals, in a single flock, 2013 onwards have been verified and included. were recorded six nautical miles off the Baina coast, while on Baidya et al.: Seabirds of Goa 11

27 September, a high count of c. 300 individuals, from a single flock, was recorded six nautical miles off the Cabo de Rama coast. This zone, about six nautical miles off the coast, had a line of surf running parallel to the coast for as far as we could see, with a clear demarcation between turbid, and clear water, on either side. This region seemed to be highly productive in biological diversity, with big schools of fish in the morning, and a lot of jellyfish in the evening, concentrated here, and a great deal of seabird activity in the general area. These observations of ours match closely with the definition of what is called a ‘frontal zone’, which is considered very important for foraging seabirds (Schneider 1990). Individuals in the flock observed Pronoy Baidya on the 26th were busy foraging, and displaying behavior that is unique to the storm-petrels, called ‘pattering’. While pattering, the birds face into the wind with their wings extended, and patter on the surface of the water using their feet. This gives 19. Flesh-footed Shearwater. an impression as if the bird is literally walking over the surface of the water. The flock on the 27th was observed sitting on the water, apparently resting.

Swinhoe’s Storm-petrel This species was recorded from the surveys on 26–27 September 2015. Birds were usually found singly, or in pairs, amongst flocks of Wilson’s Storm-petrels, with one exception, when a flock of four birds were seen flying in a northwardly direction on the 27th. On both the days, we observed that from late afternoon, these birds flew purposefully in a northwardly direction. These birds Omkar Dharwadkar Omkar Dharwadkar were always observed in flight, and no pattering behavior was observed [18].

Flesh-footed Shearwater A single individual was spotted flying rapidly in a northwardly 20. Tropical (Persian) Shearwater. direction on 26 September 2015, nine nautical miles off the Candolim coast. It was easily identified by its pale, and broad pinkish bill, and similar coloured legs, as against a Wedge-tailed and Bridled Terns, feeding on a fish, while sitting on the water Shearwater Puffinus pacificus [19]. [20]. This was again an example of a large congregation of foraging birds near the frontal zone. On 27 September 2015 one Tropical (Persian) Shearwater Puffinus bailloni persicus bird was observed flying in a northwardly direction 15nm off the Majorda coast. On both the occasions the birds were identified On 27 September 2014, one bird was observed flying as P. bailloni persicus by the presence of dark axillaries, which northwards, seven nautical miles off the Miramar coast, while on distinguishes it from P. bailloni nicolae. 28 September 2014 one bird was observed seven nautical miles off the Candolim coast, amidst a huge mixed flock of Common, Masked Booby Sula dactylatra This species is probably one of the regular seabirds sighted off the coast of Goa, being recorded on all the five surveys. The nearest sighting of this species, to the mainland, was about four nautical miles off the Sinquerim coast.

Arctic Skua Stercorarius parasiticus This species is another commonly encountered seabird that has been recorded in four out of the five surveys. On 26 September 2015, we observed five birds sitting in the water, close to a flock of five Lesser Black-backed Gulls. When one of the gulls caught a fish, and started moving a bit further away, the skuas started chasing the gull instantly, and kept pestering it until the gull dropped the fish, and one of the skuas picked it up. In another observation of klepto-parasitism, we observed an Arctic Skua

Amit Bandekar chase a Bridled Tern for up to five minutes before the tern finally 18. Swinhoe’s Storm-petrel. gave up its prey [21]. 12 Indian BIRDS Vol. 13 No. 1 (Publ. 20 April 2017) Omkar Dharwadkar Omkar Dharwadkar Mandar Bhagat Mandar 21. Arctic Skua chasing Bridled Tern. 23. A flock of Roseate Tern.

Brown Noddy Anous stolidus September 2015, approximately six nautical miles off the Two birds were seen foraging in a mixed flock of Common, and Miramar, and Sinquerim coasts, respectively. On the 26th we Bridled Terns about seven nautical miles off the Majorda coast observed them sitting in the water, in a monospecific flock, while on 13 September 2015. The observation was short, as the entire on the 27th they were in a mixed flock with Common Terns. On flock, including the Brown Noddy, suddenly left the area and flew the 26th, out of the seven birds observed, three were juveniles, off towards the south-west. and four adults, with bill colours varying in shades of orange, in the latter. While two birds had bright ‘orangish’ bills, one had a pale yellow one, while another had yellow in patches with the Bridled Tern Onychoprion anaethetus bill almost black in certain regions [23]. On the 27th, of the 13 This is one of the most common and abundant species of individuals observed, six were adults with varying bill colours, and the open seas, with a very high encounter rate. Encounters the rest, juveniles. are erratic, ranging from 70 individuals in a mixed flock, to single bird. Bridled Terns seem to be able to locate schools Common Tern S. hirundo of fishes precisely, with large flocks congregating wherever there was good fish activity. Bridled terns also seem to have a This species, unlike Bridled Terns, was found to be rather greater affinity towards perching on floats, as they were never uncommon in terms of encounter rates, and numbers, during seen sitting in water like other terns [22]. Most observations all five surveys. The maximum high count was 27 individuals on of terns perched on oceanic debris were invariably of Bridled 27 September 2015, with a day count of 61 individuals. This Terns. There were many instances of individuals fighting species was mostly spotted in small flocks with three individuals for perches, which would vary widely, from glass bottles to frequently comprising a flock. Most sightings of this species were floating wood! within a mixed foraging flock, with Bridled Terns being the major part of these flocks. Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii Lesser Crested Tern Thalasseus bengalensis Flocks of seven, and ten individuals were observed on 26–27 This species appeared to be very uncommon on the open waters, with records of only seven birds in five trips. Most sightings occurred within one to two nautical miles of the coastline. They are however very common on the coast and often seen even in estuarine regions.

Great Crested Tern T. bergii In all the five surveys, this species was mostly sighted within one nautical mile of the coast. There was just one instance when a bird was recorded four nautical miles off the Baina coast.

Wind-blown seabirds, and coastal observations There have been eight wind-blown or coastal records (34 individuals) of eight pelagic species from the coastline of Goa between 2013 and 2015 (June–September) (Table 2), of which the Red-billed Tropicbird was not listed in Lainer & Alvares (2013). Pronoy BaidyaPronoy 22. Bridled Tern. Baidya et al.: Seabirds of Goa 13

Table 2. Wind-blown or coastalseabird sightings along the Goa coast between 2013 and 2015 S.No. Species Notes Phaethontidae 1 Red-billed Tropicbird P. aethereus An exhausted and wind-blown juvenile specimen was found on the Velsaocoast and rescued by BM on 07 June 2014. (Baidya 2014). Fregatidae 2 Lesser Frigatebird F. ariel A single wind-blown bird was observed and photographed by PP in Canaguinim on 03 August 2014 (Karuthedathu et al. 2015). 3 Frigatebird species A single bird was observed off the Baina coast on 30 July 2014 by MB. Conditions were not favourable to get a positive identity (Bhagat 2014). Sulidae 4 Masked Booby S. dactylatra Seven birds were rescued during the monsoons of 2015 from different locations across Goa’s coastline. The first rescue was from Calangute on 15 July 2015 by LF. Laridae 5 Sooty Tern O. fuscatus A single juvenile specimen was observed and photographed on 24 June 2015 in the Vasco da Gama port area by ST [24], while another juvenile bird was observed and photographed by MB on 27 June 2015 [25] at the same location (Bhagat 2015e). 6 Bridled Tern O. anaethetus Four birds were observed and photographed by MB, RD, and HG in the Vasco Da Gama Port area on 10 August 2014, four, three, four, and three birds were observed and photographed by MB and ST at Mormugao Harbour on 22, 23, 26, 27, and 29 June 2015 respectively (Bhagat 2015a,b,d,e,f). 7 Common Tern S. hirundo Three birds were observed and photographed by MB, RD, and HG in the Vasco da Gama Port area on 10 August 2014 (Bhagat 2015). 8 White-cheeked Tern S. repressa 1 bird was observed and photographed by MB in the Vasco da Gama Port area on 22, 23, and 25 June 2015 (See discussions for more details) (Bhagat 2015a,b,c). Index: BM=Bonita Menezes; HG=Harshada Gauns; LF=Lloyd Fernandes; MB=Mandar Bhagat; PP=Prasanna Parab; RD=Ronit Dutta; ST=Satish Thayapurath. ‎ Mandar Bhagat Thayapurath

Satish 24. Sooty Tern. 25. Sooty Tern.

Review of recent,and past literature on seabirds off Discussion the Goa coast The five offshore surveys have given a head start to begin Lainer & Alvares (2013) have not documented a few species understanding the status of seabirds off the state’s coastline and reports, primarily published in the Sea Swallow, some scattered have provided a platform for future monitoring. Observations reports from the GBCN’s Google group, and online trip reports like the higher abundance of Bridled Terns when compared from visiting birdwatchers, which merited inclusion in their book. to Common Terns, large congregations at frontal zones, and All old issues of Sea Swallow are now accessible online, and composition of mixed foraging flocks in the sea will prove valuable, have been used by us to identify historical reports of seabirds when they are compiled over a longer period of time. Continuity off the Goa coast, and not covered in Lainer & Alvares (2013) of offshore surveys in future will help in better understanding (Table 3). Further, reports of a few species of seabirds, which the migration patterns of these species and will aid in mapping have been published post 01 January 2013, are also listed in out their presence in the Arabian Sea. If this data is analysed Table 4. with those from the other surveys conducted along the western 14 Indian BIRDS Vol. 13 No. 1 (Publ. 20 April 2017)

Table 3. Historical records not covered in Lainer&Alvares (2013) S.No. Species Notes Phaethontidae 1 Red-billed Tropicbird P. aethereus 27 February 1969: Captain P.W.G. Chilman of the Royal Navy, UK reported an unspecified number of birds about 16.2 nm off the Aguada coast (15.50°N, 73.50°E) (Bourne & Dixon 1973). Procellariidae 2 Flesh-footed Shearwater A. carneipes 03 May 1964: eight birds were recorded c. 38 nm off the Palolem coast, South Goa (Gill 1967). Sulidae 3 Masked Booby S. dactylatra August 2010: an adult bird was unsuccessfully rescued in North Goa (Rangnekar 2010). Scolopacidae 4 Red-necked Phalarope P. lobatus One bird observed at Chapora Estuary on 10 October 2003 by Anand Prasad (Prasad 2004a,b). Stercorariidae 5 Pomarine Skua S. pomarinus 10 November 2008: one bird observed and photographed off Morjim by Mark Newsome (Newsome 2015). Laridae 6 Brown Noddy A. stolidus November 2009: one bird was observed and photographed by Dave Williams at Utorda beach (Williams 2009). 7 Black-legged Kittiwake R. tridactyla 16–19 January 2005: one bird (first winter) was observed and photographed from the Morjim coast (Newsome 2005).

Table 4. Records post 1 January 2013 in Gandhe (2014) S.No. Species Notes Sulidae 1 Red-footed Booby S. sula 13 December 2013: one bird observed and photographed 40 km off the Goa coast. 2 Brown Booby S. leucogaster 05 February 2014: one bird was observed and photographed 80 km off the Goa coast. 3 Masked Booby S. dactylatra June 2013: an adult was observed and photographed 70 km off the Goa coast.

coast, from Kerala, Karnataka, and Maharashtra, broader patterns available as evidence. Recent evidences from genetic research about the status of these birds off the western coast of India have revealed that many of the previously known species are might emerge. Offshore surveys also provide an opportunity to actually complexes, which could involve multiple species. We observe and photograph seabirds at close range, which help in briefly discuss below four species that are quite confusing, from documenting other rare pelagic species, which are usually difficult the point of view of field identification, and propose that all their to identify by sea watching from land. As of now, all surveys off earlier sight records, from Goa, be re-assessed. Goa have been initiated between August and September, giving us a snapshot of the species found off the coast during these two Procellariidae months. The next challenge would be to carry out these surveys across different seasons, which will help us better understand the Wedge-tailed Shearwater A. pacifica species composition, and migration patterns. Heinz Lainer mentions observing both, the pale, and dark morphs Keeping track of wind-blown pelagic species is crucial in of this species during his sea-watch, and notes that they are understanding species’ movements, and the present social ‘not-so-rare monsoon and autumn passage migrant’ (Lainer media network setup, provides a very good platform for tracking & Alvarez 2013). Rasmussen & Anderton (2012) however, do and collating such information (Karuthedathu et al. 2015). In not think pale morph birds are found in the northern Indian the present compilation of wind-blown, and coastal records of Ocean. Praveen et al. (2013) have noted that the dark morph seabirds from Goa, social media groups have helped greatly to birds could well be the commoner Flesh-footed Shearwater, and identify, and touch-base with bird rescuers. This became a very the pale morphs could be Streaked Shearwater, both of which useful tool to make sure that these observations are recorded in have not been reported by Lainer & Alvares (2013), and have eBird, and Birds of Goa websites (www.birdsofgoa.org), from where therefore not included the Goa records as reference for entry of they are easily retrievable. this species into their India Checklist. Considering this ambiguity, During the review of all available literature on seabirds from the Wedge-tailed Shearwater records from Goa should be placed Goa, it was noticed that Lainer & Alvares (2013) did not include in the list of unconfirmed species until further evidence about observations published in Sea Swallow, having depended primarily their status is obtained in the future. on their own records and those from the unpublished trip reports of visiting bird-watchers. This resulted in the Red-billed Tropicbird, and the Flesh-footed Shearwater not featuring in the birds of Tropical (Persian) Shearwater P. b. persicus Goa list (ibid.), while the Red-necked Phalarope, Brown Noddy, Lainer & Alvares (2013) have three sighting records from over and the Black-legged Kittiwake were treated as unconfirmed, two decades. However, they have not provided any diagnostic even though there were conclusive notes and photographs features based upon which they have identified this species. Baidya et al.: Seabirds of Goa 15

Praveen et al. (2013) note that this is a contentious taxon with recent molecular studies showing the existence of three clades, ‘bailloni’, ‘persicus’, and ‘bannermani’, sometimes elevated as distinct species. Taxonomical uncertainty, and problems infield identification have made all previous sight records from India inconclusive, as rightly noted in Praveen et al. (2013). Specimens from the seabird surveys were conclusively identified as P. b. persicus, by the presence of dark axillaries, a feature that separates it from P. b. nicolae, however the absolute identity of Lainer & Alvares’s (2013) records remains unclear and could also refer to P. b. nicolae (Praveen et al. 2013). Mandar Bhagat

Scolopacidae Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus

A single bird was observed at the Chapora Estuary on 10 October 26. White-cheeked Tern. 2003 by Anand Prasad (Prasad 2004a,b). Recent records, from neighboring states, are off the coast of Mangalore (Karnataka), where a single bird was reported on cheeked Tern off Vasco Port in 2015 [26] has been accepted 26 October 2014 (Dipu 2014), while further records are from as such by Krys K. for Oriental Bird Images, and is included in Kerala (Palot et al. 2014; Surendran 2014; Dalvi 2015). Lainer that database. The bird that was photographed appears to show & Alvares (2013) have listed it under unconfirmed records, with many known characteristics of White-cheeked Tern, while some inconclusive identification details, while Prasad too does not of the features may be debatable as discussed above. As evident provide any identification details (Prasad 2004a,b). from the above discussions, this complex (“Common-ish” Terns: Considering all the recent sightings from neighboring states, it Common, White-cheeked, and Roseate) requires further detailed is highly likely that this species could be sighted off Goa’s coast, studies to completely ascertain their status, and distribution between the months of September and October, which also along the western coast of India. We retain this species in the coincides with the observation of Prasad. checklist, albeit with some uncertainty, and expect future workers Phalaropes are unmistakable, while there is a contention to look out specifically for this species and provide supporting with Grey Phalarope P. fulicarius, the sighting dates supported documentation. by subsequent observations argues well for the inclusion of this These preliminary surveys, along with the monitoring of wind- record as definite. We elevate this sighting from unconfirmed to blown seabirds, and a review of all literature on seabird sightings the main checklist, based on these arguments. off Goa’s coast have added four species of birds to the checklist of Goa: Red-billed Tropicbird, Swinhoe’s Storm-petrel, Flesh- White-cheeked Tern S. repressa footed Shearwater, and Red-footed Booby. We shift Red-necked Multiple sightings between 1996 and 2001, with a high count Phalarope, Brown Noddy, and Black-legged Kittiwake from the of 14,250 passing individuals between early September and late list of unconfirmed species (Lainer & Alvarez 2013) to the main October (1996–1999) reported by Lainer & Alvares (2013). checklist while, Wedge-tailed Shearwater is moved into the list of There are historical reports of this species breeding at unconfirmed species for the state. This brings the total number Vengurla in Maharashtra (Abdulali 1940), but Abdulali (1983) of seabirds reported from Goa to 25 confirmed species, and one did not find any further evidence of its breeding in 1981, and unconfirmed species. neither did Lainer (2003) in 1989, 1997, or 1998, and nor did Pande (2002), though he mentions sighting a pair of White- Acknowledgements cheeked Terns in 2001. Lainer & Alvares (2013) state that they, We would like to thank Rajiv D’Silva, General Secretary, and Satish Thayapurath, ‘found it difficult if not impossible to tell Common Terns from Executive Member of GBCN, for all the groundwork, and the Captain of Ports, Panaji White-cheeked Terns under the conditions prevailing during the for hiscooperation, and the quick processing of permits. We would specially like to time of offshore migration.’ Lainer (2004) however emphasises thank our mentor, Dipu Karuthedathu, for teaching us the ropes of pelagic surveys. the ivory tip on the bill of a White-cheeked Tern, as mentioned in We would like to acknowledge all survey volunteers and participants from GBCN. We thank Reggio D’Souza, proprietor of the Felicia trawler fleet, and crew members. We Ali & Ripley (1983), as one of the features used to identify this thank Bonita Menezes, Lloyd Fernandes, Prasanna Parab, Goa Forest Department, species, which Prasad (2004) mentions is a commoner feature International Animal Rescue-Assagao, and other unnamed volunteers who rescued of the Common Tern. A lot of ambiguity prevails with regard to wind-blown birds, and provided detailed information. We would also like to thank specific field identification pointers to distinguish Common, and Anand Prasad, and Praveen J for providing us with critical comments, and vital White-cheeked Terns. Olsen &Larsson (1995) have mentioned references for an earlier version of this manuscript. that Common Terns, of first-summer plumage, sometimes have pale grey rump and tail, while they also mention that the palest References summer plumage adults of White-cheeked Terns are close Abdulali, H., 1940. Swifts and terns at Vengurla Rocks. Journal of the Bombay Natural to the darkest Common Terns of the race longipennis. Based History Society 41 (3): 661–665. on the current trends observed from all the offshore surveys Abdulali, H., 1942. The terns and Edible-nest Swifts at Vengurla, west coast, India. from the western coast of India, it appears that the Common Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 43 (3): 446–451. Tern is the more commoner species observed on the western Abdulali, H., 1970. Notes on Indian birds-11. On the distribution of Sterna fuscata coast, rather than the White-cheeked Tern. The record of White- Linnaeus in Indian limits - a correction. Journal of the Bombay Natural History 16 Indian BIRDS Vol. 13 No. 1 (Publ. 20 April 2017)

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Appendix 1. Checklist of seabirds from Goa. S.No. Species Scientific name Alternate English name(s) I. Phaethontiformes 1. Phaethontidae (tropicbirds) 1 Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus Short-tailed Tropicbird II. Procellariiformes 2. Oceanitidae (Austral storm-petrels) 2 Wilson’s Storm-petrel Oceanites oceanicus 3. Hydrobatidae 3 Swinhoe’s Storm-petrel Hydrobates monorhis Fork-tailed Storm-petrel 4. Procellariidae 4 Flesh-footed Shearwater Ardenna carneipes Pink-footed Shearwater (incl. A. creatopus) 5 Tropical Shearwater Puffinus bailloni Persian Shearwater 6 Jouanin’s Petrel Bulweria fallax Jouanin’s Gadfly Petrel III. Pelecaniformes 5. Fregatidae 7 Lesser Frigatebird Fregata ariel Least Frigatebird 8 Great Frigatebird F. minor Lesser Frigatebird (vide HBK) 6. Sulidae 9 Red-footed Booby Sula sula 10 Brown Booby S. leucogaster 11 Masked Booby S. dactylatra IV. Charadriiformes 7. Scolopacidae 12 Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus 8. Stercorariidae 13 Arctic Skua Stercorarius parasiticus Parasitic Jaeger 14 Pomarine Skua S. pomarinus Pomarine Jaeger 9. Laridae (gulls and terns) 15 Brown Noddy Anous stolidus Noddy Tern 16 Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla 17 Sooty Gull Ichthyaetus hemprichii 18 Sooty Tern Onychoprion fuscatus 19 Bridled Tern O. anaethetus Brown-winged Tern 20 Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii Rosy Tern 21 Common Tern S. hirundo 22 White-cheeked Tern S. repressa 23 Lesser Crested Tern Thalasseus bengalensis 24 Sandwich Tern T. sandvicensis 25 Greater Crested Tern T. bergii Large Crested Tern 18 Indian BIRDS Vol. 13 No. 1 (Publ. 20 April 2017)

Records of White-browed Shortwing Brachypteryx montana from Uttarakhand, and a review of its status in the Himalaya west of Nepal

Gunjan Arora, Puja Sharma, Tim Inskipp & Paul R. Elsen

Arora, G., Sharma, P., Inskipp, T., & Elsen, P. R., 2017. Records of White-browed Shortwing Brachypteryx montana from Uttarakhand, and a review of its status in the Himalaya west of Nepal. Indian BIRDS 13 (1): 18–21. Gunjan Arora, Pocket C-9, Flat 9293, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi 110070, India. E-mail: [email protected] [GA]. Puja Sharma, A-13, New Friends Colony, New Delhi 110025, India. E-mail: [email protected] [PS]. Tim Inskipp, 1 Herneside, Welney, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, PE14 9SB, United Kingdom. E-mail: [email protected] [TI]. Paul R. Elsen, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. E-mail: [email protected] [PRE]. Manuscript received on 06 October 2016.

he White-browed Shortwing Brachypteryx montana is was sheltered by dense overhanging vegetation. A streamlet was widely distributed in moist montane forests of southern running beside the area and small pools of stagnant water were TAsia (Cox 2006). The race B. m. cruralis has been reported dammed by large pebbles. The bird showed a distinct rufous to occur in central, and eastern Himalayas in the west, to south- lower forehead, rusty lores and eye-ring, but showed no trace western China, and northern Vietnam in the east (Clement & Rose of a white supercilium [27]. The bird was observed till 1630 hrs, 2015). Recently, del Hoyo et al. (2016) have split B. montana after which the light became too low for further observation. into eight species, with the Himalayan Shortwing B. cruralis It was initially identified as a female White-browed Shortwing; being classified as monotypic, and the western-most species in however, the possibility of it being a first-winter/immature male the complex. Within the Indian Subcontinent, the species occurs could not be ruled out based on Abdulali’s (1987) description of from the Himalayas of Himachal Pradesh to Arunachal Pradesh, one male specimen in female plumage dated 22 January 1903 and southwards through the hills of southern Assam, Meghalaya, that did not show ‘a white streak over the eye’. Peter Clement (in Nagaland, Manipur, and Mizoram (Rasmussen & Anderton 2012). litt., e-mail dated 07 October 2016) agreed, and also highlighted Its status is described as scarce in Himachal Pradesh in northern the difficulty with ageing or sexing birds in the field, since they India, and Nepal, and as more common eastwards from Bhutan may have a white supercilium that may be often indistinct or (Collar 2016). It is an altitudinal migrant, breeding in temperate entirely concealed. He also noted that nothing is known of their forests up to 3660 m asl, and wintering at lower temperate, and moult sequence, and whether (or over what period) males in subtropical elevations, exceptionally down to 245 m asl (Inskipp first-winter plumage acquire the deep or slate-blue of the adult et al. 2016). plumage through wear of the olive-brown plumage. He also Observations are presented from two brief visits to Corbett speculated about the ecological advantages and challenges National Park in Uttarakhand in early January and late February of males breeding in female-type plumage, and competing 2016. A breeding season record substantiated with a sonogram territorially against a fully adult blue male; all of which are yet to of a sound recording from Askot Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttarakhand, be fully determined and understood. in May 2014, is also documented. The status of this species in the Himalaya west of Nepal is reviewed, and inconsistencies in historical records relating to its distribution are discussed.

Observations On 08 January 2016, GA, and PS were birding along the road near Mohaan (29.55°N, 79.11°E; 500 m asl), through the buffer zone at the north-eastern boundary of Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand. At Bakhrakot Nullah (29.56°N, 79.11°E; 570 m asl), the water level of the Panali stream was very low owing to the dry winter season, and they decided to walk along the riverbed to explore the riparian habitat. It offered excellent undergrowth of dense moist herbage, tall shrubs, leaf-litter, and brushwood— Arora Gunjan favourable habitat for skulking, terrestrial birds. The surrounding hilly terrain offered a dense canopy of middle, and upper storey of mixed broadleaved forest. At 1530 hrs a chat-like bird in brown plumage was observed 27. White-browed Shortwing showing a rufous forehead, rusty lores and eye-ring with no feeding on the ground in the boggy leaf-litter under a log, which supercilium. Arora et al.: White-browed Shortwing 19

The shortwing was always observed foraging on the ground [28]. It would hop in short spurts, pausing briefly to pick up invertebrates from boggy patches, and frequently turning dried leaf-litter. At times, the leaf-litter was thrown to a distance of nearly one meter, reminiscent of the ground-feeding behaviour of some other thrush (Turdidae) species. During the period of observation in January, the bird fed in a small area, always returning to its favoured feeding spots at short intervals. It was also very territorial, and performed aggressive displays whenever there was a territory clash with other ground dwelling birds, especially those feeding on or near its ground territory (described below). In February, the bird appeared to cover a larger area owing to drying up of several boggy patches. Its whereabouts were not apparent for long periods of time, perhaps overlooked due to its shy and skulking nature. Interestingly, during the entire observation period, the bird was not heard to utter any sound 29. Display - Tail upright and flared wings. despite its elaborate territorial displays.

28. White-browed Shortwing feeding on the ground turning leaf-litter. 30. Display - Tail dipping downward and drooped wings.

Behaviour On 09 January 2016, the bird was observed from 0800 hrs to 1400 hrs. It was particularly aggressive towards a male Snowy- browed Flycatcher Ficedula hyperythra, which kept returning to feed on the same spots on the ground that the shortwing preferred. The shortwing would chase away the flycatcher every time, by a short hop or a jump towards it, after which it used that spot to feed. A male Rufous-bellied Niltava Niltava sundara would also often chase away the male Snowy-browed Flycatcher, but Arora Gunjan Pics: would in turn be chased away by the shortwing displaying as just mentioned. In one instance, at 1130 hrs the shortwing showed intense aggression towards the Rufous-bellied Niltava. After chasing away the niltava, the shortwing perched upon the log (under which it usually fed on the ground; 30 cm high), and displayed by flicking its wings. It then perched on a twig 31. Display - Wing-flicking and tail dipping downward. above the log, drooped its wings, raised its fanned tail upright, and progressed to dip it slowly [29, 30, 31]. It alternated between flicking its wings, pausing still for brief moments, and territorial behaviour, including threat displays, has not been fanning its tail up and down again. At 1145 hrs, a flock of six documented earlier. Fleming et al. (1976) recorded that the bird Red-billed Leiothrix Leiothrix lutea swooped down exactly where ‘flicks wings when it calls’, which was also noted by Cox (2006) the shortwing was feeding. The shortwing was quick to react during its breeding period; however, the bird was silent during aggressively by opening and closing its bill but without uttering our period of observation in winter. any sound; it displayed by flaring its wings and tail, and chased Interestingly, the shortwing did not react to either Chestnut- away the intruding birds from its territory. Cox (2006) has also headed Tesias Cettia castaneocoronata or, Grey-bellied Tesias described similar display behaviour; however, this interspecific Tesia cyaniventer that often shared the same feeding habitat, 20 Indian BIRDS Vol. 13 No. 1 (Publ. 20 April 2017)

foraging unobtrusively in the foliage close to the forest floor. In 1903, Osmaston (1904) found seven nests of the White- However, a Spotted Forktail Enicurus maculatus seemed to browed Shortwing in Darjeeling, in eastern India (p. 511), including frighten it. It remained out of sight until the forktail finished one nest that had been brood parasitised by a Lesser Cuckoo, preening, and then returned after 20 min. It was not bothered by which was found on 15 June 1903 at 7500 feet (2280 m asl) other small passerines that shared its habitat or arrived in mixed (p. 515; Baker 1906, p. 352). From the above, Osmaston (1904, hunting parties, especially to bathe, as they would quickly retire p. 515) retrospectively identified the Tons Valley nest as probably to the forest canopy. belonging to a White-browed Shortwing, and reasoned that, ‘the We revisited the area on 28–29 February 2016. It was warmer eggs and nest agree exactly with those of that species.’ Once than in January. Butterfly activity was very high, and deciduous again the details of the brood parasitised nests were given under trees like sal Shorea robusta, and haldu Adina cordifolia were the Lesser Cuckoo, and not the White-browed Shortwing, which shedding leaves. On 28 February 2016, the spot was watched perhaps explains why subsequent authors overlooked them, between 1000 and 1430 hrs, and the same individual White- and even considered the identification as ‘possibly erroneous’ browed Shortwing was spotted briefly at 1020 hrs, and 1100 (Clement & Rose 2015). Osmaston (1999) in his diary further hrs at its original spot. The boggy area, which was its favoured clarified the location of his Tons Valley nest—it was found during feeding spot, had dried up. It appeared to cover a larger territory. a trek to Kedarkantha and Har-ki-dun, now in Uttarkashi District. On 29 February 2016, a larger area was surveyed between 0800 In conclusion, despite Osmaston (1904) not being a hundred and 1230 hrs, but no other individuals were found. The same percent certain that the nest he had reported in his 1898 paper bird was seen feeding on the ground briefly at 1200 hrs, 10 m was of this species, it most likely was! away from its original spot. The nest was described, and illustrated by Brian Hodgson (though not published then) in the mid-nineteenth century, from one collected in Nepal; these details were mentioned by Hume Historical records (1889), and Oates (1889), and the illustration was published in Historically, the distribution of the White-browed Shortwing Inskipp et al. (2016). However, they were not mentioned by Baker in north-western India, west of Nepal, has been confused by (1924, 1933), and therefore the assertion in the latter reference inconsistencies and errors. that the first nest of the species, ever taken, was the one taken by Prior to 1900 the species was not mentioned in works that Osmaston in the Tons Valley, Uttarakhand is incorrect. covered areas west of Nepal, e.g., Oates (1889). Osmaston (1904), based on a nest found in Uttarakhand (see below), which he considered was ‘highly probable’ for this species, Past records speculated that ‘the range of the species must extend to north- There are only six known records of the species from the west Himalaya as far as Simla, at high elevations’, but did not give Himalaya west of Nepal, of which three lack adequate supporting any details, or references, as to how he arrived at this conclusion. details. Gaston (1994) provided two records from the Great Baker (1924) gave the distribution as ‘Himalayas from Simla and Himalayan National Park in Himachal Pradesh: One female was Garhwal to Eastern Assam…’, without a reference, but presumably seen in the Jiwa Valley in September 1991 by S. Westerberg, after Osmaston. However, Roonwal & Nath (1947) noted that and one, of undetermined sex, by A. J. Gaston in the Tirthan ‘these inclusions seem to be without authority’. Ripley (1961) Valley, on the approach to the park, in October 1991. These apparently followed these authors in omitting any reference to records, the only published ones from Himachal Pradesh, were Simla, or Garhwal, but Ali & Ripley (1973), and Ripley (1982) overlooked by Clement & Rose (2015). Tony Gaston (in litt., both gave Garhwal as the western limit of its distribution, citing e-mail dated 11 January 2017) confirmed that his observation ‘JBNHS 11: 471’ (see below for clarification of this citation). was near Rolla (31.675°N, 77.488°E; 2100 m asl); however, he Clement & Rose (2015), quoting Roonwal & Nath (1947) noted could not confirm the details because his notes were no longer that, ‘range formerly considered to reach Simla in Himachal accessible. Stephen Westerberg (in litt., e-mail dated 11 January Pradesh, and Garhwal, Uttarakhand, but now considered doubtful 2017) confirmed that he distinctly remembered watching the and no recent records from either area.’ There have still been bird in a shady part of the forest near the Jiwa River, and also no definite records from Simla but other records from Himachal recollects his field sketch. He confirmed that similar species were Pradesh (see below) indicate that it may yet be found there. ruled out at the time. PRE did not record the species during the Baker (1933) ascribed the first nest ever taken of the species, period of his research, and bird surveys, in Great Himalayan from Tons Valley in Uttarakhand, to Osmaston (1898), supported National Park during 2011–2016 (Elsen 2015). However, Yann with a citation: ‘Journ. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc. vol. xi., p. 471, 1898’. Muzika (in litt., e-mail dated 22 July 2016), during a birding trip However, Gaston (1993) could not find any mention of the to the Great Himalayan National Park, reported that the species species in the reference cited, and neither could Cox (2006), who was heard singing from across the river, near the forest hut presented a detailed summary of the historical nesting records of at Rolla, on 29 April 2016. This record is not supported by a the species. However, a careful reading of Osmaston (1898) has sound recording or with details from the observer, and is thus revealed that on p. 472, while writing about the breeding of a considered unconfirmed. Lesser Cuckoo Cuculus poliocephalus, he described a cup-like From Uttarakhand, there have been two reports that are not nest lined with fern stalks, and which was collected by F. Gleadow supported by actual records or details, and are thus considered in the Tons Valley in Uttarakhand, on 05 June 1897 at 9500 feet unconfirmed. Lamba & Bhatnagar (1979) included the species in (2900 m asl). The nest reportedly contained two pure white eggs a bare checklist based on surveys conducted in Corbett National of the foster parent, and one uniform chocolate coloured egg. Park during 1973–1975. Lamba (1985) subsequently expanded Osmaston attributed the latter to the parasitic Lesser Cuckoo, and this to the rather confusing statement: ‘Resident, subject to appealed for suggestions regarding the identity of the owner of vertical movements, very rare. Distribution: Throughout the the former, as the host species was not observed. Park in dense, damp, and shady forest.’ This is the only record Arora et al.: White-browed Shortwing 21

for Uttarakhand listed by Tak & Sati (2010). Jan et al. (2011) Bombay Natural History Society 17 (2): 351–374. carried out a bird diversity study at Joshimath, and Auli Bugyal, Baker, E. C. S., 1924. The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Birds. in Chamoli District, in March–May 2010 and, based on transects, 2nd ed. London: Taylor and Francis. Vol. II of 8 vols. Pp. i–xxiii+1, 1–561. listed the species as ‘resident in a mixed patch.’ Their list also Baker, E. C. S., 1933. The nidification of birds of the Indian empire [Turdidae- Sturnidae]. London: Taylor & Francis. Vol. II of 4 vols. Pp. i–vi+2, 1–564. includes Collared Treepie Dendrocitta frontalis (no records nearer BirdLife International. 2017. Important Bird and Biodiversity Area factsheet: Askot than Sikkim), and Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush Garrulax Wildlife Sanctuary and Goriganga Basin. Website URL: http://www.birdlife.org. monileger (no records nearer than central Nepal, besides being a [Accessed on 24 January 2017] lowland species), which suggests that their records need further Clement, P., & Rose, C., 2015. Robins and chats. UK: Christopher Helm. Pp. 1–688. confirmation. Collar, N., 2016. White-browed Shortwing (Brachypteryx montana). In: del Hoyo, J., A recent, confirmed, breeding season record from Uttarakhand Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D. A. & de Juana, E., (eds.). Handbook of the Birds is from Sarmoli village near Munsyari (30.08°N, 80.23°E; 2250 of the World Alive. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. Website URL: http://www.hbw.com/ m asl) in Pithoragarh District from May 2014 (Elsen 2015). The node/58389 [Accessed on 01 September 2016.] Cox, J. H., 2006. Breeding behaviour and nesting ecology of White-browed Shortwing area comes under Askot Wildlife Sanctuary, an Important Bird Brachypteryx montana in Nepal. Forktail 22: 1–6. and Biodiversity Area (IBA; #IN099) (BirdLife International del Hoyo, J., & Collar, N. J., 2016. HBW and BirdLife International illustrated checklist 2017). On 16 May 2014, PRE and his field assistant, Trilok Singh of the birds of the world. Volume 2: Passerines. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. Vol. 1 Rana saw and heard a singing male—an all dark bird with a small of 2 vols. Pp. 1–1013. white supercilium. The bird was obscured in a dense tangle of Elsen, P. R., 2015. Bird abundance, distribution, and richness patterns in Great vegetation beside a stream, and observed for nearly 15 min. The Himalayan National Park, Himachal Pradesh, India. With appendices of accounts song of the bird was recorded, and is the first sound recording of for all bird species recorded and an updated checklist. A report to the Himachal the species from west of Nepal [FIG. 1]. Pradesh Forestry Department. Unpublished. Fleming, R. L., Sr., Fleming, R. L., Jr., & Bangdel, L. S., 1976. Birds of Nepal with reference to Kashmir and Sikkim. 1st ed. Kathmandu: Published by the authors. Pp. 349. Gaston, A. J., Garson, P. J., & Pandey, S., 1994. Birds recorded in the Great Himalayan National Park, Himachal Pradesh, India. Forktail 9: 45–57 (1993). Hume, A. O., 1889. The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds. 2nd ed. London: R.H. Porter. Vol. I of 3 vols. Pp. i–x, 1 l., 1–397. Inskipp, C., Baral, H. S., Phuyal, S., Bhatt, T. R., Khatiwada, M., Inskipp, T., Khatiwada, A., Gurung, S., Singh, P. B., Murray, L., Poudyal, L., & Amin, R., 2016. The status of Nepal’s Birds: The national red list series. London: Zoological Society of London. Jan, R., Uniyal, V. P., & Chauhan, A., 2011. An assessment of bird diversity around Fig. 1. Sonogram of the song of a male White-browed Shortwing recorded by Paul R. Elsen. Joshimath, Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, Uttarakhand. Indian Forester 137: 1160–1164. Lamba, B. S., & Bhatnagar, R. K., 1979. Fauna of Corbett National Park. Cheetal 20 There are no historical specimens from the region (Abdulali (4): 18–20. 1987; Vertnet 2016). The status of the species over much of its Lamba, B. S., [c. 1985.] Impact assessment of bio-ecological changes in the faunal range is difficult to assess because of the bird’s typically shy and patterns (selected groups) brought about by the partial submersion of Corbett skulking behaviour in dense undergrowth (Cox 2006). It is also National Park, as a result of Ramganga Multipurpose Hydel Project Dam (1st usually silent in the non-breeding season (Clement & Rose 2015) stage 1976-1979). New Delhi: Man and the Biosphere Programme, Department and, therefore, could be easily overlooked. Further ecological of Environment, Government of India. Oates, E. W., 1889. The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Birds). monitoring in and around Corbett National Park, during winter, 1st ed. London.: Taylor and Francis. Vol. I of 4 vols. Pp. i–xx, 1–556. especially in areas accessible by foot, is needed to determine Osmaston, B. B., 1898. Birds’ nesting in the Tons Valley. Part II. Journal of the whether its occurrence in the area is regular or rare. Birdwatchers Bombay Natural History Society 11 (3): 468–473. should also keep a lookout for the species in summer, in the Osmaston, B. B., 1904. Notes on the breeding of certain birds near Darjeeling. higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 15 (3): 510–515. Osmaston, B. B., 1999. Wild Life and adventures in Indian forests. From diaries of B.B. Osmaston C.I.E. 1868-1961. Imperial Forest Service 1888-1923. 2nd ed. Acknowledgments Cumbria, UK: Henry Osmaston. Pp. i–xvi, 1–290. Rasmussen, P. C., & Anderton, J. C., 2012. Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide. 2nd We thank Aasheesh Pittie for sending us the relevant text from Lamba & Bhatnagar ed. Washington, D.C. and Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. (1979). Peter Clement is thanked for his valuable inputs on plumage and comments 2 vols. Pp. 1–378; 1–683. on an earlier draft of this manuscript. Tony Gaston and Stephen Westerberg are Ripley, S. D., 1961. A synopsis of the birds of India and Pakistan together with those thanked for their time and continued interest. The latter is also thanked for his efforts of Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Ceylon. 1st ed. Bombay: Bombay Natural History to locate his field notebook from the year 1991. PRE acknowledges the support of his Society. Pp. i–xxxvi, 1–703. field assistant Trilok Singh Rana. 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; Oxford: Bombay Natural History Society; Oxford University Press. Pp. i–xxvi, 1–653. References Roonwal, M. L., & Nath, B., 1947. Critical remarks on the systematics of the White- Abdulali, H., 1987. A catalogue of the birds in the collection of the Bombay Natural browed Short-wing, Heteroxenicus cruralis cruralis, (Blyth) [Aves: Turdidae]. History Society-32. Muscicapidae (Turdinae). Journal of the Bombay Natural Records of the Indian Museum 45: 321–328. History Society 84 (1): 105–125. Tak, P. C., & Sati, J. P., 2010. Aves. In: Fauna of Uttarakhand. State Fauna Series 18 Ali, S., & Ripley, S. D., 1973. Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan together (Part-1). Editor-Director. (ed.). Kolkata, India: Zoological Survey of India: Pp. with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Warblers to 77–443. Redstarts. 1st ed. Bombay: (Sponsored by the Bombay Natural History Society) Vertnet 2016. Brachypteryx montana specimens. Website URL: http://portal.vertnet. Oxford University Press. Vol. 8 of 10 vols. Pp. i–xvi, 1–277. org/search?q=Brachypteryx+montana+india+vntype:specimen [Accessed on 01 Baker, E. C. S., 1906. The oology of Indian parasitic Cuckoos. Part II. Journal of the September 2016] 22 Indian BIRDS Vol. 13 No. 1 (Publ. 20 April 2017)

Winter records of Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus from Sambhar Lake and its environs, Rajasthan

Harkirat Singh Sangha

Sangha, H. S., 2017. Winter records of Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus from Sambhar Lake environs, Rajasthan. Indian BIRDS 13 (1): 22–23. Harkirat Singh Sangha, B-27, Gautam Marg, Hanuman Nagar, Jaipur 302021, Rajasthan, India. E-mail: [email protected]. Manuscript received on 28 September 2016.

he Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus is an anomalous sandpiper that breeds at mid-to-high latitudes Tin the northern hemisphere, and migrates to the southern hemisphere. It has an unusual biology, with its reversed sexual dimorphism, and aberrant breeding systems. It is the smallest of the three phalaropes, and has the most extensive circumpolar breeding range (Chandler 2009). It is a pelagic migrant, wintering in south-west Pacific and off Peru, in the Arabian Sea, and from central Indonesia to western Melanesia in upwelling zones and ocean slicks with high availability of plankton (del Hoyo et al. 1996). In the Indian Subcontinent it is an offshore winter visitor Fig. 2. Sambhar Lake and Kochiya ki Dhani (usually found 11–50 km away from the mainland) from Mekran, and Sindh in Pakistan, the Gujarat coast, south-eastern India, and Sri Lanka. It is rarely recorded inland, but on passage is recorded India; a few records are from west Nepal, Bihar, and inland practically throughout Afghanistan, Pakistan, and north-western southern India (Rasmussen & Anderton 2012). According to Ali & Ripley (1980) it is, ‘recorded from a few inland localities on spring and/or autumn passage.’ Roberts (1991) says they, ‘take flight to the sea coast non-stop, but occasional birds can be encountered on inland lakes or freshwater ponds on passage.’ However, there are no inland winter records of the species from the Indian Subcontinent in published literature (Ali & Ripley 1980; Roberts 1991; Kazmierczak 2000; Grimmett et al. 2011; Rasmussen & Anderton 2012). The purpose of this note is to report hitherto unknown wintering inland records of Red-necked Phalarope from the Indian Subcontinent (Fig. 1). An unprecedented inland winter sighting of a Red-necked Phalarope took place on 05 February 1999 at Kochia ki Dhani, a freshwater village pond adjacent to Sambhar Lake (26.58ºN, 75.05ºE) (Fig. 2); 17 Red-necked Phalaropes were counted (Sangha 2002). Later, five birds, including one juvenile, were observed on 02 November 2001, also at Kochia ki Dhani (Sangha 2009). Thirteen birds were recorded on Sambhar Lake on 01 December 2009, while birding with Divyabhanusinh Chavda, and late Shantanu Kumar. These birds were feeding in a shallow part of the main lake. A third sighting from Kochia ki Dhani occurred on 01 December 2013 when Fig. 1. Winter records of Red-necked Phalarope. Abhinav C., and I photographed c. 14 birds Sangha: Red-necked Phalarope 23

[32]. We watched the very tame flock for more than 30 min. At regular during autumn passage at Sambhar Lake (Sangha 2002), times they were less than five meters away from us![33] . where I have seen the species during August/September almost every year since 1990. Adam (1874) obtained two specimens on ‘the 22nd and 25th September’ and commented that A. O. Hume was of the opinion that, ‘it can only occur at Sambhur as a bird of passage.’ It has also been recorded from Revasa (Sikar District), Tal Chhapar (Churu District), Khuri (Nagaur District), and Jaisalmer during autumn passage in Rajasthan (Sangha, in press). There are no spring, or summer passage records from Rajasthan, most probably because the above mentioned wetlands are rarely visited by birdwatchers except during winter. Moreover, these wetlands are ephemeral and usually dry up by late winter. Such unusual inland occurrences, of normally maritime or littoral species, are frequently related to unusual weather patterns, and especially to exceptionally strong onshore winds (Ash & Ashford 1977). It may also be presumed that the above-

Abhinav. C.Abhinav. recorded birds were outgoing and explorative. Scientists studying 32. Red-necked Phalarope at Kochia ki Dhani, Sambhar Lake on 1 December 2013. threatened migratory shorebirds have found they have a range of personality types. A flock of birds may look like identical birds all

doing the same thing, but take a closer look and you will see that ‘some birds are outgoing and adventurous or explorative, while others prefer the quiet life following the leader,’(Collins 2016). While recent sightings at Badopal, Najafgarh, and Soor Sarovar may be considered stray records, the repeated occurrence of birds, during winter, at Sambhar is difficult to explain. The question, as to whether their inland wintering is a long established custom, or a new habit developed in the last few years, remains unanswered, and requires study in the future.

References Ali, S., & Ripley, S. D., 1980. Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.Megapodes to Crab Plovers. 2nd (Hardback) ed. Delhi: (Sponsored by Bombay Natural History Society.) Oxford University Press. Vol. 2 of 10 vols. Pp. i–xvi, 1–347.

H. S. Sangha Adam, R. M., 1874. Additional note on the birds of the Sambhur Lake and its vicinity. 33. Red-necked Phalaropes in flight at Kochiya ki Dhani, Sambhar Lake on 1 December 2013. Stray Feathers 2 (4&5): 337–341. Ash, J. S., & Ashford, O. M., 1977. Great Black-headed Gull Larus ichthyaetus and Red-necked Phalaropes Phalaropus lobatus in inland Ethiopia. Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society and National Museum 31 (162): 1–3. One bird was photographed on a fresh water body on 18 Chandler, R., 2009. Shorebirds of the northern hemisphere. London,Christopher Helm. December 2007 at Vakeria dhand (23.43°N, 23.60°E), Banni, Collins, B., 2016. Scientists find birds have personalities which could be key to their Great Rann of Kachchh (Jugal Tiwari, in litt., e-mail dated 07 survival. Tattler 38: 10. September 2016). Another was photographed on 06 February del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J., (eds.) 1996. Handbook of the birds of the world. 2015 at the Najafgarh wetlands (28.60°N, 76.99°E), south- Volume 3. Hoatzin to Auks. 1st ed. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. Vol. 3 of 17 vols. Pp. western Delhi District (Sanjay Sharma, in litt., e-mail dated 14 1–821. February 2015). A single bird was reported from Soor Sarovar, Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C., & Inskipp, T., 2011. Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. 2nd ed. London: Oxford University Press & Christopher Helm. Pp. 1–528. (27.23°N, 77.85°E), Agra District (Uttar Pradesh) on ~08 Jännes, H., 2015. Tigers and birds of Bandhavgarh 1–12 February 2015. URL: http:// February 2015 (Jännes 2015). www.birdquest-tours.com/pdfs/report/INDIA%20-BANDHAVGARH-%20REP%20 While birding with Per Undeland of Sweden, on 16 December 15-ebook.pdf. 2015, at Badopal (25.15°N, 60.04°E), a saline wetland, in Kazmierczak, K., 2000. A field guide to the birds of India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Hanumangarh District, Rajasthan, I noticed three Red-necked Bhutan, Bangladesh and the Maldives.1st ed. New Delhi: Om Book Service. Pp. Phalaropes at a considerable distance, and asked him to look 1–352. at them. Soon the birds flew further away but we could observe Rasmussen, P. C., & Anderton, J. C., 2012. Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C. and Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. 2 them feeding, not by moving in tight circles but simply swimming vols. Pp. 1–378; 1–683. and rapidly inserting their bills just below the surface of the water. Roberts, T. J., 1991. The birds of Pakistan: Regional Studies and non-passeriformes. 1st Banni is barely c.50 km from the Arabian Sea and it can be ed. Karachi: Oxford University Press. Vol. 1of 2 vols. Pp. i–xli, 1–598. presumed that a single bird is likely to be laggard or its presence Sangha, H. S., 2002. Occurrence and association of Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus related to unusual weather prevailing in the region. On the other lobatus with other species at Sambhar, Rajasthan. Journal of the Bombay Natural hand, Badopal wetland, Sambhar Lake, the Najafgarh wetland, History Society 99 (2): 301–302. and Soor Sarovar are c.800 km, 600 km, 850 km, and 800 km Sangha, H. S., 2009. The birds of Sambhar Lake and its environs. Indian Birds 4 (3): 82–97 (2008). respectively, from the Arabian Sea and situated in interior India. Sangha, H. S., In press. Distribution update and status of birds in the Thar Desert of Red-necked Phalarope is not an uncommon wader, during Rajasthan. In: Ecology and environment ofThar Desert. Chhangani, A. K.,Mohan, the autumn passage, at suitable locations in Rajasthan. It is D., & Jakher, G. R. (eds.). 24 Indian BIRDS Vol. 13 No. 1 (Publ. 20 April 2017)

Breeding of White-tailed Lapwing Vanellus leucurus in Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, Gujarat, India

Devvratsinh Mori & Kasam Sama Sidani

Mori, D., & Sidani, K. S., 2017. Breeding of White-tailed Lapwing Vanellus leucurus in Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, Gujarat, India. Indian BIRDS 13 (1): 24–25. Devvratsinh Mori, Opp. Darbargadh, Wadhwan 363030, Gujarat, India. Email: [email protected] [DM] Kasam Sama Sidani, Post Village Vekaria 382170 Nalsarovar Taluka, Sanand District, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. [KSS] Manuscript received on 08 October 2016.

he White-tailed Lapwing Vanellus leucurus is a winter visitor across the northern plains of India, at least to Bihar in the Teast, and to northern Maharashtra; with stragglers elsewhere in southern, and eastern India (Rasmussen & Anderton 2012). It is a summer visitor to Balochistan, and Pakistan (Rasmussen & Anderton 2012), and breeds there (BirdLife International 2016). Some populations of this species in the Middle East (Iran, Iraq) are sedentary, while the Central Asian populations are migratory, wintering in India, and Pakistan. These migratory birds breed in Russia (BirdLife International 2016). Recent works do not show it breeding in India (Grimmett et al. 2011; Rasmussen & Anderton 2012). On 09 April 2016, at 0800 hrs, DM visited Sur Bet (22.58°N 72.00°E) (‘Sur Bet’ is the name of the island) in Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, Gujarat, with Ramzan Sama, who is a local guide in Nal 34. White-tailed Lapwing on nest. Sarovar. Nal Sarovar, spread over 120 sq kms, is a natural shallow lake, with lagoons and numerous small islands. It was declared a ‘Ramsar’ site in 2012. In March–April, the water level decreases in Nal Sarovar, thus exposing some islands. DM observed a White-tailed Lapwing pair on a nest [34]. The nest was located on a small island of the lake, comprising mainly dry saline soil on which reeds grew [35]. Normally this island is exposed during summer, from March to June, until the rains begin. One of the birds from the pair was feeding near the nest. DM was able to document this breeding activity with photographs and video footage. A Western Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus flew above the nest, whereupon the pair began to continually call, and chased the raptor. The nest had four oval-shaped eggs, cream in colour, with large dark-brown blotchy marks [36]. DM observed nests of Black-winged Stilts Himantopus himantopus, and Red- 35. Habitat in which White-tailed Lapwing nested. wattled Lapwings V. indicus near the White-tailed Lapwing’s nest. Another pair of White-tailed Lapwings was mating at the time, at the same location, and it is possible that that was also a breeding pair. DM could visit only once to observe this nest, and could not go to the area subsequently. There was an earlier nesting report of the White-tailed Lapwing from Nal Sarovar by KSS in 2002 (Sama 2002), and later in 2010 also. These nests were on Borbet Island, which is about two kilometres from the present sighting at Surbet. As this species breeds in Balochistan, this could potentially be an extension of its breeding range though further study is needed to verify if the birds are breeding annually. Similar potential

habitats for its nesting exist in other parts of Nal Sarovar, like D. Mori Pics: Panwadbet, and Chorakhalibet, which are eight, and a kilometre and a half from Surbet respectively. KSS has noticed this species every summer in Nal Sarovar since the discovery of the nest, and hence a small population could be breeding in this area. We 36. White-tailed Lapwing nest with four eggs. Newsome: Pied Wheatear 25

feel that larger scale surveys are needed in Nal Sarovar during References the White-tailed Lapwing’s breeding season to assess the size of BirdLife International. 2016. Species factsheet: Vanellusleucurus. Downloaded from breeding population, document its breeding biology, and identify http://www.birdlife.org. [Accessed on 05 August 2016]. potential threats. Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C., & Inskipp, T., 2011. Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. 2nd ed. London: Oxford University Press & Christopher Helm. Pp. 1–528. Rasmussen, P. C., & Anderton, J. C., 2012. Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide: Acknowledgments attributes and status. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C. and Barcelona: Smithsonian DM would like to especially thank Ramzan Kasam Sama for his help at Nal Sarovar; Institution and Lynx Edicions. Vol. 2 of 2 vols. Pp. 1–683. Shaktisinh Solanki, Surajsinh Parmar, and Kuldipsinh Mori for help in the field work; Sama, K., 2002. ‘Nal Sarovar ma shwetpunch Titodi (White-tailed Lapwing) no malo’. and Yagnesh Bhatt, Ashok Mashru for helping with this note. Vihang 2002 (Sharad): 13. [In Gujarati.]

Pied Wheatear Oenanthe pleschanka in Goa: A retrospective record

Mark Newsome

Newsome, M., 2017. Pied Wheatear Oenanthe pleschanka in Goa: A retrospective record. Indian BIRDS 13 (1): 25–26. Mark Newsome, 69 Cedar Drive, Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, England. E-mail: [email protected]. Manuscript received on 22 February 2017.

he recent publication on the occurrence of a Pied Wheatear edging to the brown wing feathers also pointed to it being a first- in Kerala in 2015 (Reghuvaran 2016) has prompted me year bird; an adult in autumn would show a much plainer, darker Tto resurrect my notes on a Pied Wheatear seen in Goa in wing with little fringing visible. 2001, with the purpose of documenting the sighting as the first for that state. Underparts: The throat and upper breast were similar to the On the early morning of 28 October 2001, I was birdwatching head, the remainder of the breast, and belly were pale/dirty around the helipad at Fort Aguada, Goa; an area of open flat white but with a hint of warmer breast sides, and warmer buff at rocky ground surrounded by short vegetation and trees up to five rear of flanks. meters height. When scanning across the area, I noticed a small chat-like bird perched quite upright on the ground. The bird was Tail pattern: The typical wheatear pattern of an inverted black clearly a wheatear species, and this immediately rang alarm bells, ‘T’ on a white tail was seen clearly when it took frequent short as I knew all wheatears were rare visitors to Goa. Over the course flights. The black at the tip was narrower than Northern Wheatear of the next 30 min, I watched the bird from closer range and took but was still a solid bar, the white of the tail not reaching the tip field notes (Newsome 2017). I did not carry a camera, so no at any point. Noticeably, however, the black did extend up to the photographs are available. The details noted, and summarised tail edges. below, enabled me to reach the conclusion that it was a female Pied Wheatear in first winter plumage. Bare parts: Legs all dark and not particularly long. The bill was quite short, fine, and all dark. Size and shape: A small wheatear, similar in size to (or a little smaller than) Northern Wheatear O. oenanthe, which I am Habits: Although the bird spent a considerable amount of time most familiar with from England. Quite chat-like proportions and on the ground, and perched in low vegetation, it also flew to remained horizontal when perched. It never gave the impression higher elevations in neighbouring low trees (as is regularly done of a larger upright ‘cocky’ wheatear such as Isabelline, or Hooded. on wintering grounds).

Head pattern: Crown, and hind-neck, grey-brown much like the Having birdwatched widely in the Western Palearctic for the mantle, with an indistinct paler buff supercilium. Ear coverts a last 25 years, I was familiar with the likely confusion species. I little warmer brown than crown. Throat perhaps a little paler but have seen Pied Wheatear on breeding grounds in Eastern Europe not white. The absence of any dark feathering on the cheeks, or and Russia and in good numbers on wintering grounds in Kenya. throat, pointed to a female; a male of this (or any other likely I have also seen Variable Wheatear (form capistrata being the confusion species) would show obvious dark feathering coming most likely confusion species in western India) in Rajasthan. Black- through, even in first-winter plumage. eared Wheatear O. hispanica (the most similar species based on plumage) is restricted to the Mediterranean basin and has not Upperparts: Mantle was a quite dull grey-brown. The wings were been recorded on the Indian Subcontinent. The main features, mid- to dark brown with obvious paler buff edges to the greater which ruled out Variable (form capistrata), were the obvious buff coverts forming a slight wing bar and obvious paler edges to edges to the wing feathers, the paler supercilium, and the tail the secondaries giving a slight wing panel effect. The clear pale pattern. The tail pattern, and general plumage colouration, also 26 Indian BIRDS Vol. 13 No. 1 (Publ. 20 April 2017)

ruled out Desert Wheatear O. deserti, the wheatear species most References expected in Goa (Lainer 2004). Collar, N., 2017. Pied Wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Although clearly a vagrant to south-western India, the Sargatal, J., Christie, D. A., & de Juana, E., (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the occurrence of Pied Wheatear in Goa is perhaps not unexpected. World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/ It has a large breeding range covering south-eastern Europe node/58543). [Accessed on 22 February 2017.] discontinuously across to western Afghanistan, northern Henry, G. M., 1971. A guide to the birds of Ceylon. 2nd ed. London: Oxford University Pakistan, and northern China, with the population moving Press. Pp. xl, 457. Lainer, H., 2004. Birds of Goa. A reference book. Mapusa, Goa: The Goa Foundation. some distance south-westards to winter in north-eastern Africa, Pp. i–ii, 1–244. and the south-western Arabian Peninsula (Collar 2017). The Newsome, M., 2017. Website URL: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S34641928. species occurs as a rare passage migrant in north-western India [Accessed on 22 February 2017.] (Rasmussen & Anderton 2012), but has also been recorded as Rasmussen, P. C., & Anderton, J. C., 2012. Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide. 2nd a vagrant in Sri Lanka, being first recorded at Colombo on 16 ed. Washington, D.C. and Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. 2 November 1943 (Henry 1971), and more recently in Kerala vols. Pp. 1–378; 1–683. Reghuvaran, P., 2016. Pied Wheatear Oenanthe pleschanka at Bekal Fort, Kasaragod, at Bekal Fort, Kasaragod on 20 December 2015 (Reghuvaran Kerala. Indian BIRDS 12 (1): 18–19. 2016), and at Madayipara, Kannur on 25 September 2016 Thomas, J., 2016. Website URL: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/ (Thomas 2016). checklist?subID=S31746431 [Accessed on 22 February 2017.] First definitive documentation of Forest Wagtail Dendronanthus indicus from Okhla Bird Sanctuary, Delhi NCR

Rohit Arora

Arora, R., 2017. First definitive documentation of Forest Wagtail Dendronanthus indicus from Okhla Bird Sanctuary, Delhi NCR. Indian BIRDS 13 (1): 26–27. Rohit Arora, O-44, Old Double Storey, Lajpat Nagar-4, New Delhi 110024, India. E-mail: [email protected]. Manuscript received on 25 October 2016.

he Forest Wagtail Dendronanthus indicus is a long distant migrant that breeds in north-eastern Asia and winters in TIndia, primarily in the Western Ghats, and Sri Lanka. It is a wide-spread passage migrant in the north-eastern parts of the Indian Subcontinent, but straggles elsewhere (Rasmussen & Anderton 2012). This note presents a photo documentation of an adult Forest Wagtail at Okhla Bird Sanctuary, Delhi NCR. On the Sunday, 16 October 2016, I was planning to return home after two hours of birding in Okhla Bird Sanctuary (28.56°N, 77.31°E), Noida District, Uttar Pradesh. At 0845 hrs, almost midway on the path between gates 1 and 2, I noticed a wagtail Arora Rohit Pics:

38. Forest Wagtail Dendronanthus indicus in Okhla. .

on the bund (on the lake side) almost 30 m ahead of me. The single bird was probably foraging for insects in grass under tree shade. My first reaction was that ‘it is a kind of wagtail that I have never seen before’, but I was not sure about it’s identity then. The bird was moving fast, and I managed to click a few record shots in poor light [37, 38]. I carefully planned to move closer to the bird for some close-up shots, but it got distracted by my presence, swiftly moved across the road, and flew away, disappearing into 37 the trees. The total duration of my short encounter with the bird was just about 30 sec. Dharwadkar et al.: Spotted Flycatcher 27

I matched my pictures with those of birds on the Internet, Acknowledgements and in books available with me. I then discovered that it was a I thank Delhi Bird Photography group on Facebook, specifically Pankaj Gupta, for Forest Wagtail, a lifer for me. Being such an unmistakable bird, indicating that the sighting is rare. I also thank Nikhil Devasar for indicating the there were no further queries about its identification. I posted historical records of this bird from the region. I extend my gratitude to Praveen J, for the photograph in Facebook’s online forums, and it became help in preparing this short note. clear that it was a very rare bird for the Delhi NCR region. Later, when I tried to locate earlier records, with the help of birding References experts, I gathered that the last sighting from the entire region Ganguli, U., 1975. A guide to the birds of the Delhi area. New Delhi: Indian Council of was also from Okhla Bird Sanctuary, in September 1949, by Agricultural Research. Pp. i–xv, 1–301. Horace Alexander (Ganguli 1975). However, there appears to Harvey, B., Devasar, N., & Grewal, B., 2006. Atlas of the birds of Delhi and Haryana. be a certain uncertainty over this record as it does not figure in 1st ed. New Delhi: Rupa & Co. Pp. 1–352. Harvey et al. (2006). This bird was perhaps an autumn vagrant, and appears to have eluded others who also were present at ‘Ganguli (1975) includes H. Alexander’s claimed record noting he “saw one with other wagtails Okhla on that day, and birders who visited Okhla since then. at Okhla in September 1949” but with no other comments. In preparing the Delhi and Haryana Atlas I found rather a number of unique (and unrepeated) records from H. Alexander in These are perhaps the first photographs of this wagtail from the Ganguli (1975), which I did not feel able to include in the Atlas. The fact that his wagtail was entire north-western India. “with other wagtails” would be unprecedented anywhere in its range and I had no difficulty ignoring this claim.’ – Bill Harvey

Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata: A new record for Goa, India

Omkar Dharwadkar, Pronoy Baidya, Pankaj Lad, Prasanna Parab, Mandar Bhagat, Madhura Niphadkar, Parag Rangnekar& Shraddha Rangnekar

Dharwadkar, O., Baidya, P., Lad, P., Parab, P., Bhagat, M., Niphadkar, M., Rangnekar, P., & Rangnekar, S., 2017. Pronoy Baidya Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata: A new record for Goa, India. Indian BIRDS 13 (1): 27–28. Omkar Dharwadkar, Flat No. F-2, First Floor, Kurtarkar Commercial Arcade, Kaziwada, Ponda 403401, Goa, India. E-mail: [email protected]. Pronoy Baidya, TB-3, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru 560012, Karnataka, India. 39. Spotted Flycatcher. E-mail: [email protected] [Corresponding author.] Pankaj Lad, M-11, Housing Board Colony , Vidyanagar, Gogal, Margao, Salcet 403601, Goa, India. E-mail: [email protected]. Prasanna Parab, H No. E-692, Gogol, Housing Board, Near Siddhivinayak Temple, Margao, Salcet 403601, Goa, India. E-mail: [email protected]. Mandar Bhagat, ‘Madhumangal’, New Vaddem, Vasco-Da-Gama 403802, Goa, India. E-mail: [email protected]. Madhura Niphadkar, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Royal Enclave, Sriramapura, Jakkur Post, Bengaluru 560064, Karnataka, India. E-mail: [email protected]. Parag Rangnekar, 407, III-A, Susheela Seawinds, Alto-Vaddem, Vasco-Da-Gama 403802, Goa, India. E-mail: [email protected]. Shraddha Rangnekar, 407,III-A, Susheela Seawinds, Alto-Vaddem, Vasco-Da-Gama 403802, Goa, India. E-mail: [email protected]. Manuscript received on 21 October 2016.

he Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata (Muscicapidae), has a wide distribution within Europe, western-central TAsia, and Africa (Taylor 2016). It is listed as a passage migrant in north-western India, and Pakistan, and a breeding Omkar Dharwadkar visitor to Afghanistan, Baluchistan, and the Himalayas between an altitudinal range of 1800–3300m (Grimmett et al. 2011; Rasmussen & Anderton 2012). Most records of this species from India, on eBird, are from Gujarat and, more specifically, from Kachchh, with a few scattered records from Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and New Delhi. The majority of 40. Spotted Flycatcher from Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary. records are from the months of September–October, with a few from March to May. On 10 December 2015, a single bird was observed and photographed in Pune, Maharashtra (Iyer 2015), On 30 September 2016, one bird was spotted, and and was the first report of this species from peninsular India, and photographed by birdwatchers from the Goa Bird Conservation is the only record between November–December. In this note, Network, on the outskirts of Dabel village in Cotigao Wildlife we report the sighting of a Spotted Flycatcher from Goa, India. Sanctuary (14.97°N, 74.13°E) (Baidya 2016) [39, 40]. The 28 Indian BIRDS Vol. 13 No. 1 (Publ. 20 April 2017)

bird was spotted perched out in the open, on an electric wire, Acknowledgements next to Talpona River. The species was easily identified by the The authors would like to thank the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Goa Forest characteristic dark streaking on the breast, and the crown of Department, and the staff of Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary for their support to Goa Bird the head. The individual was greyish-brown overall with a dark, Conservation Network, and Shashank Dalvi, Praveen Jayadevan for vital inputs while longish beak with a pale bill base, and black legs, and seemed preparation of the manuscript. comparatively larger in size than the very similar looking first winter plumage of an Asian Brown Flycatcher M. dauurica. The References bird was seen feeding on flying insects and, like all flycatchers, Baidya, P., 2016. Website URL: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S31823189. returning back to the same perch repeatedly. [Accessed on 28 October 2016.] Lainer & Alvares (2013) do not include this species in their Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C., & Inskipp, T., 2011. Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. 2nd ed. work. However, Prasad lists this bird as a ‘possible’ autumn London: Oxford University Press & Christopher Helm. Pp. 1–528. migrant to western Maharashtra (Prasad 2006). The nearest Iyer, R., 2016. Sighting of a Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata in Pune. Indian BIRDS record of this species from peninsular India is from Pune, 11 (2): 50. Maharashtra (Iyer 2016), which itself is c. 500 km away from Lainer, H., & Alvares, R., 2013. Birds of Goa. Goa, India: The Goa Foundation& its zone of regular passage in Gujarat. Our sighting, from Cotigao Department of Forests, Goa. Pp. i–x, 1–240. Wildlife Sanctuary, which is 1000 km away from Gujarat, now Prasad, A., 2006. Birds of western Maharashtra. A reference guide.1st ed. Mapusa, Goa: Other India Press. Pp. 1–315. stands as the southern-most record for this species in India. It Rasmussen, P. C., & Anderton, J. C., 2012. Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide. 2nd is quite possible that this species is a scarce passage migrant ed. Washington, D.C. and Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. 2 through the southern Peninsula, and more observations in the vols. Pp. 1–378; 1–683. future will clarify its status further. Taylor, B., 2016. Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata). In: Handbook of the birds of the world alive. del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Letter to the Editor

A Greater Scaup Aytha marila at is a first record from this wetland. The bird was not observed on Chashma Barrage, Pakistan any subsequent mid-winter census of the wetlands of Pakistan. Several sightings of the Greater Scaup have been reported from Large numbers of migratory birds come to Pakistan from Europe, Upper Punjab in Pakistan in the past (Roberts 1991; Grimmett and Central Asia each year using wetlands as wintering grounds et al. 2011) but the last time it was observed in the country, at and staging sites. Chashma Barrage, Mianwali District is one of Haleji Lake, Sindh, was in March 1982 (Robert 1991). the prominent wetlands in Pakistan. It was declared a wildlife sanctuary in January 1974, and is also a Ramsar site. It has a mixture of aquatic and terrestrial habitats, which provide safe Acknowledgements refuge to a variety of migratory birds (Akbar et al. 2009). We are grateful to Naeem Ashraf Raja, Director, Biodiversity, Ministry of Climate We recorded three Greater Scaup Aythya marila at Chashma Change, for confirming the identification. We are also grateful to Samrah Shaheen for Barrage (32.42°N, 75.37°E) on 10 December 2014. At first her valuable suggestions. glance we suspected it was a grebe (Podicipedidae), given that it was diving repeatedly in deep water; but it seemed considerably References larger than one. Superficially it resembled a Tufted Duck A. fuligula Akbar, M., Hassan, M. M. U., Nisa, Z. U., Hassan, M. M. U., & Hassan, M., 2009. but the white patch at the base of its bill, the lack of a crest, and Waterfowl diversity at Chashma barrage (wildlife sanctuary Mianwali) and Marala a pale grey belly suggested a Greater Scaup. A photograph [41] headworks (game reserve Sialkot) Pakistan during 1996–2005. International confirmed our identification when we consulted Roberts (1991), Journal of Agriculture & Biology 11: 188–192. and Ali (2002). Ali, S., 2002. The Book of Indian Birds.13th ed. Pp. i-lvi, 1-326. Bombay, India: Oxford University Press. Ali, Z., & Akhtar, M., 2005. Bird surveys at wetlands in Punjab, Pakistan, with special reference to the present status of White-headed Duck Oxyura leucocephala. Forktail 21: 43–50. Ali, Z., Ahmad, S. S., Khan, M. N., & Akhtar, M., 2007. Recent records of globally endangered white-headed duck Oxyura leucocephala in Pakistan. Journal of Animal & Plant Sciences 17 (1–2): 36-40. Azam, M. M., Brohi, M.A., & Ahmad, W., 2008. Studies on the population status of water birds in major wetlands of upper Punjab. Records of the Zoological Survey of Pakistan. 18: 4–11. Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C., & Inskipp, T., 2011. Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. 2nd ed.

M. A. Brohi London: Oxford University Press & Christopher Helm. Pp. 1–528. 41. Greater Scaup at Chashma Barrage. Roberts, T. J., 1991. The birds of Pakistan: Regional Studies and non-passeriformes. 1st ed. Karachi: Oxford University Press. Vol. 1 of 2 vols. Pp. i–xli, 1–598. Though many workers (Roberts 1991; Ali & Akhtar 2005; Ali – Mehrban Ali Brohi & Muhammad Asim et al. 2007; Azam et al. 2009) have studied the waterbirds of Zoological Survey of Pakistan, Ministry of Climate Change, Islamabad, Pakistan Chashma Barrage, none has reported this species, and hence it E-mail: [email protected] Snapshot sightings 28A

Snapshot sightings

Pied Thrush from Nainital, Uttarakhand Identification is based on sooty upperparts, Prashant Kumar & Vivek Rawat dusky underparts, While birding on indistinct supercilium, 23 June 2016 near and broken eye-ring the village of Riya under the eye. (29.46°N, 79.27°E) Umar Khan, f92-S2, Dilshad Colony, located at the Delhi 110095. E-mail: ali.arsh07@ 44 outskirts of Pawalgarh gmail.com. Conservation Reserve 42 in Nainital District of Sooty Gull from Manakudy, Tamil Nadu Uttarakhand, a thrush was seen and photographed and was identified as Pied Thrush M. Siva Kumar & R. Amirtha Balan Geokichla wardii. Two males and a female were seen at the On 28 November location. Although they are expected to move above 1500 m 2016, a lone Sooty in the breeding season (May–July) in western Himalayas (Ali & Gull Ichthyaetus Ripley 1987; Rasmussen & Anderton 2012), it is interesting to hemprichii was see multiple individuals of this species at c.1150 m in June. observed on the saltpans of Prashant Kumar, S/o Sadhana Singh, Aampokhra Range, Forest Compound, Ramnagar, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India. E-mail: [email protected] Puthalam Estuary (8.08°N, 77.48°E) Vivek Rawat, S/o Shri Kripal Singh Rawat, Teda Road, Ramnagar, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India. adjoining the E-mail: [email protected]. Arabian Sea at 45 Manakudy, Kanya Common Shelduck from Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra Kumari District in southern Tamil Rahul B Patil & Prabhakar R. Pawar Nadu. This is only the second instance when this species has On 25 December been reported from Tamil Nadu, while the first record was 2016 at 1600 a stained specimen from the nineteenth century, collected hrs we observed in Chennai surroundings, and displayed in the Government a Common Museum, Chennai (Kesavabharathi 2013). Shelduck Tadorna tadorna in a M. Siva Kumar, S/o C. Murugan, 6/87B Kamachanparappu, Parakkai Post, Kanyakumari 629501, mixed flock of Tamil Nadu, India. E-mail: [email protected]. R. Amirtha Balan, S/o A. Raveendran, 7/398A Santhi Illam, Keezhavannan Vilai, Maniketti pottal ducks at the Post, Kanyakumari 629501, Tamil Nadu, India. E-mail: [email protected]. Panje coastal 43 wetland (18.68°N, 72.95°E), References located on the western coast of Raigad District, Navi Mumbai, Ali, S. & Ripley, S. D. 1987. Compact handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan Maharashtra. This is probably a first report of the species from together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. i–xlii, 1 l., 1–737, the western coast of Maharashtra (Prasad 2006), though it has 52 ll.. Oxford University Press. Oxford, UK Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C., & Inskipp, T., 2011. Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. 2nd ed. been reported from elsewhere in the state, including Nashik London: Oxford University Press & Christopher Helm. Pp. 1–528. (Khairnar, 2009), and Amravati Districts (Wadatkar & Wagh Kesavabharati, G., 2014. A Sooty Gull Ichthyaetus hemprichii specimen at the 2014). The bird was present in this wetland for nearly a week. Government Museum, Chennai. Indian BIRDS. 9: (4) 112. Khairnar, D. N., 2009. Biodiversity in Wild Fauna of North Sahyadri in Nashik District, Rahul B. Patil & Prabhakar R. Pawar, Department of Zoology, Veer Wajekar Arts, Science & Maharashtra. Nature Environment and Pollution Technology 8 (4): 769–772. Commerce College, Phunde, Raigad, Navi Mumbai, India. E- mail: [email protected]. Prasad, A., 2006. Birds of western Maharashtra. A reference guide. Other India Press. Mapusa, Goa. Pp. 1–315. Smoky Warbler from Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh Rasmussen, P. C., & Anderton, J. C., 2012. Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C. and Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. 2 vols. Umar Khan Pp. 1–378; 1–683. Wadatkar, J. S., & Wagh, G. A., 2014. First report of Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna Two Smoky Warbler Phylloscopus fuligiventer were seen and from the Vidarbha region, Maharashtra, India. Indian BIRDS 9 (5&6): 162. photographed on 02 and 03 January 2017 at the village of Bairidih (25.78°N, 83.03°E), Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh. Neither With the compliments of Grimmett et al. (2011) nor Rasmussen & Anderton (2012) record eastern Uttar Pradesh in its wintering range, and hence G.B.K. CHARITABLE TRUST this appears to be the first record from this part of the country. B-1/504, Marathon Innova, Ganapatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai 400013. For private circulation only.

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