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The Common Swift Apus Apus—A New Bird for Sri Lanka

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The Common Swift Apus Apus—A New Bird for Sri Lanka Correspondence 195 appearance and size, and its double-pointed casque with black false&gp=false&ev=Z&mr=1-12&bmo=1&emo=12&yr=all&byr=1900&eyr=2020. rim in front. It was feeding on a Ficus tree. Soon a female Great [Accessed on 05 August 2020.] Hornbill was also seen on the same tree [206]. They stayed there eBird. 2020b: Siberian Rubythroat Calliope calliope. Website URL: https://ebird.org/ map/sibrub?neg=true&env.minX=&env.minY=&env.maxX=&env.maxY=&zh=fa for few minutes and then flew away. The species was not seen lse&gp=false&ev=Z&mr=1-12&bmo=1&emo=12&yr=all&byr=1900&eyr=2020. on the subsequent visits to the national park. [Accessed on 05 August 2020.] eBird. 2020c. Rufous Woodpecker Micropternus brachyurus. Website URL: https://ebird.org/map/rufwoo2?neg=true&env.minX=&env. minY=&env.maxX=&env.maxY=&zh=false&gp=false&ev=Z&mr=1- 12&bmo=1&emo=12&yr=all&byr=1900&eyr=2020. [Accessed on 05 August 2020.] eBird. 2020d. Great Hornbill Buceros bicornis. Website URL: https://ebird.org/map/ grehor1?neg=true&env.minX=&env.minY=&env.maxX=&env.maxY=&zh=false&gp =false&ev=Z&mr=1-12&bmo=1&emo=12&yr=all&byr=1900&eyr=2020 [Accessed on 05 August 2020.] Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C., & Inskipp, T., 1998. Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. 1st ed. London: Christopher Helm, A & C Black. Pp. 1–888. Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C., & Inskipp, T., 2011. Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. 2nd ed. London: Oxford University Press & Christopher Helm. Pp. 1–528. Mohan, D., & Sondhi, S., 2017. An updated checklist and bibliography of the birds of Uttarakhand. Dehradun, India: Uttarakhand Forest Department. Pp. i–vi, 1–98. Navarro, A. S. J., & Dubash, A., 1967. Birdwatching at Narkanda (Simla). Newsletter for Birdwatchers 7 (4): 1–4. Pfister, O., 2004. Birds and mammals of Ladakh. 1st ed. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Pp. i–xxvii, 1–361. Pittie, A., 2020. Bibliography of South Asian Ornithology. Website URL: http://www. Himanshu C.Himanshu southasiaornith.in. [Accessed on 05 August 2020.] 206. Great Hornbill at Colonel Sher Jung National Park on 24 June 2020. Praveen J., Jayapal, R., & Pittie, A., 2020. Checklist of the birds of India (v4.0). Website: http://www.indianbirds.in/india/ [Date of publication: 07 July, 2020]. Rasmussen, P. C., & Anderton, J. C., 2012. Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide. 2nd The Great Hornbill is resident in the Himalaya from Uttarakhand ed. Washington, D.C. and Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. 2 to Arunachal Pradesh, the lower parts of the South Assam Hills, vols. Pp. 1–378; 1–683. and disjunctly, in the Western Ghats, southwards of Mumbai Sharma, A., 2019. eBird. Website URL: https://ebird.org/checklist/S59047623. [Accessed (Rasmussen & Anderton 2012). There has been no record of on 05 August 2020.] this species from the state (den Besten 2004; Grimmett et al. Sharma, C., 2017. eBird. Website URL: https://ebird.org/checklist/S37032681. [Accessed on 05 August 2020.] 2011; Dhadwal 2020) and it is another first record for Himachal Sharma, D. K., Paliwal, R., & Saikia, U., 2008. Aves. In: Mehta, H. S., (ed.). Faunal Pradesh. It has been reported earlier from the adjacent Kalesar diversity of Simbalbara Wildlife Sanctuary (Himachal Pradesh). Conservation National Park, Haryana (Grimmett et al. 2011; Sharma 2017; Area Series, 41. Kolkata, India: Director: Zoological Survey of India. Pp. 81–101. Sharma 2019). Thus the present record was not unexpected. Singh, A. P., 2000. Birds of lower Garhwal Himalayas: Dehra Dun valley and There has been no record of this species from the Union Territory neighbouring hills. Forktail 16: 101–123. of Jammu and Kashmir, the Union Territory of Ladakh, and Punjab – C. Abhinav, Virender Sharma & Himanshu C C. Abhinav, Village & P.O. Ghurkari, Kangra 176001, Himachal Pradesh, India. (Grimmett et al. 2011; eBird 2020d). E-mail: [email protected] [CA] Corresponding author CA thanks Manoj Sharma for his comments on the manuscript, Virender Sharma, Mini Zoo, Renuka Ji, District Sirmaur 173029, Himachal Pradesh, India. and Tim Inskipp for helping with a few references. We retrieved E-mail: [email protected] [VS] Himanshu C., Village Bainkuan, P.O. Jamniwala, Teshil Paonta Sahib, District Sirmour, 173025, relevant literature from the online ‘Bibliography of South Asian Himachal Pradesh, India. E-mail: [email protected] [HC] Ornithology’ (Pittie 2020). The Common Swift Apus apus—a new bird for Sri References Lanka, and the need for a re-evaluation of the species Abhinav, C., Dhadwal, D. S., & Dhiman, M., 2018. Notes on six rare avian visitors to in the Maldives Pong Lake, Himachal Pradesh. Indian BIRDS 14 (5): 134–138. Abhinav, C., Vikrant, A., & Dogra, P., 2019. Crested Treeswift Hemiprocne coronata, The Common Swift Apus apus is uncommon in much of South Crow-billed Drongo Dicrurus annectens, and Black-naped Monarch Hypothymis Asia. It has a widespread breeding range, extending from Europe, azurea in Col. Sher Jung National Park, Simbalbara: Additions to the birds of through the Middle East, to eastern China. It winters in southern Himachal Pradesh. Indian BIRDS 14 (6): 183–185. Africa (Chantler & Driessens 1995; Pierce et al. 2015; Chantler Bhargav, V. K., Uniyal, V. P., Kittur, S., & Sivakumar, K., 2007. Bird records from Simbalbara et al. 2020). Rasmussen & Anderton (2012) report it as a Wildlife Sanctuary, Himachal Pradesh. Indian Forester 133 (10): 1411–1418. widespread two-way migrant through the Maldives, but there are Chaudhary, H., 2019. eBird. Website URL: https://ebird.org/checklist/S61462316. [Accessed on 05 August 2020.] no records from neighbouring Sri Lanka (Henry 1979; Harrison & den Besten, J. W., 2004. Birds of Kangra. 1st ed. Dharamsala & New Delhi: Moonpeak Worfolk 1999; Warakagoda et al. 2012). Publishers & Mosaic Books. Pp. 1–176. Here we report the first record of a Common Swift in Sri Dhadwal, D. S., 2011. Wild wings: Pong & its birds. Kangra, India: Published by the Lanka. On 25 August 2020, RK saw a large black swift with a author. Pp. I–VIII, 1–149. deeply forked tail flying along with Indian House SwiftsA . affinis Dhadwal, D. S., 2019. Birds of Himachal Pradesh (Passerine). India: Published by the from his elevated (c.35 m high) balcony in Browns Hill, Matara author. Vol. 2 of 2 vols. Pp. 1–340. Dhadwal, D. S., & Kanwar, B., 2018. Birds of Himachal Pradesh (Non-Passerine). (Southern Province), Sri Lanka (5.94º N; 80.56ºE). The bird Himachal Pradesh, India: Published by the author. Vol. 1 of 2 vols. Pp. 1–301. was directly overhead. Due to bad lighting and angle of sighting, eBird. 2020a. Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus. Website URL: https://ebird. he was unable to ascertain the absence of a white rump. But he org/map/grefla3?neg=true&env.minX=&env.minY=&env.maxX=&env.maxY=&zh= alerted local birders, including BG. When RK saw it again, more 196 Indian BIRDS VOL. 16 NO. 6 (PUBL. 28 DECEMBER 2020) than a month later, on the evening of 30 September 2020, and it had a deeply forked tail [207B, C, E, F]. The upper parts the bird, presumably the same seen over a month earlier, appeared uniformly dark with no white on the rump [207D] as banked enough times for him to see the upper parts and in Indian House Swift and Blyth’s Swift A. leuconyx (Chantler & rule out a white rump. When he saw it yet again the next Driessens 1995). We ruled out the Asian Palm Swift based on morning (01 October 2020) flying with Indian House Swifts the larger size, much darker overall colour, and the more robust and Asian Palm Swifts Cypsiurus balasiensis, he called BG to (versus slim) appearance; and also by the angular, more broad- come and take photographs [207A-E]. Since then, the species based and less bow-shaped wings. The flight was also more has been seen and photographed [207F] by three other strong, swift, and direct, and less fluttery than in Palm Swifts. birdwatchers. As of 05 October 2020, the bird was still around In fact, the shape and flight of the Common Swift was more in the same area. swallow-like than the swifts it often accompanied, reminding RK The bird was larger than the Indian House Swift [207A]. vaguely of the North American Purple Martin Progne subis. We It appeared dark black with whitish chin, forehead, and lores; also ruled out Pallid Swift A. pallidus based on the very dark A B All: Saranga T. B. G. P. C D Moditha Kodikara ArachchiModitha Kodikara E F 207A–E. Common Swift, 01 October 2020. 207F. Common Swift, 05 October 2020. Correspondence 197 colour, and lack of any scaly or barred feather pattern (Ahmed In light of our above review of the published literature, we & Adriaens 2010). More specifically, the median coverts were feel that the migratory route of the Common Swift, plus its very dark with sharply defined pale edges [207F]. Also, the status in the Maldives, is nebulous. It seems unlikely that the undertail coverts seem to have some pale fringes [207F], which birds, especially those from eastern China, would do a tortuous, is typical of Common Swift (Vivek Govind Kumar, pers. comm., roughly S-shaped, fall migratory route by heading westwards, 12 October 2020). Besides, the predominantly Mediterranean avoiding much of mainland South Asia, to Afghanistan, and then and Middle-eastern distribution of the Pallid Swift makes it far pivot southward to the Maldives (avoiding Sri Lanka) before less likely to occur in Sri Lanka relative to the Common Swift. RK heading southwest to southern Africa. We found only one eBird is familiar with the Common Swift based on his birding travels report, dated 17 March 2019, from the Maldives (Steibl 2019).
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