Ecological Monitoring and Conservation of Vultures in ,

Report Submitted to: Oriental Club, United Kingdom

Submitted by: Khadananda Paudel Krishna Prasad Bhusal Bird Conservation Nepal P.O. Box 12465, Lazimpat, Kathmandu, Nepal www.birdlifenepal.org

November, 2015

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ...... I

SUMMARY ...... II

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND ...... 1

PROJECT AREA ...... 2

OBJECTIVES ...... 2

METHODOLOGY and RESULTS ...... 3

Fieldwork Efforts ...... 3

Vulture and Number ...... 3

Survey and Ecological Monitoring ...... 4

Bird Survey in Jajarkot District ...... 4

Capacity Enhancement Training to Local NGO and Community Awareness ...... 5

School Education Programme ...... 5

Jajarkot District Declared as Diclofenac Free Zone ...... 6

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS ...... 7

KEY RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 7

REFERENCES...... 8

ANNEX-1: List of bird species recorded during the trip (April 2014 and February 2015)...... 10

ANNEX-2: Number of vultures seen in trail ...... 14

ANNEX-3: Vulture nest status and location in Jajarkot District ...... 14

ANNEX-4: Some Photos ...... 15

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to acknowledge Oriental Bird Club (OBC), UK and Royal Society for Protection of (RSPB), UK for funding and supporting the project. We would like to thank Dr David Buckingham for his cooperation for the project.

We would like to express our deep gratitude to Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN), Barekot Environmental and Development Campaign (BEDC), Jajarkot, District Livestock Service Office (DLSO), Jajarkot for supporting the project. We highly appreciate the support and guidance of Dr. Narendra Man Babu Pradhan and Ishana Thapa.

Our sincere thanks go to Harihar Singh Rathour, Govinda Bahadur Singh, Badri Panta, Bhupal Nepali and Ishwari Prasad Chaudhary for their tireless work during the project implementation.

Finally, we would like to thank local youths, local organizations and local communities, veterinary practitioners, media personnel and district government authorities of Jajarkot district for their kind support, feedback and provide local knowledge during our fieldwork.

I

SUMMARY

Vultures are the primary consumers of carrion in Asia and Africa; they dispose dead in nature and help in preventing the spread of zoonotic diseases. Four species of vultures in Asia are in grave danger of extinction across the Indian subcontinent due to toxic drug diclofenac. This project remained crucial for the exploration and ecological monitoring of Critically Endangered Red-headed Vulture nest in Jajarkot district. Only three nests of Red-headed Vulture have been identified in Nepal and are being monitored, among these three one active nest of Red-headed Vulture in Pinus rouxburghii tree was identified in Jajarkot through this project and is being monitored regularly now. The pair identified became successful to fledge chick in breeding season 2014-2015. Similarly one active nest of Egyptian Vulture also became successful with 100% breeding success. Five active nests of Himalayan Griffon were monitored of which three nests became success with 60% breeding success. One occupied nest of Bearded Vulture was also observed during the field visit. Detail bird survey was also carried out during the project implementation which recorded a total of 146 species of birds including Globally Threatened Cheer Pheasant, Red-headed Vulture, Egyptian Vulture and Nationally Threatened Satyr Tragopan, Bearded Vulture, Himalayan Griffon, Brown Fish Owl and Protected bird of Nepal Himalayan Monal. Jajarkot district was declared as ‘46th Vet Diclofenac Free District’ in Nepal by the local government authorities and stakeholders. 2230 Sq. km area of project site occupies Diclofenac Free Zone as a part of Provisional Vulture Safe Zone in Nepal. One day awareness programme was organized in Lanha-6, Pokhara of Jajarkot district to raise the awareness and familiarize local community and stakeholders with vulture conservation efforts. Some focal persons of community and members of local NGO named Barekot Environmental and Development Campaign (BEDC) were trained for vulture identification and nest monitoring. School Education Programme was done selecting six schools in the vicinity of vulture nesting site of Jajarkot in which a total of 669 students and 40 teachers participated.

II

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND

Out of nine vultures species in Nepal, four species namely White-rumped Vulture Gyps bengalensis, Long-billed Vulture G. indicus Slender-billed Vulture G. tenuirostris and Red- headed Vulture Sarcogyps calvus are listed as critically endangered by IUCN. Research and monitoring of vulture species undertaken in lowland areas revealed declines of 91% for White- rumped Vulture, and 96% for Slender-billed Vulture between 1995 and 2011 (Chaudhary et al., 2012). Vultures are highly susceptible to Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatary Drug, diclofenac, they are exposed to the drug through the carcasses of treated livestock. Diclofenac kills gyps vultures (Oaks et al., 2004; Swan et al., 2006) including Himalayan Griffon Gyps himalayensis (Das et al., 2010) and possibly other species as they too have declined (Cuthbert et al., 2006; Acharya et al., 2009).

In order to halt the decline of these critically endangered birds, Government of Nepal put ban on production, import and use of veterinary diclofenac in 2006 and endorsed Vulture Conservation Action Plan for Nepal (2009-13) in 2009. The main objective of Vulture Conservation Action Plan was to prevent the extinction of vulture species by ensuring re-introduction, safe food supply, maintenance of suitable habitat and better understanding of the ecological importance of these birds in Nepal with a goal to revive viable population of vultures in the wild.

Vulture Conservation and Breeding Centre was established inside Chitwan National Park in 2008 by Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), with supports from National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN), Royal Society for Protection of Birds (RSPB) and Zoological Society of London (ZSL) (MoFSC, 2014). In addition to this, seven community managed Vulture Safe Feeding Sites have been established in Nawalparasi, Rupandehi, Dang, Kailali, Kaski and Sunsari districts of Nepal from 2007-2013 (Paudel, 2013; Himalayan Nature, 2015).

The project aimed at exploring the habitat of vultures in Jajrkot district as well as identifying the species of birds in the area, expanding diclofenac free zones and doing some awareness activities for the conservation of vultures in the project area.

1

PROJECT AREA

The project area is Jajarkot district of Bheri Zone in mid-western region of Nepal. The total population of the district is 171,304 (2011 census) with a density of 77/km². It covers an area of 2,230 km²and is located between N28°37'22" to 29°07'32" and E81°49'22" and 82°34'46". The district has 30 VDCs. Darim Lek (5440m) is the highest altitude and 610 m is the lowest altitude within the district. The climate of the district ranges from subtropical to alpine condition.

Most of the nests of vultures are situated in Barekot area; the northern part of Jajarkot district. In Lanha VDC ward no 6 there is located a nest of Critically Endangered Red-headed Vulture. The nest has been made in the trunk of Pine (Pinus roxburghii) tree. Besides it other vulture are cliff breeding species thus their nests are located mountain rocky cliff of Shakla and Nayakbanda VDCs. This project area occupies 2,230 square kilometer area to the existing provisional Vulture Safe Zone in Nepal.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of project was to explore the potential vulture habitat in district and develop an ecological monitoring plan in partnership with communities and a grassroots NGO. The specific objectives were:- • Ecological monitoring and survey of vultures and Non-steroidal anti- inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and in the project area. • Enhance the capacity of local NGO and conduct awareness campaigns on vulture conservation. • Expansion of provisional Vulture Safe Zone (pVSZ) to a new district.

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METHODOLOGY and RESULTS

Fieldwork Efforts The exploratory and preliminary field visit was done in the month April to identify the nesting and roosting habitat of vultures in northern hill of Jajarkot district. A total of 11 days were spent in the study area starting from 8 April to 18 April 2014. On an average 10 hours a day were spent in the field to keep the record of sighting number and species of vulture with nest monitoring. Absolute count of vultures sighting were done along the trail in , Khalanga, Dandagaun, Lanha, Sakla and Nayakbanda VDCs of Jajarkot district. During the fieldwork and awareness campaigns local villagers, school children, teachers, local government officials and political leaders were also involved. Detail survey and ecological monitoring of vultures and community awareness were completed from 21 February 2015 to 6 March 2015.

Vulture Species and Number During the field survey we recorded four species of vulture in Jajarkot which are resident breeder species of western mid hill of country. These species include Critically Endangered Red-headed Vulture, Endangered Egyptian Vulture, Near Threatened Himalayan Griffon and Bearded Vulture (Annex-2).

Figure: Number of vultures recorded from trail transect.

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Survey and Ecological Monitoring In order to study the breeding ecology, nests were counted, and the nest occupancy, breeding status and general behavior were recorded. Observations were made from the ground without disturbing the vultures. Monitoring of each nest was done to access the nest status and breeding success for the breeding season 2014-15 (Annex-3). Following Postupalsky (1974), an active nest was defined as a nest in which eggs had been laid, whereas an occupied nest is one in which an egg need not have been laid, but a minimum of nest building must have taken place. A nest from which a chick fledged is termed as productive or successful. The geographic positions were recorded with the help of GPS from nearest accessible point. Breeding success of White-rumped Vulture was calculated by flowing formula:- No of productive nest Breeding Success = x 100 No of active nest

One active nest of Red-headed Vulture was recorded in Pinus rouxburghii tree which became successful to fledge chick with 100% breeding success in the breeding season 2014-15. Similarly one active nest of Egyptian Vulture was monitored which also became successful with 100% breeding success. Five active nests of Himalayan Griffon were monitored of which three nests became success with 60% breeding success. One occupied nest of Bearded Vulture was also observed during the field visit.

Bird Survey in Jajarkot District Bird survey was also carried out in the project site. Altogether 146 species of birds were recorded during the field visit in Jajarkot district mostly in Barekot area (Details in Annex-1). We confirmed the presence of Globally Threatened Cheer Pheasant in district. A pair of cheer pheasant was noticed twice and call was recorded at Aireni CF, Shakla-1, Laikham ( N- 28.85682° E-082.30071° Elv-2135m). Besides Cheer Pheasant other Globally Threatened Red- headed Vulture, Egyptian Vulture and Woolly-necked Stork were also recorded frequently in the site. Nationally Threatened bird species Satyr Tragopan, Bearded Vulture, Himalayan Griffon, Brown Fish Owl and Himalayan Monal, a protected bird species of Nepal was also recorded. Some wintering birds Common Merganser and Great Cormorant were also recorded in Bheri River.

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Capacity Enhancement Training to Local NGO and Community Awareness One day awareness programme was organized at Lanha-6, Pokhara, Jajarkot district on 20 February 2015 to raise awareness and familiarize local communities and stakeholders on vulture conservation issues and role of local stakeholders for the conservation of vultures. Krishna Bhusal and Ishwari Prasad Chaudhary from BCN presented the status and importance of vulture, conservation approach and the role of local communities to safeguard them from verge of extinction. Govinda Singh from DLSO, Jajarkot and Badri Panta from BEDC explained on importance of birds and biodiversity for human beings and how to conserve these resources locally. Altogether 45 individuals were participated in the veterinary pharmacies, local club, political leader, teachers, journalist and social activist. Some focal person of community and member of local NGO Barekot Environmental and Development Campaign (BEDC) were trained for vulture identification and nest monitoring.

School Education Programme School is knowledge generating house that may impact directly to change the attitude of society via light of education. Thus to familiarize the school children and teachers with vulture conservation issues in Nepal and its ecological role in nature; various school education programme were conducted in different six schools in the vicinity of vulture nesting site of Jajarkot in which a total of 669 students and 40 teachers participated. Posters and fliers with key message of vulture conservation were distributed among them. Krishna Bhusal and Ishwari Prasad Chaudhary from BCN, Govinda Singh from District Livestock Service Office, Jajarkot, and Badri Pant from Barekot Environmental and Development Campaign, Jajarkot facilitated the programme.

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The list of the schools with dates and no. of participants benefitted from the education programme are listed in the following table:

S. Participant Name of Schools Address Date No. No. 1 Indra Dhanush lower 126(Students=121, Lanha-6, Pokhara, 24 February secondary school Teachers=5) Jajarkot 2015 2 Bhagawati lower Secondary 88(Students=84, Shakla-1, Laikham, 24 February School Teachers=4) Jajarkot 2015 3 Juni Val Secondary School 175(Students=166, Lanha-8, Shirke, 25 February Teachers=9) Jajarkot 2015 4 Vishow Lower Secondary 104(Students=98, Shakla-2, Sepukhola, 25 February School Teachers=6) Jajarkot 2015

5 Deepandra Secondary 119(Students=112, Shakla-8, 27 February School Teachers=7) Jajarkot 2015 6 Sita Secondary School 97(Students=88, Nayakbanda-8, 27 February Teachers=9) Karkijiula, Jajarkot 2015

Jajarkot District Declared as Diclofenac Free Zone Jajarkot district was declared as ‘46th Vet Diclofenac Free District’ in Nepal on 5 February 2015 on the stewardship of local government authorities. The programme was organized by district livestock service office (DLSO) of Jajarkot and supported by Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN). Chief Guest of the programme Jagat Bahadur Basnet, Chief District Officer (CDO), Jajarkot declared the district as Diclofenac Free Zone on the basis of technical study report of District Livestock Service Office and Bird Conservation Nepal. In the program Kapil Prasad Upadhyaya, acting Chief of District Livestock Service Office Jajarkot, presented the current status of NSAIDs in Jajarkot and effect of diclofenac on vultures. Other guest of the program were Gyan Raj Pandey, Local Development Officer at District Development Committee, Jajarkot, Shiv Raj Sedai, District Forest Officer at District Forest Office, Jajarkot and representative from district level stakeholders, veterinary practitioners, veterinary pharmacy owners, media persons and

6 political leaders. Altogether 43 people were participated in the program. The project site (i.e. Jajarkot district) occupies 2230 Sq. km area as a part of Provisional Vulture Safe Zone in Nepal.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

By the end of this project, the district was declared as veterinary Diclofenac Free Zone and habitat for vultures explored, breeding success and population status were documented. The level of understanding among the general public increased in that newly explored vulture habitat. Barekot area (Sakla, Lanha, Nayabanda, Bhagwati, Ragda, Rami danda and Rokaya Gaun VDCs) occupying an area of 82922 ha. has been recommended as new Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) in Nepal. The active participation of stakeholders in project execution has added the hope of vulture conservation works to be continued in future in Jajarkot district. The findings of the study especially ecological monitoring of Red-headed Vulture and confirmation of Cheer Pheasant will be useful to researchers, district resources planners, policy makers, government bodies and other related stakeholders. School students were made aware on the issues so that they will spread the message of vulture conservation. Local NGO focal persons, community forest user groups, veterinary practitioners and farmers were trained on monitoring and vulture identification which will support vulture conservation in the area.

KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

Nest monitoring and population status of vulture in Jajarkot district needs to be continued. The project site specially Barekot area of Jajarkot disctrict (Sakla, Lanha, Nayabanda, Bhagwati, Ragda, Rami danda and Rokaya Gaun VDCs) holding the habitat of Globally Threatened bird species is recommended to be categorized as Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA). Detail study of bird diversity and continuous community engagement in conservation should be done.

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REFERENCES Acharya, R., Cuthbert, R., Baral, H. S. & Shah, K. B. (2009). Rapid population declines of Himalayan Griffon Gyps himalayensis in Upper Mustang, Nepal. Bird Conserv. Inter., 19: 99-107. Baral, H.S. and Inskipp, C. 2005.Important Bird Areas in Nepal: key sites for conservation. Bird Conservation Nepal and BirdLife International, Kathmandu and Cambridge Baral, H.S., Giri, J.B. and Virani, M.Z. (2004). On the decline of Oriental White-backed Vultures Gyps bengalensis in lowland Nepal. In: Chancellor, R.D. & Meyburg, B- U. (Eds). Raptors Worldwide. WWGBP/MME pp215-219. BCN and DNPWC, 2011. The state of nepal’s birds 2010. Bird Conservation Nepal and Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Kathmandu. Chaudhary, A., Subedi, T., Giri, J.B., Baral, H.S., Bidari, B., Subedi, H.,Chaudhary, B., Chaudhary, I., Paudel, K. and Cuthbert R. (2011). Population trend of critically endangered Gyps vulture in the lowlands of Nepal. Bird Conservation International (doi:10.1017/S0959270911000426) Del Hoyo, J., Elliot, A. and Sargatal, J. (eds) 1994. Handbook of the birds of the world. Vol 2. New World Vultures to Guineafowl. Lynx Edictions, Barcelona. DNPWC/MoFSC/GoN, 2009. Vulture Conservation Action Plan for Nepal (2009-2013). Kathmandu. Government of Nepal, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C. and Inskipp, T. (2000). A Guide to the Birds of Nepal. Second edition, Christopher Helm, London, UK. Himalayan Nature (2015). News from Jatayu Restaurant: downloaded from www.himalayannature.org on 29 January, 2015. Paudel, K., Bhusal, K.P., Nepali, B., Sadaula A., and Chaudhary, I.P. (2014).Vulture Conservation in Nepal.Bird Conservation Nepal, Kathmandu. Mundy, P., Butchart, D., Ledger, J. and Piper, S. (1992). The Vultures of Africa. Academic Press, London. Oaks, J. L., M. Gilbert, M. Z. Virani, R. T. Watson, C. U. Meteyer, B. Rideout, H. L. Shivaprasad, S. Ahmed, M. J. I. Chaudhry, M. Arshad, S. Mahmood, A. Ali, and

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A. A. Khan. (2004). Diclofenac residues as the cause of vulture population decline in . Nature 427:630-633. Postupalsky, S. (1974). Raptor Reproductive Success: Some Problems with Methods, Criteria and Terminology. Raptor Research Report, Management of Raptors, Proceedings of the Conference on Raptor Conversation Techniques, (eds Hamerstrom, F.N., Jr., Harrell, B.E. and Olendorff, R.R.), Fort Collins, 22-24 March, 1973 (part 4), 2, 21-31. Prakash, V. (1999). Status of Vultures in Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan with Special Reference to Population Crash in Gyps Species. Journal of Bombay Natural History Society, 96 (3), 365-378. Prakash, V., Green R. E., Pain D.J., Ranade, S. P, Saravanan S., Prakash, N, Venkitachalam, R., Cuthbert R., Rahmani A. R., Cunningham A. A. (2007) Recent changes in populations of resident Gyps vultures in . Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society104: 129-135. Prakash, V., Pain, D.J., Cunningham, A.A., Donald, P.F., Prakash, N., Verma, A., Gargi, R., Sivakumar, S. and Rahmani, A.R. (2003). Catastrophic Collapse of Indian Whitebacked (Gyps bengalensis) and Long-billed (Gyps indicus) Vulture Population.Biological Conservation, 109, 381-390. SAVE Manifesto, http://www.save-vultures.org Swarup, D.J., Cuthbert, R., Green, R.E., Pain, D.J., Prakash, V., Taggart, M.A., Dash, D., Patra, R. C., Saini, N., Avari, P., Sharma, A. K. (2007). Safety of meloxicam to critically endangered Gyps vultures and others scavenging birds in India. Conservation 10(2007): 192-198.

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ANNEX-1: List of bird species recorded during the trip (April 2014 and February 2015). S.N English Name Scientific Name Remarks 1 Chukar Alectoris chukar 2 Black Francolin Francolinus francolinus call 3 Hill Partridge Arborophila torqueola 4 Blood Pheasant Ithaginis cruentus 5 Satyr Tragopan Tragopan satyra 6 Koklass Pheasant Pucrasia macrolopha 7 Himalayan Monal Lophophorus impejanus 8 Red Junglefowl Gallus gallus 9 Kalij Pheasant Lophura leucomelanos 10 Cheer Pheasant Catreus wallichi Vulnerable 11 Indian Peafowl Pavo cristatus 12 Common Merganser Mergus merganser 13 Rufous-bellied Woodpecker Dendrocopos hyperythrus 14 Darjeeling Woodpecker Dendrocopos darjellensis 15 Scaly-bellied Woodpecker Picus squamatus 16 Grey-headed Woodpecker Picus canus 17 Great Barbet Megalaima virens 18 Blue-throated Barbet Megalaima asiatica 19 Common Hoopoe Upupa epops 20 Indian Roller Coracias benghalensis 21 Green Bee-eater Merops orientalis 22 Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis 23 White-throated Kingfisher Halcyon coromanda 24 Crested Kingfisher Megaceryle lugubris 25 Large Hawk Cuckoo Hierococcyx sparverioides 26 Common Hawk Cuckoo Hierococcyx varius 27 Indian Cuckoo Cuculus micropterus 28 Eurasian Cuckoo Cuculus canorus 29 Asian Koel Eudynams scolopacea 30 Greater Coucal Centropus sinensis 31 Slaty-headed Parakeet Psittacula himalayena 32 Himalayan brevirostris 33 Hous Apus affinis 34 Rock Eagle Owl Bubo bengalensis 35 Spot-bellied Eagle Owl Bubo nepalensis 36 Brown Fish Owl Ketupa zeylonensis 37 Collared Owlet Glaucidium brodiei 38 Asian Barred Owlet Glaucidium cuculoides 39 Spotted Owlet Athene brama 40 Rock Pigeon livia 41 Columba rupestris

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S.N English Name Scientific Name Remarks 42 Snow Pigeon Columba leuconota 43 Oriental Turtle Dove Streptopelia orientalis 44 Spotted Dove Streptopelia chinensis 45 Eurasian Collared Dove streptopelia decaocto 46 Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon Treron sphenura 47 Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos 48 Black Kite Milvus migrans 49 Black-eared Kite Milvus lineatus 50 Bearded Vulture Gypaetus barbatus Near Threatened 51 Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus Endangered 52 Himalayan Griffon Gyps himalayensis Near Threatened 53 Red-headed Vulture Sarcogyps calvus Critically Endangered 54 Crested Serpent Eagle Spilornis cheela 55 Black Eagle Ictinaetus malayensis 56 Crested Goshawk Accipiter trivigratus 57 Shikra Accipiter badius 58 Common Buzzard Buteo buteo 59 Upland Buzzard Buteo himilasius 60 Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos 61 Bonelli's Eagle Hieraaetus fasciatus 62 Booted Eagle Hieraaetus pennatus 63 Mountain Hawk Eagle Spizaetus nipalensis 64 Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus 65 Eurasian Hobby Falco subbuteo 66 Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus 67 Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo 68 Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis 69 Indian Pond heron Ardeola grayii 70 Woolly-necked Stork Ciconia episcopus Vulnerable 71 Long-tailed Shrike Lanius schach 72 Grey-backed Shrike Lanius meridionalis 73 Eurisian glandarius 74 Black-headed Jay Garrulus lanceolatus 75 Yello-billed Blue flavirostris 76 Red-billed Blue Magpie Urocissa erythrorhyncha 77 Rufous Dendrocitta vagabunda 78 Dendrocitta formosae 79 Red-billed Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax 80 Yellow-billed Chough Pyrrhocorax graculus 81 spendens 82 Large-billed Crow Corvus macrorhybchos 83 Maroon Oriole Oriolus traillii 84 Long-tailed Minivet Pericrocotus ethologus 85 Yellow-bellied Faintail Rhipidura hypoxantha

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S.N English Name Scientific Name Remarks 86 White-throated Faintail Rhipidura aureola 87 Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocerus 88 Ashy Drongo Dicrurus leucophaeus 89 Brown Dipper Cinclus pallasii 90 Blue Rock Thrush Monticola solitarius 91 Blue Whistling Thrush Myophonus caeruleus 92 Plain-backed Thrush Zoothera molissima 93 Ultramarine Flycatcher Ficedula superciliaris 94 Verditer Flycatcher Eumyias thalassina 95 Grey-headed canary Flycatcher Culicicapa ceylonensis 96 Rufous-bellied Niltava Niltava sundara 97 Blue-capped coeruleocephalus 98 White-capped Water Redstart Chaimarrornis leucocephalus 99 Plumbeous Water redstart Rhyacornis fuliginosus 100 Little Forktail Enicurus scouleri 101 Slaty-backed Forktail Enicurus schistaceus 102 Common Stonechat Saxicola torquata 103 Pied Bushchat Saxicola caprata 104 Grey Bushchat Saxicola ferrea 105 Common Myna Acridotheres tristis 106 Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch Sitta casttanea 107 White-tailed Nuthatch Sitta himalayansis 108 Wallcreeper Tichodroma muraria 109 Great Tit Parus major 110 Green-backed Tit Parus monticolus 111 Black-lored Tit Parus xanthogenys 112 Plain Martin Riparia paludicola 113 Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica 114 Red-rumped Swallo Hirundo daurica 115 Delichon dasypus 116 Himalayan Bulbul Pycnonotus leucogency 117 Red-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus cafer 118 Black Bulbul Hypsipetes leucocephalus 119 Oriental White-eye Zosterops palpebrosus 120 Common Tailorbird Orthotomus sutorius 121 Buff-barred Warbler Phylloscopus pulcher 122 Hume's Warbler Phylloscopus humei 123 Grey-hooded Warbler Seicerus xanthoschistos 124 White-crested Laughingthrush Garrulax leucolophus 125 Striated Laughingthrush Garrulax striatus 126 Streaked Laughingthrush Garrulax lineatus 127 Jungle Babler Turdoides striatus 128 Whiskered Yuhina Yuhina flavicollis 129 Purple Sunbird Nectarinia asiatica

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S.N English Name Scientific Name Remarks 130 Green-tailed Sunbird Aethopyga nipalensis 131 Black-throated Sunbird Aethopyga saturata 132 Crimson Sunbird Aethopyaga siparaja 133 House Sparrow Passer domesticus 134 Russet Sparrow Passer rutilans 135 White Wagtail Motacilla alba 136 White-browed Wagtail Motacilla maderaspatenis 137 Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea 138 Paddy field Pipit Anthus rufulus 139 Upland Pipit Anthus sylvanus 140 Olive-backed Pipit Anthus hodgsoni 141 Alpine Accentor Prunella collaris 142 Scaly-breasted Munia Lonchura punctulata 143 Yellow-breasted Greenfinch Carduelis spinoides 144 Common Rosefinch Carpodacus erythrinus 145 Red-headed Bullfinch Pyrrhula erythrocephala 146 Crested Bunting Melophus lathami

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ANNEX-2: Number of vultures seen in trail S.N Date Place Species Number Remarks 1 8-Apr-2014 Egyptian Vulture 2 Flying Shirjana Bazar Himalayan Griffon 3 Flying 2 9-Apr-2014 Khalanga Bazar Himalayan Griffon 2 Flying 3 10-Apr-2014 Rimga Himalayan Griffon 4 Flying Dandagaun Red-headed Vulture 2 Flying Geremi Himalayan Griffon 3 Flying Khara Bearded Vulture 1 Flying Shakla Himalayan Griffon 8 Flying 4 11-Apr-2014 Syaphukhola Himalayan Griffon 10 Flying and Roosting Legemikhola Egyptian Vulture 1 Flying Bearded Vulture 2 Flying Pakhapani Himalayan Griffon 9 Nesting Site 5 12-Apr-2014 Ghartigaun Himalayan Griffon 13 Flying Bearded Vulture 2 Flying 6 13-Apr-2014 Dhuma Himalayan Griffon 7 Nesting Site 7 14-Apr-2014 Syaphukhola Red-headed Vulture 1 Flying Egyptian Vulture 1 Flying 8 15-Apr-2014 Syaphukhola Himalayan Griffon 38 Feeding on bait carcass Red-headed Vulture 1 On carcass Egyptian Vulture 1 On carcass 9 16-Apr-2014 Red-headed Vulture 2 On Nest Himalayan griffon 8 Flying

ANNEX-3: Vulture nest status and location in Jajarkot District S.N Place GPS Location Elevation Species Nest Number Remarks 1 Lanha-6, N-28.82850° 1519m Red-headed 1 Active In Pinus tree Mahadevpuri E-082.29687° Vulture 2 Shakla, N-28.88715° 1904m Himalayan 2 Active In Cliff Pakhapani E-082.30785° Griffon 1 Occupied 3 Shakla N-28.88715° 1415m Egyptian 1 Occupied In Cliff Legemikhola E-082.28326° Vulture 4 Nayakbanda N-28.93223° 1987m Himalayan 1 Active In Cliff Ghartigaun E-082.29943° Griffon 1 Occupied 5 Nayakbanda N-28.94916° 2064m Himalayan 2 Active In Cliff Dhuma E-082.31090° Griffon 1 Old

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ANNEX-4: Some Photos

A. Himalayan Griffon nesting at cliff B. Red-headed Vulture nest

C. Vultures feeding at Carcass D. District Level Workshop

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D. Community Awareness E. School Awareness

F. Hoarding Board and leaflet

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