INDIAN Vol. 6 No. 1

Woodpeckers White-naped Tit Oriental White-eye INDIAN BIRDS Vol. 6 No. 1 Manufactures of electrical laminations & stampings Phones: 040-23312774, 23312768, 23312770, Fax: 040-23393985, Grams: PITTILAM Email: [email protected], Website: www.pittielectriclam.com Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1

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Editor Aasheesh Pittie Email: [email protected] Associate Editor Contents V. Santharam

Editorial Board (Picidae) diversity in borer- Hoplocerambyx spinicornis infested sal Maan Barua forests of Dehradun valley, lower western Himalayas Anwaruddin Choudhury Arun P. Singh 2 Bill Harvey Farah Ishtiaq Rajah Jayapal Observations on the White-naped Tit Parus nuchalis in Cauvery Madhusudan Katti Wildlife Sanctuary, R. Suresh Kumar Taej Mundkur K. B. Sadananda, D. H. Tanuja, M. Sahana, T. Girija, A. Sharath, Rishad Naoroji M. K. Vishwanath & A. Shivaprakash 12 Suhel Quader Harkirat Singh Sangha Avifauna of Jagatpur wetland near Bhagalpur (Bihar, ) C. Sashikumar S. Subramanya Braj Nandan Kumar & Sunil K. Choudhary 15 K. Gopi Sundar

Contributing Editors Indian Spotted Eagle Aquila hastata nesting in Sonepat, Haryana, India Praveen J. Suresh C. Sharma & Jaideep Chanda 18 Ragupathy Kannan Lavkumar Khachar Thick-billed Green-Pigeon Treron curvirostra in Similipal Hills, Orissa: Contributing Photographer an addition to the avifauna of peninsular India Clement Francis Manoj V. Nair 19 Layout & Cover Design K. Jayaram Status of Lesser Florican Sypheotides indicus in Pratapgarh district, Office Rajasthan, India P. Rambabu Gobind Sagar Bhardwaj 20

Nest material kleptoparasitism by the Oriental White-eye Zosterops palpebrosus NEW ORNIS FOUNDATION S. S. Mahesh, L. Shyamal & Vinod Thomas 22 Registration No. 314/2004 URL: www.indianbirds.in Fig leaf Trustees Nina Bhatt 23 Zafar Futehally Aasheesh Pittie V. Santharam, PhD. On the Yellow-throated Bulbul in Tamil Nadu, and a plea for more Rishad Naoroji self-explanatory titles Taej Mundkur, PhD. Ragupathy Kannan & Douglas A. James 25 S. Subramanya, PhD. Suhel Quader, PhD. In the news 26 Aims & Objectives • To publish a newsletter that will provide a platform to birdwatchers for publishing notes Correspondence 28 and observations primarily on birds of South Asia. Editorial 28 • To promote awareness of birdwatching amongst the general public. Date of publication: 25th June 2010 • To establish and maintain links/liaison with other associations or organized bodies in India Front cover: Blue-tailed Bee-eater Merops philippensis with Common Clubtail Ictinogomphus or abroad whose objectives are in keeping rapax. Photographer: Clement Francis with the objectives of the Trust (i.e. to support amateur birdwatchers with cash / kind for Back cover: Female Great Black Woodpecker Dryocous javensis. Photographer: Niranjan Sant projects in ornithology). Woodpecker (Picidae) diversity in borer- Hoplocerambyx spinicornis infested sal Shorea robusta forests of Dehradun valley, lower western Himalayas

Arun P. Singh

Singh, A. P., 2010. Woodpecker (Picidae) diversity in borer- Hoplocerambyx spinicornis infested sal Shorea robusta forests of Dehradun valley, lower western Himalaya. Indian Birds 6 (1): 2–11. Arun P. Singh, Entomology Division, P.O. New Forest, Forest Research Institute (ICFRE), Dehradun 248006, Uttarakhand, India. Email: [email protected]; [email protected] Manuscript received on 14 August 2009.

Introduction Relationship between and Cerambycidae The sal heartwood borer Hoplocerambyx spinicornis Newman beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) [sal borer; Fig. 1] is known to cause Woodpeckers (Picidae) feed on adults, grubs, and pupae of considerable mortality of sal Shorea robusta trees all over the latter’s wood-boring beetles that infest tree trunks and branches in forest distributional range in India. Explosive outbreaks of this , (Ali & Ripley 1987). A notable influx of woodpeckers killing millions of trees over vast stretches of forests (Fig. 2), have accompanies an epidemic of borers in natural forests (Beeson 1941; been reported from time to time, from as early as 1897 (Stebbing Dennis 1967; Stoddard 1969; Jackson 1988, 2002). Woodpeckers 1899), to as recently as 2001 (Bhandari & Rawat 2001): from Assam are often cited as the most important predators of wood-boring 1906–1961; 1931–1934; Bihar 1897; Madhya Pradesh cerambycid larvae (Brooks 1923; Linsley 1961; Solomon 1968, 1972, 1905, 1923–1928, 1959–1963; Uttar Pradesh: Kalagarh (now in 1974; Jackson 2002). It is possible that larvae near ground level, Uttarakhand) 1924–1925, 1934–1937; Himachal Pradesh 1948–1954 and near branch points within the canopy, are less vulnerable (Roonwal 1977). The sal borer generally attacks trees that are to woodpecker predation than those in a clearly exposed small- dead or practically dead, i.e., felled, victims of windfall, struck by diameter tree trunk. Similarly, adult beetles on the exposed lightning or broken by storms, or damaged, or attacked by root trunk may be more vulnerable to woodpecker predation while fungus. Healthy standing trees are not attacked unless there is an ovipositing, which may take up to half an hour or more. Apart epidemic of the borers, and the beetles are so numerous that the from small-sized beetles, and vegetable matter such as berries dead trees are insufficient for them (Beeson 1941). Sal heartwood and seeds, cerambycid grubs form the main diet (38%–46%) borer is today the major factor responsible for the decline of sal, of large-sized woodpeckers like the Ivory-billed Woodpecker besides other biotic, and abiotic factors such as intensive grazing, principalis in (Jackson 2002). Predatory lopping, felling, etc., which hinder its natural regeneration. woodpeckers, e.g., Three-toed Woodpecker tridactylus, are also known to play a significant role in regulating bark and longhorn beetle populations in coniferous forest landscapes in Europe (Fayt et al. 2003). A positive correlation has been established between the abundance of longhorn beetle larvae, and the brood- size of woodpeckers —the Three-toed Woodpecker nestlings’ main Arun P. Singh

Fig. 1. Specimen of a male sal heartwood borer Hoplocerambyx spinicornis collected from Dehradun valley. Fig. 2. Extent of sal mortality caused by the sal borer.

2 Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) Singh: Woodpeckers & sal borer

food (Fayt et al. 2003). Three-toed Woodpecker is also known to forests (Figs. 23, 24) (FSI 1995). These forests have a history of show the greatest numerical response to beetle prey density, with sal borer outbreaks all over the valley. Here, during 1916–1924 population densities increasing up to 44.8-fold during outbreaks, an outbreak at Thano range covered 18 km2, and over 80,000 relative to those supported at endemic beetle levels (Fayt et al. trees perished. During 1952–1953, again at Thano, 8,475 badly 2003). Some of large-sized woodpeckers, like Black-backed infested trees had to be felled. In 1958–1960 an outbreak at Timli Woodpecker P. arcticus, which is extremely specialized in its range destroyed 12,860 trees. In 1961 in Lachhiwala range a ‘light’ foraging niche, feed exclusively by excavating larval wood-boring outbreak was reported. Then in 1965, once again in Thano range, beetles during outbreaks in dying conifers for only 2–3 years after 4.8 km2of forest was affected with 2,379 being trees attacked, forest fires in Alaska (Murphy & Lehnhausen 1998). followed by 21% infestation of trees by the borer during 1976–1978 Thus, woodpeckers are important bio-agents that feed on (Roonwal 1977; Singh & Mishra 1986). Recently, during 2000–2002, cerambycid borer larvae and pupae in natural forests, on old large-scale mortality of trees has occurred again, due to sal borer aged trees, and help in suppressing population of this pest to attacks in the valley (pers. obs. of author). some extent. However, extensive study is required to establish a similar Material & methods relationship between the sal heartwood borer and woodpeckers Selection of study sites in the tropical moist deciduous sal forests of the lower western Topographic maps and satellite imagery (IRS-IC 1998) data of the Himalayas. With this aim, the present study was carried out to study area, depicting the extent of sal forest cover in Dehradun evaluate the intensity of sal heartwood borer infestation in sal valley, were procured from Forest Survey of India (FSI) and Survey stands and examine the relationship of borer infestation with of India, Dehradun for selection of study sites (Fig. 3). Areas of sal abundance and diversity of woodpeckers. 2 forest covering more than 4 km , and with a canopy cover > 50%, were identified as potential sites for study. Fifteen forest ranges Study area with large sal forest tracts were thus identified as suitable for this Dehradun valley, which covers an area of c. 2,000 km2 and lies study. Based on the ground surveys nine sal forest sites (eight in in the lower western Himalaya in the state of Uttarakhand, was reserve forest area and one inside Rajaji National Park) distributed selected as the study area to work on this problem. About 51–58% all over the valley were marked and identified for sampling (Fig. land area in the valley was under tropical moist deciduous sal 3; Table 1). Field surveys were then carried out for collecting Arun P. Singh Arun P.

Fig. 3. Dehradun valley: study area, the extent of sal forest cover and location of study sites as mentioned in the text.

Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) 3 Singh: Woodpeckers & sal borer

for sampling occurrence of woodpecker species. All woodpecker species up to 25 m on either side of transects, were identified and their numbers recorded. Nine sampling surveys were carried out at each site from May 2004 to February 2006, and February 2007, covering all the seasons. Woodpeckers were identified with the help of various field guides (Ali & Ripley 1987; Grimmett et al. 1998; Kazmierczak 2000; Rasmussen & Anderton 2005). Plants in vegetation plots were identified with the help of Kanjilal (1969), and the plant taxonomist at the Herbarium, Botany Division at FRI, Dehradun.

Analysis Relative abundance of woodpeckers, computed as average of their abundances across samples for each site, was correlated with percentage of borer-infested sal trees using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. I also did regression analysis to model the relationship

Arun P. Singh Arun P. between woodpecker species and sal-borer occurrence. Species diversity of woodpeckers (H’) was calculated from the Shannon

Fig. 4. Grey-headed Woodpecker canus. Index as follows (where pi is the proportion of the ith species in the sample): baseline habitat data for these study sites namely, percentage of Σ H’ = - pi loge pi borer-infested sal trees; tree girth at breast height (GBH); density per hectare, and tree species composition of sites. These were Shannon Index is essentially a combined measure of both determined by laying down 16 vegetation plots (quadrates of species richness (i.e., number of species) and evenness of 10 × 10m) in each site. Total numbers of sal trees were then counted abundances (i.e., how equitably all the species are distributed in in each plot, and were separated into borer-infested (including terms of their population) in a sample. In other words, species dead ones) and un-infested sal trees, to calculate percentage of diversity will be the highest in an assemblage of woodpeckers borer infestation. with a large number of species and with all the species occurring in high yet equal numbers. Woodpecker surveys The structure of woodpecker assemblages and their habitat Woodpecker surveys were carried out at each site visually, selection were studied by Principal Components Analysis (PCA), using binoculars and field guides. At each site, a transect of one which seeks to reduce a large number of species or ecological kilometer was marked through the forest, and walked through the factors into a few meaningful dimensions for easy interpretation. vegetation plots for 60 min., at a stretch, between 0800 and 1700 hrs I first generated a ‘site plot’ where the sampling sites were

Table 1. Site parameters: vegetation and habitat condition of forest stands in Dehradun valley. Shannon Percentage of Percentage Sl. Dominant Diversity Site/Range Vegetation borer infested of trees with no. GBH class (cm) Index of sal trees GBH > 100cm Woodpeckers* 1 Kansrao Pure sal and mixed patches with marshy Low (1.7) 72 101-125 0.737 (Rajaji NP) vegetation having Trewia nudiflora ; Syzygium cumini 2 Karvapani Mainly mixed sal patches and marshy High (20.3) 56 76-100 0.823 RF vegetation having Sapium somniferum; S. cumini;T. nudiflora 3 Timli RF Mainly sal dominant, without water Low (2.7) 45 51-75 0.690

4 Thano RF Mainly sal dominant, without water High (36.6) 59 101-105 0.919

5 Kalusidh- Mixed patches with marshy vegetation having Low (0.5) 46 76-100 0.749 Lacchiwala T. nudiflora. RF 6 Chowki RF Pure sal with mixed vegetation in nullahs and Moderate 36 51-75 0.799 water and S. somniferum (15.7)

7 Rikhauli RF Pure hill sal, without water low (0.8) 9 25-50 0.345

8 Jhajra RF Pure and mixed patches, without water. High (22.5) 58 101-125 0.761

9 Chandpur Mainly pure sal, water in a pool, with S. cumini, High (24.7) 47 101-125 0.647 RF and S. somniferum Old infestation NP=National Park; RF=Reserve Forest; * Shannon Diversity Index of woodpeckers—as determined in this study

4 Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) Singh: Woodpeckers & sal borer

12 (Singh 2000, 2002). However, except for four species, namely, g Himalayan Dendrocopos himalayensis, Rufous-bellied D. hyperythrus, 10 and Scaly-bellied Picus squamatus Woodpeckers, which are strictly hill species, and Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker D. nanus, 8 which is mainly found in dry deciduous habitat in the Indian plains, the remaining 13 spp., known from the area were observed 6 in the sal forests of Dehradun valley (below 1,000 m), the lower western Himalaya, during the survey. 4 Nine sites were sampled and their vegetation characteristics are given in Table 1. 2 Relative abundance per samplin 0 Seasonality of woodpeckers in sal forests It was observed that the woodpeckers, in general, were most abundant during winter (from December to February) in sal forests Jan ‘0 6 Jun ‘0 4 Oct ‘0 4 Oct ‘0 5 Feb ‘0 5 Feb ‘0 6 Feb ‘0 7 Sep ‘0 5 Fig. 5

Dec ‘0 4 of Dehradun valley ( ). Aug ‘0 4 Nov ‘0 5 May ‘0 4

Month Relative abundance Fig. 5. Relative abundance of woodpecker per sampling through Systematic sampling of woodpeckers (Fig. 9) revealed that Grey- different months of the year in sal forests of Dehradun valley. headed Woodpecker Picus canus (Fig. 4) was the most abundant species in the entire study area followed by Fulvous-breasted grouped according to similarity of their woodpecker species Dendrocopos macei (Fig. 10) and Grey-capped Pygmy D. canicapillus composition. Then, a ‘species plot’ was drawn in which all the (Fig. 15) Woodpeckers. The least common species were Yellow- woodpecker species were clustered on the basis of similarity of crowned D. mahrattensis (Fig. 8), Brown-fronted D. auriceps their distribution in a two-dimensional space as defined by the (Fig. 21), and Streak-throated Woodpeckers P. xanthopygaeus sampling sites in PCA. All the statistical analyses were done using (Fig. 6). the software SPSS v.11.00. Relationship between individual species abundance & Results & discussion borer infestation Dehradun has a rich diversity of woodpeckers, as 17 species are Across sites, the relative abundance of woodpeckers was found to known to exist in the district, both in the hills, and valley/plains be greatest in Kansrao, followed by Thano, Jhajra, and Karvapani. Niranjan Sant

Fig. 6. Streak-throated Woodpecker Picus xanthopygaeus.

Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) 5 Singh: Woodpeckers & sal borer Niranjan Sant

Fig. 7. Black-rumped benghalense. Fig. 8. Yellow-crowned Woodpecker Dendrocopos mahrattensis.

The last three sites also housed the highest proportion of borer- the lower western Himalayas infested sal trees (Fig. 12). However, abundances of only two PCA was carried out for all the sites (barring Chandpur) with species namely, Greater Yellownape Picus flavinucha (Fig. 13), and respect to relative abundance of 13 species of woodpeckers. P. chlorolophus (Figs 14, 16) were found to be Ordination plots were generated for grouping of both, woodpecker positively related to sal-borer frequency. species, and sampling sites, based on the two most important components extracted. In the analysis, the first component explained 51.6% of variation in the relative abundance of Woodpecker communities in sal forests of Dehradun valley: woodpeckers, while the second component contributed to 21.2

Table 2. Status, month of maximum abundance and habitat preference of woodpeckers with tropical moist deciduous forests of Dehradun valley, Uttarakhand, India Sl. Species Residential status Month of maximum Preference for forest habitat No. abundance in sal forests 1 Greater Yellownape Picus flavinucha Resident December Sal dominant 2 Lesser Yellownape P. chlorolophus Resident August Sal dominant and mixed patches 3 Grey-headed Woodpecker P. canus Resident December Sal dominant 4 Streak-throated Woodpecker P. xanthopygaeus Resident January Mixed patches with sal 5 lucidus Resident December; February Mixed patches with sal 6 Dinopium shorii Resident December; February Sal dominant 7 Black-rumped Flameback D. benghalense Resident September Mainly mixed patches 8 Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker Dendrocopos macei Resident October-December Sal dominant and mixed patches 9 Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker D. canicapillus Resident October-February Mixed patches with sal 10 Brown-fronted Woodpecker D. auriceps Winter Migrant-Vagrant February Sal dominant Vagrant 11 Yellow-crowned Woodpecker D. mahrattensis November Mixed patches (mainly non-sal) 12 Micropternus brachyurus Uncommon resident May Mixed patches with sal Resident 13 Speckled Piculet Picumnus innominatus February Mixed patches with sal

6 Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) Singh: Woodpeckers & sal borer

20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2

Relative abundance per samlping 0 oate d onte d easte d Arun P. Singh ellownap e ellownap e ey-headed oodpecke r oodpecke r oodpecke r oodpecke r oodpecke r oodpecke r oodpecke r Flamebac k Y Y own-fr W W W W W W eak-thr Gr Black-rumped Br wned ellow-c ro Str eater Flamebac k Y eater Fulvous-br Speckeled Piculet ey-capped Pygm y Lesser Gr Gr Rufous W Gr Himalayan Flamebac k

Fig. 9. Relative abundance per sampling of individual species of Fig. 11. Himalayan Flameback Dinopium shorii. woodpeckers in sal forests of Dehradun valley borer infestation rates. % of variation. In the second ordination plot, woodpecker species were First ordination plot sought to group sampling sites on the grouped based on their habitat selection as inferred from their basis of their woodpecker communities (Fig. 18); in particular, distribution across sites. In the analysis, the first component component 1 was represented by Greater Yellownape and explained 51.8% of variation in the relative abundance of component 2 the Lesser Yellownape. In this space, two prominent woodpeckers, while the second component contributed to clusters of sites were obtained: i) Karvapani, Jhajra, and Chowki 23.7% of variation, with component 1 represented by Karvapani, and ii) Kalusidh, Thano, Kansrao, and Timli. Examining the and component 2 by Chowki. As evident from the plot geographical location of these sites, it became clear that spatial (Fig. 19), Himalayan and Greater shared similar proximity had also contributed to much of their similarity in habitat requirements. Similarly, Greater Yellownape, Rufous woodpecker composition (Fig. 3). It is also interesting to note that Woodpecker, and Streak-throated Woodpecker showed greater Kalusidh, Kansrao and Timli in the second cluster had very low similarity in their habitat occupancy. It is, therefore, clear that habitat selection of woodpeckers in Doon valley is not heavily influenced by rate of sal-borer infestation, though both the yellownapes do seem to show marked proclivity to borer-infested forest patches. Amongst the 11 resident species in TMDSF at least six showed preference to sal dominant patches in TMDSF (Table 2).

Conclusion Out of 13 species of woodpeckers sampled in tropical moist deciduous sal forests of Dehradun valley, the abundant species were, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker, Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Greater Flameback, Lesser

40

35 Relative abundance of woodpeckers per sampling 30 Percentage of borer infested sal trees 25

20

15

10

5

0 Thano Jhajra Karvapani Chowki TimliKansrao Kalusidh Arun P. Singh Arun P. Fig. 12. Relative abundance of woodpecker in different sal forest sites Fig. 10. Fulvous-breasted Wooodpecker Dendrocopos macei. in Dehradun valley under varying level of sal borer infestation.

Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) 7 Singh: Woodpeckers & sal borer

Greater Yellownape Picus flavinucha 2 r = 0.80; p<0.05

0.9

0.7 g

0.5 WP1. Abundance Abundance/Samplin

0.1

Woodpecker abundance = -0.1 (Sal borer infestation - 10.12) / 23.14 (Significant at 5%)

5 1.5 2.5 3.5 Infestation Percent borer infestation in sal trees

Fig.13. Relationship between sal borer infestation and abundance of Greater Yellow nape, Picus flavinucha in Dehradun Valley (2004–2007)

Yellownape, Black-rumped Flameback, and Himalayan Flameback, respectively. While, five species were uncommon, namely, Greater Yellownape, Brown-fronted Woodpecker, Speckled Piculet Arun P. Singh (Fig. 20), Rufous Woodpecker, and Streak-throated Woodpecker, respectively. The remaining two species are vagrant records. The Yellow-crowned Woodpecker was rare in TMDSF of Dehradun valley, as it prefers ‘dry deciduous’ vegetation lying south of the valley. On the other hand, Brown-fronted Woodpecker (Fig. 21) Fig. 15. Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker Dendrocopos canicapillus. occurs mainly in the higher hills (above 1,400m), but was also observed once in TMDSF of the valley as it descended down during extreme winter conditions in sal forests. At species level only two species, Greater Yellownape Highest seasonal abundance of woodpeckers was recorded and Lesser Yellownape showed significant increase in borer during winter (December-February) in sal forests. Species diversity infested stands, suggesting that these species could be important of woodpeckers was greater in sites with high borer infestation predators of the sal heartwood borer. Amongst resident species (> 20% borer infested trees) as compared to stands with low of woodpeckers, abundance of Greater Yellownape, Lesser infestation (< 3% infestation) indicating that borer infested sites Yellownape, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Himalayan Flameback attract greater diversity of woodpeckers. Thus, woodpeckers in (Fig. 11); Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker were more in pure sal general play a significant role in predating on the borer thereby stands as compared to mixed forest stands. On the other hand minimizing the borer infestation. This is in consistency with other abundance of Streak-throated Woodpecker, Rufous Woodpecker studies outside sal forests (Beeson 1941; Dennis 1967; Stoddard (Fig. 17), Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Greater (Fig. 22) and 1969; Jackson 1988, 2002). Black-rumped Flameback (Fig. 7) had more abundance in mixed

1.0 Lesser Yellownape Picus chlorolophus

0.8 g

0.6 r2 = 0.69; p<0.10

0.4 WP2.Abundance Abundance/Samplin

0.2

Woodpecker abundance = (Sal borer infestation - 5.72) / 20.25 (Significant at 10%) 0.0

5 1.5 2.5 3.5

Infestation Percent borer infestation in sal trees Arun P. Singh Arun P. Fig. 16. Relationship between sal borer infestation and abundance of Fig. 14. Lesser Yellownape Picus chlorolophus female. Lesser Yellownape Picus chlorolophus in Dehradun Valley (2004–2007)

8 Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) Singh: Woodpeckers & sal borer Niranjan Sant

Fig. 17. Rufous Wooodpecker Micropternus brachyurus.

forest than in pure sal stands. Species preferring sal dominated It was also determined that proximity of sites with each other stands should thus play a major role in checking the borer played a significant role in determining species composition infestation as compared to the other species. of sal forest in Dehradun valley than other factors i.e. borer

Component plot Component plot in rotated space 1.0 1.0 Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker Black-rumped Flameback Chandpur Kalusidh Lesser Yellownape 0.5 0.5 Brown-fronted Kansrao Yellow-crowned Woodpecker Woodpecker Fulvous-breasted ellownap e Thano Woodpecker Timli Speckeled Piculet 0.0 Himalayan Flameback 0.0

Karvapani Grey-headed Woodpecker Greater Flameback

-0.5

Component 2: Chowki -0.5 Jhajra Rufous Woodpecker Greater Yellownape Component 2: Lesser Y Chowki Streak-throated Woodpecker

-1.0 -1.0 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0

Component 1: Greater Yellownape Component 1: Karvapani

Fig 18: Ordination of woodpecker sites in species space in Dehradun Fig. 19. Ordination of species in sites space in Dehradun valley valley based on two most important components. based on two most important components.

Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) 9 Singh: Woodpeckers & sal borer Arun P. Singh Niranjan Sant

Fig. 20. Speckled Piculet Picumnus innominatus. Fig. 22. Greater Flameback Chrysocolaptes lucidus.

infestation. Fellowship Award 2001 under which this study was carried out, from June 2004 to March 2007. I thank the Wildlife Division, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India for the grant of this fellowship. I also Acknowledgements thank the Director General, ICFRE, Dehradun, Director, FRI, and Head, This study was part of the fellowship -Dr. Salim Ali National Wildlife Entomology Division, FRI, Dehradun, for providing the necessary facilities to carry out the above study. Thanks are also due to H. B. Naithani for identification of plants, and to Dinesh Kumar and Raman Nautiyal for their help in statistical analysis.

References Ali, S., & Ripley, S. D., 1987. Compact handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan together with those of , , and . 2nd ed. Delhi: Oxford University Press. Beeson, C. F. C., 1941. The ecology and control of the forest of India and neighboring countries. Dehradun: Vasant Press. Bhandari, R. S., & Rawat, J. K., 2001. Sal Heartwood borer, Hoplocerambyx spinicornis Newman (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) and its management. Indian Forester 127 (12): 1387–1393. Brooks, F. E., 1923. Oak sapling borer, Goes tesselatus Halde-man. J. Agri. Res. 26: 313–318. Dennis, J. V., 1967. The Ivory-bill flies still. Audubon 69 (6): 38–44. Fayt, P. 2003. Population ecology of the Three-toed Woodpecker under varying food supplies. PhD. University of Joensuu. Forest Survey of India. 1995. The state of forest report. Dehradun: Forest Survey of India. Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C., & Inskipp, T., 1998. Birds of the . New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Jackson, J. A., 1988. The southeastern pine forest ecosystem and its birds: past, present, and future. Pp. 119–159. In: Conservation 3 (Ed.: Jackson, J. E.). Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

Arun P. Singh Arun P. Jackson, J. A., 2002. Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis). Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds. Fig. 21. Brown-fronted Woodpecker Dendrocopos auriceps. cornell.edu/bna/species/711.

10 Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) Singh: Woodpeckers & sal borer Arun P. Singh Arun P.

Fig. 23. Mixed sal forest patch at Karvapani. Fig. 24. Pure sal forest patch at Timli, Dehradun.

Kaiser, H. F., 1960. The application of electronic computers to http://cm.bell-labs.cpm/cm/ms/what/shannonday/paper.html factor analysis. Educational & Psychological Measurement 20: 141– Shannon, C. E., & Wiener, W., 1963. The mathematical theory of communities. 151. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Kanjilal, U., 1969. Forest flora of Chakarata, Dehradun and Saharanpur forest Singh, P., & Mishra, R. M., 1986. A threatened epidemic of sal heartwood divisions, Uttar Pradesh. Delhi: Manager of Publications. borer nipped in the bud. Pp. 907–909. Proceedings 2nd Forestry Kazmierczak, K., 2000. A field guide to the birds of India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Conference: F.R.I. Dehradun. Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and the Maldives. 1st ed. London: Pica Press Singh, A. P., 2000. Birds of lower Garhwal Himalayas: Dehradun valley / Christopher Helm. and neighbouring hills. Forktail. 16: 101–123. Linsley, E. G., 1961. The Cerambycidae of North America. Part I. Introduction. Singh, A. P., 2002. New and significant bird records from Dehradun valley, University of California Publications in Entomology, Volume18. Lower Garhwal Himalayas, India. Forktail 18: 151–153. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. Solomon, J. D., 1968. Cerambycid borer in mulberry. J. Econ. Entomol. 61: Magurran, A. E., 1988 Ecological diversity and its measurement. Princeton, 1023–1025. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Solomon, J. D., 1972. Biology and habits of the living beechborer in red Murphy, E. C., & Lehnhausen, W. A., 1998. Density and foraging ecology oaks. J. Econ. Entomol. 65: 1307–1310. of woopeckers following a stand-replacement fire. J. Wildlife Solomon, J. D., 1974. Biology and damage of the hickory borer, Goes pulcher, Management. 62 (4): 1359–1372. in hickory and pecan. Ann. Entomol. Soc. America 67: 257–260. Odum, E. P., 1997. Ecology: a bridge between science and society. Sunderland, Stoddard, H. L., 1969. Memoirs of a naturalist. Norman: University of Massachusetts: Sinauer Associated Inc. Oklahoma Press. Osmaston, B. B., 1935. Birds of Dehradun and Adjacent hills. Indian Military Stebbing, E. P., 1899. Injurious insects of Indian forests. Calcutta: Supt. Govt. Academy. Supplement. Printing Press. Rasmussen, P. C., & Anderton J. C., 2005. Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide. Washington, D. C. & Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions. Roonwal, M. L., 1977. Field ecology of sal heartwood borer, Hoplocerambyx spinicornis (Cerambycidae), in sub-Himalayan forest. Part–2. Seasonal life history, sex variation, sex ratios, wood fibers, and operculum of pupal chamber. J. Indian Acad. Wood Sci. 8 (1): 27–40. Shannon, C. E., 1948. A mathematical theory of communication. Bell System Technical Journal 27: 379–423, 623–656.

Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) 11 Observations on the White-naped Tit Parus nuchalis in Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka K. B. Sadananda, D. H. Tanuja, M. Sahana, T. Girija, A. Sharath, M. K. Vishwanath & A. Shivaprakash

Sadananda, K. B., Tanuja, D. H., Sahana, M., Girija, T., Sharath, A., Vishwanath, M. K., & Shivaprakash, A., 2010. Observations on the White-naped Tit Parus nuchalis in Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka. Indian Birds 6 (1): 12–14. K. B. Sadanada, 11, Temple Road, Jayalakshmipuram, 570012, Karnataka, India. D. H. Tanuja, LIG 01, 4th Main, Ramakrishna Nagar I Block, Mysore 570021, Karnataka, India. Email: [email protected]. M. Sahana, 1795, Chittara, Sri Rampura 2nd Stage, Mysore 570023, Karnataka, India. Email: [email protected]. M. K. Vishwanath5, 444, 8th Main Road, saraswathipuram, Mysore 570009, Karnataka, India. Email: [email protected]. T. Girija, A. Sharath, & A. Shivaprakash: 478, 8th Main Road, 3rd Cross, R.K.Nagar, ‘H’ Block, Mysore 570022, Karnataka, India, Email: [email protected] (Corresponding author). Manuscript received on 30 June 2009.

he White-naped Tit Parus nuchalis is endemic to India with a On 25 January 2009, KBS and ASP were birding near restricted distribution that is largely confined to secondary Gopinatham village (12°03’12”N 77°41’55”E), one of the many forest mainly comprising thorny scrub-forest (Ali & Ripley inhabited villages located on the eastern boundary of Cauvery T1987). It has a limited geographical range with a disjunctive Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka. It was around 1645 hrs that distribution of two separate populations, in the western and we noticed two White-naped Tits land on an Albizia amara tree. One southern parts of the country. In western India, it is recorded of them remained perched for about ten minutes, thus providing in northern Gujarat, central and south-central Rajasthan; and in a good opportunity to photograph it. A rushing flight of Rose- southern India, in the broken hill-ranges of the ringed Parakeets Psittacula krameri right above the tree drove spread through Andhra Pradesh (Jerdon 1863; Suresh 2007), the tit out of sight. We did not see the tits the next day. Again Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka (Lott & Lott 1999) that connects to the on 27 January 2009 we observed two White-naped Tits on an A. . The White-naped Tit is listed as ‘vulnerable’ based amara tree at about 0800 hrs, feeding in the last dying leaves and on rapid population decline (BirdLife International 2009). many emerging flowers. Four Yellow-throated Sparrows Petronia For nearly two-and-a-half decades, most of the Cauvery River xanthocollis foraging in the same tree did not tolerate their presence valley’s forests were inaccessible to birders, researchers, and life- and drove them away. science students due to the presence of security forces combing Both these sightings were in the southern parts of the dry- for poachers, and repeated conflicts between Karnataka and deciduous forests (Fig. 1) around Gopinatham tank. This is a Tamil Nadu states over river-water rights. This volatile situation medium-sized water body located close to, and west of the village, prevented the study of the region’s avifauna, including the status catering to its water needs. A stream, ‘Erkeyum’ flowing between of the White-naped Tit. We could visit Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, Nagamale (cobra hill), and Mailumale (peafowl hill) augments the as the area became more accessible in recent years. Here we water in the tank. Three sides of the tank, with the exception of present evidence of the year-round presence of White-naped Tits the eastern bund, are covered by dry deciduous forest, with the at different locations in Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary. vegetation extending right up to its shoreline. The vegetation predominantly comprises A. amara trees, shrubby undergrowth of Barleria longiflora, Lantana camara, Solanum pubsecens, and Cissus quadrangularis. The habitat here is similar to the one described in Lott & Lott (1999). The following insectivorous birds shared the White-naped Tit‘s habitat, during our two observations—White-browed Fantail Rhipidura aureola, Hoopoe Upupa epopos, Rufous Treepie Dendrocitta vagabunda, Yellow-throated Sparrow, and White-headed Babbler Turdoides affinis. A pair of Common Woodshrike Tephrodornis pondicerianus was observed feeding a solitary fledgling. Four European Bee-eaters Merops apiaster were observed in the vicinity. Although our checklist finally showed 82 species, the Great Tit P. major was conspicuous by its absence. Subsequent to the sightings, Praveen (2009) pointed out, in an online discussion, that all previous sightings of the White-naped Tit (Ali & Whistler 1942; Lott & Lott 1999) were from winter, and to establish that the birds were actually resident, it would be necessary to record their presence during the non-winter

A. Shivaprakash months. Fig. 1. White-naped Tit Parus nuchalis habitat in Cauvery Our trip on 6–7 June 2009, to the same area, yielded more Wildlife Sanctuary. sightings of the bird. We recorded two White-naped Tits (Fig. 2) on

12 Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) Sadananda et al.: White-naped Tit

6 June 2009 at 1500 hrs, some four kilometers away from the Palar Bridge deviation (11°57’14”N 77°38’58”E) towards Gopinatham village. Stands of A. amara, Chloroxylon swietenia, and shrubs of B. longiflora, Solanum pubescens, and Acalypha fruticosa dominate the habitat here. We travelled a further 15 km and reached the place where we sighted the tit in January 2009. An overcast sky in the evening did not yield any sightings of the tit. On 7 June 2009, we searched for the bird in similar habitat, near the road to the Palar Bridge from the Male Mahadeswara hill, and recorded the tit at two different locations: three birds together, and a solitary bird within a distance of 300 m. We were again able to photograph one of the tits. Details of our sightings are presented in Table 1, and Fig. 3, and updated sightings for southern India are shown in Fig. 4. Incidentally, we searched in vain, parts of the Ellemala and Odakehalla ranges in the western part of the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, on either side of the Mysore–Male Mahadeshwara Hill road, for the White-naped Tit. Here, the vegetation composition is similar to the one observed previously for the White-naped Tit. However, we recorded only Great Tit in this area. Four hours of searching, two hours each on the morning of 6 June and the evening of 7 June, were probably insufficient to ascertain the M. Sahana complete absence of the tit. At certain locations in Rajasthan, the Great Tit has been observed in the same habitat occupied by White- naped Tit (BirdLife International 2001), and given the contiguous nature of the here, the possibility that they could occur together should be explored in the future. Fig. 2. Parus nuchalis sighted on 6 June 2009.

Table 1. Updated sightings of the White-naped Tit Parus nuchalis in the Eastern Ghats Sl. Place of sighting Date of sighting Recorded by No. of birds seen Reference No. 1 Around Palar Bridge, Cauvery Wildlife 6 June 2009 KBS, DTH, MS, TG, AS, Two Present survey Sanctuary, Chamarajanagara District, MKV & ASP Karnataka 7 June 2009 Three+One

2 Gopinatham, Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, 27 January 2009 KBS & ASP Two Present survey Chamarajanagara District, Karnataka 25 January 2009

3 Arogyavarm, Chittor District, Andhra 18 December 2003 Jones Two Jones 2007 Pradesh 1 January 2004

February 2005

4 Santhemaralli, Yelandur Hobli, November 1999 Jugal Tiwari Two www.delhibird.net Chamarajanagara District, Karnataka 5 Heganuru State Forest, Kanakapura, November 1995 Lott & Lott Four Lott & Lott 1999 Rural District, Karnataka October 1995 January 1987 November 1986 Bommasandra, Kanakapura, Bangalore 1 December 1985 Rural District, Karnataka 6 Mekedatu, Kanakapura, Bangalore Rural 30 December 1984 Subramanya Two Lott & Lott 1999 District, Karnataka 7 Satyamangala, Biligirirangan Hills, 14 September 1934 Morris One (Juvenile) Ali & Whistler Chamarajanagara District, Karnataka (now 1942 in Tamil Nadu) 8 Bangalore, Karnataka ? 1930 Stewart One Ali & Whistler 1942 9 Masinagudi, Tamil Nadu March 1997 Bishop One BirdLife International 2001 10 Veliconda range, Nellore, Andhra Pradesh Undated Jerdon One Jerdon 1863

Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) 13 Sadananda et al.: White-naped Tit

We regularly visit vast marshlands, and water bodies, for Muthu, and Soundar Rajan for able support, and hospitality. We also thank winter waterfowl counts around Santhemaralli where Jugal Tiwari Jugal Tiwari for his observations on the habitat and behavior of the tits, S. recorded the White-naped Tit (Tiwari 1999). We have not observed Subramanya for whetting an earlier draft of this paper, and S. Thejaswi for the White-naped Tit here, just the Great Tit, near the waterbodies, providing useful references and improvements to the manuscript. on a few occasions. P. nuchalis is known to move over 5–7 km for foraging if the forest is fragmented, and thus may cover larger References distances in search of food. Ringed birds in Kachchh, Gujarat Ali, S., & Ripley, S. D., 1987. Compact handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan have been recaptured some 5–7 km away from the place of ringing together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. 2nd ed. Delhi: Oxford University Press. (Jugal Tiwari, pers. comm.). Ali, S., & Whistler, H., 1942. The birds of Mysore. Part I. Journal of the Although we noticed that P. nuchalis was not a difficult bird Bombay Natural History Society 43 (2): 130–147. to spot in suitable habitat, we do not conclude that the species BirdLife International. 2009. http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/ is common in the area. In the recent past, efforts to survey the index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=7053&m=0 interior regions of the , and nearby BirdLife International. 2001. Threatened Birds of Asia: The BirdLife areas, for the tit were severely hindered due to limited access and International Red Data Book. Part A. 2 vols. 1st ed. Collar, N. J., Andreev, the presence of poachers, and security forces. We plan to conduct A. V., Chan, S., Crosby, M. J., Subramanya, S., & Tobias, J. A., (eds.). surveys in future to look for the species more intensively in the Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International. Islam, Z.-u., & Rahmani, A. R., 2004. Important Bird Areas in India. Priority area. Observations of the species from the nearby Chittoor district sites for conservation. Mumbai: Indian Bird Conservation Network: in Andhra Pradesh (Table 1; Fig. 4) indicate that the distributional Bombay Natural History Society and BirdLife International (UK). range of the species could be much wider in southern India, but Jerdon, T. C., 1863. The birds of India being a natural history of all the birds that it may be found in small numbers in large tracts of fragmented known to inhabit continental India: with descriptions of the species, genera, habitats. Future threats to the tit’s habitat at Male Mahadeshwara families, tribes, and orders, and a brief notice of such families as are not Hills could include quarrying for granite, and habitat loss. found in India, making it a manual of ornithology specially adapted for India. Vol II.-Part I. 1st ed. Calcutta: Published by the author (Printed by The Military Orphan Press). (Quoted based on citation in Lott & Acknowledgements Lott 1999; Jones 2007; Shyamal 1996.) We thank ACF (Wildlife) M. K. Ravindra, Division, RFO (Wildlife) Jones, S., 2007. Sightings of White-naped Tit Parus nuchalis in Arogyavaram, M. Nagaraju, MM Hill range, Forester M. Keshava, watchers Iyyandorai, Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh. Indian Birds 3 (5): 198–199. Lott, E. J., & Lott, C., 1999. On the occurrence of White-naped Tit Parus nuchalis in southern India. Forktail 15 (August): 93–94. Praveen J., 2009. Sighting of White winged Black Tit. Message No.15690. bngbirds@ yahoogroups.com.29.i.2009. Shyamal, L., 1996. The Whitewinged Tit Parus nuchalis in southern India and notes on the Great Tit Parus major. Newsletter for Birdwatchers 35 (6): 114. Tiwari, J. K., http://speciesguide.delhibird.net/internal/86/tit_white_ naped.htm

Editorial Committee’s note: The two records of Uttangi (1994, 1995), of P. nuchalis from the evergreen to semi-evergreen biotope at Anshi National Park, and in the residential backyard of Dharwad town, need confirmation, and hence have not been included in the above paper. In addition, the habitats where he saw the birds do not S. Subramanya fit the typicalAlbizia or Acacia dominated open jungle found in Fig. 3. Recent sightings of Parus nuchalis in Cauvery Wildlife Sanctu- southern Karnataka (especially the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary ary, Karnataka. Sighting dates are given next to sighting locations. belt (Lott & Lott 1999) / Andhra Pradesh (Jones 2007), although it is stated that the Dharwad locality is at the edge of a transitional belt of thorn forest. Also, the Wynaad record of the species (Zacharias & Gaston 1993) is not confirmed as yet, and it is indicated that the identification of P. nuchalis during one of those Wynaad surveys, when the species is claimed to have been sighted, is doubtful (V. Santharam pers. comm., also Sashikumar et al., 2010, confirming the former).

References Sashikumar, C., Praveen, J., Palot, M. J., & Nameer, P. O., 2010. Birds of : an update on status and distribution. (In press). Uttangi, J. C., 1994. Full report on avifaunal survey of Anshi National Park in north Western Ghats (India). Unpublished. Uttangi, J. C., 1995. A rare occurrence of the globally threatened White- naped Tit, Parus nuchalis in areas of Dharwad, Karnataka India. Newsletter for Birdwatchers. 35: 114–115. Zacharias, V. J., & Gaston, A. J., 1993. The Birds of Wynaad, southern India. Forktail. 8: 11–23. S. Subramanya Fig. 4. Updated distribution of Parus nuchalis in southern India.

14 Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) Avifauna of Jagatpur wetland near Bhagalpur (Bihar, India)

Braj Nandan Kumar & Sunil K. Choudhary*

Kumar, B. N., & Choudhary, S. K., 2010. Avifauna of Jagatpur wetland near Bhagalpur (Bihar, India). Indian Birds 6 (1): 15–17. Braj Nandan Kumar & Sunil K. Choudhary, Environmental Biology Research Laboratory, University Department of Botany, T.M. Bhagalpur University, Bhagalpur 812007, Bihar. *Email: [email protected] Manuscript received on 1 June 2009.

Introduction wetland for this purpose. Birds in the catchment area were also This study is the first attempt to prepare an inventory of birds listed. Identification was with the help of several guides (Finn dependent on Jagatpur wetland, a perennial wetland in the middle 1981; Woodcock 1984; Ali & Ripley 1987; Ali 1996; Grimmett et Ganga plain near Bhagalpur, Bihar. al. 1999). Jagatpur wetland (25º20’219”N 87º02’623”E) is c. 12 km (by road) north-east of Bhagalpur city. It is a perennial freshwater Results & discussion 2 floodplain type of wetland with an area of 0.4 km in the middle Thirty-four bird species were recorded from the Jagatpur wetland Ganga plain (Table 1). The wetland is mainly rain-fed, but during the study. They belong to 12 families and eight orders. underground seepage also contributes to its volume of water. The About 79% of the recorded avifauna is wetland-dependent. Out of area under the wetland includes both government and private 34 spp., 21 were resident (61.76%), seven locally migrant (20.58%), holdings. and six migrant (17.64%). The wetland supports many types of macrophytes that may It is noteworthy that four species of storks (Ciconiidae) occur be grouped into marginal, submerged, floating, and emergent in Jagatpur wetland. According to IUCN (1996) and BirdLife categories, of which Eichhornia crassipes is the dominant free- International (2001), Greater Adjutant Stork Leptoptilos dubius floating, Hydrilla verticillata the dominant submerged, and Cynodon has been categorized as Endangered (En), Lesser Adjutant dactylon the dominant marginal species in the wetland. The Stork L. javanicus as Vulnerable (Vu), and Black-necked Stork surroundings of the wetland are covered by various tree species Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus as Near Threatened (NT). 20 Greater like Mangifera indica, religiosa, F. bengalensis, F. glomerata, F. Adjutant Storks, comprising 13 adults and seven immature birds infestoria, Dalbergia sissoo, Acacia nilotica, Eugenia jambolana, Borassus were seen in March–April when the wetland was receding. Two flabellifer, Phoenix dactylifera, etc. The marginal upper land area is birds had gular pouches. Greater Adjutant storks are the locally extensively cultivated. migratory wetland species of special conservation interest, and The wetland is located in a belt of tropical monsoon climate are restricted to the Asia-Pacific region. Being endangered, they with three distinct seasons: summer—mid-March–mid-June, face a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the future (Collar monsoon—third week of June–October, and winter, November– et al. 1994). The global population estimate (restricted to Asia- February. Pacific region only) for the bird is less than 700 (Perennou et al. 1994). According to Asad R. Rahmani, Director, Bombay Natural Materials & methods History Society (pers. comm.), Greater Adjutants have not been Monthly bird counts were conducted from August 2003 to July sighted outside Assam in recent decades. In view of this, their 2005 (Table 2). A country boat was used to cover the entire presence in and around Jagatpur wetland is important. It is also significant that the number (20) sighted in Jagatpur wetland fulfills the Ramsar Criteria of 1% for the wetland to be proposed Table 1. Morphometric and Bathymetric characters of Jagatpur wetland. a Ramsar site. In the Gangetic flood plains, Black-necked Storks have not been reported in recent years outside the state of Uttar Altitude 17 m Pradesh. Our observation suggests that Bihar may still have Maximum length 693 m populations of this declining stork. Maximum breadth 350 m Our survey reveals that Jagatpur wetland is quite rich in Maximum depth 3.1 m avian diversity. The wetland, at present, is under various threats. Minimum depth 0.48 m Availability of water, inflow of pesticides and fertilizers from the surrounding agricultural fields, weed growth, particularly Mean depth 1.64 m of water hyacinth, extensive fishing, and the hunting of birds Mean depth/Maximum depth ratio 0.52 m for pleasure are among the major threats to the wetland and Basin shape Saucer its avifauna. For conserving the Jagatpur wetland and its Basin slope Gentle rich biodiversity, a management plan should be prepared in Bottom texture Silted such a manner that at the objective level it primarily provides Mean maximum annual Temperature 30.5ºC emphasis on protecting the wetland, and at the secondary level it provides an avenue for sustainable utilization of resources of Mean minimum annual temperature 19.4ºC the wetland without jeopardizing its continued ecological values Mean annual rainfall 88 mm and functions.

Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) 15

Kumar & Choudhary: Jagatpur wetland, Bihar Jul

------

- - - 2 6 6 2 25 70 12 Jun

------

8 - 8 2 2 2 2 4 6 8 6 75 16 12 12 16 12 May

------4 - - 6 2 4 4 2 2 2 2 6 6 19

35 52 20 12 82 14 42 30 150 250 Apr ------8 3 5 1 2 2 3 2 1 4 4

12 50 17 92 20 80 16 18 42

127 300 2005 Mar

------4 4 2 8 8 4 9

30 60 56 35 106 Feb

------4 - - - - 4 6 8 2

50 20 16 12 35 80 30 12 25 425 350 200 Jan

------3 - - - - 2 6 6 3 6 1 6

50 24 22 12 12 42 390 150 354 Dec ------4 8 4

55 13 12 23 38 30

500+ Nov ------8

22 18 12 54 30 42

100+ Oct

------

8 3 25 62 22 Sep

------

- - - 6 6 4 22 60 20 Aug

------4 2 2 3 4

18 14 18 18 118 Jul

------4 3 3 8

58 20 2004 Jun

------6 2 8 6 2 3

38 18 36 43 May + ------6 8 2 2 8 3 16 52 10 36 32

12 36 48

150 Apr + ------8 6 6 2 4 8 4

35 12 48 20 12 43 72

60+ 300 100+ Mar + ------4 6 2

1 1 1 3 8 5 79 12 50

80 33 25 10 60 20 30 12 16 35 28 30 Feb + ------6 3 8 5 4 11 60 28 12 30 25 22

150 100+ 350+ 100+ Jan + ------2 1 4 12 18 25 20

50+

800 300+ Dec + + ------6 8 4

12 10

75 50+ 200 Nov +++ ------2 2 2 2 3 4 20 30

600 Oct ------2

20 25 25

2003 Sep ------4 2 15 15

Bihar (August 2003–July 2005) near Bhagalpur, in Jagatpur Wetland 2. Monthly counts of birds Table Aug ------4 3 35 25 10 R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R M M M M M M M RM RM RM RM RM RM RM Status Anas querquedula Bronze-winged Jacana Metopidius indicus Pheasant-tailed Jacana Hydrophasianus chirurgus Common Coot Fulica atra Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus Purple Moorhen Porphyrio porphyrio Red Crested Pochard Rhodonessa rufina Common Anas Teal crecca and Endangered. Vulnerable R = Resident, RM Resident migrant, M Long distance migrant. The species with *, ** and *** denote Near threatend, Bubulcus ibis Cattle Egret Garganey Mesophoyx intermedia Median Egret Northern Pintail Anas acuta Lesser Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis Ardea purpurea Purple Heron Northern Shoveller Anas clypeata Oriental White Ibis Threskiornis melanocephalus White-breasted Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis Ardea cinerea Heron Grey Cotton NettapusTeal coromandelianus Greater Adjutant-Stork *** L. dubius Black Winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus Oriental Darter Anhinga rufa Lesser Whistling Teal Dendrocygna javanica Phalacro corax niger Little Cormorant Phalacro Lesser Adjutant-Stork ** Leptoptilos javanicus Indian Pond-Heron Ardeola grayii Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa Black Ibis Pseudibis papillosa Large Whistling Teal Dendrocygna bicolor Asian Openbill Anastomus oscitans Black Necked Stork * Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus Red-wattled Lapwing indicusVanellus Species ruficollis Tachybaptus Little Grebe

16 Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) Kumar & Choudhary: Jagatpur wetland, Bihar

Acknowledgements The authors express their gratitude to University Grant Commission, New Delhi for the financial assistance provided for this investigation under SAP (DRS III) and to Subhasis Dey, Santosh Kumar Tiwari for their help in the field surveys, and to Sushant Dey for photography of wetland birds.

References Ali, S., 1996. The book of Indian birds. 12th, Revised and enlarged, Reprint ed. Daniel, J. C., (Ed.) Mumbai: Bombay Natural History Society & Oxford University Press. Ali, S., & Ripley, S. D., 1987. Compact handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. 2nd ed. Delhi: Oxford University Press. BirdLife International. 2001. Threatened Birds of Asia: The BirdLife International Red Data Book. Part A. Vol 1. 1st ed. Collar, N. J., Andreev, A. V., Chan, S., Crosby, M. J., Subramanya, S. & Tobias, J. A. (eds.). Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International. Collar, N. J., Crosby, M. J., & Stattersfield, A. J., 1994. Birds to watch 2, the world list of threatened birds. Cambridge: BirdLife International. Finn, F., 1981. Garden and aviary birds of India. New Delhi: Cosmo Publications. Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C., & Inskipp, T., 1999. Pocket guide to the birds of the Indian Subcontinent. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Baillie, J., & Groombridge, B., (Eds.). 1996. Red List of threatened . Switzerland: IUCN. Perennou, C., Mundkur, T., Scott, D. A., Follestad, A., & Kvenild, L., 1994. The Asian Waterfowl Census 1987-91: Distribution and Status of Asian Waterfowl. Kuala Lumpur; Slimbridge, UK: Asian Wetland Bureau; The International Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Bureau. Woodcock, M. W., 1984. Collins handguide to the birds of the Indian Sub-continent including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri-Lanka and Nepal. Reprint ed. London: Collins. Clement Francis

Top: Greater Adjutant Stork Leptoptilos dubius; Bottom: Black-necked Stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus.

Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) 17 Indian Spotted Eagle Aquila hastata nesting in Sonepat, Haryana, India Suresh C. Sharma & Jaideep Chanda

Sharma, S. C., Chanda, J., & Roy, C., 2009. Indian Spotted Eagle Aquila hastata nesting in Sonepat, Haryana, India. Indian Birds 6 (1): 18. Suresh C. Sharma, Gokulnagar, Rohtak Road, Sonepat, Haryana 131001, India. Email [email protected] (Author for communication) Jaideep Chanda, A-47 (D-II Quarters), South Motibagh, New Delhi 110021, India. Manuscript received on 27 August 2009.

Introduction Results The Indian Spotted Eagle Aquila hastata is a poorly studied, and rare The Indian Spotted Eagle pair was first spotted on 7 April 2009, species, with a small and declining population and is categorized bringing nesting material to what turned out to be a nest under as Vulnerable by BirdLife International (2009). The species has construction. We monitored this nest every week since. The nest been sighted in Corbett Tiger Reserve (Uttar Pradesh), Harike Bird was on a eucalyptus tree, on the central fork in the middle of the Sanctuary (Punjab), Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan), and some tree, c. 12–15 m high. We first sighted a chick on 20 June 2009. We areas in the Gangetic flood-plain (Naoroji 2006). This note reports photographed it, from a distance, on 11 July 2009. The nest was the sighting of a nesting pair of Indian Spotted Eagle at Sonepat, observed for about 30 min. during which time the pair visited it Haryana (28º56’21”N 76º51’09”E), and lists our observations of twice, but were mobbed by crows both times. The eagles were nesting, and other general aspects of the species. possibly taking turns to hunt since there was always one bird near the nest. They would not sit at the nest for long, but would leave Methods & study area immediately after visiting it. The non-hunting bird sat on a tree c. SCS spotted a nest of the Indian Spotted Eagle, while birdwatching, 27 m away. Whenever the eagles moved, or flew, they would be on an eucalyptus tree on the bank of an irrigation canal running violently mobbed by House Crows Corvus splendens, which would NW–SE along a parallel road. The tree was in the middle of a long settle down only when the eagle settled down. stretch of eucalyptus trees lining the canal for about two kilometres. The chick’s cheeping call was distinctly audible from where we To the west of the canal were agricultural fields. We observed the watched the nest. It moved about the nest occasionally and became chick from the road adjacent to the canal, and occasionally from active whenever a parent approached the nest. The chick’s general the agricultural field. The duration of our observations varied from appearance was fuzzy and grey with a fleshy yellow gape. It was 20 min., up to an hour, and was conducted on a weekly basis from last observed on 26 July 2009, and when the nest was visited on 7 April to 2 August 2009. 2 August 2009, it was empty. In all probability it may have fallen into the canal, during a massive storm that struck the area on 30 July 2009, and perished.

Discussion A sedentary breeder, the Indian Spotted Eagle, though present throughout its range, is suspected to have a low density (Naoroji 2006). Parry et al. (2006) report that out of 26 records of clutches of the Indian Spotted Eagle, 23 contained only one egg, suggesting low survival rates. This makes our sighting significant, as it indicates that birds find the area conducive to breeding. Eucalyptus has not been recorded as a nesting tree for the species (Naoroji 2006). Continuous observation and reporting of these eagles is of utmost importance to assess the actual status of the species and to enable conservation efforts.

Acknowledgements We thank K. S. Gopi Sundar for comments on previous drafts of the manuscript, and the Indian Cranes and Wetlands Working Group for assistance with pertinent references.

References BirdLife International. 2009. Species factsheet: Aquila hastata. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 12/7/2009. Naoroji, R., 2006. Birds of prey of the Indian Subcontinent. London:

J. Chanda Christopher Helm. Parry, S. J., Clark, W. S., & Prakash, V., 2002. On the taxonomic status of Adult Indian Spotted Eagle Aquila hastate flying away from the Indian Spotted Eagle Aquila hastata. Ibis 144: 665–675. nest with eaglet.

18 Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) Thick-billed Green-Pigeon Treron curvirostra in Similipal Hills, Orissa: an addition to the avifauna of peninsular India

Manoj V. Nair

Nair, M. V., 2010. Thick-billed Green-Pigeon Treron curvirostra in Similipal Hills, Orissa: an addition to the avifauna of peninsular India. Indian Birds 6 (1): 19–20. Manoj V. Nair, Divisional Forest Officer, Hirakud Wildlife Division, Brook’s Hill, Sambalpur, Orissa, India. Email: [email protected] Manuscript received on 12 August 2009.

hick-billed Green-Pigeon Treron curvirostra is a resident 7 November 2007, Bhanjabasa: Loose flock of about 20 birds bird in the Himalaya—from western Nepal eastward to feeding on a Ficus sp. in moist-deciduous sal forest interspersed Sikkim, north Bengal duars and Bhutan, to extreme eastern with semi-evergreen patches, along with Yellow-footed Green- TArunachal Pradesh—as also in the hills of north-eastern India, Pigeon T. phoenicopterus, and a flock of four Pale-capped south of the Brahmaputra River. It affects well-wooded areas and Woodpigeons Columba punicea. forests from plains to at least 1,500 m a.s.l. (Ali & Ripley 1987). 5 January 2008, Nekedanocha: A pair seen perched on the Its occurrence in peninsular India has not been recorded (Ali & branch of a Mesua ferrea, in dense evergreen forest, along the Ripley 1987; Grimmett et al. 1998; Kazmierczak 2000; Rasmussen Nageswarkocha streambed. & Anderton 2005). Here, I report its presence in Similipal hills, 26 May 2008, Gurguria: A courting pair, with five Yellow-legged north-eastern Orissa. Green-Pigeons, on a leafless fruiting Ficus The Similipal Hills (21º55’52”N mysorensis, in the mixed moist-deciduous 85º59’40”E) in Mayurbhanj district of Orissa forests surrounding the orchidarium. border the states of Jharkhand and West Confiding, and allowing close approach; Bengal, and harbour within their limits both the male could be photographed as it sat a tiger reserve (with an area of 2,750 km2), basking on an exposed branch (Fig. 1). and a biosphere reserve (5,569 km2). The These observations, which spread terrain is undulating, the altitude ranges throughout the year, seem to indicate that from 300 to 1,200 m a.s.l., and forest types the species is most likely a rare resident include dry deciduous, moist deciduous, in the hills of Similipal, and constitute the and semi-evergreen. Some authorities first records of the species’ presence in consider Similipal a part of the Eastern peninsular India. This also supports the Ghats (Sinha 1971), while others treat it as putative role of the Similipal Hills as a the south-eastern extension of the Chota link between the forests of north-eastern Nagpur Plateau (Ray 2005). The area falls India, and those of the Western Ghats. The under the province of ‘Chhotanagpur’ in northern Eastern Ghats are still relatively the Deccan Peninsula biogeographic zone of unexplored, and intensive investigations Rodgers & Panwar (1988). Despite being an along the unexplored patches of these Important Bird Area (IBA Code IN-OR-06), ranges might reveal more occurrences its birdlife is not well documented (Islam & of unrecorded birds from north-eastern Rahmani 2004). India. On 18 October 2006, at 0917 hrs, a flock of six birds were fleetingly sighted on a fruiting References Ficus sp. tree at Badamakabadi in Pithabata Ali, S., & Ripley, S. D., 1987. Compact handbook of

M. Nair range, as all of them flushed on approach, the birds of India and Pakistan together with those of evading confirmation. Subsequently, during Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. 2nd ed. Fig. 1. Male Thick-billed Green-Pigeon Treron Delhi: Oxford University Press. the course of the next one-and-a-half years curvirostra in Gurguria, Similipal, Orissa. of active birding in Similipal, I had five more Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C., & Inskipp, T., 1998. Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. London: confirmed sightings, all from dense semi-evergreen, and mixed Christopher Helm, A & C Black. moist-deciduous forests. The broad blue-green orbital skin, and Islam, Z.-u., & Rahmani, A. R., 2004. Important Bird Areas in India. Priority heavy bill with its red base were diagnostic pointers. Specific sites for conservation. 1st ed. Mumbai: Indian Bird Conservation locality records and details are as follows: Network: Bombay Natural History Society and BirdLife International 2 March 2007, Jenabil: a solitary bird seen perched on a leafless (UK). emerging branch of a Shorea robusta tree in dense semi-evergreen Kazmierczak, K., 2000. A field guide to the birds of India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, forest adjoining the fields of Jenabil village. Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and the Maldives. 1st ed. London: Pica Press 11 March 2007, Upper Barakamura: six birds on a flowering / Christopher Helm. Rasmussen, P.C., & Anderton, J., 2005. Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide. ceiba, along with a mixed species flock gorging on nectar. 2 vols. Washington, D.C. & Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution & Despite observations for about 20 minutes, the pigeons were not Lynx Editions. seen feeding on nectar. Ray, G. C., 2005. Geography of Orissa. Cuttack: Kitab Mahal.

Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) 19 Nair: Thick-billed Green-Pigeon in Orissa

Rodgers, W. A., & Panwar, H. S., 1988. Planning a wildlife protected area www.indianaturewatch.net/displayimage.php?id=24809) on 20 network in India. 2 vols. Dehradun: Wildlife Institute Of India. September 2007, which was photographed at Lingambudhi lake, Sinha, B. N., 1971. Geography of Orissa. New Delhi: National Book Trust. Mysore (Karnataka, India). He said that the bird looked tired, and flew away after 15 minutes of observation. Ornithologists (Kumar Editor’s note: Ghorpadé, Bill Harvey, and Aasheesh Pittie) felt it could have been Kulasekhara C. S., posted a photograph of a Thick-billed an escapee. This was never proved, nor disproved. Green-Pigeon on the India Nature Watch website (http://

Status of Lesser Florican Sypheotides indicus in Pratapgarh district, Rajasthan, India

Gobind Sagar Bhardwaj

Bhardwaj, G. S., 2010. Some observations of Lesser Florican Sypheotides indicus in Pratapgarh, Rajasthan, India. Indian Birds 6 (1): 20–21. Gobind Sagar Bhardwaj, Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun 248001, Uttarakhand, India. Email: [email protected] Manuscript received on 20 August 2009.

Introduction and Acacia nilotica. The entire landscape is a mosaic of cultivated The Lesser Florican Sypheotides indicus is the smallest bustard fields interspersed with isolated patches of grasslands. These (Otididae) in the world (Fig. 1). It is endemic to the Indian grasslands extend up to the boundaries of individual plots of Subcontinent, and listed as Critically Endangered (Collar & agriculture land. Andrews 1994), and is a Schedule I species under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Its breeding range is confined to Methods India (Ali & Ripley 1983). It is commonly seen during the monsoon Observations were carried out in the morning, and evening, in in eastern Rajasthan, and Gujarat. It inhabits tall grasslands, with the months of July–September 2006, 2007, and 2008. Birds were scattered bushes, and standing crops of cotton, and millet (Ali & counted following Sankaran (2000), by visually searching for Ripley 1983). Its estimated population in India, in 1999 was 3,530 birds all over the grasslands and agriculture landscapes through birds (Sankaran 2000). Sankaran (1996) listed Pratapgarh as the a pair of binoculars, and an SLR camera. GPS coordinates (with a most important area for Lesser Florican in southern Rajasthan. Garmin 72) of the observation points, and sightings of birds were However, detailed information is not available regarding the taken. Villagers were also interviewed about the presence of Lesser status, and distribution of this species from here (Sankaran 2000). Floricans in the past and present. On seven different occasions, the This study presents the current status, and distribution of Lesser jumping display by the male Lesser Florican was observed. Florican in Pratapgarh district. Results & discussion Study area Status and distribution of Lesser Florican in Pratapgarh The present study was conducted in the Kariawad area of region Pratapgarh district, Rajasthan (24º08’N 74º47’E), which is an Sankaran (2000) estimated a population of 28 Lesser Floricans from extension of the Malwa Plateau in Rajasthan. Other areas of this region in 1999. Of these, all but two birds were sighted either Pratapgarh, including Sidhpura, Bajrangarh, and Mowdikhera in cultivated land or grassland converted into agriculture lands were also surveyed for Lesser Florican. Tree cover in this region (Sankaran 2000). I was able to count eight birds in 2006, and just is negligible except for scattered growth of Butea monosperma four individuals during 2007–2008 (Table 1). In 1999 Sankaran (2000) reported seven, and eight birds from Sidhpura, and Bajrangarh areas of Pratapgarh respectively. But between 2006 and 2008 I did not spot Lesser Floricans around these two villages. However, floricans were sighted around two other villages—Ratniyakheri and Bori grass bir (Table 1). Sankaran (1996) stated that Pratapgarh attracts at least 30–50 male floricans during a good monsoon. The drastic decline in numbers of Lesser Florican in 2008 in Pratapgarh, as compared to their population in 1999 might be due to changes in the land use pattern, and an increase in the disturbances prevailing in the landscape.

Observation of Lesser Florican in Pratapgarh

G. S. Bhardwaj The presence of Lesser Florican is invariably recorded only when a displaying male is sighted. On 23 July 2006 one male was seen in Fig. 1. Lesser Florican Sypheotides indicus in agricultural fields. grassland c. 2 km from Kariabad, on the way to Khoriya village.

20 Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) Bhardwaj: Lesser Florican in Rajasthan

Table 1. Sightings of Lesser Florican Sypheotides indicus in Pratapgarh Conservation measures district, Rajasthan There is an urgent need for protection and conservation of some Sightings of the grasslands. Most of the grassland, locally called charnot Name of the area 1999* 2006 2007 2008 or charahgah, has been encroached for agriculture or for other Kariabad 11 4 2 1 activities. Plantation activities on grassland, by different agencies, Ratniyakheri NA 2 NA 2 including state forest departments, convert a majority of the Bori grass bir NA NA 1 1 grasslands into shrub land—by planting Prosopis juliflora, and other species. The remaining grass birs are auctioned every year Sidhpura 7 0 0 0 for fodder, thereby increasing the threat to nests of the bird. Bajrangarh 8 0 0 0 A systematic survey/population estimation of Lesser Florican Mowrikhera 2 2 2 0 should be carried out during the monsoon. For this, a detailed Total 28 8 4 4 study and an inventory of all florican areas have to be made on *After Sankaran (2000) priority. This will add value to the existing efforts of the state forest department, which conducts a census in summer. Volunteers from The male was on the edge of grassland and the agricultural field, NGOs, and experts should be recruited to enhance work force which contained soybean Glycine max, and jowar Sorghum vulgare. requirements. The village communities around Lesser Florican The crop was c. 60 cm high, whereas the height of the grass was habitats should be educated about the need for conserving habitat less than 15 cm. Later, in the Kariabad area, three more male for the bird, and rewarded for giving information about the bird floricans were seen. The peculiar jumping display accompanied in their vicinity. Incentives should also be given to those farmers by the call, kat..kat..kat ..kat, emitted at each jump is diagnostic. who practice organic farming and restrict/prevent grazing their The call is audible up to 500 m from the displaying bird! In these cattle during rainy seasons (Fig. 2). areas the Lesser Florican is also known as katkata or fudakaryeo (one who jumps). During 2006–2008, a cock Lesser Florican has used the same area Acknowledgements for its jumping display. This area is a mosaic of agricultural fields I thank the state forest department of Rajasthan, Chief Wildlife Warden with patches of grasslands. The crops were of soybean, maize Zea R. N. Mehrotra, Harkirat Sangha, Y. V. Jhala, Dananjay Mohan, and K. Sivakumar for their constructive comments and helpful suggestions. I mays, and jowar. The lek, or the actual jumping area was always in also thank Devender Mistry, and Prehlad Singh for their support and the crop field where the cock finds cover to hide. At this time the continuous assistance. height of the surrounding grassland was less than 30–45 cm. On a few occasions the cock displayed in the grassland where the grass was more than 45 cm, adjacent to a field with taller crop, as also References Ali, S., & Ripley, S. D., 1983. Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan reported by Gadhvi (2003). This might be a precautionary measure, together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Compact where it can quickly seek cover either in the tall crop or the grass. ed. Delhi: Oxford University Press. Srivastav & Rana (1998) noted that cock floricans utilized fire lines Collar, N. J., & Andrew, P., 1988. Birds to watch: the ICBP world checklist of as display areas, and their marginal tall grass to hide from danger. threatened birds. Cambridge: ICBP. It was observed that whenever a person neared the jumping cock Gadhvi, I. R., 2003. Monitoring nesting sites of Lesser Floricans (Sypheotides florican, it stopped jumping until the intruder left the area. In 2007 indica) in and around Blackbuck National Park, Gujarat. Zoo’s Print two male floricans were seen jumping, separated by a distance of Journal 18(7): 1135-1142 around 450 m with a small seasonal stream flowing between them. Hume, A. O., & Marshall, C. H. T., 1879. The game birds of India, Burmah, and Ceylon. Vol. I. Calcutta: Published by the authors. One was at 24º8’N 74º47’E, while the other, 24º08’N 74º46’E. They Jerdon, T. C., 1864. The birds of India: being a natural history of all the birds jumped alternately, as though indulging in a territorial display. I known to inhabit continental India; with descriptions of the species, genera, estimated the mean number of jumps per hour as 51.19 ± se 10.64 families, tribes, and orders, and a brief notice of such families as are not varied from 15.21 to 94.28. When undisturbed it was observed found in India, making it a manual of ornithology specially adapted for jumping as much as 94 times in an hour. The jumping frequency India. . Vol II.-Part II. Calcutta: Published by the author (Printed by increased with failing light at dusk—the maximum frequency being George Wyman and Co.). reached between 1800 and 1900 hrs. Osborne, P., Collar, N. J., & Goriup, P. D., 1984. Bustards. Dubai: Dubai Wildlife Research Centre. Rahmani, A. R., 1987. Endangered birds of Indian grasslands: their conservation requirements. In: Rangelands: resources and management (Eds., P. Singh & P. S. Pathak). Pp. 421–427. Jhansi: Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute. Rahmani, A. R., & Manakadan, R., 1988. Bustard sanctuaries of India. Technical Report No. 18. Pp. 40. Mumbai: Bombay Natural History Society. Rodgers, W. A., & Panwar, H. S., 1988. Planning a protected area network in India. 2 vols. Dehradun: Wildlife Institute of India. Sankaran, R., 1994. Status of the Lesser Florican in 1994. Unpubl. Report. Coimbatore: Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History. Sankaran, R., 1996. The status and conservation of the Lesser Florican in Rajasthan. Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History & Bombay Natural History Society. Sankaran, R., 2000. The status of the Lesser Florican Sypheotides indica in 1999. Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History in collaboration with Bombay Natural History Society, June 2000. G. S. Bhardwaj Srivastav, A. K. & Rana, V. 1998. Velavadar National Park - a paradise for Lesser Florican. Tigerpaper 25 (3): 1–4. Fig. 2. Lesser Florican Sypheotides indicus habitat is threatened by livestock grazing.

Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) 21 Nest material kleptoparasitism by the Oriental White-eye Zosterops palpebrosus S. S. Mahesh, L. Shyamal & Vinod Thomas

Mahesh, S. S., Shyamal, L., & Thomas, V., 2010. Nest material kleptoparasitism by the Oriental White-eye Zosterops palpebrosus. Indian Birds 6 (1): 22–23. Sqn Ldr S. S. Mahesh, Deputy Director Flight Safety, D-II/284, Vinay Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021, India. Email: [email protected] L Shyamal, 261, 9th Cross Tatanagar, Bengaluru 560092, Karnataka, India. Email: [email protected] Sgt Vinod Thomas, F-170, Swastik Apartments, Flat No-101, Lado Sarai, Mehrauli, New Delhi 110030, India. Email: [email protected] Manuscript received on 7 November 2009.

he term kleptoparasitism, or ‘parasitism by theft’, is used be constructing the nest. We took a photograph that shows the in ecology to describe a “strategy of stealing items, such as white-eye holding the lint of a flying seed in its beak (Fig. 1). On food or nest materials, from other individuals” (Sibley 2001). our way back we checked the same spot, and noticed that a Red- TIn birds, kleptoparasitism is relatively uncommon in passerines but whiskered Bulbul Pycnonotus jocosus occupied the nest—on further well known in skuas (Stercorariidae), and frigatebirds (Fregatidae), examination it was obvious that the nest was that of a bulbul and which rely extensively on such behavior to obtain food. Other groups not of a white-eye (Fig. 2). such as raptors (Accipitridae; Falconidae), gulls (Laridae), terns Notes on bird Behavior are often not published by birdwatchers (Laridae), coots (Rallidae), some ducks (Anatidae), and shorebirds in the Indian region, and this appears to be the first published are known to engage in opportunistic kleptoparasitism. record of kleptoparasitism in the Oriental White-eye, but it is Nest material stealing by passerines has been reported in the possible that the behavior is commoner, considering the behavior Japanese White-eye Zosterops japonica, Cedar Waxwing Bombycilla of the Japanese White-eye as well as reports on the interactions cedrorum, Cerulean Warbler Dendroica cerulea, American Redstart of the Oriental White-eye with other nesting species—such as the Setophaga ruticilla, Blue-gray Gnat-catcher Polioptila caerulea, Red- records of interspecific feeding (Balar 2009; Tehsin & Tehsin 1998). eyed Vireo Vireo olivaceus, Black-throated Green Warbler Dendroica In the latter case, Oriental White-eye appears to have gone to the virens, Northern Parula Parula americana, House Sparrow Passer nest for stealing nest material but was ‘trapped’ by the gaping domesticus, and Orchard Oriole Icterus spurius (Jones et al. 2007; chicks (Tehsin & Tehsin 1998). McGillivray 1980). Members of the Tyrannidae, Ploceidae, and other colonial nesters, are known to indulge in interspecific, and References intraspecific nest material kleptoparasitism (Hansell 2000). This Balar, R., 2009. Interspecific feeding of Asian Paradise-Flycatcher Terpsiphone behavior is said to be common in the Japanese White-eyes in paradisi nestlings by Oriental White-eye Zosterops palpebrosus. Indian Oahu, Hawaii, where material was lifted from the nests of House Birds 4 (5): 163–164 (2008). Sparrow, Linnet Carpodacus mexicanus, and the Elepaio Chasiempis Frings, S. C., 1968. The breeding biology of Oahu Elepaio Chasiempis sandwichensis (Guest 1973; Frings 1968). sandwichensis. Thesis. Honolulu: University of Hawaii. On 23 May 2009, during a routine birding trip to Nandi Hills, Guest, Sandra J., 1973. A reproductive biology and natural history of the Japanese White-eye (Zosterops japonica) in urban Oahu. Technical Bengaluru, we spotted an Oriental White-eye Zosterops palpebrosus report No. 29. Honolulu: University of Hawaii. inside thick undergrowth. It was perched below a cup-shaped Hansell, Michael Henry, 2000. Bird nests and construction behavior. nest about a meter and a half above ground, and appeared to Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Sqn Ldr SS Mahesh

Fig. 1. An Oriental White-eye Zosterops palpebrosus stealing nesting Fig. 2. Nest of Red-whiskered Bulbul Pycnonotus jocosus, material from the nest of a Red-whiskered Bulbul Pycnonotus jocosus, Nandi Hills, Bengaluru. Nandi Hills, Bengaluru.

22 Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) Mahesh et al.: Kleptoparasitism by Oriental White-eye

Jones, Kelly C., Roth, Kirk L., Islam, Kamal, Hamel, Paul B., & Smith Mountjoy, D. J., & Robertson, R. J., 1988. Nest-construction tactics in the III, Carl G., 2007. Incidence of nest material kleptoparasitism Cedar Waxwing. Wilson Bulletin 100 (1): 128–130. http://elibrary. involving Cerulean Warblers. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 119 unm.edu/sora/Wilson/v100n01/p0128-p0130.pdf (2): 271–275. Sibley, David, 2001. The Sibley guide to bird life and behavior. Knopf. Llambías, P. E., Ferreti, V., & Rodríguez, P. S., 2001. Kleptoparasitism in Tehsin, Raza H., & Tehsin, Himalay, 1998. White-eye (Zosterops palpebrosa) the Great Kiskadee. Wilson Bulletin 113: 116–117. feeding the chicks of Paradise Flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi). J. McGillivray, W. B., 1980. Communal Nesting in the House Sparrow. Journal Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 95 (2): 348. of Field Ornithology 51 (4): 371–372.

Fig leaf Nina Bhatt

Bhatt, N. 2010. Fig leaf. Indian Birds 10 (1): 23–24. Nina Bhatt, 26, Arunodaya Society, Alkapuri, Vadodara, Gujarat, India. Email: [email protected].

ur ‘adda’ does brisk business. We never suffer low spirits one can pick, from the ground below, an odd assortment of raw or bootlegger-trouble though we do operate from a ‘dry’ guavas, badam, jamun, or mango smuggled in from neighbouring state. In fact, what began as a pilot plant in the backyard, gardens, and chewed at leisure— hanging upside-down by the Ogrew to develop offshoots across our neighbourhood. No publicity toes, that is. needed either, to tempt in the steady flow of customers! They crawl Green pigeons, elusive residents of the forests, disguise in under the gates, leap walls, or simply drop out of the sky. themselves in the leaf-shadows of the Umri. They feed on figs Ankle deep in russets, corduroy browns, and shocking pink, in groups of twenty or thirty, and take care to remain incognito. the ‘Udumbar’ (Sanskrit) or ‘Gular’ (Hindi/Urdu) grows in a steam Nothing will betray their presence but a seductive—‘coo-ee?’ A of its own ferment leaning against our compound wall like a sneeze is enough to scatter them in a flash of yellow feet, olive voluptuous yakshini. ‘Umri’ (in the language of the Bhil tribe from wings. Banswara, Rajasthan), our wild fig tree, is patronized by an eclectic A curious phenomenon sweeps over our tree every year clientele—birds, beasts, and humans. around the time of the Navratri festival—mid-September to Figs are poked, pecked, and flung from trunk, and branches, mid-October. A rain of brown, sand-sized droppings covers the where they cluster, weaving a thick carpet beneath. With equal floor of the garden. If one listens carefully, a whisper is audible speed a workforce of , beetles, earthworms, grubs, etc., unravel in the canopy. Minimize a thousand-fold the sound of a person its gaudy fabric as they wheel the broken fruit to underground going through a packet of chips, and you will comprehend the factories. For a week every month the house reeks of spilled liquor. sound. It is the murmur of a tree full of wild silk-moth caterpillars To step into the garden is to wade into a pot of afternoon-toddy. systematically chewing up all the leaves. “Oh, so you have an Athi in your garden!” exclaimed an At first we watched in horror as the tree lost most of its foliage. acquaintance as she began to recall her hometown, Coorg, and the But the bare tree provided excellent views of cuckoos, and golden wild fig trees grown there to shade coffee plantations. “Buffaloes orioles that relish the caterpillars. Soon all the leaves that survived too are fed its fruit to increase milk-yield, and yet”, she giggled, the holocaust were covered with bright green pupae. The next “to be called an Athi, is to be compared to a very beautiful, very act in this mesmerising natural drama was a spectacular show indolent, woman!” in aerodynamics as the pupae metamorphosed into adult moths Some of those who frequent our ‘Shebeen’1 are no larger than that emerged on transparent wings. The sky above the Umri was particles of light. The tiny fig wasp that lays its eggs in the raw fragmented by thousands of glassy shards. Bee-eaters caught fig is one such. When it ripens and bursts, the adult wasps crowd them from wires under the glare of the sun, drongos stationed out from its plush interiors like an after-show mob at the movies. themselves on the topmost branches, and flycatchers chased In search of insects numerous feathered creatures flicker among them from the shade of the tree, swiveling their heads from side the leaves, performing dizzy acrobatics—the black-and-yellow to side as if watching a tennis match. After an entire month, the songster—iora, tailorbird, wren-warbler, and fantail-flycatcher. Umri restored every single leaf, and behaved as if nothing had Rosy pastors arrive by the bus-load—like a wedding party happened. descending in a din of excitement followed by much feasting, Living next to this Ficus glomerata is like having the Great yelling, grooming, and generally hanging out. Butterscotch, and Gatsby as one’s neighbour. It was at one of its famous orgies that sooty black—members of the ‘Starling’ family—they emigrate we spotted our first minivet. I had never seen such a shade of from Eastern Europe where they breed in summer. Their CVs claim vermillion in a bird before! they are some of the greediest locust eaters of India. Langurs adore the fruit. After gorging themselves, they fill On any odd day one can spot a number of garden lizards tip- up the staircase to our terrace—one on each step—in a daze of toeing up the Umra’s trunk. They grow pale upon its branches, inaction, most un-monkey like. blush in a cluster of figs, or scuttle with gaping mouth after moths. A feral pig too was a regular for some months, sleeping off the In hot pursuit of the lizards come the crow-pheasants, fondly high under the tree, and lurching out every evening. known as ‘Dholku’ (country drum) after it’s resonating call. Yet it was the coppersmith that was most addicted to fig Our tavern stays open all night for flying foxes. These large popping. She came to us in a CD container after being rescued fruit bats descend in a flourish of designer capes. In the morning from a bowl of sambar at a sit-out eatery. Her constant refrain of

Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) 23 Bhatt: Fig leaf

Ficus glomerata. Ink on paper. 21.5 x 27 cm. Artist: Nina Bhatt

‘toonk, toonk, toonk,’ could only be silenced by a bit of fresh fig balances itself with a long heavy crossbar, the same way a tightrope pushed far down her beak. By the time she could fly I had been artist does. I leave to your imagination what would happen if the conditioned to utter a ‘toonk’ at the very sight of a fig! tree is unequally, and thoughtlessly, trimmed. A friend from Dahod had a similar story to tell. As a child Associated with Lord Dattatraya, the tree is called Kalpa vruksha he had wandered from his tribal village into the jungles near his and is said to share a partiality for all animals with the deity. Our home, and could not be traced for days. Had he not fed on Umri neighbours drop by to take its twigs for pooja. Others tell us; only figs he would not have survived to tell the tale. As he ran his hand a very lucky few find an Umra growing spontaneously in their down the tree’s rotund trunk, one could see he owed his life to garden. the tree, as did the little coppersmith. He went on to list the many Soon after the first rains a magical township of mushrooms medicinal uses of the tree. Its milky sap is fed to lactating mothers, springs up under the tree, putting up umbrellas under its deep used as a mouthwash to cure ulcers, the raw berries cooked as a shade, climbing anthills, and setting shop on the exposed roots. sabji or turned into country liquor. For the tribal, one tree is like During the monsoons our Umri is almost lifted into the air. the local supermarket but one that continues to feed them even Eagles, crows, hawks, and egrets blunder into its topmost branches in times of famine. He also showed us how the tree’s roots cross seeking sanctuary from angry winds. The tree grows wild with their knees and form a lap-shape under the earth. the weather. It rears its green mask like a Kathakali dancer and This tree, planted near a source of stagnant water in need of shudders along the breath of wide-flung arms. drying up, can mop up this waste at great speed and convert it into a life force, oxygen. Built along the lines of a banyan, the Umri But tree, I have seen you taken and tossed, though has no supporting arial roots. Grown close to a source And if you have seen me when I slept, of water it can attain large proportions. This obesity it combats You have seen me when I was taken and swept, by distributing the excess weight to higher branches, so that it And all but lost.

1. Irish illicit liquor den. Robert Frost, Tree at my window

24 Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) On the Yellow-throated Bulbul in Tamil Nadu, and a plea for more self-explanatory titles Ragupathy Kannan & Douglas A. James

Kannan, R., & James, D. A., 2010. On the Yellow-throated Bulbul in Tamil Nadu, and a plea for more self-explanatory titles. Indian Birds 6 (1): 25. Ragupathy Kannan, Department of Biology, University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, Fort Smith, Arkansas 72913, U.S.A. Douglas A. James, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701, U.S.A.

reekar & Srinivasulu (2010) erroneously state that Kannan’s expunge or rectify. Titles that convey the gist of the findings (1993) record of the Yellow-throated Bulbul Pycnonotus are more likely not to be misinterpreted. “Wild Great Hornbills xantholaemus was from Kerala. In fact, as pointed out in the do not use mud to seal nest cavities” (James & Kannan 2007) is note,S the sighting was near Aliyar Dam near Valparai (which is much better than a nebulous, “On the nest sealing material used a tea-town in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu), right by a by wild Great Hornbills”. Similarly, “House Sparrows associated roadside waterfall along the busy Pollachi–Valparai highway. The with reduced Cliff Swallow nesting success” (Leasure et al. 2010) authors apparently saw the word “Anaimalais” in the title and is much less likely to be misconstrued than the standard, “Effect assumed, as some people do, that the location was in Kerala. A of House Sparrows on the nesting success of Cliff Swallows.” large portion of the Anaimalai Hills (including the 1,250 km2 Indira Both these papers do not force the researcher to hunt down Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary, within which Kannan’s sighting the entire paper. Although reading the whole paper is always occurred) lies in Tamil Nadu. advisable, stating the main finding unequivocally, whenever This brings into issue the need for more self-explanatory titles, possible, in the title, reduces the likelihood of the paper being especially for short notes. In this age of the information super misinterpreted by someone who did not (or could not) access highway with ready access to titles and citations, but often not the entire document. whole documents, authors often yield to the temptation to cite from titles without reading the whole paper. Sometimes authors References are unable (or simply too busy or lazy!) to look up the original Bhardwaj, G. S., Sangha, H. S., & Mistry, D., 2008. Unusual nest of papers and therefore resort to citing from secondary sources. Crested Bunting Melophus lathami at Suhagpura, Pratapgarh District, The aforementioned error could have been avoided had Kannan Rajasthan, India. Indian Birds 4 (5): 165–166. titled his note “Yellowthroated Bulbul in the Anaimalai Hills of Bradley, R. W., & Cooke, F., 2001. Cliff and deciduous tree nests of marbled Tamil Nadu” (italics applied now for emphasis). Instead, he left it murrelets in southwestern British Columbia. Northwestern Naturalist dubiously, without the italicised part, thus leaving it open to be 82: 52–57. Darwin, C., 1871. The descent of man and selection in relation to sex. misconstrued. Similarly, Mehta’s (2010) “Possible sighting of an Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.: Random House reprint. Oriental Honey-Buzzard Pernis ptilorhynchus orientalis” could have Horne, C., 1869. Notes on the Common Grey Hornbill of India (Meniceros ended with “…. near Jalpaiguri, West Bengal.” bicornis) Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1869: 241– Some authors in apparent haste merely glance at a title and 243. jump into egregiously erroneous conclusions. Sengupta (1976: Inglis, C. M., 1910. Common Myna (A. tristis) feeding young of Pied 340, 1982: 71) incorrectly cited Inglis (1910: 985) as having “found Myna (Sturnus contra) and nesting habits of Common Pariah Kite the Common Myna feeding on Pied Myna (Sturnus contra).” In (M. govinda) and Brahminy Kite (H. indus). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. fact, Inglis had reported, “Common Myna feeding young of Pied 19 (4): 985. James, D. A., & Kannan, R., 2007. Wild Great Hornbills (Buceros bicornis) Myna” (italics ours). We reported this in our monograph on the do not use mud to seal nest cavities. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology Common Myna (Kannan & James 2001). 119 (1): 118–121. Sometimes titles can just be wrong and the error can only be Kannan, R., 1993. Yellowthroated bulbul in the Anaimalai Hills. Newsletter found upon close inspection of the papers. Darwin (1871: 778), for Birdwatchers 32 (7–8): 19. quoting Horne (1869) reported, “The Female Horn-bill (Buceros)… Kannan, R., & James, D. A., 2001. Common Myna (Acridotheres plasters up with her own excrement the orifice of the hole in which tristis). In: The birds of North America, No. 583 (A. Poole & F. Gill, eds.). she sits on her eggs.” Horne however was actually referring to the Philadelphia, PA.: The Birds of North America, Inc. Indian Grey Hornbill, Meniceros birostris (now Ocyceros birostris), Leasure, D. L., Kannan, R., & James, D. A., 2010. House Sparrows associated with reduced Cliff Swallow nesting success. The Wilson Journal of but which he erroneously named M. bicornis. Darwin perpetuated Ornithology 122 (1): 135–138. the error when he incorrectly assumed Horne was describing the Mehta, S., 2010. Possible sighting of an Oriental Honey-Buzzard Pernis Great Hornbill Buceros bicornis! (James & Kannan 2007). ptilorhynchus orientalis. Indian Birds 5 (5): 150. Most titles that start with “Unusual nest of … ” could be Sengupta, S., 1976. Food and feeding ecology of the Common Myna. Proc. reworded to reflect how unusual the nest was. Bhardwaj et al. Indian Nat. Sci. Acad. 42: 338–345. (2008) could have titled their paper simply, and more effectively, Sengupta, S., 1982. The Common Myna. New Delhi: S. Chand & Co., Ltd. “Crested Bunting Melophus lathami nesting in a low bush.” If the Sreekar, R., & Srinivasulu, C., 2010. New site record of Yellow-throated author(s) feels compelled to refer to the anomalous nature of the Bulbul Pycnonotus xantholaemus from Andhra Pradesh. Indian Birds 5 (5): 157. nest in the title, some clever choice of words may help, like “An unusual bush-nest of the Crested Bunting … ” See Bradley & Cooke (2001) for an example of such a title in the literature. Errors that enter published literature are very difficult to

Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) 25 —In the news— Compiled by Praveen J.

More Indian birds Red-listed … Now, the first bird has been located, in early May, in China east BirdLife International (BLI) has shown interest this year in of Mongolia and scientists wonder if they will continue further some of the “splits” proposed in The Ripley Guide (Rasmussen & north. The diminutive raptor has already flown more than 13,750 Anderton 2005), and a re-evaluation of was km in seven weeks, sometimes covering over 1,000 km in a single requested through the Globally Threatened Forums. As a result day. Scientists found that the route differed from what has been of the information pooled in, few of the Western Ghats endemic speculated in all the handbooks. More details on the migration birds got re-listed, and these been provisionally published. The shall be revealed during the upcoming conference on Asian two subspecies of White-bellied Shortwing Brachypteryx major Raptors. (www.raptor-research.de) have been re-evaluated and the northern form, now renamed Nilgiri Blue-Robin Myiomela major, classified as “endangered” The day of the sparrow while the southern form remains in the old super-species as The first World House Sparrow Day (WHSD) was celebrated “vulnerable”. Newly lumped Black-chinned Laughingthrush on 20 March 2010, and focused on raising awareness about the Strophocincla cachinnans retains the “endangered” conservation decline of the House Sparrow Passer domesticus throughout the status of its nominate form (formerly Nilgiri Laughingthrush) world, and discussed the problems faced by the bird in its daily while Kerala Laughingthrush S. fairbanki, now strictly delimited fight for survival. This is an international initiative by Nature south of the Palghat Gap, is elevated to “vulnerable”. Other Forever Society in collaboration with Bombay Natural History major updates include the elevation of the Western Ghat endemic Society, Eco-Sys Action Foundation (France), Avon Wildlife Grey-headed Bulbul Pycnonotus priocephalus, and the migrant Trust (UK), and other national and international organisations wader Great Knot Calidris tenuirostris to “near-threatened”. (www. across the world. Acting as a flagship species, House Sparrow birdlife.org) symbolises biodiversity found in and around urban spaces and draws attention towards the conservation and monitoring of Save migratory birds in crisis – every species counts! common species. More than 180 individuals and organisations from different parts of the world joined the celebrations this year This is the theme of the World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) by conducting common bird-watching trips, public discussions, celebrated on 8–9 May 2010, an initiative started in 2006 as an exhibitions, presentations, bird rallies, art competitions, and annual awareness campaign highlighting the need for protection educational and public events, all aimed at paying more attention of migratory birds and their habitats. United Nations has declared to the birds in their neighborhood, and their conservation. (www. 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity, and consequentially worldhousesparrowday.org) WMBD focuses on Globally Threatened Migratory Birds, especially those 31 migratory bird species, which are classified as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List. Migratory birds Bird races & statistics rely on several different habitats; they need different locations Bird races are fun events and are generally not meant for statistical for breeding and raising their young, and for feeding. Some of records. However, an attempt was made by Mike Prince at them migrate up to thousands of kilometers to find suitable areas Bangalore to derive patterns from the team logbooks of HSBC and cross many different habitats, regardless of political borders. Bangalore Bird Race 2010. Though quite an involved exercise with Thus, saving migratory birds saves the habitats they require, lots of private correspondence, some sensible patterns emerged, which benefits other species as well. WMBD activities take place which might be of local importance. Compared to other bird in many different countries and places, but are all linked through races, it was found that the percentage of bird species seen by the a single global campaign and theme. At the moment 192 birds winning team (63%) as against the total number of species seen are classified as Critically Endangered as a result of habitat loss, by all teams is comparatively low. It probably means that all the hunting, pollution, climate change, human disturbance and other ‘good’ habitats in Bangalore are farflung, and that it is impossible reasons. Without immediate action, many of these endangered to visit all of them on a single day, cutting across the busy city species will not be here in a few years time. Some of the key bird traffic. The following species were recorded by all 33 teams species that have received attention during the celebration are indicating them to be the commonest during the race; Little Green Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus, Slender-billed Curlew Bee-eater Merops orientalis, Rose-ringed Parakeet Psittacula krameri, Numenius tenuirostris, New Zealand Storm-petrel Oceanites Brahminy Kite Haliastur indus, Little Cormorant Phalacorocorax maorianus, and Rueck’s Blue-flycatcher Cyornis ruckii. (www. niger, Purple Sunbird Cinnyris asiaticus, Black Drongo Dicrurus worldmigratorybirdday.org) macrocercus, House Crow Corvus splendens, and Jungle Myna Acridotheres fuscus. Similarly a percentage abundance figure was also arrived for all the 238 species recorded during the race. A Tracking Amur Falcon migration similar analysis has been attempted during the first Kerala Bird Black Storks Ciconia nigra, Black-tailed Godwits Limosa limosa, and Race to obtain the commonest species in each of the three cities. now Amur Falcons Falco amurensis are being tracked by scientists Bird race takes a whole lot of birdwatchers out on a single day – using satellite telemetry. A number of these falcons have been the data generated at least could be used for monitoring common fitted with tiny 5 g transmitters in South Africa early this year. bird species (Bngbirds).

26 Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) Praveen J: In the news

From the field among other birds (www.kolkatabirds.com). John Gregory reported a male Western Tragopan Tragopan Ramki provided a glimpse of Bengal Floricans in breeding melanocephalus, Cheer Pheasant Catreus wallichii, eight Koklass courtship with excellent photographs from Manas where he Pheasants Pucrasia macrolopha, and up to 50 Himalayan Monals spotted not less than ten birds, all of them within half a kilometer Lophophorus impejanus during a weeklong trip to Great Himalayan of each other (IndiaNatureWatch). National Park in early May (OrientalBirding). Geetha Radhakrishnan and others reported a flock of seven Ginu George and others reported an unusual “laughing call” Ashy Minivets Pericrocotus divaricatus from Theosophical society of Malabar Parakeet Psittacula columboides from Idamalayar, area, Chennai during first week of April (TamilBirds). Kerala on 1 May 2010. They also reported Ceylon Frogmouth Batrachostomus moniliger, Grey-headed Bulbul, and White-bellied Rarest bird through lens Treepie Dendrocitta leucogastra among other birds from Idamalayar A new international photo competition covering the world’s & Thattekkad (KeralaBirder). 623 most threatened birds has been launched. This is a follow- S Chandrasekaran discovered a nesting colony of White- up to the photo competitions that led to the production of the rumped Vultures Gyps bengalensis at Mangalapatti in Moyar highly acclaimed Rare Birds Yearbook 2008, and 2009. The photos River valley, Satyamangalam, Tamil Nadu during April 2010. The submitted for the new competition will feature in a landmark nesting site had about 20 nests and augments the known vulture publication – The World’s Rarest Birds – that will be produced by nest sites in this belt spread across the three southern states of the not-for-profit publisher WILDGuides next year. The proceeds Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala (www.hinduonline.net). will be donated to BirdLife International’s Preventing Extinctions David Raju reports many specialties from north-eastern India Programme, as was the case with the Rare Birds Yearbooks. The during his 10-day trip in early April—a Jerdon’s Baza Aviceda World’s Rarest Birds will be a lavishly illustrated hardback book, jerdoni was spotted in Gibbon Sanctuary; Red-billed Leiothrix covering the 362 species categorised as Endangered, 65 that are Leiothrix Jutea, Chestnut-crowned Warbler Seicercus castaniceps, Data Deficient, 192 Critically Endangered species, and the four White-browed Shrike-Babbler Pteruthius f1aviscaps, Small species that are Extinct in the wild, and only now exist in captivity. Niltava Niltava macgrigoriae, Rufous Sibia Heterophasia capistrata, It will be a comprehensive directory of the world’s most threatened Grey-sided Laughing-thrush Dryonastes caerulatus, Spot-winged bird species and include specially written feature articles on the Grosbeak Mycerobas melanozanthos, Little Bunting Emberiza pusilla, key bird conservation issues in each of the world’s regions. At a Small-billed Scaly Thrush Zoothera dauma, Cutia Cutia nipalensis, local level, it would interest many of our photographers that five and Dark-sided Flycathcer Muscicapa sibirica from Sikkim; a of ‘our’ vultures, Great Indian Bustard, two of ‘our’ floricans, nesting pair of Silver-breasted Broadbill Serilophus lunatus, Thick- Black-chinned Laughing-thrush, White-winged Duck, Greater billed Green Pigeon Treron curvirostra, Rosy Minivet Pericrocotus Adjutant, and Jerdon’s Courser are listed amongst the sought-after roseus, Pale-capped Pigeon Columba punicea, and Wreathed birds. (www.birdlife.org) Hornbill Aceros undulates from Manas; Pied Falconet Microhierax melanoleucos, White-winged Duck Cairina scutulata, and Abbott’s Babbler Malacocincla abbotti from Nameri; Yellow-breasted Bunting Emberiza aureola, Swamp Francolin Francolinus gularis, Pied Harrier Circus melanoleucos, and a pair of Bengal Francolin Houbaropsis bengalensis at Kasiranga (birdsofNEIndia). Sayam Chowdhury and others reported 25 Spoon-billed Sandpipers Eurynorhynchus pygmeus, 24 Nordmann’s Greenshanks Tringa guttifer, and 450 Great Knots from Sonadia Island, Bangladesh early March 2010 (OrientalBirding). Rahul Anand reported an incidence of nest parasitism when he saw a Common Hawk-Cuckoo Hierococcyx varius chick being fed by a group of Yellow-billed Babblers Turdoides affinis at Kannur, Kerala during last week of March 2010 (KeralaBirder). A Black Baza Aviceda leuphotes, on passage, was photographed by James Williams from Galibore fishing camps on 11 April 2010; this is the second time that this species was reported from Bangalore area during spring passage. Five to seven Orange-breasted Green-Pigeons Treron bicincta were photographed from Tambaram, Chennai on 10 March 2010 by P. Hopeland, while Vivek Chandran and Seshadri K S reported photographed three of this species from Pondicherry university Clement Francis campus on 20 February 2010. They also photographed Paddyfield Warbler Acrocephalus agricola and White-winged Tern Chlidonias leucopterus from Kalliveli marshes, TamilNadu (TamilBirds). H Rudresh reported a Jungle Crow Corvus macrorhynchos burying an egg in mud and covering it with dry leaves and stones. Crows are known to cache their finds, mainly food, and return to Common Hawk-Cukoo Hierococcyx varius. the same spots later to claim their loot! (Bngbirds). During a field visit to Nagaland in late April 2010, Sumit K. Sen and Bikram Grewal reported goodies like Grey Sibia Heterophasia gracilis, Red-headed Laughing-thrush Trochalopteron erythrocephalum, and Flavescent Bulbul Pycnonotus flavescens

Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010) 27 —Correspondence—

Goats and the Narcondam Hornbill Aceros narcondami the recommendation of ornithologists, the administration, and “A group of eight including ornithologists visited Narcondam police need to be commended for doing a reasonably good job of Island between 13 and 16 April 2010. We spent about 22 hours on removing the goats.” the island and can confirm that we neither saw a goat, goat trail, or – Tasneem Khan droppings during this time. We followed different paths—along a – Janaki Lenin stream that provides water to the police camp, a trail that skirted – Umeed Mistry along the north to a beach opposite Pigeon Island, and a path from – Divya Mudappa the police camp up a 430 m hill. We also climbed this hill from – T. R. Shankar Raman the north-western side. Access to much of the rest of the island – Kalyan Varma is reportedly treacherous with loose rocks that make climbing – Rom Whitaker up in single file a dangerous proposition, so it would be hard to ascertain how many goats remain. We also circumnavigated the island almost twice by boat and did not see any goats. “Apparently some of the policemen stationed there saw two goats during the previous week. There is water in the upper Cover of Indian Birds vol. 5. no. 6 The Shaheen’s Falco peregrinus prey in the cover photograph of reaches of the stream (we climbed up as far as a waterfall), which Indian Birds vol. 5 no. 6, is a Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata and may sustain the goats. While the hardest part of the job is getting not a Common Teal A. crecca, as captioned. The wings and mirror the last few that remain, there is no doubt that these should be clearly point to the former; moreover, the latter does not have removed before they re-colonize the island. Literature from other pinkish legs. parts of the world recommends using a radio-collared Judas goat. The principle is that this goat would eventually join up with the – Harkirat S. Sangha rest, making it easier to locate them. Nevertheless, acting on

—Editorial—

Indian Birds has completed five years: five volumes, 30 Woodpeckers always spark ripples of excitement among issues, 956 pages, 529 colour photographs, and 430-odd papers, birdwatchers. They are one of my favourite group of birds, and notes, letters, columns, etc. The support of its well-wishers— I’ve had my woodpecker moments—birding with friends in the ornithologists who’ve sent write-ups, and waited patiently for forests around Dehradun, five species darting from one tree trunk our response, photographers who’ve donated pictures without to another, the still, humid air resounding with their whirring any reservations or demands, referees who’ve responded with wings, their energetic Morse code tapping, their manic laughter; alacrity to repeated email queries, and sponsors who bolstered and we, mesmerised, simply rotated with their gyrations, as our sagging finances—all have made this a reality. Yet all this though locked in an incomprehensible cosmic spiral. In this issue, effort would have been naught but for our enthusiastic readership Arun Singh studies the role of woodpeckers in the control of the that supports a printed journal even in these times of instant forest destroying sal heartwood borer. gratification by publication on the Internet. I thank all of you for We have a mixed sheaf of articles for you in this issue of making Indian Birds what it is. Indian Birds—White-naped Tit, wetlands in Bihar, a surprise The number of subscribers remains a concern. If you have occurrence of Thick-billed Green-Pigeon in Orissa, Lesser Florican not renewed your subscription, please do so (you could send me in Rajasthan, kleptoparasitism, etc. an email to enquire your subscription status). If you have, please Enclosed with this issue is the index to volume 5. Happy recruit another reader for Indian Birds. If you can support through reading! advertisements, do contact us. – Aasheesh Pittie

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28 Indian Birds Vol. 6 No. 1 (Publ. 25th June 2010)

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