Univ. J. zool. Rajshahi. Univ. Vol. 35, 2016, pp. 53-58 ISSN 1023-6104 http://journals.sfu.ca/bd/index.php/UJZRU © Rajshahi University Zoological Society Scientific Note

Status and distribution of species of the family Anatidae in the Padma River charland of Rajshahi District, Bangladesh

Selina Parween* and AM Saleh Reza Department of Zoology, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi 6205, Bangladesh

Key words : Anatidae, morphometrics, identifying characters, River charland birds

The ducks and geese are wonderful water flight feathers after the breeding season, and birds, being members of the Order pass through a flightless period of few weeks. Anseriformes and the Family Anatidae, Almost all of them live near the waterbodies commonly called as anatids includes 148 including inland and coastal wetlands, river species under 43 genera. The anatids are charlands, and coastal islands, preferring medium to large sized birds with plumpy aquatic and bank vegetations around the water. body; short legs; toes are jointed each other by skinny folds known as ‘web’. These birds The family Anatidae includes 148 species can walk strongly, and swim well with their under 43 genera worldwide. A total of 29 webbed feet. They can remain floating on species of 13 genera were reported to be water for quite a long time, and some can found in Bangladesh (Siddiqui et al., 2008). dive under water. Their bill is flat and rounded Khan (2015) listed 31 species of anatids at the tip, with or without having a small but under 13 genera from Bangladesh. sharp nail. The ducks and geese forage by diving, dabbling and nibbling in the deep Charlands (sandbars) of the Padma and water, on water surface, aquatic weeds and other larger rivers have typically complex vegetations respectively. The flattened bill ecosystem, referred as ‘charland ecosystem’. with serrated lamellae is well defined for filter This ecosystem provides food, shelter and feeding. The plumage is so oily that after reproductive isolation to the wildlife fauna. diving, the birds do not get wet at all. Literature on the charland wildlife is scanty in Plumage colour is widely varied among the Bangladesh, though numbers of published species; and in some species plumage colour work are found from different countries of the shows sexual dimorphism. Many of them world (Tracy-Smith et al., 2012). Previously, have bright yellow or orange coloured bills, Reza et al. (2014) published an article on the legs and toes. Anatids are vocal birds water birds of the Padma River charland of producing a range of quacks, honks, squeaks Rajshahi district, which included only five and trumpeting sounds; and females often species of anatids. have a deeper voice than males (Todd, The present paper deals with the species of 2000). Ducks are also called as ‘waterfowls’ the family Anatidae, recorded and identified because they graze in water area. from the Padma River charland of Rajshahi A large number of the anatids are migratory. district of Bangladesh. They fly to long distances at a great height. A number of species are monogamous The present report is prepared based on the breeders, and in most species the females field studies on the charland of the Padma incubate the eggs alone. Young ducks and River during a period from March 2008 to geese are of all species are precocial. All June 2015. The field studies were based on species of this family undergo a moult of their bird watching with a team of 8-10 members. *Corresponding author: [email protected]

54 Parween & Reza

Study area: The study area extending from autumn (October) to summer (June). In the Premtali of Godagari upazilla (24°28′N Rajshahi City area bird watching and data 88°19.8′E/ 24.4667; 88.3306) to Sardah of recording have been carrying regularly, at Charghat upazilla (24°17′N 88°46.5′E/ least twice a week. However, at the points 24.2833; 88.7750), Rajshahi district. The from Kazla to Talaimari Shaheed Minar the charland is more or less continuous bird observation was carried once in a week; throughout this part of the Padma River, at and at the distant sites like Premtali, and some places cut by small closed water areas Sardah it was twice in a year. and narrow channels. The distance between Bird watching at the Padma char was mostly Premtali to Sardah is approximately 60 started before sun rise, and more or less 3-4 kilometers. hours were spent. Sometimes the study was The main bird observation sites were three: carried at the late afternoon till sunset, for (i) Premtali, (ii) Rajshahi City and (iii) Sardah. about 2 hours.

(i) At Premtali the observation area of the Habitats of the charland: Habitats of the char area was around 2-3km from East to study area were categorized as 1) Water area West, and approximately 1 km inside the and 2) Charland. The charland included four char. types of sub-habitat, such as, grass land, sandy area, agricultural land and open wood (ii) The longest study site was Rajshahi City land (plantation areas). The characteristics of Corporation area, extending from the District the soil of the habitats were different. Court to Shampur, Kantakhali, covering Accordingly flora and fauna of the sub- approximately 10.2km long East-West, and habitats were found to be different in around 2-4km inside the char. Bird watching composition. in the Padma charland was started in 2008, for nearly 2 years it was confind to 3-4 points Data recording: Digital cameras like, still of the Rajshahi City area, such as, Central camera (Nikon D3000 DSLR, 300 mm Nikon Park, Baro Kuthi, Alupatti, Talaimari lens); video camera (Sony DCR SR68) were Shaheed Minar and Kazla. Later on other 5-6 used to photograph the birds. A pair of points were included in the bird watching binoculars was used for bird watching. The area. calls of the birds were recorded with a sound recorder. Besides that the characters (iii) The charland situated adjacent to the observed, and the movements of the birds Rajshahi Cadet College, Sardah was visited. were noted in field notebook. The site area was approximately 2km East- West and 0.5km inside the char. Identification of birds: The birds those were photographed were identified in the Bird watching sites: Bird watching in the Department of Zoology, University of Padma charland was started since 2008. For Rajshahi by consulting the published nearly 2 years the bird watching was confined literature, viz., Baker (1922-1930), Ali (1961, at 3-4 sites of the Rajshahi City area such as, 2002), Ali and Ripley (1968-1972), Khan Central Park, Boro Kuthi, Alupatti, Talaimari (2008, 2015), Grewal et al. (1993), Halder Shaheed Minar and Kazla. Since 2010, the (2010), Siddiqui et al. (2008), Das & Ghosh total study area are extensively covering to (2015) and the Internet (Birdlife International). record the avifauna, throughout the year Characteristics of the birds were studied from except the monsoon time. those mentioned in the Encyclopedia of Flora Bird watching schedule: The study area and Fauna of Bangladesh Siddiqui et al. was extensively surveyed each year from (2008). Status and distribution of anatids 55

Table 1. Anatid species observed in the Padma River charland and their status and occurrence in Bangladesh Sl Status in Observation time at Scientific Name English Name Bangla Name 1 No. Bangladesh study sites Anser indicus Uncommon 1 Bar-headed Goose Dagi Rajhash Nov-March (Latham, 1770) Winter Visitor Tadorna ferruginea Ruddy Shellduck/ Common Winter 2 Khoira Chokhachoki Nov-April (Pallas, 1764) Brahminy Shellduck Visitor Pati Chokhachoki/ Common Winter 3 T. tadorna (Linnaeus, 1758) Common Shellduck Jan-Feb Shah Chokha Visitor Nettapus Cotton Pygmy Uncommon 4 coromandelinus Dhola Balihansh Jan-March Goose/Common Teal Resident (Gmelin, 1789) Rare Winter Anas falcata (Georgi, Visitor (Globally 5 Falcated Duck Phuluri Hans January 1775) Near Threatened) A. Penelope Eurasio Common Winter 6 Eurasian Wigeon Oct-March (Linnaeus, 1758) Sithihash/Lalshir Visitor A. poecilorhyncha Indian Spot-billed Uncommon 7 Deshi Meteyhash/ March-Nov (Forster, 1781) Duck Winter Visitor A. strepera (Linnaeus, Piyong Hans/Peeing Common Winter 8 Gadwall Oct-April 1758) Hash Visitor Netta rufina (Pallas, Bamunia Hans/Tiki Uncommon 9 Red-crested Pochard Dec-Jan (very rare) 1773) Hash Winter Visitor Athya fuligula Tufted Duck/Tufted Common Winter Oct-July (often seen 10 Laljhuti Bhutihash (Linnaeus, 1758) Pochard Visitor throughout winter) A. nyroca Morcherong Common Winter 11 Ferruginous Duck Nov-April (Guldenstadt, 1770) Bhutihash Visitor 1Siddiqui et al. (2008)

Names of the recorded species were which is an uncommon resident of confirmed from ITIS (2005). Status of the Bangladesh. Nettapus is a monospecific birds in Bangladesh was confirmed from genus in the world. In southern parts of BirdLife International (2016). Bangladesh, N. coromandelinus has been domesticated, and reared along with the During the study period total 11 species of domestic ducks. Harvey (1990) reported total anatids were recorded from the Padma River 26 species of anatids from Bangladesh. In charland of Rajshahi. Among the observed Siddiqui et al. (2008) total 29 species ducks birds only one was a goose and the rest are under 13 genera are listed. ducks. These 13 species belong to six genera viz., Anser, Tadorna, Nettapus, Anas, Aythya The observed birds were identified by their and Netta. The number of the species under plumage colour and the characters as each of the genus is, 1 species of Anser mentioned in Siddqui et al. (2008). Among (11%), 2 species of Tadorna (18.18%), 1 the observed birds it was found that the species of Nettapus (11%), 4 species of Anas Shellducks (Tadorna spp.) and the Wigeon (36.36%), 2 species of Aythya (18.18%) and I (Anas penelope) are distinctively colourful species of Netta (11%). Names of the species than the other species. Literature show that and their status in Bangladesh are presented some of these species differs in colour in Table 1. All thespecies are winter visitors of between the sexes, and even the males of Bangladeh except Nettapus coromandelinus, some species differ in colour between their 56 Parween & Reza

breeding and non-breeding seasons of the was seen only 2-3 times during the study year. All of the recorded species were period (Table 2). observed as flocks of small or large sizes; During the morning visits, the birds were some are fond of living with family party or in found to forage either in water or at the edge mixed party (Siddiqui et al. 2008). On the of char area in shallow water. Whereas in the Padma char the shellducks especially the evening, they were found roosting in mixed Ruddy Shellduck were seen in large flocks flocks near the water line. However, the rare consisting of 50 to 100 birds. During each species were seen only during the morning visit only four Bar-headed geese were found. visits. The Bar-headed Goose, the Falcated The Falcated Duck, the Indian Spot-billed Duck and the Indian Spot-billed Duck are Duck and the Red-crested Pochard were herbivorous and the other species are seen rarely, and the Cotton Pygmy Goose omnivorous in nature (Siddiqui et al. 2008).

Table 2 . Abundance and occurrence time of anatid species in different divisions of Bangladesh and present record in the Padma River charlands

Abundance of species Present Sl Occurrence in Reported from Species in divisions of 1 Record (2008- No. Bangladesh* Rajshahi division Bangladesh* 2015) Uncommon, Rare 1 Anser indicus Nov-March Not Reported First Report B,C,D,K,S Common 2 Tadorna ferruginea Nov-April Common Common B,C,D,R,S 1 Rare in 3 T. tadorna Uncommon B,C,D,R,S Jan-March, May-Sept , Common Padma Jan-March, often May- Nettapus 1 4 Uncommon C,D,R,K,S Sept , once in Dec- Harvey (1990) Rare coromandelinus 1 Jan Rare 1 5 Anas falcata January Not Reported First Report D,C, S, B, Uncommon/ Common 6 A. penelope Oct-March Uncommon Uncommon D,R,C,B,S Rare 3 in Padma (EH 7 A. poecilorhyncha March-Nov Uncommon All divisions 2006) Uncommon/ Common 8 A. strepera Oct-April Uncommon Uncommon All divisions Padma near Rare Rare at Haripur 9 Netta rufina Dec-Jan (very rare) Rajshahi Town (EH D,R,S Char, Padma 2007) Uncommon/ Common Oct-July (often seen 10 Athya fuligula Uncommon Uncommon All divisions throughout winter) Uncommon/Rare 11 A. nyroca Nov-April Not reported First Report B,C,D,S *Siddiqui et al. (2008), 1from present record, EH: Enam Ul Haque

Flight of some of the reported species was sound was heard when they flew over the photographed with video camera. Flocks of head. The Cotton Pygmy Goose was the Bar-headed geese were seen to fly in a observed to fly swiftly with a whistling sound straight line. In literature it is found that this of wing beats (Siddiqui et al. 2008). goose species fly either in a straight line or in a ‘V’ pattern. The Falcated Duck was found to An amateur birdwatcher James Pender fly with strong wing beats, and a swishing reported the Shelducks, Eurasian Wigeon, Status and distribution of anatids 57

Indian Spot-billed Duck, Gadwall, Red- list of birds of the then Dhaka, in which nine crested Poshard, Tufted Duck and species of ducks and geese were reported. Ferruginous Duck from the Padma char of Six of the reported species are also present Rajshahi (unpublished report). Except the in the Padma river chars. report of Reza et al. (2014) there found no published reports on the anatids of the In many countries assessment, protection, Padma River charland of Rajshahi. site management and conservation of the waterbirds have become the part of wildlife All the anatid species listed in this paper are conservation and protected by the Act present in the National bird list of (Kushlan, 2012). Unfortunately, in Bangladesh Bangladesh, with their distribution in different there are laws for the protection of divisions (Siddiqui et al., 2008). However, waterbodies and its biota, but those are not three species, viz., A. indica, A. falcata and A. strictly followed and there is no monitoring at nyroca have not been reported to seen from all. Rajshahi Division. In this report these three species have included as the first report from Acknowledgements: The authors acknowledge this division (Table 2). funding of this project by the University Grants Commission and University of Rajshahi. However, some relevant literature were also Professor Dr Mahbub Hasan, Professor Dr consulted for this paper, which are, Ahsan & Bidhan Chandra Das and Professor Dr Md Mannan (2002), Rahman and Khan (1982), Nazrul Islam, Department of Zoology, University Hume (1888), Young (1900), Chaterjee et al. of Rajshahi are thankfully acknowledged for their (1995), etc. All these reports confirmed that critical suggestions, encouragements and most of the anatid species reported in this interests shown during the work. Helps paper, are common winter birds of the rivers provided by the bird watching team comprising of West Bengal, Assam and Bangladesh. of the students of the Zoology Department, The riverine habitat (water channels and University of Rajshahi are also thankfully sandbars) of the world supports a wide acknowledged. variety of bird species, many of them nets on sandbars, and other forages along or in the References water channel (Claassen, 2004). The river Ahsan, M.F. & Mannan, M.A. 2002. Birds of the charlands (sandbars) start to develop during Karnaphully River Delta and adjacent areas in the post-monsoon season and become Chittagong, Bangladesh. Zoo’s Print Journal drowned when the river water volume starts 17(9): 875-882. to rise, during the monsoon season. Some of Ali, S. & Ripley, S.D. 1968-1972. Handbook of the the charlands of the river Padma are high Birds of India and Pakistan. Vols. 1-9. Oxford enough and became permanent, and have University Press, Bombay, London, New York. th developed as human habitation. Ali, S. 1961. The Book of Indian Birds, 6 Edn. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. Oxford University In fact detailed studies on river and charland Press. th birds of Bangladesh are scanty. Some reports Ali, S. 2002. The Book of Indian Birds, 13 Edn. are found on the waterbirds including the Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., Oxford University anatids as patchy work in some areas of Press. Baker, E.C.S. 1922-1930. The Fauna of British different divisions of the country. Once there India (Birds), Vols. 1-8, 2nd Edn. Taylor & Francis, were number of water bodies including rivers London. in and around the Dhaka city, which are being BirdLife International 2016. Country Profile: Bangladesh. reducing drastically with the advancement of Available from: http://www. birdlife. org/datazone/ urbanization. Husain et al. (1974) prepared a country/bangladesh. Chaked: 2016-01-14. 58 Parween & Reza

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