Rare record on Plaintive ( merulinus) from a freshwater wetland of Bankura District, , Aparajita Mukherjee1, Debnath Palit2 and Santanu Gupta3

Abstract Here we report a rare occurrence of the species Cacomantis merulinus from Jamuna Bandh wetland (Bishnupur town, Bankura district, West Bengal) of Eastern India. The first pictures of a live are presented along with information on the habits and habitat of the species, and a discussion of its status.

Introduction The (Cacomantis merulinus) is a species of bird belonging to the cuckoo family Fig 1. The adult male of Plaintive Cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus) Cuculidae. Plaintive Cuckoo (C. merulinus; Scopoli, 1786) is a widespread resident bird. It is a fairly small cuckoo, 21-23.5 centimeters long. The adult male is grey-brown above and orange below with a grey head, throat and upper breast. There are white tips to the tail feathers. The legs and feet are yellow, the eye is red and the bill is black above and yellow below. The adult female is sometimes similar to the male but often occurs in a "hepatic" morph. This form is reddish-brown above with dark bars. The under parts are paler with fainter barring. There is a pale stripe over the eye and the tail has dark bars along its whole length. Juvenile are Fig 2. GIS view of observed site (Zulu 1) similar to hepatic females but are paler and have dark streaks rather Grimmett et al. 2011 but available It is fall under “Hard rock fringe than bars on the crown and throat. literature does not talk about area” hydro-geomorphic zones in The male has several plaintive occurrence of this species in Bankura district. It has an whistling calls. These include an Bankura District. average elevation of 59 meters ascending series of three-note (194 feet). Bishnupur block is phrases and a series of 11 or 12 Methods characterized by maximum annual descending notes. The plaintive Bankura - the western most cuckoo inhabits edge, open district of West Bengal are covered 1 3 woodland, scrub, , by natural resources (which lies JRF (DST-GoWB), INSPIRE Fellow (SRF), Post Graduate Department of farmland, parks and gardens. It between, 220 46' to 230 38' N Conservation Biology, 2Assistant 0 0 feeds on invertebrates. It is latitude and between 86 36' & 87 Professor, Department of Botany, normally solitary and is often 46' E longitude covering an area of Durgapur Government College, West difficult to see. In India, notable 687124 sq. km. Bishnupur Bengal. Email: 1 observations on C. merulinus were (23005’N, 87019’E) is a historical [email protected], [email protected], recorded by Sen (2011); Pramanik town (under Bishnupur block) and 3conbiodgc_communications@yahoo. (2013); Paul (2014); Kool (2014) a municipality in Bankura District com (Corresponding author) with a few isolated records by in the state of West Bengal, India.

ZOO’s PRINT, Volume XXX, Number 3 March 2015 19 quantified (del Hoyo, 1997; Brazil 2009). This observation is a case of rare occurrence from “Wetland habitat” of Bankura district, West Bengal, India in modern times.

Acknowledgements Authors are grateful to Roger Gasper Dolorosa, Associate Professor, Western University, Philippines and Emilio Pagani-Núñez, Natural History Museum of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain for id-confirmation of this species. The corresponding author is thankful for the financial assistance from Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India (No. DST/ INSPIRE Fellowship/2010/ [242] Fig 3. Distribution range of Plaintive Cuckoo (Cacomantis merulinus) in (INSPIRE Program Sl. No. 223). India (IUCN2014) References rate of water-level fluctuation Results and Discussion BirdLife International along with other blocks of district Jamuna Bandh wetland is the (2012). Cacomantis merulinus. Bankura comprising Chhatna, largest among the seven wetlands The IUCN Red List of Threatened Ranibandh, Raipur, Bishnupur, of Bisnupur. Some designated Species. Version 2014.3. Jaypur, Indus and Kotulpur (4 mts. uses of this wetland includes . to 6 mts.). Under Panchet intensive paddy cultivation Downloaded on 16 November division, Bishnupur range of forest (surrounding the wetland), 2014. comprises five beats. There are organized pisciculture, daily seven freshwater wetlands in this domestic use for bathing, cleaning Brazil, M. (2009). Birds of East town (area ranges from 4-43 of utensils etc. (Mukherjee and : eastern , Taiwan, hectare). Bishnupur is famous for Palit 2012, Mukherjee and Palit Korea, Japan, eastern Russia. its ‘Terracotta temples’ and the 2013). A sewage fed canal Christopher Helm, London. ‘Balucheri sarees’. (Biomedical waste) from nearby Bishnupur Sub-divisional hospital del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, & J. On the morning of 2nd February is the chief source of pollution of Sargatal (1997). Handbook of 2014 (World Wetland Day 2014), this wetland. the Birds of the World, vol. 4: during our regular bird surveys Sandgrouse to . Lynx and bird counts (from 9.30 hrs to The adult male (Fig 1) was Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. 3.30 hrs) in Jamuna bandh recognized by orange under parts, wetland (Bisnupur block, the design of head and eye Grimmett R., C. Inskipp & T. Bankura), at 13.58 hrs we noticed coloration which is different to Inskipp (2011). Birds of the a male Plaintive Cuckoo similar species. At Zulu 1, we Indian Subcontinent. Oxford (Cacomantis merulinus) flying observed that after resting for only University Press, (Delhi), p.208 towards the wires between two two minutes on the wires, it flew electrical poles from the nearby away in the human habitation area Kool, S. (2014). Oriental Bird vegetation [Zulu 1 (Fig. 2): N 230 adjoining this wetland. The Images: Plaintive 04’ 24.21” , E 870 18’ 24.62” . We species is Least Concern (Bird Life Cuckoo Cacomantis merulinus were using Olympus binoculars International 2012) and is mainly querulus - Adult Retrived (10X21 RCII; 8x40 DPSII) and a resident species so its record Novembor 16, 2014 from http:// photographed a few shots using from this part of West Bengal orientalbirdimages.org/ CANON Power Shot camera (SX during winter may be a proof of birdimages.php?p = 3&action 510 IS). The bird was identified in range extension (Fig 3) in this =birdspecies&Bird_ID=439&Bird_ field following “Pocket Guide to the geographical location which needs Family_ID=&pagesize=1 Birds of the Indian further research with special Subcontinent” (Grimmett et al. emphasis in population study. The Mukherjee, A. & D. Palit 2011). global population has not been (2013). Appraisal of use pattern

ZOO’s PRINT, Volume XXX, Number 3 March 2015 20 in wetlands of Bankura, a drought Paul, S. (2014). Oriental Bird Novembor 16, 2014 from http:// prone region from Eastern Images: Plaintive Cuckoo orientalbirdimages.org/ India. Journal of Applied Cacomantis merulinus querulus birdimages.php?p Technology in Environmental Juvenile Retrived November 16, =8&action=birdspecies&Bird_ID=4 Sanitation, 3(4), 141-146. 2014 from http:// 39&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1 orientalbirdimages. org/ Palit, D. & A. Mukherjee birdimages.php?p=2&action Sen, S.K. (2011). Birds of India: (2012). Studies on water quality =birdspecies&Bird_ID =439& Checklist of Birds, Lava, West and macrophyte composition in Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1 Bengal Retrived Novembor 16, wetlands of Bankura district, West 2014 http:// Bengal, India. Indian Journal of Pramanik, S. (2013). Oriental www.kolkatabirds.com/ Plant Science, 1(2-3), 97-115. Bird Images:Plaintive hillbirdsofind/lavaclist8.htm Cuckoo Cacomantis merulinus querulus - Immature Retrived

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