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Sighting of the Golden-crested Myna Ampeliceps coronatus in District, , with notes on its distribution

Vijay Anand Ismavel & Rejoice Gassah

Ismavel, V. A., & Gassah, R., 2018. Sighting of the Golden-crested Myna Ampeliceps coronatus in , Assam with notes on its distribution. Indian BIRDS 14 (6): 168–172. Vijay Anand Ismavel, Makunda Christian Hospital, Karimganj District 788727, Assam, India. E-mail: [email protected] [VAI] Rejoice Gassah, Makunda Christian Hospital, Karimganj District 788727, Assam, India. E-mail: [email protected] [RG] Manuscript received on 05 February 2018.

n the 28 September 2017, RG visited a forest track in the Badsaitilla Reserve Forest (24.33°N, 92.35°E) Obetween Dullabcherra, Assam, and , as part of the biodiversity documentation work of the Makunda Nature Club. He observed a large flock of Common Hill MynasGracula religiosa feeding on wild figs. Along with this flock were a group of distinctly different mynas. Some of these individuals (presumably adult males) had a golden-yellow forehead, crown, and nape, forming a recumbent crest. The same colour extended downwards, over the lores, the chin, and the center throat. Other individuals (presumably adult females) had less gold on their foreheads and only a strip of yellow down the chin and chest. Duller coloured birds, vis-á-vis adults, with pale lores, wing patch, and throat, with faint streaking below and lesser golden-yellow feathers, were also observed, and were probably juveniles. Photographs [XX1, XX2] were taken, and the birds identified as Golden-crested Mynas Ampeliceps coronatus. Subsequently, VAI and RG visited the site on 08 October 2017. A large flock of Common Hill Mynas was spotted in a Pic: Rejoice Gassah group of fig trees on the opposite side of a deep ravine. A photograph of a Golden-crested Myna, perched on a tree along with Common Hill Mynas, was taken. The bird remained perched on the tree for some time and then flew away with the other mynas. Following this, this species has been sought, XX1. Male Golden-crested Mynas. Ismavel & Gassah: Golden-crested Myna 169

and found, in the same area on more occasions in the same month, and sufficient documentation to prove beyond doubt the occurrence of the species in the area was collected, including a video recording (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rprl44r-e0M). The status of the Golden-crested Myna, in India, is poorly known. It is considered a resident in north-eastern Cachar (Rasmussen & Anderton 2012), an additional record, presumably from Miao, Namdapha (Srinivasan et al. 2010; Craig & Feare 2018), is mapped from north-eastern Arunachal, and an old record exists from the Barak River in western (Ali & Ripley 1987; Rasmussen & Anderton 2012). A search on the VertNet website, portal.vernet.org, revealed nine instances where it was collected from the wild (excluding a bird from captivity in AMNH) between 1893 and 1907, from parts of Assam, including the Cachar Plains, North Cachar Hills, and Margherita. A search of www.ebird.org showed a few observations in (some with photo documentation), Assam, and an isolated photographic record from Darjeeling, . Two reports were also collected from Mizoram, tallying to 32 records from India: 12 reports stating that a specimen had been collected, of Pic: Rejoice Gassah Rejoice Pic: XX2. A single female and a few juvenile Golden-crested Mynas, with a single adult Common which ten were traced to museums, 13 reports with photographs, Hill Myna. and seven observations (Table 1).

Table 1. Reports of Golden-crested Myna from India (Sorted by River Valley, State, and then Date of observation) Locality Type Valley District State Month Year Citation Collector / Remarks Observer Bag-o-Bahar S Barak Cachar AS 1897 YPM VZ YPM ORN A. M. Primrose Month not available (Kristof Zyskowski, in litt., 042887 e-mail dated 12 April 2018). Bag-o-Bahar S Barak Cachar AS 1898 YPM VZ YPM ORN A. M. Primrose Month not available (Kristof Zyskowski, in litt., 042885 e-mail dated 12 April 2018). Dilkhush S Barak Cachar AS 4 < 1880 Hume (1880) James Inglis James Inglis shot one of these Mynas in the month of April. He has frequently seen birds pass over the tea garden but considered them rare. The specimen is probably in NHM London, listed in the Catalogue as ‘Cachar’ (Sharpe 1890). Roopacherra S Barak Hailakandi AS 6 1893 YPM VZ YPM ORN A. M. Primrose 042886 Roopacherra S Barak Hailakandi AS 8 1893 AMNH Birds SKIN- E.C.S. Baker 666269 Roopacherra S Barak Hailakandi AS 9 1893 AMNH Birds Skin- E.C.S. Baker Museum tag cites the collection by E.C.S. 216490 Baker (Thomas J. Trombone 12 April 2018) [XX3] Roopacherra S Barak Hailakandi AS 10 1893 AMNH Birds SKIN- E.C.S. Baker 666270-71 Roopacherra S Barak Hailakandi AS < 1897 Inglis (1897) C.M. Inglis C.M. Inglis saw large flocks, of 20–30 birds, that came to his area in some evenings in one particular year. A specimen was collected from one of those flocks. (Inglis 1897) Badsaitilla P Barak Karimganj AS 9 2017 This work Rejoice Gassah & Vijay Ismavel Badsaitilla P Barak Karimganj AS 10 2017 This work Rejoice Gassah & Vijay Ismavel Barak S Barak Not Available MN < 1888 Hume (1888) A.O. Hume A male shot by A.O. Hume from the bank of Barak from a small party that flew up the course of the river (Hume 1888). Exact loca- tion in Manipur not known. Dampa P Barak MZ 11 2015 Don (2015) Zakhuma Don 170 Indian BIRDS Vol. 14 No. 5 (Publ. 31 December 2018)

Table 1. Reports of Golden-crested Myna from India (Sorted by River Valley, State, and then Date of observation) Locality Type Valley District State Month Year Citation Collector / Remarks Observer Undisclosed P Barak Mamit MZ 10 2017 Aineh (2017) Khuluaia Aineh From an undisclosed location in Mamit District of Mizoram. (Khuluaia Aineh, in litt. (08 April 2018) Namdapha O Brahmaputra Changlang AR 1 2001 Robson (2011) Craig Robson Miao P Brahmaputra Changlang AR 11 2008 Srinivasan et al. Umesh Srinivasan (2010) Srinivasan (2015) Namdapha O Brahmaputra Changlang AR 12 2011 Kumar et al. (2011) Raman Kumar, Srinivasan (2015) Ashwin Viswa- nathan, Rohit Naniwadekar Namdapha P Brahmaputra Changlang AR 12 2012 Bhatia (2012), Garima Bhatia, Multiple birds seen during 10-18 December at Suvarna (2012), Rajneesh Suvarna, Deban Camp Das (2012) Ranjan Kumar Das Namdapha P Brahmaputra Changlang AR 11 2013 Rajagopal (2013a, Ramachandran b) Rajagopal Namdapha O Brahmaputra Changlang AR 12 2014 Bhatia (2014) Garima Bhatia, Rajneesh Suvarna, Jitendra Bhatia,Niket Kaisare List, Pradnya Karbhari Namdapha P Brahmaputra Changlang AR 11 2015 Jha (2016) Soma Jha Miao O Brahmaputra Changlang AR 11 2016 Singh (2016) Harshit Singh On the way to Miao Namdapha P Brahmaputra Changlang AR 12 2016 Hatibaruah (2016) Binanda Hatibaruah Namdapha O Brahmaputra Changlang AR 12 2016 Viswanathan Ashwin Viswa- Deban Camp (2016b) nathan & Bhanu Sridharan Namdapha P Brahmaputra Changlang AR 12 2017 Hatibaruah (2017) Binanda Hatibaruah Namdapha O Brahmaputra Changlang AR 1 2018 Upadhyay (2018) Aakash Upadhyay Deban Camp Dibrugarh S Brahmaputra Dibrugarh AS 1904- AMNH Birds Skin- Brother of Norman Around Bahrmon Tea Garden, of Dehring Tea 07 459984-5 de Wind (possibly Company, north Dibrugarh [=nr. Dibrughar], Edmund de Wind) Brahmaputra River [XX4, XX5] Margherita S Brahmaputra Tinsukia AS 10 1901 ROM Birds 49388 Specimen location, ‘Marj., Assam’. This might have been a short name for Margherita. It reached ROM from James Henry Fleming who bought the Collection from Rosenburg in 1913. In terms of the collector, all we have to go on is HW. C (probably Hugh Whistler Col- lection). The information is on a pre-printed well-made label with the initials E.C.S.B. (= E.C.S. Baker), but these have been crossed out. (Mark Pecker, in litt., e-mail dated 09 April 2018) [XX6] Margherita S Brahmaputra Tinsukia AS 7 1902 USNM Birds 201338 H. Coltart Tinkupani P Brahmaputra Tinsukia AS 8 2011 Anonymous (2011) Sanjay Das Srinivasan (2015) Joyrampur P Brahmaputra Dhemaji AS 8 2012 Rajagopal (2012) Ramachandran Rajagopal Soraipong O Brahmaputra Tinsukia AS 11 2016 Viswanathan Ashwin Viswa- (2016a) nathan & Bhanu Sridharan Rong tong P Teesta Darjeeling WB 1 2017 Dey (2017) Pritam Dey State: AS: Assam, AR: Arunachal Pradesh, MN: Manipur, MZ: Mizoram, WB: West Bengal Type: S: Specimen, P: Photograph, O: Observation Ismavel & Gassah: Golden-crested Myna 171 Pic: Mary Peck Mary Pic: Pic. Thomas J. Trombone Pic. J. Thomas XX3. Specimen of female Gold-crested Myna from the E. C. Stuart Baker Collection, Rothschild Museum, obtained from ‘Roopacherra’ [Tea Estate], ‘South Cachar Plains’ [], Assam. XX6. Specimen lable of the ‘Marjh’ [Margharita?], Assam, bird in the E. C. S. Baker Collection. Map: S. Subramanya Pic: Bentley Bird Pic: XX4. Specimen of adult male Gold-crested Mynas obtained ‘Nr. [=Near] Dibrughar [=Dibrugarh], Brahmaputra R. [=River], Assam’. ©American Museum of Natural History.

Fig. 1. Golden-crested Myna records from north-eastern India (blue dots indicate records without exact coordinates).

Except for the Darjeeling report, which appears to be of a vagrant, all other reports have come either from the Barak Valley (13 reports), or the mid-course of the Brahmaputra Valley (18 reports). From this, it is clear that this species is reasonably widespread in north-eastern India, but nowhere common (Fig. 1). It is therefore significant that a healthy population of this species has been found in a little-studied part of Karimganj District of Assam.

Acknowledgements We wish to acknowledge prompt replies to queries regarding collection information of specimens in museums from Mark Peck, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Kristof Zyskowski, Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, and Thomas J. Trombone and Bentley Bird, American Museum of Natural History, New York. We also acknowledge personal communication from Khuluaia Anieh regarding the observation from Mamit District of Mizoram. Our thanks to Maan Barua and Rana Behal for

Pic: Bentley Bird Pic: tracing tea estates in Upper Assam. We retrieved relevant literature from the online XX5. Reverse of labels from XX4 above. ©American Museum of Natural History. ‘Bibliography of South Asian Ornithology’ (Pittie 2018). 172 Indian BIRDS Vol. 14 No. 5 (Publ. 31 December 2018)

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Birds in Our Lives Ashish Kothari

Birds in our lives covers the importance and role of birds in our lives, their diversity across India, their place in our culture and history, the threats they face and the conservation efforts that communities, govt, NGOs are making to reverse these threats. Over 100 colour photos by some of the best wildlife photographers of India (and a couple from outside), cartoons and line sketches, are sprinkled throughout. Appendices list threatened birds, Ramsar (wetland) sites, Important Bird Areas, and key journals on birds.

Free pdf download at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324984818_Birds_in_Our_Lives.

Review at: www.indianbirds.in/pdfs/IB.4.5.171-172.pdf