154 Indian BIRDS VOL. 14 NO. 5 (PUBL. 21 NOVEMBER 2018) records of this bunting from the Andaman Islands. Though this been reported from Saurashtra, and the southern and northern species has a wider distribution in eastern India (Rasmussen & regions; the lowest populations have been reported from central Anderton 2012), the species is undergoing a global decline, and Gujarat, followed by the Kachchh region (Kamboj et al. 2016). is classified as ‘Critically Endangered’ by the IUCN Red List of In a census conducted in 2016 census, GEER Foundation, in Threatened Species (BirdLife International 2017). Its continued collaboration with Gujarat State Forest Department, estimated presence here boosts the conservation potential of the wetlands that there were only 18 individuals of the Indian Vulture surviving of Andaman & Nicobar Islands. in central Gujarat, out of which nine were reported from Panchmahal District. Here we report the successful breeding of Acknowledgements an Indian Vulture in Panchmahal District. Pavagadh Hills (22.35°N, 73.49°E) are located on the The authors thank the Director, Zoological Survey of India, for his encouragement and southern fringe of Panchmahal District. The hill is part of the the support to undertake the survey in different parts Andaman and Nicobar Islands. GK would like to thank Praveen J., A. Kalaimani and Anukul Nath, for providing literature Vindhyachal Range. It is the highest point of central Gujarat (800 and giving his time to help us prepare the manuscript. GK thanks Rofikul Islam for m asl). It is covered with a dry deciduous forest, chiefly comprising assistance in confirmation of the Yellow-breasted Bunting. GK would like to thank teak Tectona grandis, Cassia renigera, Prosopis spicigera, and Marshall Iliff for providing the access to log into sensitive species data in eBird. Dichrostachys cinerea. A few degraded forest patches are dominated by Borassus flabellifer, and Dendrocalamus strictus. References In 2007, we had observed an unsuccessful nesting of the Indian Vulture [174] in the Pavagadh Hills. Hence, based upon Ali, S., & Ripley, S. D., 1983. Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan together with information gleaned from literature surveys, and from local those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Compact ed. Delhi: Oxford University Press. Pp. i–xlii, 1 l., pp. 1–737, 56 ll. residents, we conducted a dawn-to-dusk search for Indian BirdLife International. 2017. Emberiza aureola. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Vultures at all the potential sites in Panchmahal District, twice Species 2017: e.T22720966A119335690. Website URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/ a month, from January 2017 to January 2018. We combed the IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22720966A119335690.en. [Accessed on: 10 March 2018.] surrounding rocky cliffs with binoculars, for potential nesting sites eBird. 2018. Basic Dataset. Version: EBD_relMay-2018. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, after confirming their occurrence. As soon as any activity of the Ithaca, New York. [Accessed in May 2018.] vultures was observed we took photographs, and recorded the Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C., & Inskipp, T., 2011. Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. 2nd ed. time and nature of their behaviour. London: Oxford University Press & Christopher Helm. Pp. 1–528. In the second week of March 2017 we observed two pairs Hume, A. O., 1874. Additional notes on the avifauna of the Andaman Islands. Stray Feathers 2 (6): 490–501. of Indian Vultures nesting there. The nests were located on the Kazmierczak, K., 2000. A field guide to the birds of India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, western, vertical face of the hill, opposite Navlakha Kothar, on Bhutan, Bangladesh and the Maldives. 1st ed. London: Pica Press / Christopher the other side of the ropeway. We numbered the nests N1 and Helm. Pp. 1–352. N2. N1 (175; 740 m asl) was on a broad, open shelf, whereas Rasmussen, P. C., & Anderton, J. C., 2012. Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide. 2nd N2 (176; 743 m asl) did not. Both the nests had whitewashed ed. Washington, D.C. and Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. 2 ledges, caused by vulture droppings, demarcating the nests from vols. Pp. 1–378; 1–683. the surrounding cliffs. Both nests were inaccessible to humans. Robson, C., 2008. Birds of South-east Asia. New Holland Publishers, UK. We could not easily observe the fledglings in the nests due to Vel, S., 2018. Website URL: http://ebird.org/view/checklist/S43515425. [Accessed on: 10 March 2018.] the cliff structure and the angle of observation. So they mostly remained hidden from us. But as soon as an adult arrived at a – Gokulakrishnan G. [GK],* C. Sivaperuman & Minakshi Dash nest they started flapping their wings and were visible through Zoological Survey of India, Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, binoculars. In the last week of April 2017, we observed four Port Blair 744102, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India *E-mail: [email protected] adults, and two juveniles for a few minutes on the ledges, before they left the site to soar around the hilltop. In the second week of May 2017, we spotted four individuals soaring over the hilltop, Indian Vulture Gyps indicus breeding at Pavagadh whereas the fifth was perched on the open shelf of N1, and the Hills, Panchmahal District, Gujarat sixth could be seen flapping its wing, and resting, inside N2. The Indian Vulture Gyps indicus, also known as Long-billed Vulture, is one of the two resident species of Gyps vultures in Gujarat State (Pandey et al. 2010; Ganpule 2016). It is also one of the four native and resident Gyps species in India (Ali & Ripley 1987; Rasmussen & Anderton 2012). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species classifies the Indian Vulture as Critically Endangered (BirdLife International 2017) because of the catastrophic decline (90–98%) in its population (Green et al. 2004; Prakash et al. 2012). Various conservation strategies have been proposed to overcome this rapid population decline of vultures, one of them being the identification of breeding locations, and counting the number of individuals remaining, so as to develop the concept of vulture-safe zones (Mukherjee et al. 2014). Kartik Upadhyay Indian Vultures breed in south-eastern Pakistan, and peninsular India (Praveen et al. 2017; Rasmussen & Anderton 2012). They nest almost exclusively in colonies, on cliffs, and where cliffs are absent, they nest on trees (Rasmussen & Anderton 2012). In Gujarat, breeding populations of Indian Vultures have 174. Old nest of Indian Vulture opposite to the ropeway in Pavagadh Hill. CORRESPONDEncE 155 Acknowledgments We thank Dr. Reshma Solanki for accompanying us in the field as well as helping us prepare the manuscript. We retrieved relevant literature from the online ‘Bibliography of South Asian Ornithology’ (Pittie 2018). References 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. Pp. i–xlii, 1 l., 1–737, 52 ll. BirdLife International. 2017. Gyps indicus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T22729731A117875047. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS. T22729731A117875047.en. [Accessed on 31 March 2018.] Ganpule, P., 2016. The birds of Gujarat: Status and distribution. Flamingo 8 (3)–12 (4): 2–40. Green, R. E., Newton, I., Shultz, S., Cunningham, A. A., Gilbert, M., Pain, D. J., & Prakash, V., 2004. Diclofenac poisoning as a cause of vulture population declines across the Indian subcontinent. Journal of Applied Ecology 41: 793–800. Kamboj, R. D., Tatu, K. & Munjpara, S. B., 2016. Status of vultures in Gujarat—2016. Rahul D. Bhatt Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) Foundation, Gandhinagar. 175. Nest 1 of the Indian Vulture in Pavagadh Hill (Inset photo: Adult Indian Vulture). Mukherjee, A., Galligan, T. H., Prakash, V., Paudel, K., Khan, U., Prakash, S., Ranade, S., Shastri, K., Dave, R., Donald, P., & Bowden, C., 2014. Vulture safe zones to save Gyps vultures in South Asia. Mistnet 15 (3): 4–21. Pandey, C. N., Tatu, K. S., & Vyas, V. R., 2010. Status of Gyps vultures in Gujarat—2010. Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) Foundation, Gandhinagar. Pittie, A., 2018. Bibliography of South Asian Ornithology. Website URL: http://www. southasiaornith.in. [Accessed on 31 March 2018.] Prakash, V., Bishwakarma, M. C., Chaudhary, A., Cuthbert, R., Dave, R., Kulkarni, M., Kumar, S., Paudel, K., Ranade, S., & Shringarpure, R., 2012. The population decline of Gyps vultures in India and Nepal has slowed since veterinary use of Diclofenac was banned. PloS ONE 7 (11): 1–10 (e49118. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0049118). Praveen J., Jayapal, R., & Pittie, A., 2017. Threatened birds of India (v1.0). Website URL: http://www.indianbirds.in/india/. Rasmussen, P. C., & Anderton, J. C., 2012. Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C. and Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. 2 vols. Pp. 1–378; 1–683. Vyas, R., 2013. Avian diversity of some reservoirs associated with dams in Panchmahal and Dahod Districts, Gujarat, India. Jalplavit 4 (3): 37–48. – Chandni Valodkar, Kartik Upadhyay, Rahul Bhatt & Mital Patel Chandni Valodkar, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, The Maharaja Sayajirao Kartik Upadhyay University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat, India. 176. Nest 2 of the Indian Vulture in Pavagadh Hill. E-mail: [email protected] [Corresponding author] Kartik Upadhyay, 1/101 - Avni Residence, Near Bansal Super Market, Gotri Vasna Road, Vadodara, Gujarat, India. E-mail: [email protected] Nine adults and five juveniles were spotted during a visit Rahul Bhatt, C-123, Girdhar Park Society, Behind Makarpura Bus depot, Makarpura, Vadodara, Gujarat, India. E-mail: [email protected] to the area on 10 June 2018 (Kartik Upadhyay). All the above Mital Patel, D-199, Girdhar Park Society, Behind Makarpura Bus depot, Makarpura, Vadodara, observations indicate the successful breeding of Indian Vultures Gujarat, India.