—Short notes— Avifauna of Hosur forest division, Eastern Ghats, southern India Kannan Govindaraj Govindaraj, K. 2009. Avifauna of Hosur forest division, Eastern Ghats, southern India. Indian Birds 4 (4): 138–139 (2008). Kannan Govindaraj, Asian Elephant Research and Conservation Centre, C/o Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, Karnataka, India. Email: [email protected] Mss received on 24th October 2007. he Hosur forest division (Krishnagiri district, Tamil Nadu) both south-western and north-eastern monsoons. The forms a part of the Eastern Ghats. It has contiguity with temperature ranges from 10°C to 35°C. TBannerghatta National Park in the north, Kanakapura The combination of dry and wet forest types provides ideal Reserve Forest in the west, Dharmapuri Forest Division in the habitat for various species of birds. The Cauvery, southern east, and Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary in the south. The altitude India’s largest river, borders the reserve forest and has a long of this area ranges from 400 to 1000 m above msl and then stretch of riverine forest with enormous fruit bearing trees for declines gradually towards the south. The area is drained by forest birds. The undulating terrain, with a number of wetlands two rivers, namely, Doddahalla and Chinnar. Doddahalla River all over the reserve forest, invites a large number of waterbirds runs through the heart of Hosur division while the Chinnar and numerous winter visitors. River, which originates at Thally, runs along the eastern foothills This note comprises a preliminary list of birds observed of the Melagiri range—both draining into the Cauvery River during our elephant habitats survey in Hosur forest division (Rameshkumar 1994). The reserve forest consists of mixed (Rameshkumar 1994). Identification of birds was done based dry deciduous, dry deciduous, secondary dry deciduous, on Grimmett et al. (1999) and Ali & Ripley (1987) while their riverine, and dry thorn forest. The area receives rainfall from status for Hosur was established using Ali (2002). The common Appendix: Checklist of birds in Hosur forest division, Eastern Ghats Species Status Species Status Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis R Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus R Little Cormorant Phalacrocorax niger R Common Coot Fulica atra R Large Cormorant P. carbo R Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius R Little Egret Egretta garzetta R Red-wattled Lapwing Vanellus indicus R Large Egret Casmerodius albus R Yellow-wattled Lapwing V. malabaricus R Median Egret Mesophoyx intermedia R Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos R Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis R Black winged stilt Himantopus himantopus R Indian Pond-Heron Ardeola grayii R Blue Rock Pigeon Columba livia R Grey Heron Ardea cinerea R Spotted Dove Streptopelia chinensis R Purple Heron A. purpurea R Emerald dove Chalcophaps indica R Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala R Green Imperial-Pigeon Ducula aenea R Oriental White-Ibis Threskiornis melanocephalus R Rose-ringed Parakeet Psittacula krameri R Spot-billed Duck Anas poecilorhyncha R Indian Cuckoo Cuculus micropterus R Northern Pintail A. acuta W Asian Koel Eudynamys scolopacea R Common Teal A. crecca W Sirkeer Malkoha Phaenicophaeus leschenaultii R Black-shouldered Kite Elanus caeruleus R Greater Coucal Centropus sinensis R Black Kite Milvus migrans R Brown Fish-Owl Ketupa zeylonensis R Brahminy Kite Haliastur indus R Spotted Owlet Athene brama R Black Eagle Ictinaetus malayensis R Common Indian Nightjar Caprimulgus asiaticus R Crested Serpent-Eagle Spilornis cheela R Indian Jungle Nightjar C. indicus R Grey Francolin Francolinus pondicerianus R Asian Palm-Swift Cypsiurus balasiensis R Red Spurfowl Galloperdix spadicea R Small Blue Kingfisher Alcedo atthis R Jungle Bush-Quail Perdicula asiatica R White-breasted Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis R Grey Junglefowl Gallus sonneratii R Lesser Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis R Indian Peafowl Pavo cristatus R Small Green Bee-eater Merops orientalis R Yellow-legged Buttonquail Turnix tanki R Blue-tailed Bee-eater M. philippinus R White-breasted Waterhen Amaurornis phoenicurus R Chestnut-headed Bee-eater M. leschenaulti R 138 Indian Birds Vol. 4 No. 4 (July–August 2008) Govindaraj: Avifauna of Hosur forest Indian Roller Coracias benghalensis R Oriental Magpie-Robin Copsychus saularis R Common Hoopoe Upupa epops R White-rumped Shama C. malabaricus R Indian Grey Hornbill Ocyceros birostris R Indian Robin Saxicoloides fulicata R White-Cheeked Barbet Megalaima viridis R Pied Bushchat Saxicola caprata W Coppersmith Barbet M. haemacephala R Common Babbler Turdoides caudatus R Rufous Woodpecker Celeus brachyurus R Verditer Flycatcher Eumyias thalassina W Lesser Golden-backed Woodpecker Asian Paradise-Flycatcher Terpsiphone paradisi R Dinopium benghalense R Great Tit Parus major R Large Pied Wagtail Motacilla maderaspatensis R Purple-rumped Sunbird Nectarinia zeylonica R Yellow Wagtail M. flava W Oriental white-eye Zosterops palpebrosus R Paddyfield Pipit Anthus rufulus R House Sparrow Passer domesticus R Small Minivet Pericrocotus cinnamomeus R Baya Weaver Ploceus philippinus R Scarlet Minivet P. flammeus R Common Myna Acridotheres tristis R Red-whiskered Bulbul Pycnonotus jocosus R Eurasian Golden Oriole Oriolus oriolus R Red-vented Bulbul P. cafer R Black-headed Oriole O. xanthornus R White-browed Bulbul P. luteolus R Black Drango Dicrurus macrocercus R Common Iora Aegithina tiphia R Greater Racket-tailled Drongo D. paradiseus R Asian Fairy-Blue bird Irena puella R Indian Treepie Dendrocitta vagabunda R Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus W House Crow Corvus splendens R Bay-backed Shrike L. vittatus R Jungle Crow C. macrorhynchos R Malabar Whistling-Thrush Myophonus horsfieldii R Abbreviations: R=Resident; W=Winter migrant names and scientific names follow Manakadan & Pittie (2001). References A total of 94 spp., belonging to 44 families were recorded. Of Ali, S. 2002. The book of Indian birds. 13th (Revised) ed. Daniel, J. C. the 94, 88 were resident and six, winter visitors. The Black Eagle (ed.) Mumbai: Bombay Natural History Society & Oxford Ictinaetus malayensis, Asian Fairly Blue-bird Irena puella, Indian University Press. Grey Hornbill Ocyceros birostris and Malabar Whistling-Thrush Ali, S. & Ripley, S. D. 1987. Compact handbook of the birds of India and Myophonus horsfieldii were relatively uncommon and seen in Pakistan together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri isolated forest patches of Hosur forest division. Further study Lanka. 2nd ed. Delhi: Oxford University Press. of the area will definitely add to the list given below. Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C. & Inskipp, T. 1999. Pocket guide to the birds of the Indian Subcontinent. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Manakadan, R. & Pittie, A. 2001. Standardised common and scientific Acknowledgements names of the birds of the Indian Subcontinent. Buceros 6 (1): i–ix, I would like to thank Prof. Raman Sukumar and Thomas Mathew for 1–37. providing lab facilities. Thanks to my colleague Sameer Ali, Karthick Rameshkumar, S. 1994. Ecology of Asian elephants Elephas maximus: B. and Kannan Vaithianathan for reviewing an earlier draft and providing their habitats and interactions with people in Hosur and Dharmapuri valuable comments on this note. I also thank the Tamil Nadu Forest forest divisions, Tamil Nadu, South India. PhD thesis, Bharathidasan Department for permissions. University, Tiruchirapalli. Recent sighting of Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni in Nagaland Anwaruddin Choudhury Choudhury, A. 2009. Recent sighting of Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni in Nagaland. Indian Birds 4 (4): 139–140 (2008). Anwaruddin Choudhury, 7 Islampur Road, Guwahati 781007, Assam. Email: [email protected] Mss. received on 17th May 2008. he Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni is a globally threatened district). From a distance, I thought they were Amur Falcons F. raptor, which has been listed as ‘vulnerable’ by BirdLife amurensis—I had seen 20+ in flight, and perched, on 23 October TInternational (2004). The species has been recorded as 2001, while going to Saramati, between Jessami (Manipur) and a rare winter and passage migrant to north-eastern India Meluri (25°38’N 94°36’E; Nagaland). (Choudhury 2000; Naoroji 2006). From Nagaland, there is a 100- However, when I approached closer, I realised they were year-old record by Godwin-Austen (1877). Here, I would like to slightly larger. With the aid of a 14x monocular, I saw that report a recent sighting of the Lesser Kestrel from Nagaland. none of them had reddish feet. At least two of them were On 26th October 2001, while returning from Saramati at adult tiercels, which actually helped me identify the species. 0740 hrs, via Pungro, I saw seven falcons perched on a The unspotted rufous upper parts were mainly confined to powerline, about 13 km south of Kiphire town (25°52’N, 94°48’E; mantle, back and scapulars. The head and wing-panels were 1,100 m above msl), above the Kiphire–Meluri road (Kiphire bluish grey. Underparts were light orange-buff with a paler Indian Birds Vol. 4 No. 4 (July–August 2008) 139.