Newsletter for Bir dwatcher s 52 (1) , 2012

15

Vol. 52

No. 1

Jan - Feb 2012

Edit orial B oard Dr. Geeta S. Padate K. Mrutumjaya Rao A.N. Yellappa Reddy Dr. Rajiv Saxena Dr. A.B. Shanbhag Arunayan Sharma S. Sridhar Dr. Abraham Verghese, FRES (London)

Dr. A.M.K. Bharos Harish R. Bhat Dr. S.P. Bhatnagar Dr. A.K. Chakravarthy Dr. Ranjan Kumar Das Dr. S. Devasahayam B.S. Kulkarni Arvind Mishra

Pub lish er : S. Sridhar

C O N T E N TS 



No te fro m th e Publish er  Is land Bi ogeogr aphyand the concept of Rever se Col oniz ati on Art icles  Birdwatc hing in and around Sydney, New South Wales, Australia by Rakesh Vyas  Disc overy of a New Nesting Col ony of Wild Painted Storks in Danapur Cantonment Ar ea, Bi har by D.N.C houdhar y, Gopal Sharma, Ajit Kumar Singh, Rahul Rohi tashwa and N eetu  International Spar row Day:A Bengaluru Ini ti ative by A. K. Chakr avarthy,  Study on D iversity of Birds in Melghat Tiger R eserve, Maharashtra, India by Sandeep R.Mishra and Santoshi Das

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C or respo n dence  About the Re-desingnation of a Shikar Club and the Armand Couple, byLieut-General Baljit Singh ( Retd.)  Help the Birds, by Kartik Shastri  Sighting of a large congregation of Demoiselle Cranes (Grusvirgo) near Jangi, Kutch Dt., Gujarat. by A. Mohamed Sams oor Ali *, S. Ramesh Kumar, P.R Arun& L. Joseph Reginald  Random Notes from Raipur, Chhatisg arh, by A M K Bharos  Remember ing Prof. S. R angaswami, by Air Marshal (Retd) K.C. Nanda Cariappa, PVSM, VM  Rememberi ng Prof. S. Rangaswami, byDigambar Gadgil

Note fr om the Publisher Dear F ellow Birdwatchers Island B iogeography an d the concept o f Reverse Colo nization In thi s i ssue we have publ ished an ar tic le on bir ds of Austr ali a, by Rakes h Vyas . T here ar e some 720 speci es of bir ds i n the biogeog raphy of Australi a, of whi ch many are c ol oni sts; al thoug h ar ound 23 ar e os tensi bl y i ntroduced, such as C ommon M yna, R edwhi sker ed Bulbul and Common Star li ng . Is land biog eogr aphy can be defi ned as the number of s peci es li ving in an isolated s pace, s uch as an i sland, can be seen as a balanc e between the immi gr ation of new s peci es and the exti nc tion of es tabl ished ones . While the population is low, the balanc e wi ll be non-i nteractive, i.e. di ffer ent speci es mul ti pl y wi thout interfer ence. However , when popul ations are l ar ge enough, they interact and i mmig rati on and extinction ar e affected. H is tori c al ly, ecologi s ts have acc epted the theory of “ Unidir ec ti onal Coloniz ation” , from conti nents to i s lands and

c ol oniz ation of is lands from continents is r eg ar ded as a one way j our ney, becaus e of the widel y acc epted noti on that l es s di vers e isl and communi ti es are easi er to i nvade. Furthermor e, way bac k in 1961, E.O. Wil son, the c el ebr ated natur al is t cum ecologi st, had c hampi oned the conc ept of unidi rectional coloniz ation from the conti nents to Islands. But i n rec ent years s ome bi ogeog raphers have arg ued that c onti nents have vas t ar eas and isl and spec ies oug ht to have made r evers e jour ney, c onsi deri ng that they themselves evolved fr om the s uc cess ful coloni sts, and having retained thei r di sper sal instincts. One s uc h arg ument has been put forwar d r ec entl y by Eva Bel lemai n of Smiths oni an Tr opic al Res earc h Ins ti tute and Robert Ric klefs of Uni ver sity of Miss ouri . To suppor t their theory they have undertaken the mapping of geogr aphy on to molecul ar phylogenies whi ch has revealed s ever al cases of “ revers e col oniz ation” ( from isl ands to continents). Althoug h, E.O. Wils on, had even as s umed that the r ever s e coloni z ation was non es t inventus in the ear ly si xties, a few year s later, he along with MacAr thur , began to ponder the dis per sal of populations across certai n is lands , faci li tating two- way c ol oniz ation. At that ti me, empi ri cal s tudies had shown that speci es di ver si ty g ener al ly decr eased with inc reas ing dis tanc e from the mai nl and. Because of their c ompar ati vely di mi nuti ve ar ea, i sl and popul ations were beli eved to be produci ng fewer potenti all y dis pers i ng i ndi vi duals than l ar ger c ontinental l andmas s es , rei nfor ci ng the theor y of unidir ectional c ol oniz ati on. But res earc hers mull ed over the prag mati sm of s ever al i sl and populati ons that are typic al ly hig her in densi ty, thereby under press ure to dis per se, mor e so i n populati ons li vi ng close to the edge of the i sl ands owi ng to peri meter- ar ea all ometry. Other r es earc her s had envis ag ed that i sl and dwell er s are less exposed to pr edator s and pathog ens and thereby il l- pr epared to defend ag ai nst the more dang er ous c onti nental envir onment; a c ruc ial fac tor deter ri ng revers e c ol oniz ati on. T herefor e, they had maintai ned that there wer e many factors pl acing r oadbloc ks in the way of isl and populations establi shing themsel ves in the c onti nent. H owever , Bell emai n and Ri cklefs have cl ai med that is land to mainland c oloni zati on events ar e pos si bl e and mig ht be more pronounc ed than uni vers al ly beli eved. To further thei r li ne of r eas oni ng , Bel lemain and R ic kl efs exami ned 37 studi es publ is hed between 1988 and 2008 to es ti mate the pr evalenc e of revers e c ol oniz ati on, searc hi ng the li ter ature for molecul ar phylog eni ses inhabiti ng both continental l andmas s es and is lands , focus ing on over -water di s pers al . H owever , they had dis r eg ar ded l ar ge is land fr ag ments s uc h as Madagasc ar , Australi a, N ew C al edonia, New Zeal and and N ew Gui nea as ‘mini -c onti nents ’, as they could c reate ambig uity c onc erning rever se col onization. Mor e than a thi rd of the studi es exhi bited tang ible evidenc e of rever se coloni zation, reveal ing continental l ineages nested within the i sl and cl ades i.e. a g roup c onsis ti ng of a speci es and i ts desc endents. T he c lear es t examples i nc luded bir ds s uch as Bananaq ui ts , fl yc atc hers, parr ots, Darwi n’ s finc hes, catbi rds, white eyes and or iol es. Many of the r e-c oloniz ing bir ds like the orioles , had not dis pers ed further within s ome areas , even thoug h a member of the cl ade was able to coloniz e a continental l andmas s. Their analysi s r eveal ed that the fr eq uency of r ever s e coloniz ation was i nfl uenc ed both by dis tanc e of the c onti nent and by the geog raphi c local iz ati on of i sl and.

continued on page 12

. Pr i nted and Publ i s h ed bi - monthl y by S. Sr i d har at N av bhar ath Enter pr is es , Bangalore 20. For Pri vate C irc ul ation only

Newsletter for Bir dwatcher s 52 (1) , 2012

1

Birdwatching in and around Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Rakesh Vyas, 204, Washleigh M anor, R ustam Bagh M ai n R oad, Bang al ore 560017, r akes hvyas 53@ hotmai l .c om

The coast al and mountaino us inland areas of New South Wale s around Sy dney in south-east Aust ralia are ideal f or birdwatching. In New South Wales alon e, there are 875 N ational Parks and Reserv es. Sy dney, th e largest city in Au stralia is situated on 33‘ 51’ 35.9" South latitude and 151‘ 12’ 40" E longitude in southern hemisphere . There is a series of National Parks , Wildlif e and Com muni ty R eser v es arou nd S y dne y. The B lue Mountain National Park is a world heritage site and is spread ov er 267.9 5 sq. km. area of B lue Mountains. It i s situated on 33‘ 58’ 04" S lat itude and 150‘ 18’ 15" E lo ngitude. The Roy al Nation al Park (34‘ 7’ 21" S and 151‘ 3’ 50" E) is a national h eritage site. Lane Cov e National Par k (33‘ 47’ 22.60" S and 151 ‘ 12’ 35.40" E) is situated ri ght in the heart of the cit y and showcases a v ariety of f loral and f aunal diversity, besides hav ing a number of aboriginal sites of great importanc e. Katoomba Nation al Park (33‘ 42’ 41" S and 150‘ 18’ 14" E) is a high altitude conserv ation area, situated at 1017 m abov e mean sea lev el. Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park (33‘ 39’ 3.6" S and 151‘ 12’ 3.6" E) cov ers a v ery div erse area comprising of f reshwater streams, lakes, Hawkesbury Riv er, creeks and sea shore. Ev ery bit of nature has been protect ed in urban ar eas in Austra lia, by creati ng mini protected areas by the city councils as scenic walkway s and community reserv es. I had the priv ilege of v isiti ng these areas and walk long distances in total solitude wi thout a soul in sigh t. I could also atten d weekly birdwatch ing trips organize d by local communities and wildlif e enth usiasts. On such an outing, I could go t o Ourimbah and Tag gerah f or birdwatc hing in a community f orest, around two lakes and a rural agriculture research station. There is a v ery interesting story attached to this 2 000 hectare commun ity f orest. The g ov ernment wanted to acquire some priv ately owned land f or its highway project and the owner of the land wanted to sell it only if the gov ernment acquires the whole lot including thi s f orested area. Af te r much consultation with the scientists and local communities, the gov ernment bought the land and handed ov er this piece of f orested area to the local community f or managemen t and research. No w the v olunteer s cientists and research scholars dev ote time in identif y ing indigenous f lora of the area and pink ribbons are tied around these plants to accord them protection. I was curious to k now about these small plants and bushes with pink ribbons tied around them and were told the f act b ehind this ef f ort. My process of learning wildlif e conserv ation and management had started a f resh. There are many we bsites inf orming y ou about f orthcomi ng weekly birdwat ching ev ents with the team leader’s phone number and a ddress, which allo ws y ou to contact him/her and conf irm y our participation.

Australia has about 720 av ian species, out of which 23 are directl y introduced species, lik e Common my n a, Redwhiskered bulb ul and Common starling. 521 species breed in Austral ia and 329 are ende mic to Australia. There is a v ery high lev el of endemism ( about 47%) in Aust ralia, f or which the geographical isolation could be one of the reasons. It will be worthwhile to note that in India we hav e 79 endemic birds, which will constitute a bout 7% of the total number of species f ound in India. Fam ily lev el endemis m is v ery prominent in Australia and t his zoogeographic region has highest number of endemic f amilies in the world. Endemism was f irst described by E.P. De Condolle in 1820 as “when a species is f ound only in a pa rticular geographi cal region because of it s isolation, soil and climatic conditio ns, it is said to be end emic”. The reasons f or ende mism could be; narrow ecological amplitude, poor adaptability, geographical barrier and changing climatic c onditions. The birds hav e been placed in six categories in Australia. There are old endemics, whic h are long establi shed nonpasseri nes of ultima te Gondwanala nd origin lik e, Emu, Cassowary and parrots. Som e are later colon ists f rom Eurasia li ke, plov ers, swallo ws and larks. Then there are recent in troductions like, Common my na, Starl ing, Redwhiskered bulbul, Goldfinch and Greenf inch. Fourth and fif th categories are the migratory shore birds and sea birds. The most important group constitu tes of the passerine birds of Corv id descenden ts. These passerines are pecul iar to Australia and occupy a v ast r ange of ecological roles and sizes. The y include wrens, r obins, magpies, th ornbirds, pardalotes, honey eaters, treec reepers, ly re birds, birds of par adise and bower bird s. The ho ney ea ters resem ble sunbirds and, Australian and scrub robin resemble old world ch ats and thr ush es. But th ese gro ups are ca ses of conv ergent ev olution rather than genetic relationship. I undertook birdwatching trips in the winter of 2010, between April and June. Theref ore my list of 86 specie s recorded during the f ield trips does not hav e many migratory waders, plov ers, d ucks and raptors. Most of the migrants arriv e in these part s in the summer f r om Eurasia, east a nd southeast Asia . The migratory se a birds mostly ar riv e f rom Antarctic Circle. The 86 av ian species belong ing to 37 f ami lies wer e recor ded by m e in the ir natu ral habi tat. Interestin gly, I f ound that th e birds are not war y of human presence a nd do not show sig ns of anxiety ev en on close proximity. I f ound that most o f the breeding resi dent birds complete their breeding activity in autumn but I could observ e some late breeding birds, which included Pacif ic black duck, Masked plov er, Galah, Sulphur-crested cockatoo, Rainbow lorikeet, Noisy miner and Pie d currawong. Large f locks of Galah, Rainbow lorikeet, Pied currawong, N oisy miner and

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Newsletter for Bir dwatcher s 52 (1) , 2012

Laughing k ookaburra liv e on eucaly ptus and bot tle-brush trees within the urban areas. A bird behav ing v ery much like our my nas in an open garden env ironment is Mag pie lark, which is neither a magpie nor a lark, but belongs to a f amily of unknown descent. Birdwatching in Australia is an enriching exp erience, due in some part to richness of its f lora and f auna but mainly due to ov erall ambience and gener al public acceptan ce of this pursuit. I hav e learnt a lot f rom my Australian experience about wild lif e area manageme nt, conserv ation p hilosophy and people ’s participation in conserv ation. The models, I saw are re plicable in our coun try, but require wil l power to execute them in true spirit of conserv ation. Birds seen in New South Wales, Australia

20.Grey teal

A. gibbe rifrons

21.Chestnut teal

A. cas tanea

22.Southern shoveller

A. rhynchotis

23.White-ey ed duck

Aythya australis

24.Blue-bil led duck

Oxyura australis

25.Australian wood duck

Chenonett a jubata

Family – P andionidae 26.Austr alian black-shoul dered kite

Elanus notatus

27.Crested hawk

Aviceda su bcristata

28.Whistli ng kite

Haliastur sphenurus

29.White-breasted sea eagle Haliaetus l eucogaster Family–Dr omaiidae

Endemic

1. Emu

Dromaius nov aehollandiae

Family – Po dicipedidae 2. Little grebe

Podiceps r uficollis

Pelecanus co nspicillatus

Anhinga me lanogaster

Family – Phal acrocoracidae 5. Little pied cormorant 6. Black co rmorant 7. Little blac k cormorant

Circus ae ruginosus

32.Brush turkey

Alectura lathami

Family – Rallidae

Family – Anhingidae 4. Australian Darter

Aquila audax

31.Swamp h arrier Family – Me gapodiidae

Family – P elecanidae 3. Australia n pelican

30.Wedge-tai led eagle

Phalacrocorax melanoleucos P. carbo P. sulci rostris

Family – Ardeidae

33.Banded rail

Rallus phi lippensis

34.Dusky moorhen

Gallinula tenebrosa

35.Swam phen

Porphyrio porphyrio

36.Coot

Fulica atra

Family – Gruidae 37.Brolga crane

38.Bush ston e-curlew

8. Grey heron

Ardea c inerea

9. White-f aced heron

A. novaeh ollandiae

10. Cattle egret

Ardeol a ibis

11. Large egret

Egrett a alba

12. Little egret

E. gar zetta

13. Plumed egret

E. inte rmedia

Family – P lataleidae 14. White ibis

Threskiorn is molucca

15. Roy al spoonbill

Platale a regia

Family – Anatidae

Grus rub icundus

Family – Burhinidae Burhinus ma gnirostris

Family – Ch aradriidae 39.Masked plov er

Vanellu s miles

40.Black-f ronted dotterel

Charadrius melanops

Family – Recurvirostridae 41.Black-nec ked stilt

Himantopus maxicanus

Family – Laridae 42.Silv er gull

Larus novae hollandiae

43.Crested tern

Sterna bergii

44.Caspian tern

Hydroprogne caspia

Family – C olumbidae

16. Plumed whis tling duck Dendrocygna eytoni 17. Div ing whistling duck

D. arcuata

18. Black swan

Cygnus atratus

19. Pacif ic black duck

Anas supe rciliosa

45.Topknot pigeon

Lopholaimus antarcticus

46.Domestic pigeon

Columba livia

47.White-head ed pigeon

C. leu comela

48.Spotted turtle dov e

Streptopeli a chinensis

Newsletter for Bir dwatcher s 52 (1) , 2012

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49. Crested pigeon

Ocyphaps lophotes

69. Willie wagtail

Rhipidura leucophrys

50. Emerald dov e

Chalcopha ps indica

Family – Maluridae

Endemic

51. Wonga pigeon

Leucosarcia melanoleuca

70.Superb bl ue wren

Malurus cyaneus

52. Common br onzewing

Phaps cha lcoptera

Family – Ac anthizidae

Endemic

Family – C acatuidae

71.Yellow-rumped thornbill

Acanthiza c hrysorrhoa

53. Glossy black cockatoo Calyptorhync hus lathami

Family – Me liphagidae

Endemic

54. Galah

Cacatua ro seicapilla

72.Red wat tlebird

Anthochaera carunculata

55. Little corella

C. san guine

73.Little wa ttlebird

A. chrysoptera

56. Long-bille d corella

C. tenui rostris

74.Noisy miner

Manorina me lanocephala

57. Sulphur-crested cockatoo C. gal erita

75.Regent honey eater

Xanthomyza phrygia

Family – Loriidae

Family - P asseridae

58. Rainbow lorikeet

Trichoglossu s haematodus

76.House sparrow

Passer do mesticus

59. Scaly -breasted lorikeet

T. chloro lepidotus

77.Red-browed f inch

Emb lema tempora lis

78.Zebra f inch

Poephila guttata

Family – Po lytelitidae 60. Cockatiel

Nymphicus h ollandicus

Family – Pl atycercidae 61. Crimson rosella

Platycercus elegans

Family – P odargidae 62. Tawny f rogmouth

Podargus s trigoides

Dacelo gigas

Family – Hirundinidae Hirundo neoxena

Family – Mo tacillidae 66. Australi an pipit

Anthus nova ehollandiae

Pycnonotus jocosus

Grallina cyanoleuca

Family – C racticidae

Endemic

83.Pied cu rrawong

Strepera graculina

84.Grey butcherbird

Cracticus torquatus

85.Australia n magpie

Gymnorhyn a tibicen

Family – Corvidae Corvus coronoides

* Classif icatio n has been f ollowed as per t he Field Guide Reference –

Family – Mu scicapidae 68. Eastern y ellow robin

Artamus leu corhynchus

82.Magpie lark

86.Australian rav en

Family – Py cnonotidae 67. Red-whiskered bulbul

Acridither es tristis

Family – G rallinidae

Eurystomus orientalis

65. Welcome swallow

Sturnus vulgaris

80.Common my na

81.White-breasted wo odswallow

Family – C oraciidae 64. Dollarbird

79.Common starling

Family – Artamidae

Family – Alcedinidae 63. Laughing kookaburra

Family – Sturnidae

Eopsaltria australis

Pizzey, G. 1989. A Field Guid e to the Birds of Australia. Collins Publishers, Australia.

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Newsletter for Bir dwatcher s 52 (1) , 2012

Discovery of a New Nesting Colony of Wild Painted Storks in Danapur Cantonment Area, Bihar D.N.Cho udhary1* , Gopal Sharma2, Ajit Kumar Singh3, Rah ul Rohitashwa4* and Neetu5 1. Ass istant Professor , D ept. of Zool ogy, P.N. C ollege, Pars a (SARAN) - 841219, Bihar. 2. Zoolog ical Survey of India, Rajendra Nag ar, Road N o. 11D , Patna, Bihar. 3. Envi ronment Biolog y Lab, Patna Sci ence Col lege, Patna U niv. Patna, Bihar. 4. Research Scholar and Wild-Li fe Ac tivist, M andar Natur e C lub, Bhag alpur, Bihar-812002 5. Envi ronment. Bi ol ogy Lab, Patna Scienc e C ol leg e, Patna U niv. Patna, Bi har. * Senior M embers and F iel d Acti vis ts of Mandar Natur e Cl ub, Bhagalpur, Bihar-812002

Abst ract A new n esting colony of the thre atened Painte d Stork (Mycteria le ucocephala) was reco rded in Danapur Military Cantonment (DMC) Area, among the nests of Asian Openbill (Anastomus oscitans) f or the f irst time in Bihar in October, 2007. Sev en nests of Painte d Storks were f ou nd on two Ashoka trees (Ashoka indica) and a Pee pal tree (Ficus religiosa) located near the roadside. Four nests were located on two Ash oka trees and thre e nests on Peepal tree. The nests were located on top of the thick canopie s and were surrounded by a large number of nests of Asian Openbill having their chicks of dif f erent ages on the same trees. Most Asian Open bill chicks were f ully grown up, and were seen learning to f ly. By March 2008, 2 to 3 chicks f rom each of the seven nests f ledged successf ully. Subsequ ent v isits rev ealed that the Painted St ork chicks had f le dged successf ully f rom f iv e nests in 200 8 and six nests in 200 9 (Table-1). Introduction Danapur Military Cantonment (DMC) is the largest breeding site of Asian Op enbill Stork (Anastomus oscitans) in Bihar. Openbill Stork (OBS) hav e be en f ound breeding here since the last 2 0 y ears or more as per the inf ormation collected f rom the locals. We hav e been regularly watching the nesting activ ities of these birds since last 5 y ears. On an av erage, 7000 to 8000 indiv iduals breed successf ully between June

and Decem ber ev ery y ear. Ho wev er, a f ew birds are also seen upto the third week of January. Danapur Military Cantonment (25°38’ 32" N/85°02’ 06" E) is a highly protected area under the jurisdiction of Indian army and is sit uated on the banks of riv er Ganga, a bout 12 KM f rom Patna , the capital of th e state of Bihar) a nd about 3 Kms from Khagaul Railway Station. DMC is recruitment and controllin g centre f or Jharkh and, Orissa, and B ihar (JOB) regions and has an area of about 400 hectares. A big water ca nal pass es at t he s outh of the can ton ment whi ch ultimatel y joins the riv er Ganga. DMC has a r ich plant div ersity, comprising of larg e number of trees mainly Sal (Sh orea ro bust a), Sh ish am (Da lber gia siss o), Man go (Mangifera indica), Neem (Azadiracht a indica), Tam arind (Tamarandus indicus), Sem ul (Salmalia malaberica), Peepal (Ficus re ligiosa), Ban y an (Ficus bengalensis), and Ashoka (Polyalthia l ongifolia) prov iding a mini f orest hab itat. Most of these trees are crammed with the nests of OBS between June and December, as this mini-f orest prov ides good roosting as well as breeding site to them. DMC is the largest breeding site of Asian Openbill in Bihar. On an av erage 7000 - 8000 indiv idu als breed ev ery y ear without any hindrance and there numbers are i ncreasing (Choudhary et.al. 2008). The DMA is a protected area and the serv icemen v oluntarily of f er protection to the birds. Considering the assemblage of large number of breeding OBS, the DMC has been declared

Table 1: Bre eding of Painted Storks in DMC Area Study Are a

Total No. of Nests of Painted Storks recorded

2007

07

No. of nests on Host trees

Total No. of chicks of Painted Storks recorded o n the nests

Total no. o f nests of Asian Openb ill recorded on those Host trees

2 in Asho ka tree A 2 in Asho ka tree B

2 3

17 10

3 in Pee pal tree

3

15

2008

05

1 in Ash oka tree 4 in Pee pal tree

3

9 17

2009

07

2 in Ash oka tree 4 in Pee pal tree

3 3

11 15

Newsletter for Bir dwatcher s 52 (1) , 2012

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as an IBA site (Code1 & BR 02) BY Indian Bird Conserv ation Network, BNH S, Mumbai (Islam & Rah mani, 2004).

in May, 2006. It is certainly an encouraging f inding f rom Bihar, af ter a long interv al.

Results and Discussion

There are many reports of bre eding of Painted Storks f rom South Indi a like Karnataka a nd Andhra Pradesh (Sridhar, 2005) f ro m Ahmednagar distr ict, Maharashtra ( Kurhade & Tambe, 2007), f rom Bhav nagar, Gujarat (Gandhv i, 2002). As per our surv ey of av if auna in dif f erent parts of Bihar, this is the f irst t ime the Painted Stor k has selected this particular site (DMC) as its breeding ground, certainly a matter of delight f or naturalists and o rnithologists alike.

In all, sev en nests of Painted Storks were recorded on Asho ka and Peepal trees d uring the sec ond wee k of October and first week of Nov ember 2007. These trees were already h osting the nests o f Asian Openbills f rom May onwards. During ou r f irst observ atio n, f our nests (2 e ach) were recorded on two Ashoka tree s (A&B) during se cond week of October. Later on, three more nests were recorded on a single Pee pal tree during the f irst week of Oct ober. Both the species (Pa inted Stork and Asian Openbi ll) were liv ing together a nd f ound busy buil ding their nests a nd looking af te r their chicks. We noti ced tha t there was nei ther competiti on nor squabble between the two species. We al so recor ded the interest ing phen omenon o f the Painted S torks utilizing th e abandoned nests of Asian Openbills with slight modif ications. It was usual to see one parent bird incubating and the other perching on an exposed branch ne arby. The nesting pairs were seen sh aring the incubation as well as the chic k rearing tasks, by rotation. Chicks f ledged successf ully f rom sev en Painted Stork nests during March, 2008. Earlier, during the last week of February, the chicks were ready to f le dge and were seen practicing to f ly by repeatedly f lapping their wings and leaping-up briefly in the air f rom the nest f loor. By the second week of March all the nests had been v acated and the f ull-f ledged chicks were seen perching on the h ost tree or on nea rby trees with the a dult Painted Stork s and a f ew Asian Openbills. Painted Storks occur only in the South Asia and Southeast Asia and is distributed in India, Srilanka, Nepal, My anmar, Combodia and Vietnam. According to Wetland International, there are less than 10,000 Painted Storks in Southeast Asia and anoth er 15,000 Painted Storks in South Asia and the pop ulati on i s gr adual ly d eclin ing (Sri dhar, 200 5). Painted S torks were f ound a cross the country in large numbers on ce; but today loss of habitat, lack o f suitable nesting trees, human disturb ances, and use of pesticides collectiv e ly contributed to it s decline in many o f its wide distributi on range (Roy, 2005 ). Due to declining the trend of this spe cies , Pa inte d Sto rk h as b een incl uded in Scheduled 1 of the Wildli f e Protection Act, 1972. In the recent past, Painted Storks were seldom reported to be nesting in Bihar, and there is no documentary ev idence of nesting of this species f or the past f ew decades. Howev er, Sridhar & Karmakar (1999) hav e reported only six indiv iduals in 1990 and sev en in 1991 f rom Bihar during Asian Midwinter Water f owl Censu s between 1990 and 1996. Rec ently Choudhary (co-author) and Mishra succeeded in recording 57 P ain te d S to rks a nd 52 G rea te r A dj uta nt St or ks (Leptoptilo s dubius) in the i sland of riv er Ga nga under Vikramshila Gangetic Sanctuary (VGDS), Bhagalpur, Bihar

Painted S torks hav e been f o und nesting commun ally with ot her s pec ies s uch as Gr ey He ron s (Ah med , 199 9; Chandrash ekhra & Mahalingap pa, 2005) with co rmorants, night hero ns, egrets & white i bises (Roy, 2005) b ut here at DMC, the Painted Storks share the trees with Asian Openbills only. Nest s were f ound v ery close to each othe r and the distance between two nests of both the species was hardly one meter. The nests of Asian Openbill were also enumerated. Whilst As hoka tree (A) had 19 nests, out of them two belonged t o Painted Storks, Ashoka tree (B) ha d 2 nests, out of th em two belonged to Painted Storks. The Peepal tree (the third host tree) was hav ing three nests of Painted Storks and 15 nests of Asian Openbill. We hav e conv ey ed our f indings to the serv ice personnel and the Comma nder of the Headq uarters. They wer e all too pleased to hav e the new f eathered f riends, in addition to the Asian Open bills in their campu s. It is due to the protection dutif ully prov ided by the army men; the Asian Openbills hav e been breeding here since a long time. With the exception of f alling down of chicks f rom the nests during peak monsoon, there are no reported incide nces of poaching o f eggs or chicks t ill now. We contin ued our study duri ng the successiv e two y ears also (2 008-09) and f ound that the Painted Stor ks were bre eding as us ual with t he Asi an Op enbil ls wit h sli ght modif ication of nests. We recorded sev en nests of Painted Storks in 2007, f iv e in 2008 and six in 2009 in dif f erent host trees (Table-1) in the DMC area, signif y ing t hat the Painted Storks mig ht hav e selected at this site as their permanent breeding g round. It was also estimated that th e breeding season of Painted Storks in Bihar might be between October and March. Ack nowle dgem ent We are gratef ul to Brigadier. A.K. Ahuza, Commander, Head Quarters. (JOB) Sub area of Danapur Military Cantonment, f or giv ing us permission to s tudy the birds in the highly protected campus. We are thankf ul to Col. K.K. Anil Kumar DDG, Recr uitment, and Col. Dutta of DMC f or their cooperation during our nature trail. We are also thankf ul to the Principal, Teachers and Stud ents of Central Sc hool, DMC f or their succes sf ul participation in the natur e trail and also f or their co-op eration in v arious way s. Lastl y we are highly thankf ul to each and every army men and guards of DMC f or their sincere ef f orts to conserv e the birds and other wildlif e

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Newsletter for Bir dwatcher s 52 (1) , 2012

of Danapur Military Cantonment and its surrounding areas. The authors also convey their thanks to Mr. G.P. Purusharthi, and Mr.Irf an Ahmad Khan of Patna Science College f or their cooperation in our f ield trips. Refere nces: Ali , S. and S.D. Ripl ey ( 1989) , Compact Handbook of the birds of Indi a and Pakis tan, Oxford U ni v. Pres s, Bombay. Choudhary,D.N ;Si ng h,A.K.Sharma,Gopal(2008):Danapur M il itary Cantonment (IBA):The Larges t breeding s ite of Asian Openbill in Bihar, M ISTN ET9( 2):6-8. Sr idhar, S ( 2005) : Painted Storks skip Veerapur a yet ag ai n; a note from the Publ isher, Newsl etter for Bi rdwatchers , Vol.45 (1) . Jan-Feb (2- 3). Indian Wi ldli fe Protection Act (1972), Govt. of Indi a. Sri dhar , S and Pares h, U . Karmarkar ( 1999) : Some sugg esti ons for l ong time s ustenance of the Nascent breeding colony of Painted Storks near Si ra, N ewsl etter for Bi rdwatcher s Vol. 39 (2), M arch-April, 20. Choudhary, D .N. ( 2004): N ew Nesti ng colony of OBS i n Godda Di stri ct, Jharkhand, Newsl etter for Bir dwatchers’, Vol. 44(3), May- June, 47-48.

Is lam MZ & A.R . Rahmani ( 2004): Impor tant Bi rd Areas in Indi a, Pri or ity si tes for cons er vati on, IBCN , BN HS & Bir dl ife International, U.K. Roy, Tar un.K. (2005) : Nesting of wil d Painted Stor ks i n Delhi Zoo, MISTNET, Vol. 6( 3) J uly- Sept, 16- 17. C houdhar y D .N . & Ar vi nd M i s hr a ( 2006) : Si g hti ng of s ome thr eatened bi r d s pe c i es i n VGD S, Bhag al pur , Bi har , N ews l etter for Bi r dwatc her s , Vol - 48( 5), SeptOc t., 68- 70. Kurhade& Tambe, R. (2007): Dis covery of a new nesting c olony of Painted Storks in Ahmednagar distr ict, M aharashtra, N LBW, 47( 2) :21- 22. Gandhvi,I.R.(2002) :Pai nted Storks abandon nesting colony at Bhavnagar , Gujarat, Newsl etter for Bir dwatchers,, Vol.42 ( 1) Jan- Feb, 12. Ahmed, Ameen ( 1999): N ew breedi ng c ol ony of Panted Stor ks near Sir a, N ewsl etter for Bir dwatcher s,Vol.39 ( 2) , Marc hApri l, 20. C handrashekhr a, M and K.T.M ahal ingappa (2005) : Painted Stor ks abandon Kag galadu c ol ony, N ewsl etter for Bi rdwatc her s, Vol .45 (4) , J uly-Aug.51-52.

International Sparrow Day:

A Bengaluru Initiative

rd

A. K. C hakravart hy, No. 7, Alaka, 3 C ross , Chowdaiah Bl ock, R. T. Nag ar, Bengaluru- 560032

The Day March 20, 2012 marked the I nternational sparr ow day at th e St . Jos ep h’ s co lle ge , Be nga lu ru . Bi rdwat ch er s, re se ar ch er s, f o re st er s, ar ch it ec ts , urb an p la nn er s, journalists, media persons, publishers, of f icials f rom Bruhath B e ng a l u ru Ma h an a g a ra P a li k e ( BB MP ) a n d env ironmen talists conv erged to discuss the con tributiv e f a ct ors f or th e d ec lin e of ho us e s pa rro w (Pa ss se r domest icus) and way s to conserv e them. D r. Abraham Verghese, Mr. Harish Bhat and I represented the Newsletter f or Birdwa tchers (NLBW), and deliberated at th e day -long meeting. In f act th e day was observ ed to not only f ocus on house sparro w but also to reassess the entir e urban wil dlif e/ biodiv ersi ty, since sparrow is a critical link in the web of urban ecosy stem. It also gav e boost to alert the public about the import ance of sustaining nativ e, urban biodi v ersity in our midst. The sparrows are disappearing because they are unable to live and surviv e in an env ironment made unf riendly to them by our changing habit s and lif esty les. Theref ore, Biodiv ersity Conserv ation Ltd. (BCIL), and ZED organized the day, hoping it to be an annual ev ent, hencef orth. Mr. Harish Bhat pointed out that house sparrow is a f emaledominated f amily. In f iv e y e ars the numbers of sparrows increased f rom 2 to 16 in his house at Bengaluru . Both the sexes sha red domestic duti es. Prof . Ramacha ndra f rom

CES, India n Institute of Scie nce (IISc) Bengalu ru pointed out that s parrows are declini ng ev en in the rura l parts of I nd ia . E nv ir o nm en ta l p ol l ut io n, th e d ry in g u p an d disappear ance of lakes, ele ctromagnetic radia tion f rom mobile towers are some of the f actors driv ing the sparrows away. Mr. Sudhir , an av id birdwatch er mapped the distr ibution of sp arr ows in an d a rou nd Beng alu ru. Is ola ted sp arr ow populations were spotted in parts of Viv ek Nagar and parts of S hi v aj in ag ar, e sp eci al ly in a nd ar ou nd te mp le s, pa v e me nt s, s ho ps an d th at ch ed ho us es . Br ee di ng populations of sparrows are f ound in and around City Market, Bengaluru International airport, Russell Market, K. R. Puram, Gandhi Ba zaar and other pla ces. Sparse popul ations of sparrows are also located in campuses of Indian Institute of Sc ien ce (II Sc) , B ang alo re Un iv e rsi ty, Un iv e rsi ty of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Indian institute of Mangement (IIM), Indian Ins titute of H orticulture Research ( IIHR), Hesaraghat ta etc. Surprising ly sparrows were n ot spotted in the newly f ormed residentia l areas of BTM lay out. Indira Nagar, Koramangala, Jay anagar, etc. Sparrows are declining ev en in the parks like the Cubbon Park, Lalbagh, Rajigudda Park, Sampig e Park and other newly f ormed parks. Prof . Madhy asta from Udupi, South Canara, Karnataka has f ound spar rows declining in Udupi, a township with paddy f ields, areca gardens, coconut grov es and v egetable f ields.

Newsletter for Bir dwatcher s 52 (1) , 2012

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Pe st ic ide p oll ut io n a nd bu il di ngs wit h c on tem po ra ry arc hitec ture with radia tions are the prev a lent f acto rs, according to him. Dr. Abrah am Verghese traced the decline of sp arrows in Bengaluru f rom 1970s to 2010 . Af ter 1980s the number of sparrows showed a sharp dec line as concrete s tructures occupied m ost of the space i n Bengaluru city. The open and green spaces reduced ov er 30% in the city . He said that, sparrows are not the only birds that hav e mov ed out of the city, Bushchats, Robins, Swallows, Swif ts, Barbets, Koels, Sun birds and Bulbuls hav e also f ollowed the suit. Young minds galore A signif icant f eature of the Sparrow Day was the participation f rom, a nu mber of graduates and undergraduate students, who activ ely par ticipated with well illustrate d presentations with six documentaries and ov er 20 colorf ul posters. Students hav e f ound that when mother sparrow f ed the ch icks with v egetable matter, the nesting success and body mass was lower than when f ed with spi ders and insects. One of the v arious causes f or dramatic decrease in sparrow population was att ributed to introd uction of unleaded petr ol. Unleaded f uel believ ed to be eco-f riendly had harmf ul by products. The practice of utilizing methy l tertiary buty l ether (MTBE) as an anti-knocking agent, along wi th by products of combustion, is resulting in the killing of small insects. With f ewer insects to f eed on, the inf ant mortality rate of sparrows has gone up phenomenally. Ov er hundred student volunteers f rom 12 dif f erent colleges had taken up a campaign to bring back the ch unky bird (Sparrow) to the Silicon Valle y (Bengaluru). The v olunteers went around hanging artificial nests made of bamboo at ideal locations i n the city to attrac t the sparrows. But this f ailed to attract the birds. Our ef f o rt must be to creat e sparrowcorridors and prov ide not only suitable nesting sites but also clean drinking water, abundant insects and grains and green patches and tree cov er and protection f rom electromagnetic radiation s and chemical p ollution. Anothe r study f r om Christ U niv ersity pointed ou t that increased predation of nestl ings by cats and c rows hav e contributed to the decline of sparrows. The crow population acro ss Indi a has in creased manif o ld due t o incre ased accumulation of gar bage in the cities.

Pre senta tions f rom arch itects , town pla nners , f or est department of f icials were f ol lowed by a panel discussion. The panel consisted of experts f rom Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Doordarshan, Hy derabad, Mr. Dinesh, an env ironmental activ ist f rom Kerala. Mr. Harish Kumar, Mr. Muruli, a cy clist Deputy May or (BBMP) Beng aluru. Ms Deepa Mohan - Journalist, Mr. Suresh Kumar and Member Legislativ e Assembly (MLA) Rajajinagar, Mr. Harish Kumar pointed out that tr ee planting p rogramme on massiv e landscapes in Bengaluru f ail ed because of lack of public participat ion and support. It is necessary to p lant birdf riendly bushes and trees. Maintaining green spaces should be the responsibility of the public. He urged media persons to g iv e en ou gh sp ace f o r env iro nm ent al is sue s in newspapers an d magazines. Declining numbers: A global concern House sparrow is the oldest commensal of human beings. The bird serv es as an indelible indicator of human cultural history. Agriculture, use of f ire, f ragmentation of habitats, agglomeration o f dwelling units, f ormation of v illages and rural communities and ov erwinter storing of f ood grains by hu man s g ene rat ed, sy nant hro pic re spo nse s b y t he sparrows. In an editorial f or NLBW (NLBW 51( 2) MarchApril 2011 ), the publisher an d birder, Mr. S. S ridhar has tra ced huma n hi stor y wi th t he s parr ows. He f urt her elaborates as to how ancestors had taken y ears to nurture “Sy nanthr opy ” with sparrows and were pleased with the serv ices of the sparrows. So, many precious human liv es hav e been sav ed from deadly snakes in rural India. He f urther goes on to say that gradually, the practice of “ Rangoli “ or the art of portray al of inordinate designs in f ront y ards using ‘ ric e- f lo ur ’ bec ame a tr adi tio n a mo ng man y rur al household s. The sparrows we re thus prov ided with ample f ood in return these v eritable bird neighbors were enlisting themselv e s on guard duty to prov ide v igilanc e against snakes and other v ermins. The changes ushered in recent y ears, whe re in the practice of rangoli was gi v en up or rep laced with “Lim eston e po wder” hav e depr iv ed the sparrows of their wages f or the altruistic serv ices rendered, resulting in rev erse sy nanthropy. Nature Forev er Society, an NGO based in Nasik, Maharashtra is spreading the word on conserv ation by urging the people to dedicate their profile picture to s parrows on social netwo rking sites.

Please visit the following URLscontaining the archives of Newsletter for Birdwatchers for issues published between between 1960 and 2000 (some issues are missing) http://w w w .archiv e.org/search.php?query=subj ect%3A%22New sletter%20for%20Birdw atchers%22 and for all issues published between 2000 and 2011 w ww .nlbw.co.cc https://sites.google .com/site/nlbw 2011/ Happy Newsletter browsing!

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Newsletter for Bir dwatcher s 52 (1) , 2012

Sparro ws should not be con sidered as mere biol ogical resource o r entity or just any other animal. The world v iew is that the birds are critical l inks in the cy cle of lif e in the urban and rural env ironments. These birds are evolv ed with astonishin g intelligence and complex behav ioral patterns. In certain situations, sparro ws are regarded as pests and transmitt ers of v iral disea ses to humans and domestic animals. But largely, sparrows are regarded as benef icial to human soc iety. House sparro ws are not protect ed by law and thereb y, trapping, poiso ning or shooting o f adults; destruction of their nests and eggs are continuing unabated. Blocking n est holes and scar ing of f sparrows with noise, glue or po rcupine wires are t he other crude pra ctices are also hindering their chances of surv iv al. Wooving Sparrows 1. House spa rrow numbers hav e f allen signif ican tly since they peak ed in the 1920s, when f ood and wa stes f rom ho us eh ol ds p ro v i de d an u nl im it ed s up pl y of f oo d. Catastrophic decline in sparrow populations in sev eral urban and suburban areas of the world is indeed nagging all sparrow lov ers. Possible reasons proposed are changing agricultural practices such as a shif t to monoculture crops, sealing grain stores to deny access, retail ing of grains in p ackages to reduce spi llage, increased us e of herbicides/ p esticides, and quantum jump in pollution lev els impacting the nutritional regimes.

2. Sparrow populations across India hav e comprehensiv ely declined due to sev eral other f actors such as replacement of thatched huts and tiled houses with concrete structures. Substitutio n of open wells with bore wells; with li ttle or no scope f or nest building, reckless use of pesticides, rev olution in harv est practice and grain -storage technique s, and the univ ersal attendance of dome stic cats in urban and rural env ironments alike. 3. There i s a need to create public awareness about the disappearance of the sparrows and how their extinction can be prev ent ed. It is still poss ible to retain some of them in the urban h abitats if we care. It is not just f or s entimental reasons that we should care f or them. They also hav e a role in insect control, pollinatio n and seed dispersa l. We hav e written co untless poems abou t them; they do no t deserv e to be griev ed f or in our elegies, an editorial in Deccan Herald, concludes. Refer ences Antony, P. U. 2012. Song of the Sparrow. Decc an Herald. Mar ch 20. p. 4 Editorial, 2012, Vanishing Birds. Deccan Herald. March 20, 2012. p 8 Sr idhar, S. 2011. The ris e and fall of the s parr ow. News letter for Bi rdwatcher s, 51(2) : pp 2 Poornima Kandi, 2012. T ime to bri ng bac k the cubbyhol es . Deccan Herald. M arch 20. p. 4

Study on Diversity of Birds in Melghat Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra, India Sandeep R .Mishr a1, and Santo shi Das2, Odisha forest Department,Wild li fe (Odisha) E-mail :mi s hra_sandeepr anj an@ yahoo.c o.i n

Introduction Melghat F orests are locat ed on Gav ilgarh hills of Southern Sat pura ranges extending o v er 3000 km 2 in Amrav ati D istrict of Maharashtra S tate. Melghat Tiger Reserv e is included in Tiger Conserv ation landscape (TCL 52) and classif ied as “Global priority landscape f or Tiger conser v ation” (Dinerst ein et al 2006). It has contiguities to the north and the south within TCU 28(Wikramanay ake et al 1999). Melghat Tige r Rese rv e has the p otenti al to h old v i able population of Tigers ov er the long term by the v irtue of its s ize, connectiv it y and moderate l ev els of threats. Studies on bird d iv ersity, partic ularly in Melghat Tige r Reserv e hav e been ca rried out by Kasambe, R. M. (2003), Kasambe, R., & Wadatkar, J. (2006 ), Kasambe, R., Pande. S., Wadat kar, J., Pawashe, A. (2004):, Kasambe, R., Wadatkar J., Bhusum N.S., & Kasdekar F. (2005), Kothari A. (1998), Nelson A. E. (1925), Ranjitsinh M. K. (1985), Rithe K. ( 2003), Sawarkar V. B. (1987)

Newsletter for Bir dwatcher s 52 (1) , 2012

Study area: Melghat Ti ger Reserv e lies b etween 21011’ N a nd 200 46’ N and between 760 38’ E a nd 77034’ E.The n ame Melghat stands f or “intersection of hills” in the local language. It is a region with ru gged topography characterized by numerous v alley s and steep clif f s. The altitude of the area v aries f rom 380 to 113 8 msl. Tapti is the major riv er running along the boundary of the Reserv e. There are f iv e tributaries, running f rom South east to Northwest, draining into the Tapti Riv er which f orm s the northern bou ndary of the Tiger Reserv e. The av erage annual rainf all recorded in Melghat is 1000 mm to 1200 mm (Mehta, 1998). Melghat Forests are dry deciduous f orests of Central India. Melghat li es in central Highl and Biotic prov ince (Prov ince 6E) of the Dec can Biogeography Zone (Zon e6). The upper canopy of the f orests is dom inated by deciduou s species such as Te cton a g rand is, Adi na c ord ifol ia, Mit ragy na par vifl ora, Lan nea c oromande lica , Buc hana nia lanzan, Bassia lati folia and Terminalia tomentosa. These species shed leav es by the end of January. The undergrowth in the f orests is predominantly of Lantana camara, Helicteres isora, Co leb roo kia o ppo sit ifo lia , A zen za la map s a nd Ca rv ia ca ll os a. G ra ss c o v e r is n ot v e ry d en s e. B am bo o (Dendrocalamu s strictus) is prese nt sporadically b ut not in dense clumps (Mehta1998). The Tiger Reserv e includes 58 Villages within its boundaries spread acr oss the buf f er zon e and the multiple use zones while the core Zone is f ree o f settlements. Thre e v illages hav e been relocated successf ully in last three y ears under pro v ision s of W ildlif e (Pro tectio n) Act 1972, which is considered an important achiev ement by the conserv ationists and f oresters. Twenty -nine sp ecies of large mammals are recorded f rom the Tiger reserv e . The major c arniv o res inc lude Tiger (Panthera tigris), Leopard (Panthera pardus), Wild dog (Cuon alpin es dukhen sis), Ratel (Mel livora capensi s), Jac kal (Canis a ureus) and strip ed hy ena (hyena h yena). Among other mammals species such a sloth bear (Melurus Ursinus), Gaur (Bos ga urus), Sambar (Cervus un icolor), Mun tjac (Muntiacus muntjak), Nilgai ( Boselaphus trago camelus), Four horned antelope (Tetracerus qu adricornis), Common Langur (Pre sbytis entellu s), rhes us Macaq ue (Mac aca mulatta), palm c iv et (Paradox urus hermaphro dites), small Indian civ et (Viverricula indica) are recorded f rom the area. Chital (Axis axis) are sparsely distributed in the tiger reserv e, f ound in a f ew locations. In a ll 217 bird species hav e been recorded from the reserv e (Mehta, 1998). Methodology: The av ifauna of Melghat Tiger Reserv e was survey ed between Nov ember 2008 and July 20 09 as a part of Community Conserv at ion and Education Programme of the Reserv e. Weekly surv ey was done by systematically walking on f ixed routes though the study area. The birds were observed during most activ e period of the day i.e. 6.00 to 8.30 and 15:30 to

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18:30 with the help of 8X40 Bushnell binocular s. Surv ey s were condu cted on f oot in dif f erent ty pe of habi tat, where sighting chances are more and carried out ev ery day during the study period to encoun ter the maximum n umbers of birds. All identif ications were based on Grimmett et al (2001) and Salim Ali (The Book of Indian Birds, Thirteenth Edition). Only those species with conf ormered identif ication are listed in this paper. Results and Discussion: During the surv ey 61 species of birds belonging to 23 f amilies hav e been r ecorded (Table- 1). Amo ng the 23 f ami lies Ardeidae d ominated the list with 6 species and Upupidea, Bucerotidae, Apodidea, Coraciidae and Podicipedidae hav e only one sp ecies each. Ack nowle dgeme nt: The first author expresses his sincere gratitude to the Ncsa, Satpuda F oundation & Mahara shtra f orest depar tment f or the kind permission to unde rtake this study i nside the Melghat Tiger Reserv e. Refer ence: Al i s and S.D Ri pl y (2001) : Hand book of bir ds of Indi a and Pakistan (Vol 1 & 2) Oxfor d University Pres s, N ew Delhi. E. Di ner stei n, C. Loucks , A. H eydl auff, E wikr amnayke, G. Brianj For eest, J. Gi nsberg , S Kiengendon, P. leingruber, T.O Bri en, S. ei ndstic ker, M . song er 2006. Getti ng pri or ity for c onservation and Recovery of Wi ld T ig er s 2005-2015.The Technic al As ses sment WC S, WWF, Smits oni an and N FWFST F, N ew Yor k, Washington D . C. Gri mmett, R C. Ins ki pp and T. inskipp (2001) : pocket g ui de to the Bi rds of Indian Sub continent, Oxfor d U ni ver si ty Press , and New Yor k. Kasambe, R. M. (2003) Addi tions to the bi rds of Melghat Tig er Reserve, M ahar as htra. Zoos ’ Pr int Jour nal. Vol .18 (3) pp.1050. Kasambe, R ., & Wadatkar , J. ( 2006): R ecord of Malabar Pi ed Hornbi ll ( Anthr ac oc er os c or onatus ) and other bir ds from Melghat. New sletter for Birdwatc hers . Vol. 46(5): 67- 68. Kasambe, R ., Pande. Additional Rec ords in M el ghat T ig er Ornithologi sts: Vol .

S., Wadatkar , J., Pawashe, A. (2004) : of the Fores t Owlet H eteroglaux blewitti R es er ve, Maharashtr a, N ewsl etter for I- II: 12-14.

Kasambe, R., Wadatkar J ., Bhusum N .S., & Kasdekar F. (2005): Forest Owlets Heterogl aux bl ewitti in Melghat Ti ger Reser ve, Di stt. Amravati , M ahar as htr a, N ews letter for Bi rdwatcher s: Vol.45 No.3. Pp.38- 40 Kothari A. ( 1998) Si ghting of Black- capped Kingfi sher Hal cyon pi leata in Melg hat Ti ger R eserve, Mahar ashtra, Newsletter for Birdwatchers . Vol.38 (1).pp.11. Mehta 1998: A study on the impact of Forestry pr acti ces on Bi rds c ommuni ti es of Satpur a Hi ll s, PhD thesi s, Saurashtr a Univer si ty Nelson A. E. ( 1925) A Guide to Chi kalda. Govt. Press N agpur. Ranjits inh M . K. (1985) Saker Falc ons i n the Mel ghat, Journal of Bom. N at. Hist. Soc. Vol.82.

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Newsletter for Bir dwatcher s 52 (1) , 2012

Ri the K. (2003) N ew bi rd speci es recorded from Mel ghat. 18t h Nati onal Symposi um on Recent T rends in Life Sc ienc es , Amravati Univers ity, Amravati.pp.27-29. Sawarkar V. B. ( 1987) Bi rd s urvey of Melg hat Ti ger Reserve. Cheetal. Vol .29.pp.4-27.

Table1.List of birds of Melghat Ti ger Reserve. S.No Common Name Phasia nidae

Scientif ic Name

1 2

Common Quail Rain Quail

Coturnix coturnix Coturnix co romandelica

3 4

Grey Jungle f owl Indian Peaf owl Podicip edidae

Gallus so nneratii Pavo cristatus

5

Little Grebe Charadriinae

Tachybaptus ruficollis

6 7

Red-wattle d lapwing Yellow-watt led lapwing Ar de id ae

Ciconia nigra Ciconia e piscopus

Indian Pond Heron Cattle Egret

Ardeola grayii Bubulcu s ibis

8 9

10 Grey Heron 11 Great Egret 12 Intermediate Egret

Ardea c inerea Ardea alba Egretta i ntermedia

13 Little Egret Accipi tridae

Egretta garzetta

14 Brahmin y Kite 15 Crested Ser pent Eagle 16 Pallid Harrier

Haliastu r indus Spilorni s cheela Circus macrourus

17 Pied H arrier 18 Shikra

Circus mel anoleucos Accipite r badius

Scolop acidae 19 Green Sa ndpiper 20 Wood Sa ndpiper

31 Common Koel 32 Greater Coucal

Eudynamys s colopaceus Centropus sinensis

Strig idae 33 Jungle Owlet 34 Spotted Owlet

Glauc idium rad iatum Athene brama

35 Forest Owlet

Heteroglaux blewitti

Caprimulgidae 36 Common Indian Nightjar

Caprimulgus asiaticus

37 Indian Jungle Nightjar

Caprimulgu s indicus

Ap odid ae 38 Little Swif t

Apus a ffinis

Coraciidae 39 Indian Roller

Coracias be nghalensis

Alc edini dae 40 White-throated Kingfisher Halcyon s myrnensis 41 Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis 42 Pied Kingf isher

Ceryle rudis

Mer opid ae 43 Green Be e-eater

Merops orientalis

Blue-tailed Bee-eater

Merops philippinus

Upupidae 44 Common Hoopoe

Upupa epops

Bucerotidae 45 Indian Grey Hornbill

Ocyceros birostris

Pici dae

Tringa o chropus Tringa g lareola

46 Black-Sh ouldered Woodpecker

Chrysocolaptes festivus

47 Great Black woodpecker Dryocopus javensis 48 Heart-spotted Woodpecker Hemicircu s canente Dicruridae 49 Black Drongo 50 White-bellied Drongo

Dicrurus macrocercus Dicrurus ca erulescens

Corvidae

21 Common Sandpiper Columbidae

Actitis hypoleucos

51 House Crow 52 Large-bil led Crow

Corvus splendens Corvus mac rorhynchos

22 Rock Dov e 23 Oriental Turtle Dov e 24 Red Turtle Dov e

Columba livia Streptopelia orientalis Streptopelia tranquebarica

Pycnonotidae 53 Red-whiske red Bulbul

Pycnonotus jocosus

54 Red-v ented Bulbul

Pycnonotus cafer

25 Spotted-necked Dov e Psitta cidae

Streptopeli a chinensis

55 White-browed Bulbul 56 Passe ridae

Pycnonotus luteolus

26 Alexandrin e Parakeet 27 Rose-ringed Parakeet 28 Plum-heade d Parakeet

Psittacula eupatria Psittacul a krameri Psittacula c yanocephala

57 House Sparrow

Passer do mesticus

58 Yellow-throa ted Sparrow Phalacroc oracidae

Petronia xa nthocollis

Cuculidae 29 Indian Cuckoo

59 Little Cormorant

Phalacrocorax niger

Cuculus mi cropterus

30 Common Cuckoo

Cuculus canorus

60 Great Cormorant 61 Darter

Phalacroco rax carbo Anhinga me lanogaster

Newsletter for Bir dwatcher s 52 (1) , 2012

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CORRESP ONDENCE

ABOUT THE RE-DESINGNATION OF A SHIKAR CLUB AND THE ARMAND COUPLE, by LIEUT-GENERAL BALJIT SINGH (Retd.), House 219, Sector 16-A, Chandigarh-160 015. E -mail : [email protected] I r ead with immense i nterest the note “Ber nhard Gr iz mek Champion of wal k-i n Aviar ies ”, publis hed in the May-J une 2011, is sue of the N ewsl etter. My wife and I wer e i nstr umental in a s mall way to woo the Ar my away from s hi kar to conservation. The fir st conc rete step was to re-des ignate the shikar club at The School of Artil lery, Deolali, i n to a N atur e Cl ub i n Oc tober 1965, in c onjunc ti on with the National Wil dli fe Week. I obtained a copy of the fil m “Serengeti Shall Not Die” from the MGM di str ibutors at Bombay for a s um of R s 80/- for one ti me s cr eening! T he s cr eening foll owed a br ief speec h by me and the Nature Cl ub c ame i nto bei ng . My wi fe sold her s porti ng weapons and I put mine away, for g ood. And this was the Bernhar d connec ti on wi th the Indi an Army. We had g ifted two year ’s c ol l ec ti on of “ Ani mals M agazi ne” bound in two hard c over s to an Army li br ar y and wil l chec k if they have survived! The Ani mal s Mag azi ne was fir st publi shed in January 1963 by Ar mand D enis , under the patr onag e of Sir J ul ian Huxl ey and Si r Soll y Zucker man. Ber nhar d Gr iz meck was als o a regular contributor to this mag az ine. Armand and his c har is matic wi fe Mi chaela wer e publ is hi ng thi s magazi ne up to mid s eventi es for sure, fr om South Afr ic a, on hig h gr ade gl os sy paper and exc el lent vi sual s e

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HELP THE BIRDS by KARTIK S HASTRI, Jivdaya Charitable Trust, Trustee, Bird Conservation Society, Gujarat-vulture Cell Assistant coordinator, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, india. Email: [email protected], Duri ng Kite- fl yi ng fes ti vi ti es thous ands of bi rds fall vic ti m to the sharp gl as s powder c oated “maanja” with inj ur ies on their wings or j us t about anywher e, bl eedi ng them to death. T hi s festival is one of the mos t unfor tunate manmade dis as ters for the avi an communi ty of Ahmedabad and other c ities acr os s the c ountr y. M ore than 2000 bir ds g et ‘c ut’ every year i n Ahmedabad al one, last year at the Jivdaya Chari table H ospital al one 1865 bir ds were treated. The ki te stri ng s ar e so s harp that i t s ometimes chop off the whole wi ng !! These festivals ar e hel d at differ ent s eas ons at differ ent ci ti es and therefore we need to org anis e and prepare our selves to s ave as many li ves as we c an. H el p the Bir ds (H TB) c ampai gn i s org ani zed every year i n Ahmedabad by many N.G.O.s’ jointly wi th the forest depar tment and Wil dli fe Resc ue Center duri ng the Kite- fl ying fes ti val (U ttar ayan) as an effor t to save the inj ur ed bi rds from c er tain death and gi vi ng them a chanc e to survi ve. Our primar y foc us wil l be bi rds of endangered s pec ies, es peci al l y the Whi te-

Rumped Vultures . Who else can s ave the pr eci ous li ves of these hapless bi rds , i f we can’t pi tch in? We need your i nvolvement to s ave the bi rds and make thi s campai gn a s uc cess ! Ther e ar e s ever al ways i n whi ch you C AN help, even if you ar e not c omfortabl e wi th worki ng hands on with i nj ur ed bi rds . Apar t from fi eld-r es c ue, we wi ll need vol unteers for attendi ng to r es cue- phone c al ls , doc umentation, educ ation, awar enes s pr ograms, hel ping vets i n the operation theater, trans fer of birds, trans por tati on of i nj ured bi rds , data coll ec tion, donati on, logi sti cal support and muc h mor e. H ere i s your chanc e to help the urban bir dl ife and i f ever y one of us c ould pi tc h in, it wil l make a big differ ence in s aving the lives of our i nnocent feathered fri ends . So, l et us all join hands and try to hel p the bir ds i n whic hever way we can. We al so want all the veteri nary doc tors to enli st thems el ves for this noble c ause. e

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SI GHTI NG O F A LARG E CO NG RE GATI ON O F DEMOISELLE CRANES (Grus virgo) NEAR JANGI, KUTCH DT., GUJARAT. by A. MOHAMED SAMSOOR ALI *

, S. RAMESH KUMAR, P.R ARUN & L. JOSEPH REGINALD. SÁLIM ALI CENTRE FOR ORNITHOLOGY AND NATURAL HIS TORY, ANAIKATTY, COI MBATORE- 641108, TAM IL NADU,I NDIA,Email :amsamsoo r@yahoo. co.in During mid December 2011, we went on a sur vey of the habitats ar ound the Jangi vill age of Kutch di str ict, Gujarat as par t of our project “ Impac ts of wind farms on bi rds and bats ”. On 18 t h December, we saw a fl ock of larg e birds l anding near the study ar ea. We were surpr is ed because that was the fir st si ghting of such l ar ge bir ds i n our study ar ea. We i dentified the bi rds as Demois el le C rane Gr us v ir go. Later , on 21st D ec ember 2011, we vi si ted Lal i ana vil lage (2 km away fr om Jangi vil l ag e) i n s earc h of the r oosting s ite of Indi an Fl yi ng Fox Pteropus gi ganteus. At around 0830hr s we s ighted some l ar ge flocks of ash-g rey bir ds resting i n a vi l lage pond and we i mmedi atel y i dentifi ed the bi rds as Demoi sell e C ranes. We s canned the enti re pond which was about 1.5 hectar es , locally i dentified as Pac hasar pond ( 23° 16’ 8.4 N and 70° 32’ 32 N ). In all we counted 1170 Demois el le Cr anes i n the pond. On the ver y next day we vis ited the same pond and took a count of the c ranes whi ch was es ti mated at around 800 bir ds . Apart fr om Demoi sel le Cranes , other birds s uch as Little Grebe Tac hy baptus rufi coll is , Littl e Cormor ant Phalacr ocorax niger , Bl ac k-c rowned N ig ht Her on Ny cticorax nycticorax, Indian Pond Heron Ar deol a gr ay ii , Cattle Egr et Bubul cus ibis , Littl e Eg ret Egr etta garz etta, M edian Eg ret M es ophoyx i ntermedia, Bl ac k Ibis Pseudibis papi ll os a, Gl oss y Ibis Pl egadi s falc i nell us , Eurasi an Spoonbi ll Pl atal ea leucorodi a, Less er Whis tl ing Duck Dendroc ygna javanic a, Spot- bi lled Duc k Anas poeci lorhyncha, C ommon Moor hen Gal l inul a c hloropus , C ommon Teal Anas cr ec ca, C ommon C oot F ul ic a atra, R ed- wattl ed Lapwing Vanel lus i ndi cus, Yell ow-wattled Lapwi ng Vanellus mal abari cus, C ommon Sandpi per Actiti s hy pol euc os , Whi te- br eas ted

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Ki ng fi sher H al cy on s myr nens is , Smal l Bee- eater M er ops or iental is , Grey Wagtai l M otac il la c iner ea, Yel low Wagtai l Motaci ll a fl av a, Indian Peafowl Pavo c ri status and N ear Threatened D ar ter Anhinga mel anogas ter, Or iental Whi te Ibi s Thresk iornis mel anoc ephalus, Pai nted Stork M yc teri a leucocephala were als o r ecor ded in and around the pond duri ng our s ur vey. Pl ant Speci es li ke Fi cus benghal ens is , Az adi rachta indi ca, Ac ac ia nil otic a, Acaci a leucophloea, Pithecell obium dulc e, Ipomoea aquatic a, H el iotr opium indi cum, Typha angustifol ia, and Cy perus rotundus i n the pond wer e ideall y uti lized by the bir ds for foragi ng as well as for roosti ng. The Demoisel le cr ane i s the second most abundant of the worl d’s cr anes and total population was estimated ar ound 200,000 – 240,000. Globall y, it is listed as least concern / lower ris k spec ies. The demoi selle cranes which travel all the way from Siberia, Europe and Mongolia while it winters at North Africa and South Asia (Pakistan and India) ( Meine and George, 1996; Francis co and Tommy, 1999). The Demoi selle Crane is an impor tant winter migratory s pecies of Gujar at and Rajasthan ( Ali and R ipley 2001; Muthanna 2003; Singh 2005). In Khichan ( Rajasthan), more than 5,000 birds ar e regul arly sig hted i n winter eac h year (Singh 1990; Sharma 1991; Philippona 1995, Pfister 1997; Gor don and T ipling 2001). Ever y year towards the end of August and in ear ly September, just after the monsoon ceas es , Demois el le Cr anes fly i n fr om their breedi ng grounds in the s teppes of Eur asi a and Mong oli a. The State of Guj arat serves as the preferred wi nteri ng gr ound for the two s pec ies of migr atory cr anes i .e. D emoiselle C ranes Gr us vi rgo and Common C ranes Gr us grus. Out of the two the latter winters i n huge c oncentr ations i n the Banni gr as sl ands and i n other areas of Kutch di stri ct. T he D emoi sel le C ranes are mai nly s een i n Mandvi (Vi jays ag ar) , Mundr a, R apar and Bhachau. T her e ar e no pr evi ous r epor ts of the Demoi sell e C ranes i n Jangi vil l ag e and thi s r epor t wil l be hel pful to or ni thol og ists and natur e cons ervationi sts. Si nc e the vil lagers ar e mai nl y veg etari ans and consi der birds as spiri tual entities, the bir ds ar e s el dom poached or hunted. The vil lag er s ar e al so very pr otective of the birds frequenting thi s pond.

Refer ences Ali, S. & Ripley, S. D. (2001). Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. Vol.2. Oxford Univer sity Press, Bombay. Francisco, H.C. & Tommy, T. (1999). Demoiselle Crane Anthropoides virgo in the Iberian Peninsula, a summary of historical and subfossil data. Ardeola 46(1): 97-100. Gordon, R. & Tipling, D. (2001). Khichan – the Demoiselle Crane village. Birding World 14(3): 106-109. Meine, C.D. & George W. A. (1996). The cranes: Status survey and conservation action plan. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, U.K. Muthana, K. (2003). Migration of Demoiselle Cr ane. News letter for Birdwatchers 43(1): 13-14. Pfister, O. (1997). The Demoiselle Cranes of Khichan. Oriental Bird Club Bulletin 24: 22-24. Phi lippona, J. (1995) D emoi selle Cranes wintering near Khichan, Rajasthan. Journal of Ecological Society 8: 29. Shar ma, S. K. (1991). A huge fl ockof Demoiselle Crane seen in desert of R ajasthan. News letter for Bi rdwatchers 31 (5 & 6): 13. Singh, N. (1990). The cranes of Kheechan. Hornbill 3: 12-15. Singh, N. (2002). Demoiselle Crane at Kheedha vil lage. Newsletter for Birdwatchers 45(4) : 60.

Newsletter for Bir dwatcher s 52 (1) , 2012

Note from the Publisher (Continued) The phenomenon of revers e c ol oniz ati on i s impor tant, per haps above all for r efi ni ng our perc eption of col onization, communi ty as sembly and evol ution on i sl ands. But the c onc ept of r ever se coloniz ati on is still in i ts infanc y, owing to c ritical- defici ency of phylogeneti c data for i dentifyi ng the events. F urther, identifi cati on of r ever se c ol oniz ation requir es appropr iate s ampl ing of taxa and D NA seq uence, relationshi ps among is land and continental taxa, potentials for di ver si fi c ation, ec ol og ic al si mi l ar ities between continental and is land envi ronments, well -s uppor ted c as es and other relevant information In r ec ent year s r es earc h through l iter atur e review has gained momentum wi th the onset of wor ldwi de web and avai labi li ty of data at fi ng er tips, faci li tati ng many revi ewers to propound c ountles s interes ti ng theori es . T he theory of ‘ revers e coloni zation’ is one such ar ea for researc h and r eview. I concl ude this note wi th the fond hope that our readers wil l be abl e to g lean readil y avail able l iter ature to review and renew var ious hypotheses. It is per ti nent to note that the N ewsl etter has als o been c ontr ibuti ng modestly to the li teratur e and knowl edge hi ghway and as a fir st s tep, we have upl oaded thousands of pages to our websi te, and there ar e s everal other websi tes offer i ng i mpr es si ve data and content. You ar e wel come to engr oss your self in this captivati ng and r ewarding purs uit of r evi ewing and for tifyi ng theor i es on evolution, ec ol og y, di ver si ty, di stri buti on, behavior al ecology and so on, throug h liter ature s ur vey. T hanking you, Your s in Bir d Cons er vati on S. Sridhar , Publi sher, NLBW 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12)

Cov er Pictur es: Bl ack Swan Cygnus atratus Laughing Kookaburra Dac elo gi gas Crimson Rosella Platycercus elegans Galah Cacatua roseicapilla Magpie Lark Grallina cyanoleuca (female) Br ush- turkey Alectura lathami (female) Tawny Frogmouth Podargus s trigoi des Pacific black duck Anas supercili osa Pacifi c baza Avi ceda subc ristata Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Cacatua galeri ta Longbilled Corella Cacatua tenuirostris Masked plover Vanellus mi les Photo graphed in and around Sydney, New South W ales, Australia, by Dr. Rakesh Vyas, (s ee ar tic le on page 1)

Manuscript f or publication should be sent (in duplicate) by post or courier to

New sl e tte r for Bir dwa tcher s No 10 , Si ru r P ar k B St re et , S es ha dr ip ur am, B an ga lo r e 20 , Tel . 080 2356 1142, 2 346 46 82. along with a sof t copy (in MS Word f ormat only ) v ia e-mail to

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Newsletter for Bir dwatcher s 52 (1) , 2012

RANDOM NOTES FROM RAIPUR, CHHATISGARH by A M K B HAROS , B -10 1, GAYATRINAG AR PO ; SHANKE RNAG AR, RAIPUR. CHHATTISGA RH.P IN 49 20 07 . E-mail ; cwsraipu r@yah oo.co .in

R Gri mmett, C Inski pp, T Inski pp, Pock et Guide to the Birds of the Indi an Subcontinent Hugh Whistler, 1949, Popular Handbook of Indi an Bi rds, Gur ney & Jacks on, 4th Edi ti on

Dustbath by Rain Quails (Coturnix coromandelica) On 26 May 1998, while on my way to Munrethi V illage in Raipur dist, Chhattisgarh. , at arou nd 18.00 hrs, on t he edge of a WBM road, two quails wer e seen in the act of a dust bath in company of House Spa rrows (Passer do mesticus). As my v ehicle approached the dust bathing birds, the quails started m ov ing away quickly , But bef ore they entered a nearby bus h. I could identif y the birds as Rai n Quails. (Coturnix cor omandelica). Though sev eral bird species a re known to take d ust bath , there are no ref erences of the Rain Quails taking dust bath. Golden O riole (Oriolus o riolus) feeding o n a young Common Garden Lizard, On 3 Octo ber 2000, in early morning as I was watching birds near my residence at R aipur Chhattisgarh, a pair of Golden Oriole was seen perch ed on a tree about 10 meters away. The male lef t the tree and return af ter about two minutes, h olding a y oung Comm on garden lizard in its bill. The lizard was about 12 cms long. Af ter a little of manipulation and reposi tioning the baird s tarted to swallow t he in head f irst posi tion. With some dif f iculty it managed to swallow about half the and the remain ing portion was sti ll hanging awkwardly f rom the beak. A pied My na, which was observ ing the whole operation f lew in and started harassing the Oriole. Then the o riole f lew away wit h the lizard in it s beak, to complete the meal in seclusion and the f emale oriole which was watching the hue and cry rather nonchalantly f ollowed suit. The dieta ry of the species as described in th e Compact Hand-book of Birds of India & Pakistan (S. ALI & D. Ripley Ed 1987 Vo l-5 P-350) includes wild f igs, Lantana and other berries, insect s, caterpillars, ants and spid ers. Feeding on the y oung of a Common garden lizard has not been recorded, which is q uite unusual, as al so the method of swallowing a prey ; head-f irst.

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REMEMBERING PROF. S. RANGASWAMI, by A IR MA RSHA L (Retd) K. C. NANDA CARIA PPA , PV SM, VM, Rosh ana ra, Ma dke ri Ko dag u, KARNATAKA 571 2 01. E mai l : Dear Mr Sridhar, I am saddened to read of the great Professor’s passing away. I f irst met him in y our of f ice so many y ears ago. It was my priv ilege to hav e been intro duced to him by y o u. We did maintain a somewhat irregular correspondence which, alas, f inally tr ickled to a dead-en d. It was he who p ut me onto doing the correspondence cou rse on Ornithology . It was a great lear ning experience inte racting with him, no t only f or me...but I am sure f or the many, many others who had the opportunit y and the priv ilege of doing so. The world is a lesser place without him. The last t ime I wrote to him was when he was st ay ing with his daughter who was liv ing in Pune I think. Please conv ey my sincere and most heartf el t condolences. May his Soul rest in peace. With warm regards

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RE ME M BERI NG P RO F. S . RANGAS WAM I , by DIGAMBAR GADGIL, No.39, Anand van Colony, off Co ll e g e Ro a d, Nash i k 4 2 2 005 Email: Dear Mr Sridhar

Ali Sal im , The book of Indi an Bir ds, BN HS – 1996,

I am pleased that y ou hav e dev oted an entire issue f or the f ond memory of resp ected P rof . S . Rangas wami. I was not aware of h is close association with th e NLBW. He was known to me f or som e time. When I came to know a bout his ornitho logical course I start ed writ ing to him. He was alwa y s prom pt in reply in g. I v i sited h im whe n he wa s at his daughter’s place in Pimpri –Chinchv ad [ Pune]. He also v is ited m y plac e when he ca me to Nashik f or s ome program. Then we went on a shor t trip to the backwaters of Gang apur Da m f or birdwat ching. I had p lans t o prepa re a bird watchin g cours e in Ma rathi f o r child ren and he rea dily pe rm itt ed me t o u se th e m at eri al f r om hi s cou rs e. Unf o rtunat ely it is y et to ma teriali ze. Whe n it c omes thro ugh I will de dicate it to him.

Al i Sali m & Ripley D, 1996, A pic tor ial guide to the birds of the Indi an Sub C onti nent, BN HS.

Regards Digambar Gadgil

Refere nces; Al i Sali m & Ripley D, 1989, Compac t Handbook of the birds of India and Pak istan, Ox for d U niv er sity Pres s, Ri pl ey II , Si dney Di llon,1968, A sy nops is of the birds of India And Pak is tan ,BNH S – s ec ond edition. Gr immett R , Ins kipp C & . Ins kipp T, Ed – 1998, Indi a Sub Continent ,

Bi rds of the

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Newsletter for Bir dwatcher s 52 (1) , 2012