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Back on the radar
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Quite a few birds considered extinct have resurfaced recently, notes AMRITA TALWAR
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Photo: Sumit Sen
A rare view A large-billed reed warbler bugun liocichla and Jerdon’s courser
These may be difficult times for tigers, elephants and many other wildlife species, but for birds, there seems to be a lot to cheer about in India. Many of the documented 1,300 bird species are increasingly being spotted in the country. Bird watchers here can now hope to see quite a few rare species. Nearly 10 birds, considered extinct, have been re-discovered recently. In April this year, a rare warbler known as the large-billed reed warbler was spotted after 140 years. Birder Sumit Sen of Kolkata sighted the warbler near Chintamani Kar Bird Sanctuary, Narendrapur, 10 kms South of Kolkata. A single specimen of this specie was collected in the Sutlej Valley near Rampur, Himachal Pradesh, way back in November, 1867.
Photo: Simon Cook
Recounts Sen, “While bird watching, we found this warbler flitting from one tree to another and chased it for 45 minutes. It displayed a rare behaviour — while feeding it constantly fanned its tail and opened and closed its tail every time it hopped from one tree to another. The movement of the bird was fantail (a bird specie), the bird seemed to slide/glide from one feeding point to another. It did not call even once in 12 minutes. This bird was difficult to identify. I took visuals and rotated them around various bird clubs. It was promptly identified as the reed warbler.” Sen says, “I am convinced that there are yet-to-be-discovered birds lurking in the Eastern Ghats and the North-East.”
Another achievement
Prior to the reed warbler’s re-discovery came yet another feather in the birders’ cap. Considered among the birding community as the most sensational ornithological discovery in India, Bugun liocichla has been spotted by Ramana Athreya in Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh. Named after the local Bugun tribe, the bird was first seen by Ramana at the sanctuary in 1995, but it took him more than a decade to sight it again at the same place. “Even when I spotted it the first time, I knew it was something very special,” he says. Although two Bugun liocichlas were caught, both were released and no scientific specimen was collected.
Ramana’s work, though, doesn’t end here. He is now trying to see if any new species can be found in the area. He is also trying to study the specie to find out why they are so few, and their requirements, so that such facilities can be provided. He is also working with the local community to promote eco-tourism and also to slow down wood cutting.
Photo:Ramana Athreya
If these two sightings were celebrated by the birders as rare finds, the discovering of the forest spotted owlet and Jerdon’s courser were based on Darwin’s survival of the fittest theory. Tagged by ornithologists as India’s most elusive birds, these species have surfaced under pressure in spite of illicit timber felling and clearing of forests for agriculture. The owlet was spotted by a British-American team of ornithologists in the Dhule region of Madhya Pradesh in 1998. Before its rediscovery, no definite record of the specie had been obtained since 1884. The forest owlet is a squarish-headed owl, similar to the smaller spotted but rather slatier-brown and more boldly patterned.
Says Asad Rahmani, Director, Bombay Natural History Society, “There is a need for intensive surveys to be conducted on all the reported and suspected owl habitats. Existing sites such as Taloda, therefore, need to be strictly protected if the owlet is to be saved.” Considered the most exciting and significant achievement of Indian ornithology, Bharat Bushan, a young BNHS scientist, surveyed the dry scrub covered areas of Andhra Pradesh, where T.C. Jerdon, an Indian Army officer, first recorded the bird in 1848. In 1986, the specie was rediscovered. Prior to this, Blandford recorded its sighting in 1867 and Howard Campbell in 1900. Always a rare bird, its few sightings were restricted to Pennar and Godavari rivers of Andhra Pradesh to the North West of Madras. It is a nocturnal specie found in open patches within scrub bordering the dry deciduous forest of the region.
Says Rahmani, “Bushan has identified six sites in the Lankamalai Hills. If we don’t take extra measures to save its habitat the bird will be lost again. In 2001, we estimated some 32 to 50 coursers in that area.”
Another rare discovery was the rusty-throated wren babbler in November 2004 by Ben King and Julian P. Donahue. They found this specie at 6000 feet on the Roing-Hunli road in the Dibang river drainage in Arunachal Pradesh. There were no additional records or field observations of this bird for almost 58 years.
“There is a lot of hope for birds in India. If we are allowed to study certain areas and bird ringing is conducted, we surely will discover new species. The Government has to cooperate,” feels Rahmani.
Unspotted
Two bird species that have not been recorded for the last 70 years are:
The Pink-headed Duck : The duck has been extinct from the wild since 1926. It is understood that the last living pink headed duck specie died around 1935 in a private collection in England.
The Himalayan Mountain Quail : The mountain quail was first reported in 1846 and has not been spotted since 1876. However, ornithologists feel that the bird maybe present in the thick mountain forest of Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh.
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