A Large Congregation of Cotton Teal Nettapus Coromandelianus Observed At Chilika Lake, Orissa, India

2008·0.54 MB·

by  P Sathiyaselvam

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
A LARGE CONGREGATION OF COTTON TEALNETTAPUS COROMANDELIANUS
6.
OBSERVED AT CHILIKA LAKE, ORISSA, INDIA
1
P. Sathiyaselvam2-4, S. Balachandran2-5 and D.K. Parmanik3
'AcceptedOctober03, 2006
-’BombayNatural History Society, HombillHouse,S.B. SinghRoad,Mumbai400001,Maharashtra, India.
'OfficeoftheChiefWildlifeWarden,GovernmentofOrissa,BDAApartment,5lhFloor,NilkanthaNagar,Nayapalli,Bhubaneswar,
Orissa,India.
'Email: [email protected]
"Email: [email protected], [email protected]
On January 11, 2003, one ofus (PS) participated as a The handbook (Ali and Ripley 1983) records 500 birds as
group leader of one of the 14 groups formed among the thecongregationofCottonTealinanarea. Sridharan(1989)
participants of the Mid-winter Waterfowl Count organised recorded 562 individuals ofthe species from the Keoladeo
bytheChilikaWildlifeDivisionatChilikaLake,Orissa.The NationalPark.ItisworthtomentionthatBenthallandCraven
area allotted to the group was Tinimuhani, the confluence (1950) stated that the CottonTeal was scarce in the Chilika
pointofthe three tributariesofMahanadi, namely the Daya, Lake.Moreover,thisrecordof5,400CottonTealisalsomore
Bhargavi and Nuna, in the northern sector ofthe Lake. The than 5.4% of its biogeographical population as per the
bulk ofthe freshwater inflow into the Lake is through these estimates given by the Wetlands International Waterbird
three tributaries. The census team left Balipatpur Jetty Estimatesof2006(WetlandsInternational2006).Onanother
(19° 0.92' N; 85° 0.49' E) at 0900 hrs. PS was counting the occasion atotal of5,200 birds were recorded by SB during
bird numbers species-wise and D.K. Parmanik, an Assistant the first week of January 2006 from the same area. These
ConservatorofForests,wasrecordingthenumbersinthefield records suggest that a large occurrence of Cotton Teal at
notebook.Around 1200hrsthegroupapproachedamajorbird Chilika is regular, not occasional. This also highlights the
congregation area at Tinimuhani. The area was filled with importance of the Chilika lake for the resident waterfowl
waterfowl; predominantly - Eurasian Coot Fulica atra. species, besidesits globalimportanceofholding the largest
CottonTealNettapuscoromandelianus,Red-crestedPochard migratory waterbird congregation in India.
Netta rufina Pheasant-tailed Jacana Hydrophasianus
,
chirurgus and Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula. Over one ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
thousandWhiskeredTernChlidonicishybridaover-flyingand
often resting on the fish net poles were also observed. WearegratefultoMr.J.C. Daniel,HonorarySecretary,
We counted about 5,400Cotton Teals. and former Director BNHS for reading the manuscript
When SB visited the same area for a fortnightly bird We would like to express our sincere thanks to the Chilika
monitoring along with PS during the first week of March, Development Authority, Govt, of Orissa, for funding this
theformersawabout 1,600CottonTeals.WhenPSmentioned project, and Chief Wildlife Warden of Orissa for granting
theearliersightingof5,400birdstoSB,duringtheMid-winter necessarypermissionforthestudy.Wegreatlyappreciatethe
Waterfowl Count, he was surprised. We realised that this hardworkrenderedbyourfieldassistantsMr.P.Guruswamy
record was the largest known congregation of this species. and Mr. Niranjan Dalei.
Ali,S.&S.D.Ripley(1983):HandbookoftheBirdsofIndiaandPakistan. Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur. Ph.D. Dissertation,
Compactedition,OxfordUniv. Press,NewDelhi. Pp. 190-192. UniversityofBombay,Bombay. Pp. 31-35.
Benthall,E.C.&L.A.Craven(1950):GeeseandDuckontheChilika Wetlands International (2006): Waterbird Population Estimates -
Lake,Orissa. J. BombayNat. Hist. Soc. 49(2): 312-313. Fourth Edition. Wetlands International, Wageningen,
Sridharan, U. (1989): Comparative ecology of resident ducks in TheNetherlands. Pp. 84.
96 J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 105 (1), Jan-Apr 2008