Breeding biology of the Malabar woodshrike Tephrodornis virgatus sylvicola Jerdon at Thekkady, Kerala

2 Pages·1992·1.2 MB·

by  Lalitha Vijayan

.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 125
largerthan thebrown shrikeLaniuscristatusandhad near Matmora (13 km from Dhakuakhana, the
light slaty-grey upperparts, the underparts being dull Subdivisional Headquarters) in Lakhimpur district.
white. The black band across the eye to the The grey shrike is a bird of comparatively drier
ear-coverts (typical of most shrikes) was not fully environs and is found up to Bihar and West Bengal
developed, and was slightly deeper-grey than the (HANDBOOKOFTHEBIRDSOFINDIAANDPAKISTAN,A1i, S
head and the upperparts. This may be due to the fact' and Ripley, S.D. 1983). The easternmost recorded
thatthebirdwasperhaps an immature.Iobservedthe locality so far was Kushtia (c. 23° 54’N, 89° 07’E),
birdfora fewminutestill itflewbeyond thehedge. Bangladesh (systematiclistofbirds, Rashid 1967).
It was undoubtedly a shrike and resembled The present locality may thus be the easternmost
closely the grey shrikeLaniusexcubitor. Ifitwas the distribution (27° 10’N,94° 33’E) .
grey shrike, then this is the first record in Assam.
Location was on the banks ofthe Brahmaputra river, April 5, 1990 ANWARUDDIN CHOUDHURY
BREEDING BIOLOGY OF THE MALABAR WOODSHRIKE TEPHRODORNIS
15.
VIRGATUS SYLVICOLA JERDON AT THEKKADY, KERALA
The present data, collected during an intensive on the top of a horizontal branch, at the base of the
study on the ecology of drongos (Vijayan 1984, main stemorabranch.
Ph.D. thesis,Univ. ofBombay) underthesupervision Nest, nest building and clutch size: The nest
of the late Dr. Salim Ali, provide details on the is a shallow cup ofspiderwebs,moss,lichens,pieces
nesting of this species at Thekkady in the Periyar of bark, and a few thin fibres as a lining at the
Tiger Reserve (9° 15’ to 9° 40’ N and 76° 05’ to 77° bottom. Only the slightly raised rim ofthe nest could
25’E) in Kerala during 1981. The study area was of be seen from below as it was well camouflaged by
about 150 ha of moist deciduous/ semi-evergreen the stem of the tree and the colour ofthe bird. Nest
forestpatch with low-lyinggrasslandson eitherside. buildingtook about 8 to 12 days for the first nest and
Nesting season: The nesting season extends was ofa shorter duration while renesting. Ofthe 12
from January to April. Six pairs were observed nests, only in seven was the two eggclutch complete
breeding in the study area. Renestingwas noticed in (Table 1).
all pairs except the one in which the first clutch was Incubation and nesting success: Except for
successful. Therefore, in all, 12 nests were observed, two clutches, all the others were predated duringthe
of which two were in January, nine in February and incubation period which was 15 and 16 days in the
one in March. The successful pair had fledgelings in two cases observed, from which only one was
March-April. successful inproducingtwofledgelings.Thenestling
Nesting tree, height and location: Teak period was 17 days. Onenestwasdesertedasthe first
Tectona grandis and terminalia Terminalia egg was preyed on the day it was laid. Four nests
paniculatawereused fornesting.Amongthe 12nests were destroyed even before laying.Hatchingsuccess
observed, seven were on the former and five on the was 26.6% and nesting success 13.3%, the
m
latter. Nesting height varied from 8 to 13 with an productivity being 0.33 young per pair. The
average of 10 m (Table 1). Location ofthe nest was fledgelingperiodand fledgelingsuccess could notbe
TABLE1
NESTINGDETAILSOFTHEMALABARWOODSHRIKEATTHEKKADYDURING1981
Noof Nesting Clutch Incubation Nestling
Nestingtree nests height size period period
inm±SD (days) (days)
—
Tectonagrandis(Teak) 7 10.1 ± 1.8 2 15
Terminaliapaniculata(Terminalia) 5 9.8± 0.8 2 16 17
9
126 JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 89
recorded asthefledgelingswerenotfollowed. encouragement and also for going through the
This study was supported by the Salim manuscript.
Ali-Loke Wan Tho Research Fellowship from the
BNHS. Thanks due to Dr. V.S. Vijayan for his June 8, 1990 LAU1HAVIJAYAN
WINTERING RANGE EXTENSION FOR THE RUBYTHROAT
16.
ERITHACUS CALLIOPE
Placeofringing Wing(mm) Bill (mm) Tarsus(mm) Tail(mm) Weight(g)
Tirumala Hills 73 16 28 62 20
PointCalimere 76 19 29 63 23
The rubythroat Erithacus calliope is an note that another male rubythroat was ringed at
uncommon winter visitor to the Indian subcontinent, Tirumala Hills (13° 40’ N, 79°20 E) in southern
mostly to its north-eastern and eastern parts. In south Andhra Pradesh on 21 November 1989 and even that
India they are known to reach only up to Godavari was further south to its known wintering range in
delta in north-eastern AndhraPradesh where they are India. Since the birds were caught in November and
fairly common only in Hailakandi and February itis quite likely thatthe species isnotjust a
Visakhapatnam (17° 30’N, 83° E) districts passagemigrantbuta sporadicwintervisitorto south
(HANDBOOK OF BIRDS OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN, Ali, S. India aswell.
andRipley, S.D. 1983). The measurements (mm) and weight (gs ofthe
Amale rubythroat was trapped and ringed on 3 birdsareasshown above.
February 1990 at Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird
Sanctuary (10° 18’N; 79° 52’E) inTamil Nadu. This S.BALACHANDRAN
is the first confirmed record of rubythroat for the LIMAROSALIND
state and the southernmostrecord.It is interestingto March 29, 1990 S.ALAGARRAJAN
PLUMAGES, FEMALE DIMORPHISM AND POLYMORPHISM OF THE
17.
ENDEMIC INDIAN SPECIES PARUS XANTHOGENYS
(With a colour plate)
There appears to be some confusion and Ghats survey birds they stated that the peninsular
controversy regarding the plumages of the Parus Indian race aplonotus and the Western Ghats race
xanthogenys group. Ablack crest and a longitudinal travancoreensis have their sexes different. They
blackband from chin to vent, is usually described as described three types of females for the race
being the adult plumage common to both sexes. travancoreensis. 1. Black head and black band,
Whistler and Kinnear (1931, JBNHS 35: 520) 2. Blackhead and greenband and 3. Green head and
examined the series collected by La Personne and greenband.
reported an interesting problem regarding the Salim Ali (1940, JBNHS 41: 86) says the
plumages of this genus. 15 males agreed with the femalesweredimorphicinaplonotus. Phase 1. crown
description, but the three females and an unsexed and eye-streak black, ventral stripe dull olive green;
bird differed in having the black ventral band Phase 2. crown and eye-streak dull olive green,
replaced by dull olive green. They concluded that ventral stripe dull olive green. For travancoreensis
,
either the sexes differ or the bird takes a year to he said adult male and female were not alike. Male:
assume adult plumage. After examining the Eastern crown black, ventral stripe black. Female: crown