Distribution and Nesting Sites of the Blacknecked Stork Ephippiorhynchus Asiaticus

3 Pages·2001·1.8 MB·

by  K S Gopi Sundar

1
MISCELLANEOUSNOTES
Appendix
S.No. Year Dateofarrival DateofDeparture Numbers Remarks
1. 1988 19.10.88 20.10.88 120+
2. 1988 24.11.88 26.11.88 280+ HeavyStormsPreceded Rain
3. 1989 26.10.89 27.10.89 60+
4. 1989 28.1189 29.11.89 40+
5. 1990 21.10.90 24.10.90 150+
6. 1991 28.10.91 30.10.91 40+
7. 1992 4.12.92 7.12.92 200+ HeavyStorm
8. 1993 21.10.93 23.10.93 50+ ContinuousRains
9. i993 25.1 1.93 27.11.93 300+ HeavyStormprecededRains
10. 1993 30.11.93 3.12.93 150+
11. 1994 26.10.94 28.10.94 90+
12. 1995 didnotvisit
13. 1996 didnotvisit
14. 1997 16.10.97 28.10.97 250+ EarlyRainsHeavyStorm
PrecededRains
15. 1998 2.11.98 4.11.98 300+ HeayStormsPrecededRains
16. 1998 20.11.98 21.11.98 90+
and sparse trees Azadirachta indica Prosopis the total sometimes reaching 300, but leave
,
juliflora Acacia leucophloea and A. nilotica. together as a group. They keep moving while
,
m
White storks are seen here from the foraging,withabout8 inbetweenindividuals.
beginningofthenortheastmonsoon.Theyarrive Theslushandwaterlogging,grazingsheep,cattle
in the afternoon or evening, and depart in the orbuffaloes do notbotherthem.
nightorearlymorning.Reachinginadownpour,
often along with a storm, they depart when the April 24, 1999 J. MANGALARAJ JOHNSON
rainstopsandtheskyclears.Theygenerallyland 80, Rajaram Salai, K.K. Nagar,
in small, unnoticeable groups often to twenty, Tiruchirapalli620021, TamilNadu, India.
9. DISTRIBUTION AND NESTING SITES OF THE BLACKNECKED STORK
EPHIPPIORHYNCHUSASIATICUS
The blacknecked stork Ephippiorhynchus information is presented in Table 1.
asiaticus is threatened due to habitat loss and it Gujarat: Though known to be inhabiting
is feared to have become very rare. In recent inland wetlands, fourbirds were seenbythe sea
literature, concerned individualshave attempted inGujarat(Table 1). Itwas notclear ifthey had
to highlight the decline ofthis species and it is nested in the immediate vicinity or not. All the
suggestedthatthisspeciesbeplacedinCategory birds were resting on a dry sandy bank in the
I ofCITES (Rahmani 1989, Elliott 1992). The afternoon.
species is largely well-dispersed andrarely seen Haryana: Storkshavenotbeenpreviously
ingroups. The ecologyoftheblackneckedstork reportedfromBhindawasinHaryana.Thelocals
is not clearly understood and information on its have not seen the species breeding in the area,
distribution and nesting is sparse and scattered. even though the lake has a large heronry, and
During a survey to assess the status ofthe sarus several large trees in and around the lake.
crane in India (May 1998 to March 1999), we Sultanpur in Jajjar district ofHaryana has been
hadanexcellentopportunitytorecordsiteswhere facing drought for the past three years
the blacknecked stork feed and breed. This continuously and water birds were not seen.
276 JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 98(2), AUG. 200
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
Table
1
RECORDSOFBLACKNECKEDSTORK(EPHIPPIORHYNCHUSASIATICUS)
SIGHTINGSBETWEENMAY1998ANDMARCH 1999
State District DateofSighting Place Number Comments
Gujarat Jamnagar 25.ii.1999 JodiyaCreek 4 Twoadultsandtwojuveniles
Haryana Rohtak 16.vi.1998 Bhindawas 4 —Twopairs
Rajasthan Banswara 5.ii.1999 HaroDam 1
Bharatpur 23.V.1998 KeoladeoNP 3 Alladults
UttarPradesh Kheri 3.vii.1998 DudwaNP 3 Twoadultsandonejuvenile.
Bahraich 27.i.1999 RoadtoLakhimpur 1 AdultinuncultivatedField.
(27°57'N;81°ITE)
RaiBareli 28.i.1999 Samaspur 5 Twoadultsandthreesub-adults.
Aligarh 13.ii.1999 Shekha 4 Alladults.
Etawah 15.ii 1999 NearEtawah 2 Adultsfeedinginaninundated
wheatfield.i'26°46'N;79°7'E)
WestBengal Jalpaiguri 18.i.1999 Chapramari 3 Alladults,roostingonatree.
Rahmani (1989) reports a couple ofbirds from and Madhya Pradesh, but did not sight any
this site. blacknecked storks.
Rajasthan: TheBharatpurpopulationhas Rahmani (1989) and Lopez & Mundkur
been well monitored. During our observation, (1997) have records from the Asian Census
one ofthe blacknecked storks caught hold ofa dating from 1989 andthe trend is one ofdecline
dabchick(Podicepsruficollis)andproceededto in sight records of the species. It is
thrash it around for a while before swallowing perhaps time to take stock of all available
it whole. informationregardingtheblackneckedstorkand
UttarPradesh: Alwaysbeenknowntobe initiate a conservation plan to save the species.
the stronghold for this species and our
observationscorroboratethisview.Samaspurwas Acknowledgments
seentobeanestingsiteforthestorks,previously
unknown (Rahmani 1989). There were three The fieldworkwas madepossible through
sub-adults with two parent birds in a bird funding by the Wildlife Institute ofIndia under
sanctuary. Theparentswereguardingtheyoung the Sarus Crane Project and we thank Mr. S.K.
ones by standing on either side ofthem. When MukherjeeandMr.B.C.Choudhuryforfacilities.
approached, the adults uttered a loud call and The Chief Wildlife Wardens of all the States
took flight, followedbythe sub-adults. Anhour wereveryhelpfulduringthe entireperiodofthe
later, inanotherpart ofthe sanctuary, they were survey andwethankthemforpermissiontovisit
seen again, sitting onthe ground flankedby the protected areas. We thank Sapna, Anil, Rajiv,
parent birds. Bivash,PurushottamandSurenderforassistance
Northeast: There are few records andthe during fieldwork.
status is unclear. In Chapramari, West Bengal,
thestorkshavebeenrecordedbreedingregularly April 7, 1999 K.S. GOPI SUNDAR
and the forest staff of the Sanctuary offers JATINDERKAUR
protection to the nesting birds. Wildlife Institute ofIndia, P.B. 18,
Others: We also visited several wetlands Dehra Dun 248 001,
in Jammu, Punjab, Maharashtra, Bihar, Orissa Uttaranchal, India.
JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 98(2),AUG. 2001 277
. .
MISCELLANEOUSNOTES
References
Elliot, A. (1992): Family Ciconiidae (Storks) In: CoordinatedWaterfowlCensusandanOverview
Handbook ofthe Birds ofthe World. Volume 1 of the Status of Wetlands in Asia. Wetland
Eds. del Hoyo, J.A. Elliott & J. Sargatal. Lynx International,KualaLumpur.Pp.98-108.
Edicions,Barcelona. Rahmani, A.R. (1989): Status ofthe Blacknecked Stork
Lopez, A. & T. Mundkur (Eds) (1997): The Asian Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus in the Indian
Waterfowl Census 1994-1996. Results of the subcontinent.Forktail5:99-110.
10. CINEREOUS VULTUREAEGYPIUSMONACHUS(LINN.),
FAMILYACCIPITRIDAE, INKARNATAKA
On December 15, 1998 while on a visitto Dhulia district in Maharashtra) (Ali and Ripley
HarangiDam, closetoKushalnagarintheCoorg 1987). Occasionalindividualshavebeensighted
district of Karnataka, a largish vulture was in Assam (Choudhury 1986) and Calcutta
observed soaring over the western edge of the (=Kolkata) (Baker 1910) in the northeast.
damarea. On approachingtohave acloser look, Althoughveryrare,the specieshasbeensighted
its very dark chocolate brown underparts with i1n99S1o)uth India, once each in Nellore and
pale feet and a smaller (unfeathered) head Karimnagar districts of Andhra Pradesh
indicated it to be a cinereous vulture Aegypius (Perennou and Santharam 1990, Choudhury
monachus. The bird was observed for about 10 1990) and in Pathanamthitta, Kerala (Kumar
minutes. Later, the bird pulled its wings . The present sighting is the first record
somewhatclosertoitsbodyandsailedoverhead, of the species in Karnataka, and hence, is of
as it glided towards the southeastern region of interest.
the barrage and disappeared from sight.
Kushalnagarregioncomeswithintheeasterndry March 24, 1999 S. SUBRAMANYA
zone of Coorg district. The area where the bird PHTScheme, 'J' Block,
wassightedwasdryandopenwithscatteredtrees. University ofAgricultural Sciences,
Thecinereousvultureiswidelydistributed G.K.V.K. Campus,
in centralAsia, but inIndia it is mainlyawinter Bangalore 560 065,
visitor to the north and northwest (as far as Karnataka, India.
ReferENCES
Baker,E.C.S.(1910):NotesontheoccurrenceofVultur Pradesh.Mayura 7& 8:49-50.
monachus inCalcutta. Rec. IndianMus. 5: 81 Kumar, R.S.S. (1991): Cinereous Vulture Aegypius
Choudhury,A.(1986):OccurrenceofCinereousVulture monachus (Linn.) in Pathanamthitta. Kerala.
{Aegypius monachus) in the lower altitudes in J. Bombaynat. Hist. Soc. 88: 111
Assam(India). TigerPaper13(2):32. Perennou,C.&V.Santharam(1990)Statusofsomebirds
Choudhury, B.C. (1990) Capture ofCinereous Vulture in southeastern India. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc.
Aegypiusmonachusin Karimnagardistrict,Andhra 87:306-307.
FIRST SIGHTINGOFCRABPLOVERDROMASARDEOLA AND
1 1. (?)
PIEDHARRIERCIRCUSMELANOLEUCOSINRAIGADDISTRICT,MAHARASHTRA
OnNovember22, 1998 a flockofsixcrab Taluka Murud, Raigad district in the Konkan
plovers Dromasardeola wasseenonthesandy areaofMaharashtra.Probablythesameflockwas
( )
beach ofAgardandavillage nearMurud-Janjira, sighted again on December 20, 1998 on the
278 JOURNAL BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 98(2), AUG. 2001
,