Eastern Calandra lark Melanocorypha Bimaculata in Mysore, Karnataka: a new Record for Southern India

2004·0.55 MB·

by  S Thejaswi

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
occurrence ofthe Black Tern Chlidonias niger (Linnaeus) on Sangha, H.S. (1994): Black Tern at Point Calimere, Tamil Nadu.
India’s eastern coast. J. BombayNat. Hist. Soc. 90(3): 511. NewsletterforBirdwatchers34(2):34.
Perennou, C. & V. Santharam (1990): Status of some birds in Sangha, H.S. (1999): Records ofsignificance from Pulicat, Andhra
southeastern India. J BombayNat. Hist. Soc. 87(2): 306-307. PradeshandPunjab.NewsletterforBirdwatchers39(2):36-37.
15. ON THE INSECTIVOROUS DIET OF COLUMBA LIVIA GMELIN
Some years ago I was watching House Crows, Koels pickedupandswalloweddirectly,whilethosestillalivewere
etc. along with Spotted Owlets (in the bright morning light) shaken with a sideways movement ofthe bill before being
eating winged termites, emerging from the ground after a gulped down.
heavyshowerofrain. SomeBlue RockPigeonColumbalivia I have kept domestic pigeons, and have had
alsojoined the other birds on the ground and started picking opportunities of observing free living Columba livia but
,
up something in their bills. 1 assumed that they were eating never have I seen them eating insects.
grassseedsorpickingupgrit. However, recentlyon June30,
2002, after it had rained the previous day, I saw, from the August 10,2002 M.K.H1MMATSINHJ1
verandahofmyhouse, fourpigeonsavidlyeatingthewinged JubileeGround,
termitesthathademergedfromtheground! Deadinsectswere Bhuj,Kutch,Gujarat, India.
EASTERN CALANDRA-LARK MELANOCORYPHA BIMACULATA
16.
IN MYSORE, KARNATAKA: A NEW RECORD FOR SOUTHERN INDIA
Fourteen Eastern Calandra-Larks Melanocorypha and Uttar Pradesh east to about the Jumna river (Ali and
bimaculata(Menetries 1832)wereobservedatLingambudhi Ripley 1987);alsotermedas“erratic”inrecenttimes(Grimmett
lake (12° 16'N, 76° 37' E), in the outskirts ofMysore city etal. 1998). Specimenscollectedfrom Kutch (Himmatsinhji
(12° 18'N, 76° 39' E), on January 7, 2001. Five birds were 1960, Ali and Ripley 1987) appear to be the southern-
observed again at the same site on February 25, 2001. The most records hitherto of the species. This sighting is
birds were observed on the north-western end ofthe lake in possibly the first from peninsular India, south of the
c. twoacresofmixed grasslandclosetothe lake. Theywere Vindhyas.
identified by their larger size (vis-a-vis the common and TheGreaterShort-toedLarkontheotherhandisafairly
widespread Greater Short-toed Lark CalandreUa common species in winter around Mysore, usually in small
brachydactyla), robust beak, distinct white supercilium, a flocks,butoccasionallyin largeaggregationsofuptoacouple
conspicuous black patch on the side ofthe chest vs. a small ofthousand birds.
patch, sometimes absent in CalandreUa absence ofa white
,
trailing edge to the wing in flight vs. its presence in the July29,2002 S. THEJASW1
extralimital European Calandra-Lark, Melanocorypha 639, ‘SibiaHouse’, 16thCross,
calandra and a narrow, white terminal band to the tail. In ‘B’Block,Vijayanagar3,dStage,
,
flight, the call heard was similar to that of CalandreUa, Mysore570017, Karnataka, India.
“chirrup”, The birds were in company ofa large flock ofc. Email:[email protected]
450GreaterShort-toedLarksandtheyclearlystoodoutinthe
group; the Calandra-Larks kept a little away from the other A. SHIVAPRAKASH
larksintheflock,butmovedalongwiththemwhentheyflew, #478, 3rdCross Road, 8thMain Road,
or when feeding in the grasses. ‘H’Block, RamakrishnaNagar,
The Eastern Calandra-Lark is a fairlycommon visitor Mysore 570022, Karnataka, India.
to Baluchistan, Sind, Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan Email: [email protected]
REFERENCES
Ali, S. & S.D. Ripley (1987): Compact Handbookofthe Birds ofIndia and Pakistan togetherwith those ofBangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri
Lanka. Second edition. Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
Grimmett, R., C. Inskipp & T. Inskipp (1998): Birds ofthe Indian subcontinent. Christopher Helm, London.
Himmatsinhji, M.K. (1960): The Eastern Calandra Lark (Melanocorypha bimaculata) in Kutch. J. BombayNat. Hist. Soc 57(2): 408
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 101 (3), Sep-Dec 2004 455