Observations on a breeding colony of painted stork Mycteria leucocephala (Pennant) in Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh

3 Pages·1991·1.9 MB·

by  H R Bhat

MISCELLANEOUSNOTES 443
UNUSUAL BREEDING SITE OF NIGHT HERON NYCTICORAX NYCTICORAX
5.
(LINN.)
ThenightheronNycticoraxnycticoraxinvariably irregularandmuchlowerrainfall of1987wasthecause
prefers densely foliaged trees for roosting as well as ofreduction in the number ofnests.
nesting. At Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, the The nest building activity started in August.
night herons normally nest in a dense cluster ofbabul During October 1986, 1had seen nestlings from 2-3 to
(Acacia nilotica) trees near Malar gate. Only in stray 10-15 days old. Some chicks had started climbing up
casesdoesanestortwoofthenightheronoccurwiththe the drybranchesofthe stumps,whileothershadstarted
nestsofwhite ibisTheskiornisaethiopicaandheronsin jumping on the nest and testing their wings. However,
the main, comparatively open, heronry onbabul trees. a fewnestsstillhad 1-3blue-greeneggs.Ialsosawfour
In 1986,1found averyunusualheronry,purelyof chicks in a nest. By the end ofNovember, most ofthe
night herons, in the backwaters of the Chambal fledgelings were flyingaboutand very fewadults were
approximately 10 km upstream ofJawahar Sagar dam seen.
and barely 500 m fromKota-Rawatbhata road, 41 km In general there were one or two nests on each
south ofKota (25°06’N, 75°43,E). Here night herons stump, but a few had even four. Some stumps had no
bredintheopen,withoutanycamouflageorcoveratall, nests on them though they had forked branches.
on dry stumps oftrees. What once used to be a thickly Distance between two adjoining stumps having nests
vegetated valley before the construction ofthis dam in varied from 10to 50 m. The closest nest from thebank
m
the late 1960s, is now a vast stretch of water with wasatleast75 away.Allthenestswereclearlyvisible
remnants oftreesjuttingouthereandthere as deadand to a bird ofprey flyingin that area. I had seen a pair of
decaying stumps. It is on some of these stumps that the Indian great homed owl Bubo bubo a Bonelli’s
,
night herons have been making their nests for the last eagle Hieraaetus fasciatus an osprey Pandion
y
10-12 years. Nests consisted of, as usual, dry twigs haliaetus and a couple ofpariah kitesMilvus migrans
placed in the form of a crude saucer-like platform, in the area,but did not see a bird ofprey attackingany
approximately 50 cm wide, supported in forks of the nest.
m
stumps 1 to 4 above water.
During 19861had observed 42nests, whereas in
1987 there were only 25 nests (no observations were February 20, 1990 R.G. SONI
made in 1988 and 1989). I am not sure whether the
OBSERVATIONS ON A BREEDING COLONY OF PAINTED STORK MYCTERIA
6.
LEUCOCEPHALA (PENNANT) IN ANANTAPUR DISTRICT,
ANDHRA PRADESH
Japanese Encephalities (JE) virus activity was information on the incidence and breeding activity of
reported inKarnataka as early as 1951 (Kerr and Gatne thesebirds was therefore commenced during 1980 as a
1954, Smithbum et ah 1954). During a widespread part ofthe general investigations on the ecology ofthe
epidemic in 1955, which covered parts of Andhra virus. The main objective ofthe study was to correlate
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,Pondicherry andKarnataka, two the migratory and breeding activity of the birds with
cases ofJEwererecorded fromKolar district.In 1958, epidemic outbreaks ofthe disease.
fourcasesofencephalitisoccurredat Chintamani inthe As a consequence of preliminary enquiry we
A
same district. major outbreak was again reported in received information from Dr. E.V. Shankarappa of
1977, followed by frequent outbreaks of varying Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, in December 1982, that a
intensity in Kolar and Mandya district (Bhat 1984, largecolony ofa speciesofwadersbredregularly every
Prasad et ah 1982, George etal. 1987). year at Veerapura village, Hindpur taluka, Anantapur
Wading birds (Ciconiformes) play a role in the district, 12 km from Bagepalli on the border ofKolar
maintenance-transmission cycle ofJE virus in nature district. The village was visited on 15 May 1983.
(Rodrigues et ah 1981). A study to collect baseline We found a couple of hundred empty nests
4
444 JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURALHIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 88
distributed on half a dozen trees within the village young ones, 100 were empty and the remaining had
limits. The villagers informed us that the birds nested fledgelings. On 5 July, 274 nests were empty and the
and bred during the dry months of 1982, from January remaining hadjuvenile birds still waiting forthe food.
toJuneanddeparted, andthey didnotcomebackduring There were in all 150juveniles in and around thenests
1983, perhaps because the tanks had dried up due to and 10 adults when visited.
drought. The species breeding in the village was The 334 nests builtby the birds were distributed
identifiedby thevillagers as thepainted storkMycteria on 10 trees within the village bouridary and the
leucocephala from pictures of various birds that we periphery. The species oftrees andthe number ofnests
,
showed them. on each tree are shown in Table 1. During the peak
The village was again visited on 6March 1984, breeding activity the majority of nests had two
July 1986 and2February 1987anditwaslearntthatthe fledgelingsandafewhadoneorthree.Thetotalnumber
birdsdidnotresumebreeding.Thevillagerstoldusthat ofbirdsincludingyoungoneswasestimatedtobe 1336.
the birds arrived in small numbers during January,
Table 1
lingered on for a few days, foraged in nearby tanks
DETAILS OFPAINTED STORKNESTS ATVEERATURA
which were almost empty and departed. On2February
DURING 1989
1987 we ourselves observed 35-40 birds in nearby
Venkatapura tank. Tree species No. ofnests
After a five year gap, the painted storks resumed 1. Ficus religiosa Linn, (pipal) 87
theirbreedingactivity at Veerapura in 1988. According 2. Ficus religiosa 26
tothevillagers,thebirds arrivedduringthelastweekof 3. Tamarindus indicus Linn, (tamarind) 21
January and started building nests. The colony was 4. Ficus religiosa 50
visited by us on 9 February, 1 and 25 March, 14 April, 5. Ficus religiosa 76
6 May and 10 June Nest building activity and 6. Prosopis chilensis DC 12
incubation of eggs by some birds was observed on 9 7. Ficus religiosa 5
February, land25Marchand 14April.Hatchlingswere 8. Ficus religiosa 34
noted on 25 March and 14 April; fledgelings on 25 9. Tamarindus indicus 22
March, 14April, 6May and 10June; andjuvenilebirds 10. Tamarindus indicus 1
on 14 April, 6 May and 10 June. There were 155 nests Total 334
on nine trees. The majority had two fledgelings each
and a few had one or three fledgelings each. The total The villagers stated that the birds had been
numberofbirdspresentinthemid-breedingseasonwas breeding in the village continuously for about30 years
estimated at 620. until 1982.During 1982,therewas a disturbancedueto
Amidst the nest of painted storks, grey herons heavy loppingoftrees, poachingofeggs andpredation
Ardea cinerea built two nests on one ofthe trees. The of eggs by monkeys. Perhaps the disturbance had
birds were incubating their eggs on 9 February. One of scared the birds away and prevented the breeding
the nests had hatchlings on 1 March. Both ofthemhad during the interveningperiod from 1983 to 1987.
fledgelingson25Marchandjuveniles on25Marchand Some of the older villagers reported that before
14 April. In two nests there were only three nestlings. commencing to breed at Veerapura, more than three
Painted storks returned for breeding in 1989. We decades ago, the birds were breeding at Venkatapura
visitedthe village on 2February, 2March, 10March, 6 village, about a kilometre away from Veerapura, from
April, 19Mayand5July.Thevillagersinformedusthat times immemorial.
thebirds emigratedduringJune/July 1988 andreturned Both during 1988 and 1989, at the end of the
for breeding during the second week ofJanuary. On 2 breeding seasons the nearby irrigation tanks were
February, they had already constructed 156 nests and empty and the birds were flying away several
laideggsin 114nests.On2Marchtherewere307nests, kilometres for foraging.
100 under construction, 200 under incubation and 7 Painted storks areknowntohave a strongfidelity
with fledgelings. On 10March thenumberofnestshad to theirbreedingsites. In almostall the placesthebirds
increased to 334, 100 ofthem had fledgelings, 10 had consistently arrive more or less at a particular time of
juveniles and rest under incubation. On 19 May the the year, year after year, reconstruct the old nests or
number of nests remained the same, 200 nests had build new nests, lay the eggs, incubate them, rear the
MISCELLANEOUSNOTES 445
youngandemigratetotheforagingareas.However,the breeding, often independent ofmonsoon conditions.
breeding seasons vary from place to place. Hume ThebreedingatKokkareBellur,Mandya district,
(1890) stated that the bird breeds immediately at the Karnataka (Neginhal 1977, Saxena 1980, Nagulu and
close of the monsoon, in October in upper India, and RamanaRao 1983),andatEdurupattu,AndhraPradesh
FebruaryinpartsofsouthernIndia.Baker(1929)stated (NaguluandRamanaRao 1983)commencesduringthe-
that the species breeds from September to January in dry seasons in January/February. But at
large colonies and nearly always in company with Telineerapuram, Srikakulam district, Andhra Pradesh;
numerous other storks, herons and cormorants, etc. Kundakulam andMoondraidappu, Tirunelveli district,
Baker and Inglis (1930), quoting Hume, stated that Tamil Nadu, the breeding commences during
thesebirdsbreedinFebruary inpartsofsouthernIndia. October/November (Suresh Kumar 1980, Nagulu and
Ali (1953), Kahl (1970) and Breeden (1982) observed Ramana Rao 1983), just at the commencement of
the breeding ofthese birds duringAugust/September, north-eastmonsoon. Obviously thebreedingseason in
July/August and June/July respectively at Keoladeo northernIndia,coastalAndhraPradeshandTamilNadu
Ghana Sanctuary, Bharatpur, Rajasthan. coincides with the monsoon season. However, at
Ali and Ripley (1987) stated that the breedi—ng Kokkare Bellur, Edurupattu and Veerapura, the
species depended upon the monsoon conditions breeding occurs duringthe dry months ofthe year.
August to October in north India, November to March
inthe south andMarchto April in SriLanka.However, H.R. BHAT
GEORGE JACOB
recent observations at different places in peninsular P.
JAMGAONKAR
India showed a lot of variation in the periodicity of January 9, 1990 A.V.
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