Record of the Amur Falcon Falco Amurensis Radde on Sriharikota Island, Nellore District, Andhra Pradesh

2005·0.6 MB·

by  S Sivakumar

.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
REFERENCES
Baker, E.C.S. (1902): Occurrence of the Mandarin Duck in India. (Linn.)) in the Manipur State. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. I4\ 626-621 37: 490-491.
Gardiner, S. (1991): Mandarin Duck,Aixgalericiilata: a new species Kazmierczak, K. & R. Singh (1998): ABirdwatchers' Guide toIndia.
forNepal. Forktail 6: 89. BirdWatchers'Guides,PrionLtd.,Sandy.
Grimmett, R.. C. Inskipp & T. Inskipp (1998): Birds of the Madge, S. & H. Burn (1988): Wassergefliigel. Verlag Paul Parey,
Indian Subcontinent. Christopher Helm, A & C Black Ltd., Hamburg&Berlin.
London. SvENSSON, L., P.J. Grant, K. Mullarney & D. Zetterstrom (1999):
GRtMSON,C.(1934):OccurrenceoftheMandarinDuck(Aixgalericiilata CollinsBirdGuide.HarperCollinsPublishers.London.
RECORD OF THE AMUR FALCON FALCO AMURENSIS RADDE ON SRIHARIKOTA ISLAND,
5.
NELLORE DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH
We sighted the Amur Falcon Falco cmntrensis on September andApril), migrating along a NE to SWroute to
two occasions on Sriharikota island, Nellore district, EastAfrica(AliandRipley 1987;Eerguson-LeesandChristie
Andhra Pradesh. The first sighting was ofan adult male in 2001). Records of the Amur Ealcon in Andhra Pradesh are
an open scrub habitat at 1630 hrs on November 23, 2002. very rare, being known from only twooldrecords, one from
We saw probably the same bird in the same place, the next NelloreandtheotherfromRajamundry(AliandRipley 1987;
morning. It was perched on an electric wire and allowed Grimmettetal. 1998;Kazmierczak2000).Thus,oursightingof
close approach (c. 25 m). The second sighting was of a the species,twice in Sriharikota,which isoutsidethenormal
flock of 5 falcons in the morning, on May 23, 2003. The migratory route of the species in India and with a gap of
birds were actively hunting dragonflies along casuarina 5 months between sightings, is interesting.
plantations on the seashore adjoining the Bay of
Bengal. August25,2003 S. SIVAKUMAR
AhandRipley(1987)mentionthattheAmurFalconisa RANJIT MANAKADAN
rare migratoryfalcon, whichbreedscasuallyinnorthCachar BombayNatural HistorySociety,
(Assam); its mainbreedinggrounds are inChina(Ferguson- HornbillHouse,S.B. SinghRoad,
LeesandChristie2001). InPeninsularIndia,theyareautumn Mumbai400023,Maharashtra,India.
and springpassage migrants (observed orcollectedbetween Email: bnhst®bom4.vsnl.net.in
REFERENCES
Ali, S. & S.D. Ripley (1987): Compact Handbook of the Birds Grimmett, R., C. Inskipp & T. Inskipp (1998): Birds of the Indian
of India and Pakistan. Oxford University Press, New Subcontinent. Oxford University Press, Delhi.
Delhi. Kazmierczak.K.(2000):AFieldGuidetotheBirdsofIndia.SriLanka.
Ferguson-Lees,J.&D.A.Christie(2001): RaptorsoftheWorld.A& Pakistan, Nepal. Bhutan, Bangladesh and the Maldives. OM
C Black Ltd., London. BookService,NewDelhi.
SIGHTING OF ORANGE-GORGETED FLYCATCHER FICEDULA STROPHIATA (HODGSON)
6.
AT BANDHAVGARH (M.P.): A FIRST RECORD FOR PENINSULAR INDIA
In the first week of January 2002, while on a trip to extendeduptotheeyes, ablackchin andan orange ‘gorget’,
Bandhavgarh National Park (Madhya Pradesh), a rather whichcouldheclearly seenthroughthebinoculars. Thebird
strangelookingflycatcherdrewmyattentionasitflittedabout was not shy and one could watch it from a distance ofless
inthe gardenofTigerTrails Resort. The Resort is located in than four metres. I had never seen a flycatcher of this
Bijaria village, which is a few kilometres from the National description earlier, which forced me to referto the available
Parkboundary.Atfirst,ImistookthisflycatcherfortheRed- literaturetoascertainitsidentification. Refeningtothebirds
throated Flycatcher (Ficedulapan’ci). OFINDIANSUBCONTINENT(Grimmettetal. 1998), led metothe
A closer look revealed that this flycatcher did have conclusion that this new flycatcher in the area was a male
muchmorethantheplainredthroat,though itdidexhibitthe Orange-gorgeted Flycatcher {Ficedula strophiata).
whiteoutertailfeatherssimilartotheoutertailfeathersofthe MahinderSingh, acolleague,whowasstationedatthe
Red-throated Flycatcher {Ficedulapana). Resort as a naturalist, later informed me that he had first
The most interesting and striking feature this bird noticed this bird around mid December2001; and afterthat,
exhibited was the white band across the forehead, which the bird was seen everyday. The bird was seen around the
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 102 (3), Sep-Dec 2005 339