Southernmost record of common pochard Aythya ferina (Linnaeus) and tufted duck Aythya fuligula (Linnaeus) in Madurai District, Tamil Nadu

2 Pages·1995·1.1 MB·

by  T Badri Narayanan

452 JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HIST SOCIETY, Vol.91 (1994)
References
Berzin,A.A.(1972):TheSpermWhale.In:A.V.Yabolokov(Ed.) James,D.B. &K.C.S.Panicker(1990): Onaspermwhalelanded
Israelprogrammeforscientifictranslations.1-394.(Translated atKalpeniIslandwith notesonambergris.Mar Fish. Infor.
fromRussian). Serv., T.E.Ser.No. 104: 11-14.
11. FIRSTRECORD OF THEROSY PELICAN PELECANUS ONOCROTALUSLINNAEUS IN KERALA
The Rosy Pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus Linnaeus is from our sight. The locals told us that the pelicans had
recordedas acommon winter visitor to Pakistan and North arrived in the early morning that day.
India, from Punjab to Assam, AndhraPradesh and Madras. After a few days we received information on the
But, so far there is no record ofthis species from Kerala. sighting of the same species from Arkulum lake,
In the course of our routine field observation at Trivandrum.
Vellimukkuchali, a swampy area in Tirur taluk, Recently, Kerala is being revisited by hitherto
Malappuram district, Kerala, on the morning of 18th unrecorded birds. For example, we observed and
December 1992 we noted eight birds floating in water. photographedtheFlamingoslastyearon9thJanuary 1991
At first sight itself it was very much evident that they at Ponnani.
were pelicans. Since we have had field guides with us
we identified them as Rosy Pelicans. Rose tinged white February 5, 1993 TYTUS T. JACOB
colour, long characteristic beak and marginal black P. PRAMOD
feathers (primaries and secondaries) in the wings showed K. GANGADHARAN
thatKeralagotan additionto itslistofbirds. Weobserved M. MAHESH
them for about two hours. After two hours they flew DepartmentofZoology, UniversityofCalicut,
upward, made 3-4 rounds there and slowly flew away Kerala673635.
12. ROSY PELICANS PELECANUS ONOCROTALUS LINN., IN THE HIMALAYA
In May of 1992 Iwas resting atover 3050 m on the full fifteen minutes till, as mere specks they flew west
Patalsu mountain which is a 4250 m fermination of a parallel to the mountain range.
spur southoftheprominent SheetiDharrangeatthe head This is perhaps what they normally do in their
oftheBeas Valleyseparating the southern valleysofKulu migration from the plains ofIndia towards Central Asia.
fromthearidtransmontaneregions ofLahaulandLadakh For great gliders like the Pelicans the snow range is in
beyond. striking distance from the lowlands and the series of
It was a brilliant morning and updrafts had just updraftsalongthewesternflanksoftheDhauladharRange
started with the first clouds forming above each column overlooking Kangra and Punjat convenient for covering
ofrising air. A wonderful day for large gliding birds like immense distances. As far as Iknow there are no records
vultures, lammergeyers, eagles and storks and pelicans. of Pelicans migrating across Tibet.
Justas Ithought ofpelicans, Isaw atight group ofeleven
whitebirdswhich indeed wereRosyPelicans! Imusthave November 3, 1993 LAVKUMAR KHACHER
watched them circling and going higher and higher for 646, Vastunirman, Gandhinagar382022.
13. SOUTHERNMOSTRECORD OFCOMMON POCHARDAYTHYA FERINA (LINNAEUS) AND TUFTED
DUCKAYTHYA FULIGULA (LINNAEUS) IN MADURAI DISTRICT, TAMILNADU
While conducting midwinter waterfowl counts Madurai is out of the known range of both the
during 1990 and 1991 Common Pochard Aythyaferina species. According to Ali and Ripley (1983) the species
and Tufted DuckAythyafuligula were sighted on three is seen decreasingly southward in the peninsula,
irrigation tanks. During 1990 the birds were sighted on irregularly to Karnataka and not recorded further south.
Vellari Kanmai tank, about 20 km from Madurai and Their southernmostrecord is fromPondicherry (Perennou
Urappanur Tank, a few kilometres south of Madurai. 1989). The Tufted Duck was recorded as occurring in
During 1991 about 400 Common Pochards were sighted Madurai District (Nichols 1945) but there does not seem
in Kunnatur irrigation tank, east of Madurai. to be any record after that.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 453
This ispossiblythe southernmostrecordofCommon May 28, 1994 T. BADRI NARAYANAN
PochardandthesecondrecordoftheoccurrenceofTufted 6,NanmaiThaeuvaeKoilStreet, (NearWestMasiStreet),
Pochard after 45 years in its southern mostrange. Madurai625001, Tamil Nadu (India).
References
Ali,S.&S.D.Ripley (1983):HandbookoftheBirdsofIndiaand Bombaynat.Hist.Soc.45(2): 122.
Pakistan(CompactEdition).OxfordUniversityPress,Delhi. Perennou,C.(1989):SouthernWinteringrangeofsomewaterbirds.
Nichols,K.G.(1945):OccurrenceofBirdsinMaduraiDistrict.J. J.Bombaynat.Hist.Soc. 86(2):247-248
14. RARE CRANE OFINDIA
On 2nd ofDecember 1992 whileentering within the Blacknecked Crane and stated that it as an extremely
BhutanghatForestsofthecoreareaofBuxaTigerReserve unusual drop in the wintering habits for the species to be
a pair of Blacknecked crane Grus nigricollis Przevalski found in the Indian plains. Interestingly enough the local
was sighted, on a freshly harvested paddy field. villagersconfirmeditsarrivaleveryyearduringthisperiod
This large crane having a black neck, and a milky and theWild LifeConservator Shri M.K. Nandi, has also
white body, breeds in Ladakh. The reports of the confirmedsightingofthisspeciesatChapramarisanctuary
wintering of these cranes were so far known only from ofWest Bengal which again is a bhabar area.
the upper reaches of Bhutan and the hills of Arunachal This first report of a Blacknecked Crane in West
Pradesh not below 2000 m altitude. The pair sighted in Bengal; as well as from any place at such low altitude
Mainabari Beat of Buxa Tiger reserve near Bhutanghat during the winter season is noteworthy. Let us hope for
Forest is more or less a Bhabar tract having an altitude sighting this bird every year in Buxa Tiger Reserve.
of 200 m. only.
The Director ofthe International Crane Foundation, April 10, 1993 P. SANYAL
George Archibald has confirmed that the photograph of BuxaTigerReserve,AlipurduarCourt736122,
the crane taken within Buxa Tiger Reserve as of the Jalpaiguri, W.Bengal.
15. COMMENTS ON THE NOTE OCCURRENCE OFBLACK TERN CHUDON1ASNIGER (LINNAEUS)
ATPOINTCALIMERE BY VIVEK MENON
TheoccurrenceofblackternChlidoniasnigeratPoint undertheBirdMigrationstudiesconductedbytheBombay
Calimere was earlier reported by Abdulali and Ambedkar Natural History Society (BNHS) byringing 48 individuals
(1983) and Natarajan and Balasubramanian (1990). Its of the same species by me between 1989-1991. Also 17
further occurrence at Point Calimere had been confirmed individuals were ringed at Kaliveli Lake and one from
Table1
MEASUREMENTSOFCHLIDONIAS NIGER
Wing Bill Tarns Tail Fork n
(from feather) Outer Central
201-226 25-30 15-18 69 57 10-16 38
(Cramp 1985)
205-210 23-26 _ 70-76 64-66 6-10 3
(Natarajan &Balasubramanian 1990)
194-222 23-27 17-22 62-82 _ _ 48
(Balachandran,unpub1.)
202 28.5 17 (Mohapatra,unpubl.) - 1
257 40 19 107 63 44 1