Cinereous tit (Parus cinereus) funny video

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Watch a cute, small Cinereous tit (Parus cinereus) desperately trying to drink from a water tap. Cinereous tit (Parus cinereus) is an interesting small bird which belongs to Paridae and is found in parts of South East Asia, including India. Earlier they used to be considered as a sub species of great tit. this video was recorded from Himachal Prdesh, India

Seventh Kerala Bird Race to be Held on Nov 10th in Major Cities

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Kerala Bird Race, Kerala’s biggest mass bird watching event, will launch its seventh edition on Sunday, 10^th November 2013 in three major cities of Kerala – Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode. Unlike the yesteryear editions, it will be non-competitive this year as per the information from the Bird Race organizers. 

Birders participating in an earlier edition of  Kerala Bird Race
Photo Courtesy: K. Ananthan

During the event, birders in small groups will compete to spot and identity as many birds as possible within the time between dawn to dusk from a 100 km radius in the three cities. The teams in each city will join together for dinner at a single place and will compare the performances and discuss the findings. In the yesteryears, the team with the most numbers of spotting used to bag the title. However, this year the event is in non-competitive mode.

Bird Race in non-competitive mode

To promote more public participation, the seventh Kerala Bird Race is held in a non-competitive mode, with no prizes for the winners. “The idea is to see how many birds can be seen in a day by all the teams put together. There are no strict rules and it is only about the fun element in this exercise, which will hopefully help stimulate enormous interest in bird-watching as a highly popular hobby”, says a correspondence from Kerala Birder, an online birder group in Kerala.

The highlight is that the participants will be looking for birds, not for prizes, hint the organizers. According to Sunjoy Monga, an organizer of the event, It will still be a race but all participants will be winners. "We are trying this format with some of the cities. The idea came about after discussions from findings wherein we found little bits of over-enthusiasm for prizes . So in a way, this format will hopefully help provide more factual results since no one is going to come first. By making it non-competitive, we will also know the real passionate from the I-want-to-win types ", he said.

However,  participants may find surprises, not just the feathered ones in the field. As per sources close to the organizers, all participants will receive a special souvenir that is being prepared. All children between the age 6 - 12 are likely to receive a complimentary copy of book on birds for children. 

The race is organized annually to enlighten the public about bird watching and to introduce the beginning birders to the religion of serious birding, to keep the species of birders away from extinction. Bird Races in the country began in the year 2005 as a 100 participant event in Mumbai. According to birders, It has grown into India's largest birding event with 16 cities and more than 3500 participants.

Kerala Bird Race had been attracting birders and fresh hobbyists from all over the state and -in fact, even from outside the state. “We sometimes have participants from Kanyakumari district joining us at Thiruvananthapuram”, says the organizers. Last year, the race witnessed about 350 participants.

Green groups in action

The race is being held with the active co-ordination of major green groups in the state. While the race in the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram will be organized and coordinated by the WWF-Kerala team, Cochin Natural History Society will organize it in Cochin. Malabar Natural History Society will be the coordinators of the event in Kozhikode. 

According to the organizers, anybody interested can take part in the race with their own team, provided one in the team is familiar with almost all of the bird species found in the locality. However, if a beginning birder with no connections wants to participate in the event, he or she can contact the coordinators to enroll as part of a team. The event is organized with the support of Kerala Birder along with The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) and Yuhina Eco-Media.

Cory’s Shearwater spotted in South Asia, off Northern Kerala Coast

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The Northern coast of Kerala is gifting unexpected surprises to birders for the last one week. In a straight row, the state has witnessed five rare species getting reported from here for the first time, - Caspian Plover, Pectoral Sandpiper, Common Swift, Roseate Tern and Cory’s Shearwater, the last one making the first record for the whole of South Asia, according to experts.

Caspian Plover (Image Credit: Dr. Khaleel Chovva/Kerala Birder)	Pectoral Sandpiper (Image Credit: P C Rajeevan/Kerala Birder)

Pectoral Sandpiper, the second record for India

The winged surprises started coming in right from September 19^th, when a group of birders spotted a Pectoral Sandpiper at Madayippara, a hillock in Kannur district of Northern Kerala. This turned into the first report of the bird for the state and the second for India, when the birders consulted ornithologists including Harkirat Singh Sangha, who is the only person in the country to see and report it before, from Harike Wetlands in Punjab.

The next in the line of surprises was the Caspian Plover. The bird came to the delight of a group of birders carrying out a pelagic expedition at the Muzhappilangad beach in the Kannur district on September 21st. Among the 30 odd  pelagic bird species they recorded, two important names were Pectoral Sandpiper and Caspian Plover. Caspian Plover was the first record from the state. The bird, according to sources with MNHS and Kerala Birder who organized the expedition, was earlier reported from Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu also.

However, what was in the store was yet more surprising.

Cory's Shearwater spotted in the Northern Kerala Coast. It is the first record of the bird from South Asia
(Image Credit: Jafer Palot & C. Abhinand Image Courtesy: Kerala Birder)

The Cory’s Shearwater shocker

Based on information from locals, the birders including a scientist at the Zoological Survey of India on September 21^st, went to exhume a dead bird which the locals have buried the last day. On closer inspection, it turned out be a Cory’s Shearwater, which made it the first record, not only for India, but for the whole of South Asia.

It was first thought to be a dead specimen of a Streaked Shearwater. “The lack of any white on the face and thick bill with black tip eliminated Streaked & pale morph Wedge-tailed Shearwaters and it became clear that this has to be a Cory's Shearwater”, says the birder team that went to check the bird.

“We thought the identification was a cakewalk; however - it turned out that the two races of Cory's Shearwater (C. d. borealis & C. d. diomedea) are now considered full species (Cory's & Scopoli's Shearwaters) by all authorities and a much better photograph of the underside primaries and biometrics are necessary to ascertain the id.”,  said Kerala Birder sources in their online forum. Later, the measurements and the under wing plumage confirmed it as Cory's C. borealis., they said.

Huw Roberts, an ornithologist, has reportedly confirmed that the bird is regularly seen on the Western coast of Arabian sea in the Persian Gulf. However, it shall be the first record for the South Asia, says birding activists in the state.

Common Swift and Roseate Tern sightings

Roseate Tern (R) off the coast of Neeleswaram
(Image Credit: Raju A K /Kerala Birder)

The rally of first records was just not going to stop with that. While returning to shore after the second day of the pelagic bird survey on September 22^nd, the survey team encountered a group of terns off the coast of Neeleswaram. However, one bird in the group was different from others since it was in breeding plumage, says the birders.

“While we were returning back to the land we had seen a flock of pale terns feeding very near to the coast and initially called out as Common Tern. The Tern in breeding plumage was standing out not only because it was in breeding plumage, but looked extra-ordinarily beautiful for a Common Tern”, says the birders while sharing their experiences in the online forum Kerala Birder. 

Later, close examinations of the photographs revealed that it is the enigmatic Roseate Tern, the fourth in the list of first record for the state within the week.

Common Swift recovered from Neeleswaram
(Image Credit : Praveen J/Jafer Palot/Kerala Birder)

The last in the line was a common Swift, which was recovered some 40 km off Thaikadappuram in an exhausted state. The bird later died of exhaustion, despite the attempts to keep it alive. According to birders, Common Swift is regularly sighted in Maldives, the neighbouring island nation in the Indian Ocean, but makes it a first record for the state.

Thus, the days September 19^th to 26^th have made the most surprising days in the history of bird watching in Kerala. “The one week from 19th - 26th September has been quite fabulous for a narrow strip of coast in N. Kerala - turning up five new species for Kerala. I don’t think this has ever happened in the history of the state.”, says Praveen J, a prominent ornithologist and activist of Kerala Birder, in a note in the online forum.

The specimens of Cory Shearwater and Common Swift are deposited with the Zoological Survey of India repository at Calicut, Kerala.

Lately, pelagic bird surveys in the Kerala coast has been harvesting new species records for the state. An year before , on 30th September 2012, a Pelagic bird survey team near Neeenkdakara harbor recorded Red Necked Phalarope for the first time in Kerala. Just two months before to it, in July 2012, Pelagic bird survey teams have spotted Streaked Shearwater off Kannur coast, another first record for the state. 

Hunting in Arunachal Pradesh takes unsustainable turns

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Arunachal Pradesh is inhabited by 26 major tribes and 110 sub-tribes and their hunting behavior for sustenance was sustainable till recently, but with the illegal rackets popping up and wooing the tribes, the picture is gradually changing. New studies and observations from the state reveal that these rackets have succeeded to entice the tribes, pushing them to cross the limits set by their religious and cultural taboos. In fact, it is not just the case of Arunachal. Kani tribes capturing Slender Loris for photographers in South India are just another face of the same phenomenon. However, things in Arunachal have gone too far, warn researchers who are studying the phenomenon.

Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis), hunted by tribes in Arunachal Pradesh  despite being protected by law
(Image Courtesy: Kalyanvarma (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons)

Alarming change in bird hunting patterns

A short research communication published in the Journal of Tropical Ecology warns that the bird hunting practices of tribes in Western Arunachal Pradesh is turning unsustainable at least for some of the threatened bird species of the region.

Detailed surveys conducted among 157 hunters of three major tribal communities- Nyishi, Monpa and Apatani- in Western Arunachal Pradesh, according to the study,  show that 5 of the bird species being hunted by tribes  are Endangered, 5 are Vulnerable while 1 is Critically Endangered, as per IUCN red data list. (Though it does not exactly disclose which are the threatened species. The corresponding author does not respond to queries.)

The survey which was conducted during 2002 to 2005 period, found that a total of 53 species of birds were hunted in the area. Though only 10 to 15 percent of the total community is involved in active hunting, the survey results indicate that 18 of the 53 frequently hunted birds are conserved under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, says the study.

The data suggest that a majority (40 percent) of the hunted birds are Passeriformes which is the largest order of birds which includes rooks, finches, sparrows, tits, warblers, robins, wrens, swallows. Of the total number of bird species being hunted, 34 come under Schedule IV and 1 belongs to Schedule V of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

According to the study, the hunting is intensive during April- May during the preparation of the jhum fields for cultivation and during harvesting season of October- December period also. If the results of the study are applied to the whole area statistically, the number of birds being hunted an year by all the communities together can be close to 10956, says the study.

Hunting during the breeding periods of the birds may be more disastrous for the survival of the species, points out the study. “The species such as hornbills and hawks are hunted by the Apatani and the Monpa tribes inside the nest when birds are incubating the eggs or guarding the chicks”, it says. However, Nyishi community avoids hunting hornbills during the breeding season due to religious taboos. 

Trade beckons beyond cultural taboos

In a recent article, Nandini Velho, a PhD student from James Cook University and a research associate with National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore details her experiences while studying the hunting patterns among the tribes in Arunachal Pradesh. According to her, it is shocking to see how the illegal trade has changed the hunting patterns and habits of the tribes in the area.

While taking interviews with the tribes, many of the villagers have approached the researchers putting proposals for trading medicinal plants or some most wanted species, mistaking them for potential customers, says she.

common muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak),
also known as Barking deer

Her account suggests that barking deer meat is much sought after one in the markets and while a hunter used to kill 25 barking deers on an average during his lifetime in the olden days, presently the number is as high as 100 per hunter. Ironically, she points out that the major consumers of this illegal game meat are the government officials living in the area.

Most importantly, the attitude has significantly changed, says Velho.  According to her, as one of the hunters put it to her, people kill and eat whatever they get, if there is no market for it. Though killing a tiger is a taboo (with the particular tribal community with which the researcher has interacted), which will haunt a member of the community till death or even after that, people no more care, points out the researcher.

Double edged question

The changing phenomenon is a double edged when looked at as part of the complex question of conserving the forests of the country without harassing the indigenous people who consider it as their home. Such phenomenon can be used by groups of vested interests to win their arguments towards pushing out indigenous people from their forest home, under the false banner of conservation. While such a solution will be politically incorrect, chances are high that such cries for the blood of the tribes will be pitched high.

Nyishi tribe with a head gear of hornbill beak
Image Courtesy: Diganta Talukdar

Forests and its resources are the rights of the indigenous people. However, illegal rackets using them is a tricky question to be solved without compromising the conservation goals. Throwing out the sons of the forests will not be an apt solution. However, leaving the tribal communities let loose with their hunting spree will also not solve the issue, but will aggravate it.

Participatory conservation measures always rely upon policies and action which aim at confirming people’s participation in conserving forest and biodiversity resources. In Arunachal also, it will be the best possible solution. But to make it possible, conservationists in the country should take pro-active efforts to snap the links of the evil trading chain that work as a pushing force behind the changing hunting patterns. Best thing to do is to help tribes understand the alarming nature of the changing practices.

Indigenous people and their vast traditional knowledge have a major role to play in all conservation efforts in the country. But as the new generation of the tribes often deserting the

traditional beliefs and customs and falling prey for the outside society pressures, it is high time to make some movement in that way. 

However, it will not be ethically correct to argue that the tribes should keep stuck to their old culture alienated from the outer society. We need to find a space in between where the tribes can change and adopt their ways of life in accordance with changing times, but with clearly understanding the invisible conservation policies shaped by their ancestry as cultural and religious taboos. 

In short, proper awareness programmes carried out in this direction and collective efforts to document and preserve the traditional knowledge of these indigenous people will be the key to a politically correct answer. 

Red-Whiskered Bulbul a major seed dispersing agent of Indian Blueberry, finds new study

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What is the connection between a Red-Whiskered Bulbul and Blueberries? According to a research correspondence published in the Current Science Journal, Red-Whiskered Bulbul, among other fruit eating birds, is instrumental in dispersing the seeds of the fruit bearing tree Syzygium cumini, often called as Indian Blueberry or Jambul. 

Red-Whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus)

Studying the feeding behavior of fruit eating birds on S. cumini tree in the forest patches of Western Ghats, researchers have found Red-Whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus), White-Cheeked Barbet (Megalaima viridis), Crimson-Backed Sunbird/ Small Sunbird (Nectarinia minima), Blossom-Headed Parakeet (Psittacula roseate) and Oriental White-Eye (Zosterops palpebrosus) frequently visiting the tree during a fruiting season. They have also recorded the occasional presence of other six species of birds. 

Though the Red-Whiskered Bulbul spent lesser time than other four fruit eating birds on each visit to the tree, it made significantly more visits than other species, says the correspondence. By making standard statistical measurements, the researchers have found that Red-Whiskered Bulbul consumes significantly more number of fruits than the other fruit eating birds visiting the tree. 

Feeding behavior of birds on Indian Blueberry 

Oriental White-Eye (Zosterops palpebrosus)
 Image Courtesy :Wiki Media Commons

Closely following the feeding behavior of these bird species on the tree for 10 hours a day with the help of binoculars, the research team has made interesting findings during the study period. 

According o them, Red-Whiskered Bulbul and White-Cheeked Barbet swallows the Blueberry fruits while Blossom-Headed Parakeet eat only the pulp of the fruit by rolling it in the mouth before spitting the seed under the tree.

Similarly, Oriental White-Eye and Crimson-Backed Sunbird have a taste to peck up only the pulp of the fruit and leave the seed under the tree. 

Crimson-backed Sunbird or Small Sunbird (Leptocoma minima)

The researchers have also found that Red-Whiskered Bulbul usually flies back to its nest while White-Cheeked Barbet flies to a nearby tree within a 20 meter distance, immediately after every visit to the fruit tree.

What makes Bulbul the best?

From the study it can be understood that there are many factors which increase the importance of Red Whiskered bulbul as a major seed disperser for Indian Blueberry.

• The fruiting season of the Blueberry coincides with the breeding period of the Red Whiskered Bulbul (the researchers observed that the bird often taking a fruit for the nestlings in the nest).
•  The bird didn’t defecate or spit the seed under the mother tree like the other birds observed during the study. It gives more chances of the seeds to get deposited in other places.
•  Red Whiskered bulbul nests were found on shrubs with Blueberry saplings around, which again shows that the saplings have more chances to grow up.
• Red Whiskered bulbul is a common bird in forest patches and cultivated land near forest fringes often undisturbed by human interference. 

Other Seed Dispersing agents of Indian Blueberry

White-Cheeked Barbet (Megalaima viridis)

Earlier studies have shown that sloth bear and common Indian mongoose disperse the seeds of the tree. However, there were very less scientific studies carried out on the role played by the birds in the seed dispersal of Indian Blueberry. According to the study, the large number of fruits produced per inflorescence and the pulpy nature of the fruits attracts more birds, which in turn makes them a major seed dispersing agents of the tree. 

The study was conducted by researchers at the Central University of Kerala and ATREE in the Sopinabetta forests in Western Ghats situated at Sringeri in Chikamagalur district of Karnataka during 2007 to 2008.

South Kerala Pelagic bird survey records Red Necked Phalarope for the first time from Kerala

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The first ever South Kerala Pelagic survey has added a new member to the pelagic birds of the state by spotting  Red Necked Phalarope, a tiny wader found in open sea,  near Neeenkdakara harbor on September 30^th. According to a report circulated by Kerala Birder, an online birdwatchers’ group who was instrumental in organizing the pelagic survey, a juvenile Red Necked Phalarope was spotted very close to the boat used by the team on the first day of the survey. It is the first record of the species from Kerala.

        Red Necked Phalarope found off the coast Neendakara
Image Courtesy: E Kunhikrishnan

However, the team suspects that the actual sighting could be three, since two pale waders seen on the same day could also belong to the same species. “Two more pale waders seen earlier on the day could have been this species”, said Kerala Birder sources. Red Necked Phalarope usually found in North America and Eurasia but migrates to tropical oceans for wintering.

Apart from the rare bird record, the survey team has also spotted two Brown or South-Polar Skua. According to the team, there have been four instances of reporting large skua from Indian coast earlier. Moreover, the birders assume that the Skua spotted during the survey are not vagrants, but regular visitors, since the sea was very calm at that time. “The two birds were present during calm seas, indicating these are not probably vagrants but regular in Arabian sea.” says the report prepared by the team.

Other sightings

During the survey, the team has also spotted Flesh-footed Shearwater, Streaked Shearwater, Arctic Skua, Swinhoe’s Storm-petrel, Wilson’s Storm-petrel, Bridled Terns, Sooty Terns and Masked Booby birds.  Streaked Shearwater spotting is just the second time from Kerala, the first being two months before in July during the West Coast Pelgaic sea bird survey conducted off the coast of Kannur.

The South Kerala Pelagic survey was carried out on 30^th September and 1^st of October by surveying pelagic bird population off the coast of Neendakara and Vizhinjam. Birders from Malabar Natural History Society (MNHS), Travancore Natural History Society (TNHS) also attended the survey.