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. 

New coral species discovered from Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India

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Ctenactis triangularis from Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Image Credit: C Raghunathan

Shedding light to the rich but unexplored marine biodiversity of India, Scientists of the Zoological Survey of India described a new species of coral reef, Ctenactis triangularis from Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. The new species which belongs to the family of mushroom corals, adds a fourth member to the Ctenactis genus of corals.

“The first specimen of the species was collected from Rutland Island from South Andaman by snorkeling and skin-diving", said the scientists. Later another specimen of the same coral was observed at the North Bay in South Andaman in December 2008. Researchers were able to spot the same species again after two years, in 2010, off the coast of Elephant Beach in Havelock Island.

Tamal Mondal and C. Raghunathan , scientists at the Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre of Zoological Survey of India situated at Port Blair have reported and described the identity of the new species.

Distinguishing features of Ctenactis triangularis

According to the ZSI scientists, the newly described species has characteristics which make it different from all the three members of the genus previously reported by other studies.

Ctenactis triangularis
Image Courtesy: JOTT

The discovery which is published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa reveals that three characteristics make the new species different from its closest relatives.

The major feature is the triangular, flat shaped skeleton or corallum which makes it different. According t the study, ‘divisible mouth fossa, spinulose costal spines and cylindrical septal teeth’ also make it distinguished from other members of its genus.

To underscore one of its most visible distinguishing features – its flat triangular skeleton, the scientists have named it as triangularis. “The species has been named after the triangle-shaped arm like coralla, which gives a unique morphological character to distinguish it from other related species”, says the study.

Conservation Status of Ctenactis triangularis

Despite the new discovery, the future of the coral reefs off the coast of Andaman and Nicobar are likely bleaker, points out the study. “Threats, which can be categorized as natural and anthropogenic, to the reef biodiversity, have been encountered for a long time.”, it says.

According to the researchers, the new species belong to Scleractinian corals which are protected under CITES Appendix II which curbs the transnational smuggling of these corals. Moreover, they are also included in the Schedule I of protected organisms of Indian Wildlife Act, 1972. 

Protected Areas Not Always Harbour Crop Raiding Animals, Says Study on Indian Tiger Reserves

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Indian Leopard (Panthera pardus fusca)
Image Credit: Kalyan Varma

Crop raiding by wild animals is a major issue that triggers human animal conflict and retaliatory killing in many parts of the country. But a new study about the human animal conflict around Protected Areas (PAs) in the country shows that protected areas not necessarily act as a source of crop raiders always. The finding is significant at a time when the establishment of new protected areas are opposed by sections of public and politicians saying that it will intensify the menace of crop raiding.

A survey conducted among 398 households which are situated within 10 kilometers of three major tiger reserves in the country – Ranthambhore, Kanha and Nagarhole – found that the rate of crop loss from crop raiders did not vary with the proximity to the PAs, showing that protected areas are not always sources for crop raiders.

“This (the results) may suggest crop raiders may not be limited to animals coming out from the PA, and perhaps some raiders may naturally reside outside the PAs”, says the study. Instead of the proximity, it is the forage availability that has increased the chances of crop loss in all these PAs, shows that results of the study, which is published in the Environmental Management Journal. “Factors related to forage availability for wildlife- the number of harvests per year, share cropping (growing crops on someone else’s land), number of crops per year and cropping months in a year all increased risk”, it says.

Analyzing the effectiveness of the mitigation efforts, the study found that two mitigation efforts – fencing and the use of guarding animals were most effective in decreasing risk of crop loss from crop-raiding animals.

Livestock Loss near Tiger Reserves

Loss of livestock is another major cause for human animal conflict near protected areas in India.  During the study, 13 percent of the households reported cattle loss from wild animals. Though tiger, Hyena, dhole (Cuon alpinus), Jackal, wild pig and even macaques were blamed fro livestock loss, leopard was identified as the most damaging. 

However, statistically examining the reasons, the study found that complaints of carnivores attacking livestock or human were more associated with people grazing animals and collecting forest produces from inside the protected areas. “Respondents reported that livestock losses occurred inside the PAs during the day, and fewer incidents occurred at night when the livestock were corralled near their homes or villages”, finds the study.

According to the findings of the study, simply stopping animal grazing inside the protected areas under study may decrease the rate of livestock loss. However, it heavily depends on the availability of grazing area outside the PAs.

Hostility towards animals

Contrary to the wide belief that people are hostile towards carnivores that attack the livestock, the study found that people are more hostile towards herbivores like wild pig which cause damage to crops.  “Households reported greater inclination to kill herbivores destroying crops or carnivores harming people, but not carnivores preying on livestock”, says the study.

Wild Boar (Sus scrofa)
Image Credit: Kalayan Varma

However, the hostility towards animals was different in the three tiger Reserves in which the study was carried out. According to the researchers, residents near Kanha National Park showed more inclination towards killing the problem animals as a solution to the hypothetical situations put in front of them, despite the lowest reported livestock deaths from this area. 

Residents near Ranthambhore National Park and Nagarhole National Park preferred to frighten or deter the animals.

Flawed Compensation Policies

Monetary compensation from wildlife officials is one of the major ways to suppress possible retaliatory killing of animals by people in areas of human animal conflict. However, the study found that 99 percent of the households which participated in the study received no compensation from authorities for losses. “There is an urgent need to corroborate losses reported by local residents to official records to identify gaps and improve compensation distribution to households reporting losses”, says the study.

Krithi K. Karanth and Ruth DeFries from Columbia University, Lisa Naughton-Treves from University of Wisconsin and  Arjun M. Gopalaswamy from University of Oxford co-authored the study.