2010 Mistnet Oct_Dec Vol 11 no 4

CMYK

Edited by

Asad R. Rahmani, Director, BNHS

Assistant Editor

Raju Kasambe, Project Manager, IBA-IBCN

Compiled, Layout and Designed by

Gopi Naidu, Abhijit Malekar

Noor Khan

Contributions should be sent to

Editors, MISTNET, IBA-IBCN

Bombay Natural History Society

Hornbill House, S. B. Singh Road

Mumbai-400 001, INDIA

Tel: +91 22 22821811

Fax: +91 22 22837615

Email: [email protected]

BirdLife International is a global partnership

of conservation organisations, represented

in over 100 countries, working for the

diversity of all life through the conservation

of birds and their habitats.

BirdLife International

Wellbrook Court, Girton Road

Cambridge CB3 0NA, UK


Web: www.birdlife.org

This Newsletter is supported by the

RSPB

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Bombay Natural History Society

(For private circulation only)

Cover pic: Nicobar Pigeon

Caloenas nicobarica

By: Rajat Bhargava

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Mission Statement

‘Conservation of nature, primarily biological

diversity through action, based on research,

education and public awareness.’

BNHS is BirdLife International partner designate

Views expressed by the contributors in the MISTNET are not

necessarily those of the IBCN/BNHS.

www.rspb.org.uk

Marine

Important Bird Areas

Programme in India

C O N T E N T S

— Raju Kasambe

PAGE 4

Survey of

Important Bird Areas

and Census of Birds

— J. Devaprakash

The Chapories of the

Lohit River

— Anwaruddin Choudhury

PAGE 13

IBCN Partners inAction Ornithology

Workshop atAmravati,

Maharashtra

Visit to Melghat

Tiger Reserve

PAGE 17

“Wildlife through

lenses -

An insight into

the life in the wild”

— Neeraj Srivastav

PAGE 9

PAGE 18

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E D I T O R I A L

Identification and protection of

Important Bird Areas (IBAs) is perhaps

the most successful programme of

BirdLife International. It has become a

trademark of BirdLife International and

its large family spread in more than 112

countries and territories. The IBA-kind of

scientific approach to identify and protect

important areas for bird conservation has

resulted into other similar programmes

such as Key Biodiversity Areas, Important

Plant Areas and Important Fish Areas.

Most of them are terrestrial or areas on

the land (including wetlands and rivers).

Now BirdLife International has started

identifying Important Marine Bird Areas

or Marine IBAs.

There are nearly 12,000 IBAs in the

world. Thanks to the financial support of

the Royal Society for the Protection of

Birds, BirdLife Partner in UK, and the

guidance of BirdLife International, we

were able to identify 466 IBAs in India.

It took us five years, with numerous

consultative workshops and field work.

The establishment of IBCN in 1999

greatly helped in IBA identification and

many of you were part of this exercise.

With further support of RSPB and

BirdLife International, we have now

started a new programme to identify

Marine IBAs. The first workshop was

organized in Mumbai on 28th September,

2010 in which some of the most important

Identification of

Marine IBAs of India

experts in the field participated. Raju

Kasambe, IBA-IBCN Manager has

written an article on Marine IBAs in this

issue which will give you more insight

(see pp. 4-8).

With a coastline of nearly 7,000 km

long and an economic zone extending 200

km from the coast, we have a huge marine

area where we hope to identify some areas

which are very important for foraging of

marine birds. As all marine birds come to

land, some of the marine IBAs will also

include some landmass (e.g. islands). We

have already identified Pitti Island in

Lakshadweep as an IBA, but the

surrounding sea where the birds forage

was left out. In our new exercise, we will

try to include the seas also. We know that

due to lack of information on

congregation and movement of marine

birds, it will be a difficult exercise to

identify marine IBAs in India. At the same

time, we are fortunate that the WII and

other organizations have already

identified 27 marine protected areas

(MPAs) in India. Some of these MPAs will

qualify as Marine IBAs (MIBAs).

We hope to finish this exercise of

documentation of Marine IBAs within

two years. If you are interested to join this

exercise, please write to Mr. Raju

Kasambe.

Asad R. Rahmani

3MISTNET Vol. 11 No. 4 October-December 2010

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M O N I T O R I N G A N D I N T E R V E N T I O N

MISTNET Vol. 11 No. 4 October-December 20104

India has one of the longest shorelines in the

world and many marine species of birds are

found in the Indian seas and on the coastal

areas.

Today out of 22 species of albatrosses distributed

across the oceans of the globe, 18 are threatened

with extinction. The greatest threats being bycatch

by long-line fishing and predation risk by invasive

alien species in their breeding sites. As many as

300,000 seabirds are being caught on the hook

yearly. Hence, international cooperation was found

to be essential in the conservation of marine bird

species. Unfortunately, we do not have much data

on the bird mortality-as-bycatch by long-line

fishing in Indian ocean territory.

BirdLife International’s mission is to conserve

wild birds, their habitats and global biodiversity,

by working with people towards sustainability

in the use of natural resources. BirdLife’s strategy

to achieve this mission integrates species, site

and habitat conservation with sustaining

human needs and is implemented by the BirdLife

Partnership in over 100 countries including

India. The site-based component of this approach,

the Important Bird Area (IBA) Programme,

complements other programmes that focus on

species and habitats. Overall, the IBA programme

is a method of identifying the most significant

places on earth for birds. These sites called

IBAs can then form the basis for more

Marine Important Bird Areas

Programme in IndiaRaju Kasambe, Project Manager, IBA-IBCN

Rule Box 1: Categories and criteria used to select IBAs at the global level. Sites may qualify for

multiple categories and criteria. To date only A1 and A4 have been applied for seabirds, the possibility

(and benefits) of the application of A2 and A3 is currently being explored

Category A1- Globally Threatened Species

The site regularly holds significant numbers of a globally threatened species, or other species of global

conservation concern.

The site qualifies if it is known, estimated or thought to hold a population of a species categorized on

the IUCN Red List as globally threatened (Critical, Endangered and Vulnerable). The list of globally

threatened species is maintained and updated annually by BirdLife International.

Category A2 – Restricted-range Species

The site is known or thought to hold a significant component of the group of species whose breeding

distributions define an Endemic Bird Area (EBA) or Secondary Area (SA).

Endemic Bird Areas are defined as places where two or more species of restricted-range, defined as

those whose global breeding distributions are of less than 50,000 km2 , occur together –see Sttattersfield

et al (1998). A Secondary Area (SA) supports one or more restricted-range species, but does not

qualify as an EBA because fewer than two species are entirely confined to it.

Category A3 – Biome-restricted Assemblages

The site is known or thought to hold a significant component of the group of species whose distributions

are largely or wholly confined to one biome.

Biome-restricted assemblages are groups of species with largely shared distributions which occurs

mostly or entirely within all or part of a particular biome.

Category A4 – Congregations

i) Site known or thought to hold, on a regular basis, > 1% of a biogeographic population of a

congregatory waterbird species.

ii) Site known or thought to hold, on a regular basis, > 1% of the global population of a

congregatory seabird or terrestrial species

iii) Site known or thought to hold, on a regular basis, > 20,000 waterbirds or > 10,000 pairs of

seabirds of one or more species

iv) Site known or thought to exceed thresholds set for migratory species at bottleneck sites

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detailed conservation planning, and the

focus for practical advocacy, action and

monitoring.

IBA Criteria

Important Bird Areas (IBAs) are identified

using a standardized set of data-driven

criteria and thresholds (see Rule Box 1). As such,

they ensure that the approach can be used

consistently worldwide. When originally devised

they were intended for application only in Europe

as they were designed to be compatible with

European Union legislation. Following the

success of the approach in Europe, and the

subsequent decision to extend the programme

worldwide, it was apparent that there were

numerous benefits like ease of understanding and

usage, comparative analyses, power of

justification and advocacy to adopting a

standardized approach.

It should be noted that sites may qualify for

multiple categories and criteria (see Rule Box

1). To date only A1 and A4 have been applied

for sea-birds, the possibility (and benefits) of the

application of A2 and A3 is currently being

explored.

Background to marine IBAs

Although the identification stage of

the Important Bird Area programme is

currently approaching completion in terrestrial

(including inland and coastal wetland)

environments, the process is still at an early

stage in the marine realm. The process of

identification of marine IBAs has already

been completed in many countries like

Portugal, Australia, Japan and many European,

African, South-East Asian and South American

countries. In India we have identified

466 terrestrial IBAs using the IBA criteria.

Extending the IBA programme to the

oceans, while a logical and significant

development, has posed both conceptual and

practical challenges.

IBAs have formed a significant scientific

reference in most of the countries and even

in India they are getting recognised as priority

sites for conservation. It is therefore appropriate

that the IBA selection criteria should be

reviewed and, as necessary, adapted (and

guidelines developed for their application), in

order to use them to identify marine IBAs in

India.

Rule Box 2: The four ‘ types’ of marine IBAs recognized by Osieck (2004) that include the different

aspects of seabirds at-sea activities that may be amenable to site-based conservation approaches. It

should be noted that there is some overlap between non-breeding (coastal) congregations and areas

for pelagic species which are continuations of a theme.

Seaward extensions to breeding colonies

While many seabird breeding colonies have already been identified as IBAs, their boundaries have

been , in almost all cases, confirmed to the land on which the colonies are located. The boundaries of

these sites can, in many cases, be extended to include those parts of the marine environment which

are used by the colony for feeding, maintenance behaviours and social interactions. Such extensions

are limited by the foraging range, depth and/or habitat preferences of the species concerned. The

seaward boundary is, as far as possible, colony and/or species-specific, based on known or estimated

foraging and maintenance behavior.

Non-breeding (coastal) concentrations

These include sites, usually in coastal areas, which hold feeding and moulting concentrations of

waterbirds, such as divers, grebes and benthos-feeding ducks. They could also refer to coastal feeding

areas for auks, shearwaters etc.

Migratory bottlenecks

These include sites whose geographic position means that seabirds fly over or round in the course of

regular migration. These sites are normally determined by topographic features, such as headlands

and straits

Areas for pelagic species

These sites comprise marine areas remote from land at which pelagic seabirds regularly gather in

large numbers, whether to feed or for other purposes. These areas usually coincide with specific

oceanographic features, such as shelf-breaks, eddies and upwellings, and their biological productivity

is invariably high

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Types of marine IBAs

Osieck (2004) recognised four types of marine

IBAs (see Rule Box 2) that include different

aspects of seabirds at-sea activities that may be

amenable to site-based conservation approaches.

It should be noted that there is some overlap

between non-breeding (coastal) congregations

and areas for pelagic species which are

continuations of a theme.

First Marine IBA workshop in India:

A workshop on the Marine IBAs was held at

Hornbill House, Bombay Natural History Society

on 28 September 2010 and a select group of

biologists working in the marine environs of India

attended this workshop. This workshop aimed at

developing the strategies and future action plan

towards identification of Marine IBAs in Indian

geographical limits.

It was decided to prepare a list of marine bird

species of India with their IUCN status and then

gather the published data on marine birds of India.

We will organise another workshop to identify

marine IBAs in India in a couple of months and

publish the data.

Previously, a consultation workshop on

conservation of Marine Species for development

of Species recovery plans and Marine Protected

Areas (MPAs) in India was organized by Wildlife

Institute of India on 6-7 March 2009 (WII, 2009).

This workshop resulted into a list of proposed

Marine Protected Areas in India. The MPAs

include: Porbandar Marine Conservation Reserve,

Gujarat; Andra Flat off Sindhudurg Fort,

Maharashtra; Netrani or Pigeon Island,

Karnataka; Vypin-Fort Kochi, Kerala; Agatti,

Lakshadweep and Palk Bay in Tamil Nadu.

Some Marine and Coastal Protected Areas in

India

Following areas are declared as Protected

Areas by the state department of forests and some

by the Government of India. Car Nicobar,

Charakla Salt Works (it is private), Coringa

Wildlife Sanctuary and Godavari estuary, Great

Nicobar, Little Nicobar, Gulf of Mannar Marine

National Park, Jarawa Reserve (Middle Andaman

and South Andaman), Little Andaman, Mahatma

Gandhi Marine National Park (Wandoor National

Park), Marine National Park and Wildlife

Sanctuary (Jamnagar), Narcondam Island

Wildlife Sanctuary, North and South Sentinel,

North Reef Island Wildlife Sanctuary, Pitti Island,

Rani Jhansi Marine National Park, Saltpans of

Bhavnagar and Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve

(National Park).

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M O N I T O R I N G F O R C O N S E R V A T I O N


Request for data on Marine birds:

We request marine biologists and

ornithologists working on marine birds to join

Indian Bird Conservation Network (IBCN) and

share their information with us. It will help in the

identification of marine IBAs in India. We will

appreciate scientists joining this Network and help

for the conservation of marine birds in the Indian

seas. The data shared will be acknowledged in

all publications.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Ms. Mayumi Sato, Marine IBA

Programe Officer, BirdLife Japan and to Mr. Ben

Lascelles, Global Marine IBA Officer, BirdLife

U.K. for help in writing this article. Thanks to

Mr. Sagar Satpute (BNHS ENVIS Centre) for

helping in preparing the list of ‘Sea-birds’.

Important References

BirdLife International (2010): Marine Important

Bird Areas toolkit: Standardised techniques

for identifying priority sites for the

conservation of seabirds at-sea. BirdLife

International, Cambridge UK. Version 1.1:

May 2010

Osieck, E. R. (2004): Towards the identification

of marine IBAs in the EU: an exploration

by the Birds and Habitat Directives Task

Force. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife

International. (Internal report).

Wildlife Institute of India (2009): Consultation

Workshop on Conservation of Marine

Species for Development of Species

Recovery Plans and marine Protected Areas

in India. 6-7 March, 2009. Resource

Material.

List of Sea-birds of South Asia as adopted from the list provided by Mr. Ben Lascelles

Sr Common name Scientific name

1 Christmas Island Frigatebird Fregata andrewsi

2 Mascarene Petrel Pseudobulweria aterrima

3 Abbott’s Booby Papasula abbotti

4 Barau’s Petrel Pterodroma baraui

5 Trindade Petrel Pterodroma arminjoniana

6 White-eyed Gull Larus leucophthalmus

7 Jouanin’s Petrel Bulweria fallax

8 Sooty Shearwater Puffinus griseus

9 Parasitic Jaeger Stercorarius parasiticus

10 Pomarine Jaeger Stercorarius pomarinus

11 South Polar Skua Catharacta maccormicki

12 Brown Skua Catharacta lonnbergi

13 Common White Tern Gygis alba

14 Lesser Noddy Anous tenuirostris

15 Black Noddy Anous minutus

16 Brown Noddy Anous stolidus

17 Black Tern Chlidonias niger

18 Sooty Tern Sterna fuscata

19 Bridled Tern Sterna anaethetus

20 White-cheeked Tern Sterna repressa

21 Saunders’s Tern Sterna saundersi

22 Little Tern Sterna albifrons

23 Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea

24 Common Tern Sterna hirundo

25 Black-naped Tern Sterna sumatrana

26 Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii

27 Sandwich Tern Sterna sandvicensis

28 Great Crested Tern Sterna bergii

29 Lesser Crested Tern Sterna bengalensis

30 Caspian Tern Sterna caspia

31 Gull-billed Tern Sterna nilotica

32 Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla

33 Little Gull Larus minutus

34 Slender-billed Gull Larus genei

35 Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus

36 Brown-headed Gull Larus brunnicephalus

37 Pallas’s Gull Larus ichthyaetus

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38 Yellow-legged Gull/Caspian Gull Larus cachinnans

39 Mew Gull Larus canus

40 Sooty Gull Larus hemprichii

41 Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo

42 Brown Booby Sula leucogaster

43 Red-footed Booby Sula sula

44 Masked Booby Sula dactylatra

45 Lesser Frigatebird Fregata ariel

46 Greater Frigatebird Fregata minor

47 White-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon lepturus

48 Red-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon rubricauda

49 Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus

50 Black-necked Grebe Podiceps nigricollis

51 Horned Grebe Podiceps auritus

52 Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus

53 Red-necked Grebe Podiceps grisegena

54 Swinhoe’s Storm-petrel Oceanodroma monorhis

55 White-bellied Storm-petrel Fregetta grallaria

56 Black-bellied Storm-petrel Fregetta tropica

57 White-faced Storm-petrel Pelagodroma marina

58 Wilson’s Storm-petrel Oceanites oceanicus

59 Bulwer’s Petrel Bulweria bulwerii

60 Audubon’s Shearwater Puffinus lherminieri

61 Short-tailed Shearwater Puffinus tenuirostris

62 Flesh-footed Shearwater Puffinus carneipes

63 Wedge-tailed Shearwater Puffinus pacificus

64 Streaked Shearwater Calonectris leucomelas

65 Soft-plumaged Petrel Pterodroma mollis

66 Cape Petrel Daption capense

67 Arctic Loon Gavia arctica

68 Red-throated Loon Gavia stellata

69 Common Merganser Mergus merganser

70 Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator

71 Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula

72 Long-tailed Duck Clangula hyemalis

73 White-winged Scoter Melanitta fusca

74 Greater Scaup Aythya marila

75 Matsudaira’s Storm-petrel Oceanodroma matsudairae


Participants of the Marine IBA Workshop held at BNHS on 28 September 2010

List of Sea-birds of South Asia as adopted from the list provided by Mr. Ben Lascelles (contd.)

Sr Common name Scientific name

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M O N I T O R I N G A N D C O N S E R V A T I O N

Nuclear Power Corporation of

India Limited (NPCIL), under

its Environment Stewardship

Programme (ESP), has been carrying

out several environment conservation

activities in collaboration with Bombay

Natural History Society (BNHS) and

other NGOs. Monitoring of wetlands,

forests, and other habitats and its

development are part of the programme.

Several scientific studies on biodiversity,

particularly avifauna, are being done

regularly under this unique initiative by

NPCIL. Monitoring of the Important

Bird Areas (IBA) in the surroundings of

Indian nuclear power plants that are

located across the country, on regular

basis, is also an objective of the

programme. For instance, Vedanthangal

and Karikili Bird Sanctuary, an IBA that

is situated about 50 km west of the

Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS),

is being monitored regularly. As a part

of ESP, a historical study has been

conducted at this IBA. The following

are the objectives of the study:

l Study of wetlands and other

habitats

l Monitoring of Important Bird

Areas as per the laid-down procedure

l Census of birds as per the

norms

The entire study was conducted in

three phases, from the year 2008 to 2010,

almost same season every year (January

28 in 2008, and January 21 in 2009 and

2010) to collect representative and

reliable data. It was our endeavour to seek

and take guidance from the local people,

Vedanthangal and Karikili Bird Sanctuaries

Survey of Important Bird Areas and

Census of Birds –

Text and photographs: J. Devaprakash

Dy.Manager (Mass Media), NPCIL

subject experts and forest department

officials, who collectively provided many

valuable inputs. This interaction helped

in exploring some qualitative

information, such as the movement of the

birds between colonies, the climatic

conditions of the area, threats to the birds,

and how the local public thinks about

nature conservation.

Appropriate number of volunteers

from the nature clubs established under

ESP at MAPS, Kalpakkam, joined the

survey team.

Head count method of counting for

birds was adopted when the number of

birds was small. Other methods like

simple count method, call count,

territory mapping, visual observation

and sampling techniques were used to

estimate when the birds were in greater

numbers.

In general, the census of wetland

birds was carried out as per the AWC

norms.

A list of potential threats to wetlands

was prepared in advance and each

threat was assessed. Threats other than

the listed ones were also considered

and evaluated.

Besides, GPS data was collected for

each site the team visited, including

routing to get accurate co-ordinates of

the sites and tracks. A high-quality

digital photography camera, with

telephoto and wide-angle lenses, was

used to carry out photography.

Description of Sites

Vedanthangal and Karikili Bird

Sanctuaries (IBA code: IN-TN-29)

A panoramic view of Karikili Bird Sanctuary


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hosts many threatened species like

Painted Stork, Spot-billed Pelican,

etc., and also has exceptionally large

number of migratory and congregatory

species. Hence, the site was declared

as an IBA and is being monitored

regularly.

Karikili Bird Sanctuary

Co-ordinates: 12º36’04” N 79º 50’ 50” E

Survey Count

Year 2008 2009 2010

Total Count 6250 200 150

The sanctuary is located about 86

km south of Chennai city and 10 km

south of Karikili Bird Sanctaury in

Madurantakam Taluk. It is an

Important Bird Area (IBA) along with

its sister site Vedanthangal. It

comprises two rain-fed non-perennial

irrigation tanks owned by the State

Government’s Public Works Depart-

ment. Karikili Bird Sanctuary is a

protected wetland of 61.21 hectares

(about 151.26 acres). Being a protected

site, there is hardly any visible threat

to the site but we suspect the possibility

of some grazing, especially during

the dry period when the tank is either

dry or has very low water levels. The

tanks have growth of Barringtonia

hortenisis and Acacia nilotica. We

observed some construction work being

carried out to reinforce the western-side

bund with stonework when we visited

the site in January 2008. The work was

completed when we visited the

sanctuary again in 2009. We were

informed that a canal had been

constructed to maintain adequate water

level in the tank.

Several species of birds, particularly

Spot-billed Pelican, Large Cormorant,

Median Egret, Cattle Egret, Pond

Heron, Night Heron, Painted Stork,

Asian Openbill etc., have been reported

to be nesting at this site (Subramanya

S. 2005). It has been possible due to

the protected nature of the wetland and

availability of adequate food. In the

year 2008, the rains in the month of

March provided enough water level in

Karikili and Vedanthangal bird

sanctuaries, leading to a second cycle

of breeding of some species, viz., Large

Cormorant and Oriental Darter

(P. Oppili, 2008).

In the year 2008, we observed

about 6000 to 6500 birds belonging

to over 40 species. We observed

80 individuals of Spot-billed Pelicans

at the sanctuary. It was reported by

Mr. Murugan, stationed at the

sanctuary, that the population of

Black-crowned Night-heron has been

increasing steadily. But, when we visited

the site a year after, i.e., in 2009 winter,

we were quite a bit shaken

to observe that only about 200

birds of 12 species were seen. Even in

the next winter (2010) we witnessed

only about 150 birds.

One of the major reasons for the

discarding of the site could be the low

water level in the tank due to less

rainfall.

A pair of Spot-billed Pelicans relaxing in the calm waters of Karikili


Location of Karikilli and Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuaries

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Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary

Co-ordinates: 12º32’80” N 79º 51’ 17” E

Survey Count

Year 2008 2009 2010

Survey Count 25000 27000 25300

Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary in

Madurantagam Taluk of Kanchee-

puram District is about 82 km

southwest of Chennai and can be

reached by the National Highway No.

45. It is about 48 km inland from the

Bay of Bengal. It is a rain-fed seasonal

wetland that also receives water from

the overflow of the nearest lakes.

Vedanthangal bird sanctuary is a

small, but one of the oldest sanctuaries

in the country. Like many other places,

the success story of the Vedanthangal

bird sanctuary began with the local

villagers protecting the sanctuary for

centuries. In fact, the villagers proposed

to the authorities to provide protection

to the area in the year 1798.

Documentary evidence clearly

indicates that the villagers of

Vedanthangal have actively safeguarded

the heronry at least since 1790 (Spillett,

J. J. 1966). Vedanthangal was declared

as a “Reserve Land” in 1962 and was

subsequently declared as a “Bird

Sanctuary” in 1996. It was also declared

as an Important Bird Area (IBA).

List of threatened species:

Painted Stork – NT

Spot-billed Pelican– NT

Oriental Darter – NT

Area-wise, Vedanthangal is a very

small sanctuary – just about 30 hectares

or about 72 acres, but a large number

of birds are attracted towards it, making

it one of the thickly-populated

sanctuaries.

Large varieties of birds and in large

numbers have been visiting

Vedanthangal year after year. However,

the number depends on the water level

in the wetland, and hence on the

rainfall. The region receives moderate

rainfall, mostly during the northeast

monsoon, and partly during southwest

monsoon also. The average rainfall is

about 1000 mm.

Being a protected wetland, it does

not face many of the threats that other

unprotected wetlands face in the area,

like hunting, encroachment, dumping

of garbage, etc. Two sides of the

wetland are protected by a bund, but

the other two sides are open and make

the sanctuary vulnerable to

unauthorised entry of humans and the

cattle grazing.

A large amount of bird droppings,

rich in phosphorous, in the small area

of tank make its water turbid and

convert it into liquid guano. The

villagers knew its beneficial effects much

before they were scientifically discovered

and have been using this water as organic

fertiliser in their fields (Paulraj, 1998).

The practice has since been going on and

the tank water is used for irrigation only

if the tank overflows. (K. Murugan,

personal communication).

Though many species of trees are

Rosy Starling - A welcome new visitor

Many migratory birds visit Vedanthangal every year, such as the Northern Pintail


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found in the sanctuary, Spot-billed

Pelicans choose Barringotonia trees for

nesting and roosting (Paulraj and

Gunasekaran, 1988). In the year 1966,

one thousand Barringtonia trees were

planted in the sanctuary. The other tree

species found in the region include,

Siris (Albizzia lebbeck), Babul (Acacia

Arabica), Alingi (Alangium lamarcii),

and Palmyra (Borassus flabellifier),

which are interspersed with thick

undergrowth of Cane (Calamus rotang)

(Spillett, 1969). Every year 200-500

trees are being planted. Spot-billed

Pelicans did not breed at Vedanthangal

historically, but they started breeding

since 1984 and their first breeding

record is of 1985-86 (Paulraj and

Gunasekaran, 1988).

In the year 2008, we spotted about

30 species of birds with a total count

of about 25,000. We observed 700-

1000 individuals of Spot-billed

Pelicans, though the number stands at

3000-3500 as per the records

maintained at the sanctuary. The

numbers of nesting species have been

on the rise over the decades

(Subramanya S., 2005). Painted Stork

and Asian Openbill were in their

second breeding cycle during our

survey. In 2009 winter, we spotted

about 27000 birds of about 30 species.

This year the number of egrets were

higher (about 6000) than last year’s

(about 4000). The total count of birds

was also slightly higher than the

previous year’s count. In the current

year (2010), we have seen about 25000

birds. This year, the sighting of Rosy

Starling was an interesting record.

About 2000 Rosy Starlings were

spotted some 5 km away from the

sanctuary, on the way to Chengalpattu.

Earlier record of the species in this area

is not known.

Acknowledgements

The author is thankful to the

management of NPCIL for

conceptualizing, launching and

supporting the ESP programme, and to

late Shri. A.I. Siddiqui who initiated

the ESP activities and took great

personal interest in it. He also partly

participated in the study. The author is

deeply thankful to the nature club

members of MAPS, to the field experts

of BNHS and to the members of the

sanctuaries for their untiring support.

References

Oppili P, 2008. Cormorants, darters

complete second cycle of breeding.

The Hindu.

Paulraj S. 1998. Impact of guano

deposition in Vedanthangal Water-

Bird Sanctuary (Chengalpattu

District, Tamil Nadu) Journal.

BNHS 85:319-32)

Paulraj, S. and Gunasekaran, G. 1988.

The Vedanthangal Water-bird

Sanctuary: a new breeding ground

for Pelicans and Painted Storks.

J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 85 (2):

414-415.).

Spillett, J. J. 1969: A report on wild

life surveys in south and west

India, November-December 1966,

J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 65(3):

633-663.

Subramanya S. 2005. Heronries of Tamil

Nadu. Indian Birds Vol. 1 No.

6:126-140.

Contact:


A heronry of Asian Openbill at Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary



CMYK


The beauty and majesty of the

chapories of the Lohit River are best

seen from the hill top areas on the Tezu-

Hayuliang road. The large expanse of

greenery rolling down from the snow-

capped Dahpa Bum and blending with

yellowish (grassland) and blue (water

of the Lohit) landscape offers a

breathtaking view in winter months.

The origin of this IBA is a rather

interesting one. Magu-Thingbu and

THE CHAPORIES OF THE

LOHIT RIVER –Arunachal’s IBA under threat

Anwaruddin Choudhury, IBCN State Coordinator, Assam

Thingbu-Magu were recorded as two

different IBAs due to oversight in the

draft of the book on the IBAs in India.

While editing and rewriting the site

descriptions at Dr A. R. Rahmani’s

house at Mumbai, I told Kulojyoti

Lahkar, who was also with me that there

is a serious repetition and one has to be

replaced. Its removal is difficult as each

site has already been given a code

number. That was in 2003 when I was

on my way back from South Africa. The

options left were to coin new name and

find out potential IBA having name

starting with either ‘M’ or ‘T’ so that

the code numbers already assigned are

not disturbed. Then I remembered my

days in early 1990s when as Project

Director of Rural Development at

Tinsukia I used to cross a large riverine

tract enroute Sadiya. That large riverine

tract was given the name ‘The

Parshuramkund or Brahmakund is sacred to Hindus who congregate in thousands every January.

A large dam is coming up just upstream

Anw

aru

ddin

Choudhury


CMYK


chapories of the Lohit River’ with ‘T’

at the beginning. In the process, a

biodiversity-rich tract could be given

justice, which otherwise was left out.

Perhaps among the earliest references

of this area is found in T.T. Cooper’s

landmark publication ‘Mishmee Hills’,

which was published way back in 1873.

His excellent account is full of stories of

tigers, wild buffaloes, gaurs, elephants,

gharials and hornbills. In fact he and his

party sailed all through the Brahmaputra

River then to Lohit River to

Kamlangpani or the Kamlang River that

drains the Kamlang Wildlife Sanctuary,

an IBA. At that time it was perhaps a

wilderness, now, one can only imagine

in dream.

This IBA is located in Lohit district

in eastern Arunachal Pradesh. It is here

that the river Lohit, which originates in

Tibet debouch onto the plains and spread

out with many channels and grassy and

woody chapories in between. This tract

supports significant populations of

Elephant and Wild Buffalo. It has Tigers

and perhaps a few Swamp Deer, if not

extirpated at all. Hog Deer and Wild Pig

are frequently encountered.

The birdlife in this tract is very rich

with waterfowls in winter. The critically

endangered Bengal Florican

Houbaropsis bengalensis is also found

but exact numbers are not known.

Another critically endangered species,

the White-bellied Heron Ardea insignis

and the endangered White-winged

Wood Duck Cairina scutulata have

been reported but needs further

verification although it might be a

crucial habitat for both the species. The

near-threatened Great Pied Hornbill

Buceros bicornis is seen either flying

high or occasionally in tall trees. The

presence of Black-breasted Parrotbill

Paradoxornis flavirostris needs to be

explored as it has potential habitat. The

critically endangered White-backed

Gyps bengalensis and Slender-billed

Vultures G. tenuirostris are occasionally

seen (regular till late 1990s). Some

other noteworthy bird species are the

vulnerable Swamp Francolin

Francolinus gularis, Black Stork

Ciconia nigra, Common Merganser

Mergus merganser and plenty of Large

Cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo.

This large IBA extends from

Parshuramkund (=Brahmakund) to

almost near Assam border with

stretches of water, sand, boulder, grass

and trees. Parshuramkund is a major

tourist-cum-pilgrim destination with

thousands of devotees making it in

January every year. There are several

small lodges in the vicinity. Kamlang

Wildlife Sanctuary is not very far from

this IBA. Large orange orchards are

now coming up in the tract between this

IBA and Kamlang posing potential

disruption to wildlife movement in

future.

The biggest conservation issue;

however, now is the large dam that is

coming up on the main Lohit River at

Demwe near Parshuramkund. Its

downstream impact has not been

understood properly but is likely to

affect in a big way. For about 18-20

hours there will be less water but for

the remaining 4-6 hours, it could be a

minor flash flood every day. The young

ones of Water Buffalo and Elephants,

the White-bellied Heron and other

waterfowl, and the majestic Mahseer

fishes might have trouble in coping with

such a situation. The dynamics of tall

grassland would be in peril as has been

observed in Nepal’s Karnali River

floodplain. The presence of large

number of labourers who will work in

the dam projects would require

attention. The road construction

labourers of the Border Road Force are

notorious for killing birds with snares

and slingshot as their main pass-time

activity. Community participation in

conservation should be encouraged and

massive awareness campaign should be

carried out in the villages as well as

among the construction officials and

labourers.

The chapories of the Lohit River

have tremendous potential for eco-

tourism. Once the locals get benefit of

eco-tourism their support could be

ensured for conservation of this key

IBA. This IBA is accessible from

Tinsukia town and Dibrugarh’s

Mohanbari air port in Assam with all-

weather motor road, in fact, by a

national highway via Namsai. One can

drive upto Chowkham, Wakro or

Parshuramkund and then walk down

with a good local guide. One can also

access some of the areas from Tezu, the

largest township in eastern Arunachal

Pradesh. The pagodas of Chowkham in

the heartland of Khamti tribes, who are

Buddhists give a South-east Asian

flavour.

The Chapories of the Lohit River look magnificent and majestic from the heights of

Mishmi Hills

Anw

aru

ddin

Choudhury

Contact: House no.7, Nr.Gate no.1 of

Nehru Stadium, Guwahati, Assam

Email:[email protected]


CMYK

R E S E A R C H A N D M O N I T O R I N G


Pani-Dihing Bird Sanctuary

(27004”N and 94034”E) is an

Important Bird Area (IBA IN-

AS-36) in the Sibsagar District of

Assam. Pani-Dihing is a wetland

covering 3,393 hectares of waterbody

and 600 hectares of Phokolai and

Dorou beels. We visited the Pani-

Dihing Bird Sanctuary on 16th April,

2010. Mr. Mukunda Hazarika (Field

Coordinator for the CEPF Project), Mr.

Profulla Phukan and Mr. Lakhan

Gogoi (Field Monitoring Coordinator)

accompanied us during the visit to the

Sanctuary. The sanctuary was well

known since decades as a wintering

ground of several thousand wetland

birds specially ducks and geese. It was

earlier known as Maharani Reserved

Forest and also as Chetolia reserve. In

former days, this area was also home

to other species of wildlife especially

the Wild Buffalo Bubalus arnee, the

Royal Bengal Tiger Panthera tigris and

various species of deer, besides the

wetland birds. Herds of wild elephants

had been visiting this area since time

immemorial and the phenomenon still

goes on with somewhat frequent

conflicts with humans. To the north of

Pani-Dihing are vast areas of riverine

tracts consisting of sand bars and large

sand islands of the river Brahmaputra,

which together constitutes the riverine

island of Majuli. Though these areas are

inhabited by thousands of people, there

are some good birding areas among

these sand bars.

Pani-Dihing has a long history of

anthropogenic intrusions and exploita-

tion; it was a sought after hunting ground

A visit to thePani-Dihing Bird Sanctuary,Assam (an IBA)Raju Kasambe* and Asif Hazarika**

of bird hunters and the local villagers had

almost continuously exploited it for

collection of bird eggs during the

breeding season, both for domestic use

as well as for sale. Apart from this, the

grasslands of Pani-Dihing have been used

as grazing lands for buffaloes and cows.

Cattle camps locally called Khutis are

spread out around the fringes of the

sanctuary. But now the forest department

is keeping control on them. There were

several instances of the Rhinos

Rhinoceros unicornis straying into the

Sanctuary and the adjoining areas from

the riverine areas of the north,

contiguous with the Kaziranga National

Park.

BNHS and its partner Site Support

Group (SSG) is working on the north-

eastern part on the outskirts of the

Sanctuary under the CEPF project. This

area has the confluence of one of the

most important river in Assam “Dihing”

with the river Brahmaputra and has some

fine wetlands and a reserved forest called

Dihing Mukh Reserved Forest under

Dibrugarh Forest Division. At the mouth

of the Dihing River where it meets the

Brahmaputra River is a wetland bird

habitat, but it is under much human

assault both from commercial fishing as

well as poaching of birds, difficulty

being that the area is quite remote and

inaccessible.

Threatened species

We saw 12 critically endangered

White-rumped Vultures Gyps

bengalensis soaring high in the sky and

landing to the far side of the Sanctuary.

Three Greater Adjutants Leptoptilos

dubius were also sighted along with

many Lesser Adjutants Leptoptilos

javanicus, five Black-bellied Terns

L to R: Asif Hazarika, Lakhan Gogoi, Mukunda Hazarika and Raju Kasambe at

Pani-Dihing Bird Sanctuary

Pro

fulla

Ph

uka

n

CMYK

R E S E A R C H A N D M O N I T O R I N G


Sterna acuticauda and one Black-necked

Stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus. Other

threatened species of birds recorded here

are: Slender-billed Vultures Gyps

tenuirostris, Spot-billed Pelican

Pelicanus philippensis, Baer’s Pochard

Aythya baeri, Pallas’s Fish-Eagle

Haliaestus leucoryphus, Greater Spotted

Eagle Aquila clanga, Swamp Francolin

Francolinus gularis, Orienatl Darter

Anhinga melanogaster and Ferruginous

Pochards Aythya nyroca. Sarus Crane

Grus antigone was also sighted here on

many occasions, but now it is very rare.

There is a historical record of Black-

breasted Parrotbill Paradoxornis

flavirostris from the Sanctuary.

Other avifauna

We saw many common species such

as Asian Openbill Anastomus oscitans,

Red-wattled Lapwing Vanellus indicus,

Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus,

Indian Pond Heron Ardeola grayii,

Purple Heron Ardea purpurea, Little

Cormorant Phalacocorax niger, Cattle

Egret Bubulcus coromandus, Little

Egret Egretta garzetta, Common Myna

Acridotheres tristis.

Winter migrants

Pani-Dihing supports thousands of

wintering Greylag Geese Anser anser

and Bar-headed Geese Anser indicus

besides many species of waterfowl

during the winter months. These

waterfowl include Northern Pintail Anas

acuta, Gadwal Anas strepera, Northen

Shoveler Anas clypeata, Garganey Anas

querquedula, Red-crested Pochards

Netta rufina, Tufted Ducks Aythya

fuligula, Common Pochards Aythya

ferina, Common Teals Anas crecca and

Ruddy Shelducks Tadorna ferruginea.

Threats and conservation issues

Illegal fishing is a major problem as

locals use various methods in the

Sanctuary area for fishing. The

herdsmen and fishermen also build

small huts or camps (khutis) on the islets

in the wetlands for their convenience

of fishing and grazing their livestock.

Attempts by the forest department to

remove the encroachments are

undermined as the locals build the

khutis again. The overgrowth of

invasive species like Common Water

Hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes and

Ipomoea has spread over a large part of

the once inundated wetlands.

Names of birds in Assamese language

We collected names of birds in local

Assamese language and found that the

locals knew names for more than 50

species of common birds found in the

area. Here we present a checklist of those

names collected along with meanings of

some names given in brackets:

Ruddy Shelduck: Chakoi Chokua

Little Cormorant: Pani Kawri

Coot and Common Moorhen: Dheko

River Tern (all Terns): Ganga Chiloni

All Jacanas: Lorioti

White-breasted Waterhen: Dauk

Purple Moorhen: Kam Chorai

Geese: Dhritraj

Asian Openbill: Hamuk Bhoga (E:

Shell breaker)

Woolly-necked Stork: Konua

Black-necked Stork: Telia Hareng

Cotton Teal: Batolu Gutia Horali

Northern Pintail: Dighol Niji

Lesser Whisteling Teal: Horu Horali

Large Whisterling Teal: Bor Horali

Mallard: Bonoriha Patiha

Red-crested Pochard: Ronga Muri

Tufted Pochard: Kola Muri

Oriental Darter: Moniori

Great Cormorant: Doi Kola

Indian Pond Heron: Konamuchori

Cattle Egret: Gubog

Little and Median Egret: Borbo

Black-headed Ibis: Akahi Bog

Spoonbill: Khontiabog

All Snipes: Khusa

All Pelicans: Dhera

House Sparrow: Ghor Chirika (E:

House Bird)

Small Blue Kingfisher: Horu Masruka

(E: Fish eater)

All Kingfishers: Masruka

House Crow: Pati Kowri

Swamp Francolin: Hoikoli

Grey-headed Fish Eagle: Borchorai,

Kuruwa

Chestnut Bittern: Itaguria (E: Brick

coloured)

Purple and Grey Heron: Ajanpokhi (E:

Unknown bird)

All Vultures: Hogun

Rails and Crakes: Jekor

All Woodpeckers: Kathkhula

Large Golden-backed Woodpecker:

Barhoi Tuka

Indian Roller: Kowchorai, Neelkanth

All Bee-eaters: Mou Khati (E: Bee eater)

Falcon, Shikra, Sparrowhaek: Hen

Marsh Harrier: Buka Hen

Golden Oriole: Hakhi Ati

Red-vented Bulbul: Bulbuli

Crimson-headed Barbet: Hatuluka

All Babblers: Satbhani

All Sunbirds: Moupia (E: Honey

Drinker)

All Hornbills: Dhanes

Black Partridge and Khaleej Pheasant:

Dorik

Peacock Pheasant: Deodorik

Red Junglefowl: Bonoria Murgi (E:

Forest Hen)

Yellow-legged Green Pigeons: Haitha

Emerald Dove: Porghuma

Red-wattled lapwing: Bali Ghora (E:

Sand Horse)

Acknowledgements

We thank Conservation International

Foundation for their financial support to

BNHS through the Critical Ecosystem

Partnership Fund. We thank Mr.

Mukunda Hazarika (Field Coordinator,

CEPF Project), Mr. Profulla Phukan and

Mr. Lakhan Gogoi (Field Monitoring

Coordinator, CEPF Project) for

accompanying us during the visit to the

Sanctuary.

Reference

Islam, M.Z. and Rahmani, A. R.

(2004): Important Bird Areas in India:

Priority Sites for Conservation. Indian

Bird Conservation Network: Bombay

Natural History Society and BirdLife

International (UK). Pp. 1133.

Contact:

*Email: [email protected]

**Email: [email protected]

CMYK

E V E N T S


To build up a network of birdwatchers in Amravati

district, a two days ornithology workshop was

organised by the Wildlife & Environment Conservation

Society, Amravati (WECS), under IBCN Small

Grant Project, on 1st October 2010 at Shri Shivaji Science

College, Amravati. This was the first in the series

of four workshops which will be organized by WECS.

The opening ceremony programme was inaugurated

by Mr. Ian Barber (International Officer RSPB), on

this occasion Mr. Raju Kasambe (Manager IBA-IBCN-

BNHS), Principal Dr. V. G. Thakare, Dr. Jayant Wadatkar

(Project Coordinator), Dr. Prabha Bhogaonkar (President,

WECS), Dr. G. A. Wagh (Workshop Convener),

Dr. C.B. Meshram (HOD), and Miss. Sayali Ingle were

present.

A total of 120 participants including birdwatchers,

NGOs, students, nature lovers and lecturers were present

at the Workshop. Mr. Ian Barber, Mr. Raju Kasambe,

Dr. Jayant Wadatkar, Dr. G. A. Wagh guided the

participants. On this occasion, a Checklist of the Birds of

Amravati district was published.

IBCN Partners in ActionOrnithology Workshop at Amravati, Maharashtra

Next day morning, a birding trip was organised at

Pohara-Malkhed Reserve Forest. Total 70 birdwatchers

participated. They were guided by Mr. Latish Dekate (an

expert birder).

Visit to Melghat Tiger Reserve, an IBA, Maharashtra

(habitat of the Critically Endangered Forest Owlet)

Mr. Raju Kasambe along with Mr. Ian

Barber and Dr. Jayant Wadatkar (State

Co-coordinator: Vidarbha Region) visited

Melghat Tiger Reserve from 2nd October to

4th October 2010, to understand the threats

to the critically endangered Forest Owlets

Heteroglaux blewitti. They had discussion

with the local Korku tribal about the Forest

Owlet. They had a meeting with the Mr. A.

K. Mishra, Field Director, Melghat Tiger

Reserve and issues about the IBA were

discussed.

On 4th October, 2010 morning, Mr. Ian

Barber and Raju gave lectures to the staff of

the Melghat Tiger Reserve and teachers

working in the area of the Reserve at

Semadoh Interpretation Centre in Melghat.

The duo highlighted the need to get Forest

Owlet declared as the State Bird of

Maharashtra besides highlighting the

importance of birds in general. The lectures

followed a question answer session about the

birds in particular and wildlife in general.

Mr.Ian Barber handing over a binocular to Mr. Nandarama Bhusum, an

expert Forest Owlet tracker

L to R: Dr C. B. Meshram, Dr. Prabha Bhogaonkar,

Dr V G Thakare, Mr.Ian Barber, Raju Kasambe,

Dr. Jayant Wadatkar and Ms. Sayali Ingle releasing the

checklist of the Birds of Amravati district

Sh

ash

an

k K

asa

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CMYK


E V E N T S

18

As part of our outreach programme

and national wildlife week

celebrations, a four days photo

exhibition was organized at State Lalit

Kala Academy, Lucknow, Uttar

Pradesh from October 1st to 4th, 2010.

State unit of Indian Bird Conservation

Network, along with Wild Bird

Protection Society and Katerniaghat

Foundation were behind the success of

this unique event. The exhibition,

started with 150 photographs of birds

and other mammals on 1st of October

2010.

The main purpose was to disseminate

the message of conservation through

raising awareness on bird migration,

promoting actions to save threatened bird

species and their habitats. Besides, the

event provided an opportunity to reach

“Wildlife through lenses -

An insight into the life in the wild”

About Wild Bird Protection SocietyWild Bird Protection Society is a Lucknow based non-profit organization, founded in 2009. It is committed

primarily to the conservation of the wild birds and their habitat in India and focuses its efforts for strengthening

the conservation of the Important Bird Areas through its multidimensional approach towards decision makers and

community as primary stake holders.

Neeraj Srivastav

IBCN State Coordinator, Uttar Pradesh

new audience and to attract potential

support from the citizens of Lucknow,

especially decision makers by directly

engaging their attention with truly live

images of wild denizens’ and to get them

close to the exuberance of natural world.

The Wildlife Week is celebrated in the

first week of October every year to

highlight the importance of wildlife and

its conservation for the welfare of

humankind. Different sections were

dedicated to birds, depending on their

habits and habitats, for example wetland

and waterbirds, woodland birds, birds of

prey, and birds around us, with some

narration alongside. Lucknow witnessed

this kind of event for the first time.

People from all walks of life observed,

enjoyed and applauded the effort.

Members of the participating

organizations had shot all the

photographs on display. Prominent

among them included Sanjay Kumar,

Amit Mishra, Suresh Chaudhary,

Neeraj Srivastava, Dr. J.S. Kalair, and

K. S. Sajwan, all members of the IBCN.

“I am really pleased to see the effort

put in collectively by some of the

ardent nature lovers making sure

people feel connected with nature”,

inscribed one of the visitors in the

visitors’ book during the event. Dish

TV, Indian Oil Corporation & Aircel

Limited sponsored the event.

This exhibition also shows the

importance of working together for the

common cause. The Wildlife Bird

Protection Society, Katerniaghat

Foundation and IBCN came together

to organize this exhibition.

Mr. Neeraj Srivastav guiding the guest through the

exhibitionAudience engrossed in viewing the exhibits

CMYK

I B C N P A R T N E R ’ S F A C T F I L E


“Action & Research for Conservation in Himalayas –

ARCH” was established for the promotion and to save the

endangered animal and plant life and their habitats in

the country with special emphasis on its avifaunal diversity

in the Himalayan region. It was strongly felt that the flora

and fauna, especially the birds cannot be saved without active

support and efforts of all sections of society. The involvements

of various organizations and individuals the world over would

be required jointly with the government efforts to conserve

the species diversity. “ARCH” was formed with its primary

objectives of strengthening avian species conservation in

India.

Some of the avian conservation programs initiated by

ARCH:

• The Great Himalayan Bird Count held every year

in winter since 2008 in which more than 120 bird

watchers from all corners of India and overseas along

with more than 500 rural youth participate to generate

Action & Research for Conservation in Himalayas, Uttarakhand

Founded : 15th September 2008

Contact Person : Prateek Panwar

Founder Trustee

7/7 Bengauli Street, Karanpur, Dehradun,

Uttarakhand INDIA 248 001

Telephone Number : +91-9412054216

Email : [email protected]

a avian base-line population dynamics data from all

river valleys of Garhwal Division in Uttarakhand in

partnership with Forest Department.

• House Sparrow Nest Box Adoption Programme

initiated on the 1st World House Sparrow Day after

two years of field trials and then formally launched

from the Governor’s House on 3rd May 2010. A bird

conservation initiative achieving multiple

conservation objectives from a single activity.

(1) To provide safe predator-proof nesting space to a

species in distress

(2) To involve common people by motivating them to

install these nest boxes in their homes and record

observations

(3) To adopt villages on the periphery and installing nest

boxes in the houses without any cost to support

remaining populations of house sparrows.

Great Himalayan Bird Count 2009

De

en

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CMYK

I B C N P A R T N E R ’ S F A C T F I L E


• Khel Khel Mae A year-round free-of-cost creative

expression workshop for the marginalized children

of nine villages in Maldevta cluster in Raipur Block

in Distt Dehradun since October 2009.

• ARCH Conservation Leadership Award Given every

year for lifetime achievement to people dedicating

life to the cause of bird conservation and promoting

environmental awareness in India.

• ARCH Traveling Bird Photo Exhibition Our first 7

days exhibition in November 2009 was visited by

more than 5000 school and college students at the

National Bal Bhawan, New Delhi which was

inaugurated by Hon’ble HRD Minister Mr. Kapil

Sibbal and the concluding ceremony was presided

by Mrs. Salma Ansari, wife of Hon’ able Vice

President of India.

• Let’s Rediscover The Himalayan Quail Recently

launched this decade long internationally important

bird conservation initiative involving overseas

volunteers, village elders and rural youth from the

habitat of this presumed extinct bird which was last

seen in 1876 in the Garhwal Himalayas.

• Summer Bird Watching Mountain Camp specially

designed for sensitization of urban youth from niche

schools like The Doon School and using birds as a

medium of inquiry into the natural world.

• Indian Bird Conservation Network Mr. Prateek

Panwar has recently been appointed as State

Coordinator, IBCN for Uttarakhand State.

• Affiliation with The National Bal Bhavan, New

Delhi as Dehradun Centre.

Bal Bhavan is an institution which aims at

enhancing the creative potential of children

by providing them various activities,

opportunities and common platform to interact,

experiment, create and perform according to

their age, aptitude and ability. It offers a barrier-

free environment with immense possibilities of

innovation, minus any stress or strain. Bal

Bhavan is an autonomous body under the

ministry of Human Resource Development,

Government of India.

After the success of the “Great Himalayan

Bird Counts - 2008 and 2009” “The 3rd Great

Himalayan Bird Count, of 2010” was also

very successful, where more than 250

birdwatchers, students and conservationists

participated from across the country including

overseas.

Participants from National Bal Bhawan, New Delhi

Ra

vi P

okh

riya

l

Launch of ‘House Sparrow Nest Box Adoption’ Programme’,

from the Uttarakhand Governor’s House

Megha P

anw

ar

Hon’ble HRD Minister Sh Kapil Sibbal inagurating ARCH Travelling Bird

Photo Exhibition” at New Delhi

Ashis

h B

hatta

ch

arj

ee

CMYK

OBITUARY

Dr. Rachel Ruben

1934-2010

With deep sadness we report the death of

Dr. Rachel Reuben, after a brief illness in hospital.

She was 76 years old. Dr. Rachel was a member of

IBCN and a great supporter of IBA-IBCN activities.

Dr. Rachel was born in 1934, she lived in Bandra

in Mumbai. From her early childhood days she had

a keen interest in natural history with a focus on

birds. She had family friendship with

Mr. Humayun Abdulali and Dr. Sálim Ali.

She was a medical entomologist and a naturalist

and had been associated with BNHS for nearly

40 years. She was the Honorary Secretary of BNHS

for 2004-05 and 2005-06. During this period she

went out of the way to support IBCN activities.

She was a member of the Executive Committee

(EC) of BNHS for 2006-07 and 2007-08. She was

also an active member of the Research, Publications

and Membership Sub-committees of BNHS.

She had compiled and edited books such as a

biography on ornithologist Humayun Abdulali titled

“Humayun Abdulali – Naturalist: Potrait and

Tribute”.

Dr. Rachel was a professional scientist and

specialized in medical entomology, particularly

disease bearing mosquitoes. She was also the

Director of Centre for Research in Medical

Entomology in Madurai, before her retirement.

The IBCN has lost a true friend and supporter.


CMYK

13. Maharashtra1. Mr. Bishwarup Raha

Hemant Vihar, 13, Savarkar NagarOff. Gangapur Road, Nashik–422005Email: [email protected]

2. Dr. Jayant S. Wadatkar (Vidarbha region)42, Greenpark Colony, Near Asiad ColonyShegaon Road, Amravati-444604Email:[email protected],

14 Manipur

Dr. R. K. Ranjan SinghManipur Association for Science and Society (MASS) ManipurCultural Integrated ConferencePalace Compound, Imphal - 795001Email:[email protected], [email protected]

15. MizoramMr. N. R. PradhanAsstt. Conservator of ForestsC/o. Chief Conservator of Forests, WL, MizoramAizawl, Mizoram Email:[email protected]

16. NagalandMr. Thomas KentAsstt. Director of TourismC/o. Directorate of Tourism, Kohima,Nagaland - 797001 Email: [email protected]

17. OrissaMr. Biswajit MohantyWildlife Society of Orissa“Shantikunj”, Link Road, Cuttack- 753012Email: [email protected]

18. PondicherryDr. Priya DavidarSalim Ali School of Ecology &Environmental Sciences Pondicherry University,Kalapet - 605014 Email:[email protected]

19 RajasthanMr. Manoj KulshreshthaSnehdeep, B-33, Sethi Colony, Jaipur - 302004Email: [email protected],

20. SikkimMs. Usha Ganguli-LachungpaSr. Research Officer (WL), Government of SikkimDepartment of Forest, Environment & WildlifeDeorali-737 102, Gangtok Email: [email protected],[email protected]

21. Tamil Nadu1. Dr. V. Santharam C/o Institute of Bird Studies & Natural History

Rishi Valley Education Centre, Chittor – 517 352Andhra Pradesh, Email:[email protected]

2. Mr. Kumaran Sathasivan29, Jadamuni, Koil Street, MaduraiTamil Nadu-625001, Email:[email protected]

22. TripuraMr. Kamal Kanti BanikDishari, Ek No. Tila, Belonia,South Tripura - 799155.Email:[email protected]

23. UttarakhandMr. Prateek Panwar, (Founder Trustee ARCH)MDDA Duplex Villa # 3, Sahastradhara Road, Dehradun –Uttarakhand, Email: [email protected]

24. Uttar Pradesh (East and West)1. Dr. Vijay Prakash Singh (Eastern UP)

Jaidev Nagar (Rajgarh), Lakhimpur Kheri - 262 701Email: [email protected]

2. Mr. Neeraj Srivastav (Western UP)Flat No.303, Plot no.26/10, Kumar Enclave,Wazir Hasan Road, Lucknow - 226 001Email:[email protected]

25. West BengalMr. Kushal Mookherjee, Secretary,Prakriti Samsad, 65, Golf Club Road

Kolkata-700 033, Email: [email protected]

1. Arunachal PradeshDr. Bharat Bhushan BhattState Forest Research Institute, Van-Vihar, P.B.No. 159,Itanagar - 791111, Email:[email protected]

2. Andhra PradeshMr. M. Shafaat UllaH.No. 4, St. No. 1, Avenue 8 (Rd No.3)Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh 500003,Email:[email protected]

3. AssamDr. Anwaruddin ChoudhuryHouse no.7, Nr.Gate no.1 of Nehru Stadium, Islampur RoadGuwahati 781007,Email:[email protected],[email protected]

4. Bihar and JharkhandMr. Arvind MishraMandar Nature ClubAnand Chikitsalaya Road, Bhagalpur - 812002, Bihar.Email: [email protected], [email protected]

5. ChhattisgarhMr. Arun M. K. BharosB-101 Gayatrinagar, PO Shankar Nagar, Raipur-492007Email: [email protected], [email protected]

6. DelhiMr. Nikhil DevasarDelhi Bird Club, C 1/503 Mayfair Tower, Charmwood Village,Eros Garden, Surajkund Rd., Faridabad, Haryana.Email:[email protected]

7. GoaMr. Parag RangnekarR-1, S-3, Techno Park, Near Landscape City,Chogm Road Alto-Provorim, Bardez, North Goa, GoaEmail:[email protected]

8. Gujarat1. Mr. Jugal Kishor Tiwari (Kutch)

Centre for Desert and Ocean,Po. Moti-Virani, Taluka – Nakhtrana, Kutch – 370665


2. Dr. Bharat Jethva (North Gujarat)Block No.443/1, Sector 8B, Gandhinagar,Gujarat - 382008,Email: [email protected]

3. Dr. I. R. Gadhvi (Saurashtra)Plot no. 2200, Ankur Society, Hill Drive,Bhavnagar - 364002, GujaratEmail: [email protected]

9. Haryana and Punjab

Mr. Suresh C. SharmaGokul Nagar, Rohtak Road, Sonipat - 131001Email:[email protected],

10. Jammu and Kashmir1. Dr. Ashfaq Ahmed Zarri (Jammu)

Deputy Registrar,Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah UniversityRajouri, Jammu and Kashmir - 185131Email:[email protected]

2. Dr. Khursheed Ahmed (Kashmir)Panzmulla (Salia), Dist. AnantnagJammu & Kashmir - 192129Email:[email protected]

3. Mr. Pankaj Chandan (Ladakh)

Project Manager, WWF India Field Office, Hemis Complex,Zangsti Road, Leh - 194101,Ladakh, Jammu & KashmirEmail:[email protected], [email protected]

11. KarnatakaDr. S. SubramanyaPHT Scheme, J Block, GKVK CampusUniversity Of Agricultural Sciences,Banglore, Karnataka- 560065Email: [email protected]

12. KeralaDr. P. O. NameerAssociate Professor (Wildlife) & Head,Centre for Wildlife Studies,College of ForestryKerala Agricultural University (KAU), Thrissur 680656Email: [email protected]

IBCN MISSION STATEMENT

To promote conservation of birds and their habitats through the development of a national network of individuals, organisations and the government

IBCN STATE COORDINATORS

CMYK

IBCN ORGANISATIONAL PARTNERS

Institute of Bird Studies &

Natural History,

Andhra Pradesh BIOMIX

Assam

Green Guard,

Assam Assam Assam

Mandar Nature Club,

Bihar

Chhattisgarh Wildlife Society,

Chhattisgarh

GujaratBird Conservation Society

of Surat, Gujarat

DelhiDelhi

Delhi, M.P.

Chhattisgarh and

Assam

Ashoka Trust

for Research

in Ecology & the

Environment,

Karnataka

Nature Conservation Society

Jharkhand

People for Animals,

Madhya Pradesh

Nature Conservation Society

Amravati, Maharashtra

Maharashtra

Madhya Pradesh

Karnataka

Bastar Society for Conservation of

Nature, Chhattisgarh

Madhya Pradesh

Wild Haven

Madhya Pradesh

AssamEarly Birds,

Assam

Samrat Vikramaditya

Research Institute,

Madhya Pradesh

Asian Wildlife Foundation,

Andhra Pradesh

Lakshadweep Marine Research &

Conservation Centre

Jharkhand

Green Hearts Nature Club,

Assam

Wildlife Protection Society

of India, New Delhi

Janlakshya

Bihar

AVES

Arunachal Pradesh

GEER Foundation,

Gujarat

Gujarat

Bird Conservation Society,

Gujarat Gujarat

Jharkhand

Karnataka

Karnataka

Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh

Kerala

Gujarat

Karnataka

Vattakanal Conservation

Trust, Kerala

Gujarat

Maharashtra

Green Guards, Maharashtra

Maharashtra

Maharashtra

CMYK

Wildlife Society of

Orissa

Alipurduar

Nature Club,

West Bengal

Rajasthan

Nature Club,

Bishop Heber College,

Tamil Nadu

Arulagam,

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Dhan Foundation

Tamil Nadu

Uttar PradeshAmrapali Institute,

Uttaranchal

Society for Conservation

of Nature,

Uttar Pradesh

West Bengal

Himalayan Nature &

Adventure Foundation,

West Bengal West Bengal

West Bengal

Nuclear Power

Corporation of India

Limited

Rajasthan

Forest Environment &

Wildlife , PunjabOrissa

IBCN ORGANISATIONAL PARTNERS

www.ibcn.in

Orissa

Krishak Samaj Inter College

Uttar Pradesh

Barn Owl Nature Club

Tamil Nadu

Orissa

Uttar Pradesh

Uttarakhand

West Bengal

Punjab

Gondia Nisrag Mandal,

MaharashtraMaharashtra

MaharashtraMaharashtraMaharashtra

Sahyadri Nisrag Mitra,

Ratnagiri, Maharashtra

Maharashtra

Nature Science (Club’s)

Society, Maharashtra

MaharashtraSrushtidnyan,

Maharashtra

Nature

Conservation Society,

Maharashtra.

2010 Mistnet Oct_Dec Vol 11 no 4

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Transcript of 2010 Mistnet Oct_Dec Vol 11 no 4