Hi guys

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Regards,
Nitin Jamdar

small flocks of grey headed mynas are flying around in mantralaya
area.They fly fast in small compact groups

Cheers to everybody,

I was out on a regular birding trip to the SGNP (Sanjay Gandhi National Park,
Mumbai) last Sunday (5th November 2000). 10 others had accompanied me.

By the end of the morning session (11:00AM), we spotted about 57 species of
birds including a good number of BOPs- Eurasian Hobby, Marsh Harrier, Peregrine
Falcon, Laggar Falcon, Eurasian Sparrowhawk and Shikra. We also sighted the new
entrant of SGNP- the Malabar Pied Hornbill, which has taken refuge in SGNP
(first ever sighting at SGNP was on in February 2000).

However, the reason behind this mail is not the Malabar Pied or the
laissez-faire BOPs! Rather, the mail is meant to discuss one of the most
spectacular "SWIFT- sighting" of my birding career. At about 8:45 hr., familiar
swift-like calls escorted us to this awesome display. Right above us was an
enormous flock of White-rumped Needletails (Zoonavena sylvatica). If asked to
give a conservative estimate, I would put their numbers between 1750-2000 birds.
However, we were in a valley when we first sighted this noisy conglomeration and
it is quite likely that they were in excess of 3000. Never before have I seen
such a large flock of swifts in SGNP. The needletails were accompanied by a few
alpine and palm swifts, however the latter two constituted less than 1% of the
flock.

Z. sylvatica is distributed in SW, NE and E India along with parts of Himalayas.
It does not reside in SGNP, appearing here only during early winter. I would
like to know if you have witnessed or heard of anything like this.

For quite some time now, the Nath-Hist family, has been discussing swifts- the
not-so-good future of these hyperactive creatures. Let us for a while talk about
pure bird-behavior and biology- so important to strengthen our bonds and their
future. Expecting a SWIFT response!

Regards,
Anish Andheria
Tel.: (022) 625 3044
Email: a.anish@...




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Hello,

As you are aware three is a serious decline in the vulture population
India.The effect is felt in Bombay too.There are hardly any vultures to be
seen around Bombay and even near the tower of silence at Babulnath.The
decline was so dramatic that it was described as a Crash in Population there
are several theories.If you are interested in knowing the possible causes
and what cane be done,have look at the attachment to this mail.It's a
comprehensive paper titled "Population crash of vultures in India"
So if you sight any vulture in or around Bombay please put the note up on
the e group with details of :species,time , location and number.

Nitin Jamdar

~~~As migration approached, two elderly vultures doubted they could make the
trip south, so they decided to go by aeroplane.
When they checked in their baggage, the attendant noticed that they were
carrying two dead racoons. "Do you wish to check the racoons through as
luggage?" he asked.

"No, thanks," replied one of the vultures. "They're carrion." ~~~

Dear BOBers,

As most of us know, 12th November (Coming Sunday) is the Birth Anniversary of
the Father of Indian Ornithology- Dr. Salim Ali. To commemorate the most
renowned birder of all times, BNHS has invited members and other interested
birders to carry out bird-counts in the morning hours (preferably as close to
sunrise as possible) along a 1-km. stretch and send the data sheets to BNHS.
This national event if done seriously can generate vital information about the
status of the birds across the country. I expect most of the birdwatchers to
step out of their beds a little early this Sunday.

There are a lot of birding sites in and around Mumbai. Interested people can
collect data on birds at any venue (village pond, society garden, creek, reserve
forests etc.). We (some of the egroup members) have planned to concentrate on
the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP). The idea is to divide ourselves into
groups of minimum TWO, maximum FIVE (subject to the number of participants), and
sample various habitat-types of the park. More groups means more number of
counts i.e. large area coverage, which in turn means more realistic the
generated data!  It is obvious therefore that our effectiveness is going to be
directly proportional to the number of participants!

Details regarding the meeting-point and the survey sites will be given in
subsequent postings on "birdsofbombay" (BOB). Sunjoy is planning to have a
dialogue with the park authority to procure permission for entering the core
zone of the park. In case the park vehicles are not free on that day, we might
have to transport people to the predefined spots (within SGNP) in our own cars.
Hence, it would be great if you could mention the Type of Vehicle and its Plate
Number along with your residential addresses so as to enable us to plan the
day's operations.

I request all the list members to participate in the noble cause. Interested
people should communicate their willingness to either Nitin or me or BOB at the
earliest so that we can plan an extensive survey of the SGNP.

All the Best
Anish Andheria
1:55AM, Friday

Tel.: (022) 625 3044
Email: a.anish@...




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How to Clean Binoculars

Binoculars are invaluable for watching birds so take good care of them. Take
time to clean them properly and they will last many years.

_______________
Here's How:
1. Purchase lens paper and special len cleaning fluid.
2. Blow hard on one of the lens to get loose debris and dust off of it.
3. Brush the lens off lightly with a piece of lens paper.
4. Wet a lens paper with the cleaning fluid and lightly wipe off the lens.
Use a circular pattern.
5. Take a dry lens paper and wipe any wet fluid from the lens.
6. Repeat for the other lens.
7. Use a soft cloth that is barely damp with water to wipe off the exterior
of your binoculars.
Tips:
1. You can buy lens paper and cleaning fluid at a store that carries camera
supplies.
2. Do not use your shirt to wipe the lenses. You may very well scratch them.
_____________________________________

Hi everyone,

Sorry I couldn't be in touch earlier. I was rather tied up with the post-release
programmes pertaining to my just released book on Mumbai's National Park. I am
afraid the priing was not something we could do much about since a product of
this nature and quality is expensive, despite the generous support of the Godrej
group of companies. Pretty much ordinary books with much fewer colour
pages/images cost anywhere between Rs 600 - Rs 1200/- so on the whole I do not
think the price of the large-size book, with well over 200 large full colour
images, printed on recycled paper, and processed and printed using the finest
available technology, is all that high. Of  course this is a somewhat subjective
judgement but I sure do hope most of you would buy a copy - the BNHS is offering
a discount of Rs 200/- for members. And a part of the money is going to a
specially created City Forest Fund of the BNHS for conservation-related work in
the Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

Well, I am sure this email group would go down very well, be immensely
successful and it is a great idea to regularly share information pertaining to
birds of the Mumbai region. Thanks Nitin. You offset the general impression the
world at large has of lawyers.

Well, friends, Mumbai's birds are a great story. The variety of habitat types
that this city and its immediate surrounds can boast of is truly incredible.
From coastal creeks and estuaries and beaches to mangrove and forested hills and
freshwater lakes and so much else. Despite so much talk of our deteriorating
habitats today, yet the birds exist, albeit in falling numbers as in the case of
several species, but well, if for nothing but a bit of nostalgia, the birds
continue to live alongside and amidst us, indeed some of these actually
continuing to thrive and as we shall discuss in this group.

Interestingly, and this may even seem far fetched, bit it is true. Nearly sixty
years ago, Humayun Abdulai & the late Salim Ali wrote about the birds of Bombay,
and I quote …. "Where but a few years since the call of curlews, oyster-catchers
and sandpipers resounded at low tide through the stillness of the night, the
hooting of motor horns and the incessant din of scurrying traffic ……" .. and
they then go on to talk about the feverish spurt of urbanising activity …..

But that was, remember sixty years ago. Almost none of us on this egroup was
born that long back. Perhaps not even the parents of some of us. Imagine what a
wild terrain this must have then been. Till 1929 there was wild tigers -- the
last was shot on the shores of Vihar lake in January that year. But I do not
even need to go back that much in time. When my family shifted to Kandivli, then
a wild, overgrown, far-flung suburb, it was teeming with birds and mongoose,
jungle cat and jackal. I could see chloropsis (leafbirds)
and white-browed bulbul right behind our home. Up to the mid-eighties the
white-breasted waterhen would give us sleepless nights for many weeks through
the monsoon with their unending chatter. I've seen avocet and Colalred
Pratincole and Crab Plover and Curlew quite regularly in the marshes and creeks
where detestable shanty-towns have merged over the past decade. Those were truly
memorable birding days.

Nonetheless, whichever way you look at it, it appears almost like some mirage
that birds survive, and indeed thrive in the real sense of the word, amidst and
around one of the most densely populated urban conglomerations on this planet.
Yes, there are over 300 spp in a landscape with an unbelievable population
density of approx. 50000 people to a square mile (over 30000 to a square
kilometer).

I thought also I must share some very interesting birding outings in the Mumbai
region through October and till early this week.

Migration of the featherfolk is on in the Mumbai landscape. The sea-coast, the
roadside trees, the forest, Colaba woods, Hutatma Chowk, Kalbadevi, Vikhroli,
all are influenced by this phenomenon. Suddenly there are birds that were not to
be seen for the past seven months. The blitzkrieg of the withdrawing monsoon may
have overshadowed the lightning arrival of these migrants over Mumbai, but the
birds come into their own no sooner than the monsoon has vanished.

There has been an unusually early arrival of several species of winter visiting
birds this season, especially the forest/scrub species. The Blue-headed Rock
Thrush (Blue-capped) was sighted in early-September as was the Paradise
Flycatcher.

On 14th October some of us sighted Bronzed Drongo in the park as also one
solitary Malabar Pied Hornbill. Also a solitary Eurasian Cuckoo.

15th October offered a very rare sighting. My friend Pankaja and I walked from
the Goregaon gate to Culvert 14, along Pongam slope. A hepatic female of what
was most definitely the Lesser Cuckoo (Small Cuckoo) was the highlight. The
barring and colouration of the underside matched this species more than a
hepatic female of the Grey-bellied Cuckoo. The latter species has been heard
distinctly in the park during the rains whilst of the former (Lesser) I haven't
yet got any calls recorded in the park. It would be nice to keep a lookout for
this bird, a member of one of the most-little-known group of birds.
Also on 15th October we saw Eurasian Cuckoo (third sighting in three weeks, but
none since this day), two Malabar Pied Hornbills, Heart-spotted Woodpecker,
Emerald Dove and some 37 other species.

22nd October was another eventful birding day. Four of us walked from Goregaon
gate to Vihar Lake, taking the trail from Culvert 13. The highlight was a
Eurasian Hobby that came from the north and settled on bare tree, a hundred
meters away. We could see it for nearly half an hour. It was also nice to see
three species of woodpeckers within half an hour on this day (Golden-backed or
Black-rumped Flameback, White-naped and Heartspotted). On the lake were also a
couple of Shags or Indian Cormorant as also a solitary Marsh Harrier female. A
White-eyed Buzzard screamed near IGIDR on our way back.

29th October and around 11 am we had this enormous flock of Swifts overhead,
over the old quarry near the CEC. It was a wild party up in the skies and we
could see it for over half an hour whilst we watched a solitary Booted Eagle.
The flock consisted of a few House Swifts, definitely more numbers of the much
larger Alpine Swifts, and wait, the maximum were White-rumped Needletails (also
known as the Spinetail), unmistakably so. This happened to be my first ever
sighting of this stormy bird in the Mumbai region. I've previously seen this
species in Nepal and around Kodaikanal/Nilgiris. I did mention about this
sighting to Anish a few days later and again last Monday, 06th November whence
he informed me that he had seen a large flock of swifts just the previous day
(05th November). The birds were highly vocal and kept a constant series of
squeals and faint screams that would indicate their movement. Please do keep a
lookout for any large mass of swifts or swallows over the Mumbai skies.

05th November saw some of us proceed to the hillocks around Kanheri. We saw over
a dozen nightjars, of at least three species. It was another rewarding bird-day.

Plenty of notes on wader and other sightings and I will be in touch. Meanwhile a
Besra Sparrowhawk has discovered a larder around my home in Kandivli and I've
been observing it more or less every other day right from my bedroom window. It
is often mobbed by House Crows who invariably give up after a while. On 02nd
November morning I saw this hawk eating a female House Sparrow.

Meanwhile do let me know how many of us are going where on Sunday 12th November.

Best regards -- Sunjoy Monga

Hi All,

visit http://www.wcmc.org.uk/igcmc/rl_anml/indbird.html
for complete list of Birds of India

Nitin Jamdar

Hi all,

Go to  http://www.bnhs.org see the excellent website of the Bombay Natural
History Society.If you are not a member yet,electronic membership forms are
available on the website.

Nitin Jamdar

Hi all,

Go to  http://www.bnhs.org see the excellent website of the Bombay Natural
History Society.If you are not a member yet,electronic membership forms are
available on the website.

Nitin Jamdar

Hi everybody,

since I haven't heard anything definite concerning the bird count tomorrow
(Sunday 12th Nov)I am afraid it would not be possible now to organise a
programme through the park. I did need an approximate idea of the number of
participants, the number of vehicles etc. We could then have split the group
into six or eight and spread along the entire 13 km stretch of the the park
road, from culvert 01 to 65.

But now we can concentrate along the south-end of the park, from CEC and the
Goregaon gate up to Vihar Lake. I do not think we would in any case be more than
20 participants or thereabouts so possibly this would be the best bet. Of course
there are plenty of waders too along Manori creek, Bangur Nagar and the Airoli
stretch but on and off there has been a peculiar haze (smog ??) the past few
days in the early morning hours rendering sightings difficult. The tide too is
quite perfect tomorrow. so please do decide fast, and let's fix up how many of
us are going to be there. We can then meet at 0615 hrs at CEC.

Look forward to hearing from someone.

Best regards -- Sunjoy Monga

Hi All,

If you have your own website and you want to share it with others
members.Please send me the title,short description and the address and I
will put it in the Links on the Group's website

Thanks,

Nitin Jamdar

nitinjamdar@...

Hello!

Four weeks back I observed a female Lotens Sunbird building a nest at Yusuf
Meherally Center near Karnala. The Lotens Sunbird is nowhere abundant and
it's nest is not commonly seen around Bombay. The female alone was building
the nest in the morning at a furious pace. Returning within a minute with
the nest material, calling  hard "chit""chit" calls. The nest was a purse
shaped collection of dry leaf grass  etc suspended from a broken end of a
vine.

If you are going to  Karnala just  go to Yusuf Meherally Center to have a
look at it if the chicks have fledged or not.. Contact me If you want the
exact location . Even otherwise the campus of Yusuf Meherally Center is good
birding area.

Nitin

Hi!

Is there an up-to-date checklist for the birds recorded in the Bombay
metropolitan area?

If so, is there an electronic version?

Thanks.

Vivek
spiderhunters@...

Hi All,

please go to the groups website http://www.egroups.com/mygroups  and click
on "my profile" >edit profile ,to enter more about your elf,that you wish
other member can see.please also select the option "I would like to receive
mail in HTML format" which will enable you to see colors,graphics ,photos
sent in the mail by other members.

nitin Jamdar

Sanjoy,

Many congrats for the birds book and for enriching our landscape with your
knowledge.

regards,

Ravi.

Hi All,

On 12-11-2000, at the culvert no.13 in the Borivali national park a smallish
flycatcher was seen flitting about inside the foliage of a tree. Gray brown
on  top, pale eye ring, buff colored broken patches on the breast. The bird
had a longish and slim appearance and was having more of horizontal
carriage. It was fly-catching inside the foliage ,not making ariel sallies
from a fixed perch . It did not sit vertically like the Brown or Brown
breasted Flycatcher. The appearance and habits were like that of the female
of the White breasted blue flycatcher, a species with whom I am familiar
from the western Himalayas. Dr. Salim Ali says this about its habits in the
Handbook" ....feeding mostly amongst the foliage canopy, not much venturing
out in the open.." This species winters in south but is not common. I must
mention that Sunjoy Monga who was with us felt that the bird showed
characteristics of a Brown Flycatcher. Of course we  would have liked to
observe the bird for a longer time and the identification remains tentative.
If you  visit the National Park from Goregaon side look out for this bird,
at the foot of the slope near culvert no.13.

Nitin Jamdar

Hi All,

This is in response to Vivek Tiwari's query regarding the Birds of Bombay
checklist.Sunjoy Monga has prepared the list and he will be posting it on
the egroup shortly.All welcome to comment on the list to make more
comprehensive.The list will also be put up on the groups website for future
references.

nitin Jamdar

Hello to All,

You have joined the group now ,but you need not wait till something
interesting to come up . Please do write about your observations from the
past also.

Cheers

Nitin Jamdar

Hi there,

As regards information on vulture sightings, the following are the dates and
places on which I sighted these vanishing birds since March 2000.

05th March: 01 nest of Whitebacked Vulture at Nagla side of National park. The
nest was on a Palmyra and contained a full-grown chick.

09th April: 11 Vultures (all White-backed) over Thane area of National Park -
close to Yeur.

11th April:  23 vultures (18 White-backed, 04 Long-billed and solitary
Scavenger)
Place: Ambernath - Mumbra belt (whilst traveling during an industrial shoot)

16th May: 03 vultures over Nagla block of National Park, just north of the
Bassein Creek.

25th June: 08 White-backed Vultures over northern areas of National Park.

25th October:  04 White-backed over Charkop - Kandivli (NW Mumbai).

These are all the sight records since April. Let's keep a very detail,
up-to-date account
of all vulture sightings henceforth.

Besides vultures, there are several other birds whose numbers show a marked fall
over
the past few years in the Mumbai region. Kiran mentioned in yesterday's email
about the
Ashy Wood Swallow (Artamus fuscus) which he and I saw on the evening of 01st
February at Gorai.
This is a species that was quite numerous on the outskirts of Mumbai's National
Park and
over much of the countryside around Mumbai until the early nineties. It has more
or less
vanished over the past decade and there's no idea why.

The following are two articles I had written some time ago in several Mumbai
newspapers about the falling bird numbers in the Mumbai region and which I am
including herewith. It is important that we start keeping a detail track of our
birds, not
just here, but over other parts of the country as well, for now and for times to
come.

WHAT AILS OUR BIRDS ?
		 An account of some vanishing species around Mumbai
(p.s. existing common names have been used)

by Sunjoy Monga

Observations over the past quarter century of bird-watching in the Mumbai region
reveal some gloomy findings for bird-watchers. Of the 269* species/sub-species
(*: the figure presently is 274 species) of  birds that I have thus far recorded
from Mumbai's National Park and its surroundings, I find populations of over 30
woodland species, and over a dozen of others, having diminished. I must admit
that this is merely an estimation arrived at out of personal observations, not
through any scientific exercise but based on sightings and call-notes. Though I
am quite confident that populations of these species here are on the decline, it
would be appropriate if this `fall' in numbers can be properly ascertained.
Perhaps it would be befitting if bird-watchers elsewhere across the country too
can look into possible declines of local avifaunal populations, including of
species mentioned herewith. The following list is not in any particular order
and includes residents and winter visitors.

Indian Tree-Pie, White-bellied Drongo, Hair-crested Drongo, Black-backed
Woodpecker, Golden-backed Woodpecker, Rufous Woodpecker, Yellow-fronted Pied or
Mahratta Woodpecker, Grey Junglefowl, Red Spurfowl, Jungle Bush Quail, Common
Iora, Gold-fronted Chloropsis, Yellow-backed Sunbird, Loten's Sunbird,
Three-toed Kingfisher, Green Wood Pigeon, Emerald Dove, White-throated Babbler,
Slaty-headed Scimitar Babbler, Yellow-eyed Babbler, Black-headed Cuckoo-shrike,
Large Cuckoo Shrike, Crested Serpent Eagle, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Verditer
Flycatcher, Blue-headed Rock-thrush, Osprey, Scarlet Minivet, Tree Pipit,
Ashy-Swallow Shrike, Brown Hawk-Owl, Barred Jungle Owlet, Forest Wagtail.

Numbers of some of the above-mentioned (woodland) species also show a downtrend
in Karnala Bird Sanctuary, about 60 km to the south of Mumbai's National Park.
Outside the woodland areas, the other species in the Mumbai region which I find
on the decline include Caspian Tern, Turnstone, Oystercatcher, Eastern Golden
Plover, Little Tern, Curlew and Baya Weaver, species which I used to see quite
regularly till about the start of the nineties. In fact there is an overall
decline in tern numbers. I haven't sighted the winter visiting White Stork now
for over a decade anywhere around Mumbai.

I have not here included species which observations and records reveal to be
rather sparingly found, species such as Heart-spotted Woodpecker, Pygmy
Woodpecker, Malabar Trogon, Malabar Whistling Thrush etc, species which are
there but have always been in very small numbers and are invariably to be seen
`once in a while' in certain select localities in  the National Park.

Drastic habitat changes, especially along Mumbai's coastal tracts, along the
numerous creeks and inter-tidal zones have no doubt contributed to a qualitative
as well as quantitative decline of wetland and coastal biotic components. The
reasons for a possible decline of woodland birds, especially in the National
Park, despite a reasonably balanced habitat appears quite confounding and I am
sure bird-watchers would agree that a careful, detail record of the presence of
these species in the Mumbai environs should be helpful.


OUR VANISHING BIRDS

by Sunjoy Monga (This article was written early this year and at least three of
the species** mentioned in the first few lines have been sighted since, i.e., in
the last nine months though there have been just one or two sightings)

27th DECEMBER 1988. That day I saw my last White Stork in the Mumbai region.
12th MARCH 1996. Since that morning I haven't seen a Yellow-fronted Pied
Woodpecker** here, once a regularly seen bird. In the week following that I had
my last glimpse of the Black-backed Woodpecker**, below Kanheri.
It is now four years since I've seen the Ashy Swallow Shrike** of which half a
dozen would scream along the trail leading from Aarey to the south-gate of the
National Park.
During the winter just gone by, I saw just a solitary Hair-crested Drongo, and a
couple of Bronzed Drongos.
Barely a couple of Yellow-eyed Babblers sang through the last monsoon while of
the Three-toed Forest Kingfisher there were exactly two fleeting glimpses.
For three consecutive winters now the Forest Wagtail has not showed its form.
And the larks, three species of which bred in such profusion in the wilds beyond
my home in north Mumbai have entirely gone, their celebrated, high song now a
melancholy dream, heard only in the Godrej openlands off Vikhroli.

Of the robust, winter-visiting Turnstone, I've had three sightings on Mumbai's
beaches and creeks in the past two years. The romantic call of the Curlew has
more or less vanished from the creeks save for occasional sightings along Thane
Creek. In the last three years I have seen a total of four Caspian Terns along
Manori Creek where dozens floated about every winter. And the once-abounding
Baya Weaver, a claimant to the Best Avian Architect award, is on the verge of
bidding a final adieu to Mumbai. A Palmyra near my home housed for seven years
beginning the late-seventies, what must rank as the largest nesting colony of
this exuberant weaver-bird on a single plant. In the rains of 1983, there were a
record 160 nests dangling on this plant. Since 1990 not a single baya has made
his nest on this Palmyra which still stands tall, waiting for wheezy excitement.
All through the eighties, there were monsoon nights I could almost not sleep
because of croaking frogs and boisterous waterhens. Both have departed. I never
wanted to sleep so peacefully!

There are many more such observations. These may appear just random records from
the diary but there is an ominous significance to this. Mumbai's featherfolk are
being affected for the worse. And no one seems to be knowing why it is all
happening. Just like the frogs almost vanished by the dawn of this decade, and
have showed no sign of making any comeback (this has been reported from other
areas of the country and over parts of Europe and N America too), so could the
birds unless we wake up now and at least begin to probe what ails our
featherfolk, and suggest remedial measures.

More than a quarter century of serious bird-watching in the Mumbai region,
nearly half of this in the company of the great bird-man, Humayun Abdulali, I've
been fortunate to have enjoyed many memorable moments. But I would never want
those to be mere memory. On rummaging  through old diaries and notes it was
detected that sightings were reducing, of some species faster than of others. I
haven't had a day with even two-thirds the species-count that my birding
colleague Joslin and I had on 7th January, 1984. On that day, along the main
road of the National Park, from the southern gate to near Kanheri, we had seen
and heard 123 species! Yes, that was my bird-watching record for the Mumbai
region and there hasn't been a day since then when we've recorded even eighty
species.

My total tally for Mumbai's National Park and its immediate surrounds is 269*
species. For the Mumbai region, including the coast, creeks and some ponds add a
further 19 species. That's 288 species in the Mumbai region. (For a much wider
area, extending from just south of Alibag to Virar in the north and up to the
base of the Matheran Hills of the Western Ghats, the total species count is 345
species and which will be sent to you next week, along with status notes and
other details as a comprehensive list of Birds and their Status in the Mumbai
region). Of these, populations of at least thirty woodland species, and a
further dozen, and possibly more, of coastal, scrub and grassland species appear
to be showing a decline. It is not to suggest either that the rest are well-off.
I must clarify that my assumption  is based on direct sight and hearing records.
However, it must also be specified that sightings and call-notes are the finest
indicators of any species' presence or absence in a locality.

That bird  populations of our coastal species is on the decline is something
that should've been expected, considering the drastic degradation of our creeks
and other coastal habitats. Even the most casual layman would agree that the
more or less final kill of our creeks has been done during the past decade. The
only reason some birds have been regularly coming is because, as a layman
colleague once remarked, "in most birds the sense of smell is poorly developed."
I wish this was not true.

However, the falling numbers of several species in the National Park and other
adjoining woodland tracts should be cause for greater concern. Not just one, but
nearly all the woodpecker species here are on the decline. And woodpeckers are
generally believed to be a fine indicator of a woodland's wholeness. The Grey
Junglefowl, though heard now and then, is yet another species whose plunging
numbers are worrying. I feel bird-watchers, not just in the Mumbai region, but
elsewhere over the country should get together and devise a strategy for
estimating numbers and population density of not just the principal, super-star
species but many of the birds occurring locally and generally perceived as being
common.

The situation is serious also with our birds of prey or raptors as they are
popularly known. My good friend Rishad Naoroji, who has been researching and
photographing Indian raptors over the past two decades informs that we are
losing out on our magnificent eagles, buzzards, hawks and falcons even before
fully understanding the ill-effects of our damaging actions -- habitat loss and
poisoning due to use of insecticides and pesticides. "In fact raptor populations
worldwide are being depleted, and being at the top of the food chain, like
tigers and lions, once these are affected set of a chain reaction whose
ill-effects can be felt, over a period of time, right down to other animal
communities" informs Rishad. Suddenly, one morning we woke up to find the
White-backed Vulture, of all birds, too had dissipated.

Birds, more than any other form of life, enamour us the most. We will have to
take radical steps. Like working out some kind of a moratorium on further
construction in the Mumbai region, OR AT LEAST CONTROLLING IT, and especially
preserving the last surviving bits of  creeks. Tragically also, nearly each and
every one of the country's five hundred-plus Protected Areas is under grave
threat. More than for the birds conserving the last of our wilds is needed to
control the beast in us. Saving the almost-vanished wilderness is not
anti-development. It would be common-sense. The birds will just come and hang
around if we only let them.

Hi everybody,

As Nitin must have already informed, I have been working on a comprehensive
checklist and status notes on Birds of the Mumbai region and this will be sent
by this weekend. This should be by far the most detailed listing and status
notes on birds in this region, from just south of Alibag as the southernmost
boundary to near Virar in the north. The base of Matheran and adjoining tracts
of the Western Ghats has been taken as the eastern periphery of the area
considered for the listing while the western boundary is, but of course, the
sea-coast.
I would definitely like any further notes to this listing so as to keep it as
up-to-date as possible. You should get it by Friday.

Best regards -- Sunjoy Monga

Hi there,

As regards information on vulture sightings, the following are the dates and
places on which I sighted these vanishing birds since March 2000.

05th March: 01 nest of Whitebacked Vulture at Nagla side of National park. The
nest was on a Palmyra and contained a full-grown chick.

09th April: 11 Vultures (all White-backed) over Thane area of National Park -
close to Yeur.

11th April:  23 vultures (18 White-backed, 04 Long-billed and solitary
Scavenger)
Place: Ambernath - Mumbra belt (whilst traveling during an industrial shoot)

16th May: 03 vultures over Nagla block of National Park, just north of the
Bassein Creek.

25th June: 08 White-backed Vultures over northern areas of National Park.

25th October:  04 White-backed over Charkop - Kandivli (NW Mumbai).

These are all the sight records since April. Let's keep a very detail,
up-to-date account
of all vulture sightings henceforth.

Besides vultures, there are several other birds whose numbers show a marked fall
over
the past few years in the Mumbai region. Kiran mentioned in yesterday's email
about the
Ashy Wood Swallow (Artamus fuscus) which he and I saw on the evening of 01st
February at Gorai.
This is a species that was quite numerous on the outskirts of Mumbai's National
Park and
over much of the countryside around Mumbai until the early nineties. It has more
or less
vanished over the past decade and there's no idea why.

The following are two articles I had written some time ago in several Mumbai
newspapers about the falling bird numbers in the Mumbai region and which I am
including herewith. It is important that we start keeping a detail track of our
birds, not
just here, but over other parts of the country as well, for now and for times to
come.

WHAT AILS OUR BIRDS ?
		 An account of some vanishing species around Mumbai
(p.s. existing common names have been used)

by Sunjoy Monga

Observations over the past quarter century of bird-watching in the Mumbai region
reveal some gloomy findings for bird-watchers. Of the 269* species/sub-species
(*: the figure presently is 274 species) of  birds that I have thus far recorded
from Mumbai's National Park and its surroundings, I find populations of over 30
woodland species, and over a dozen of others, having diminished. I must admit
that this is merely an estimation arrived at out of personal observations, not
through any scientific exercise but based on sightings and call-notes. Though I
am quite confident that populations of these species here are on the decline, it
would be appropriate if this `fall' in numbers can be properly ascertained.
Perhaps it would be befitting if bird-watchers elsewhere across the country too
can look into possible declines of local avifaunal populations, including of
species mentioned herewith. The following list is not in any particular order
and includes residents and winter visitors.

Indian Tree-Pie, White-bellied Drongo, Hair-crested Drongo, Black-backed
Woodpecker, Golden-backed Woodpecker, Rufous Woodpecker, Yellow-fronted Pied or
Mahratta Woodpecker, Grey Junglefowl, Red Spurfowl, Jungle Bush Quail, Common
Iora, Gold-fronted Chloropsis, Yellow-backed Sunbird, Loten's Sunbird,
Three-toed Kingfisher, Green Wood Pigeon, Emerald Dove, White-throated Babbler,
Slaty-headed Scimitar Babbler, Yellow-eyed Babbler, Black-headed Cuckoo-shrike,
Large Cuckoo Shrike, Crested Serpent Eagle, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Verditer
Flycatcher, Blue-headed Rock-thrush, Osprey, Scarlet Minivet, Tree Pipit,
Ashy-Swallow Shrike, Brown Hawk-Owl, Barred Jungle Owlet, Forest Wagtail.

Numbers of some of the above-mentioned (woodland) species also show a downtrend
in Karnala Bird Sanctuary, about 60 km to the south of Mumbai's National Park.
Outside the woodland areas, the other species in the Mumbai region which I find
on the decline include Caspian Tern, Turnstone, Oystercatcher, Eastern Golden
Plover, Little Tern, Curlew and Baya Weaver, species which I used to see quite
regularly till about the start of the nineties. In fact there is an overall
decline in tern numbers. I haven't sighted the winter visiting White Stork now
for over a decade anywhere around Mumbai.

I have not here included species which observations and records reveal to be
rather sparingly found, species such as Heart-spotted Woodpecker, Pygmy
Woodpecker, Malabar Trogon, Malabar Whistling Thrush etc, species which are
there but have always been in very small numbers and are invariably to be seen
`once in a while' in certain select localities in  the National Park.

Drastic habitat changes, especially along Mumbai's coastal tracts, along the
numerous creeks and inter-tidal zones have no doubt contributed to a qualitative
as well as quantitative decline of wetland and coastal biotic components. The
reasons for a possible decline of woodland birds, especially in the National
Park, despite a reasonably balanced habitat appears quite confounding and I am
sure bird-watchers would agree that a careful, detail record of the presence of
these species in the Mumbai environs should be helpful.


OUR VANISHING BIRDS (2nd Article)

by Sunjoy Monga (This article was written early this year and at least three of
the species** mentioned in the first few lines have been sighted since, i.e., in
the last nine months though there have been just one or two sightings)

27th DECEMBER 1988. That day I saw my last White Stork in the Mumbai region.
12th MARCH 1996. Since that morning I haven't seen a Yellow-fronted Pied
Woodpecker** here, once a regularly seen bird. In the week following that I had
my last glimpse of the Black-backed Woodpecker**, below Kanheri.
It is now four years since I've seen the Ashy Swallow Shrike** of which half a
dozen would scream along the trail leading from Aarey to the south-gate of the
National Park.
During the winter just gone by, I saw just a solitary Hair-crested Drongo, and a
couple of Bronzed Drongos.
Barely a couple of Yellow-eyed Babblers sang through the last monsoon while of
the Three-toed Forest Kingfisher there were exactly two fleeting glimpses.
For three consecutive winters now the Forest Wagtail has not showed its form.
And the larks, three species of which bred in such profusion in the wilds beyond
my home in north Mumbai have entirely gone, their celebrated, high song now a
melancholy dream, heard only in the Godrej openlands off Vikhroli.

Of the robust, winter-visiting Turnstone, I've had three sightings on Mumbai's
beaches and creeks in the past two years. The romantic call of the Curlew has
more or less vanished from the creeks save for occasional sightings along Thane
Creek. In the last three years I have seen a total of four Caspian Terns along
Manori Creek where dozens floated about every winter. And the once-abounding
Baya Weaver, a claimant to the Best Avian Architect award, is on the verge of
bidding a final adieu to Mumbai. A Palmyra near my home housed for seven years
beginning the late-seventies, what must rank as the largest nesting colony of
this exuberant weaver-bird on a single plant. In the rains of 1983, there were a
record 160 nests dangling on this plant. Since 1990 not a single baya has made
his nest on this Palmyra which still stands tall, waiting for wheezy excitement.
All through the eighties, there were monsoon nights I could almost not sleep
because of croaking frogs and boisterous waterhens. Both have departed. I never
wanted to sleep so peacefully!

There are many more such observations. These may appear just random records from
the diary but there is an ominous significance to this. Mumbai's featherfolk are
being affected for the worse. And no one seems to be knowing why it is all
happening. Just like the frogs almost vanished by the dawn of this decade, and
have showed no sign of making any comeback (this has been reported from other
areas of the country and over parts of Europe and N America too), so could the
birds unless we wake up now and at least begin to probe what ails our
featherfolk, and suggest remedial measures.

More than a quarter century of serious bird-watching in the Mumbai region,
nearly half of this in the company of the great bird-man, Humayun Abdulali, I've
been fortunate to have enjoyed many memorable moments. But I would never want
those to be mere memory. On rummaging  through old diaries and notes it was
detected that sightings were reducing, of some species faster than of others. I
haven't had a day with even two-thirds the species-count that my birding
colleague Joslin and I had on 7th January, 1984. On that day, along the main
road of the National Park, from the southern gate to near Kanheri, we had seen
and heard 123 species! Yes, that was my bird-watching record for the Mumbai
region and there hasn't been a day since then when we've recorded even eighty
species.

My total tally for Mumbai's National Park and its immediate surrounds is 269*
species. For the Mumbai region, including the coast, creeks and some ponds add a
further 19 species. That's 288 species in the Mumbai region. (For a much wider
area, extending from just south of Alibag to Virar in the north and up to the
base of the Matheran Hills of the Western Ghats, the total species count is 345
species and which will be sent to you next week, along with status notes and
other details as a comprehensive list of Birds and their Status in the Mumbai
region). Of these, populations of at least thirty woodland species, and a
further dozen, and possibly more, of coastal, scrub and grassland species appear
to be showing a decline. It is not to suggest either that the rest are well-off.
I must clarify that my assumption  is based on direct sight and hearing records.
However, it must also be specified that sightings and call-notes are the finest
indicators of any species' presence or absence in a locality.

That bird  populations of our coastal species is on the decline is something
that should've been expected, considering the drastic degradation of our creeks
and other coastal habitats. Even the most casual layman would agree that the
more or less final kill of our creeks has been done during the past decade. The
only reason some birds have been regularly coming is because, as a layman
colleague once remarked, "in most birds the sense of smell is poorly developed."
I wish this was not true.

However, the falling numbers of several species in the National Park and other
adjoining woodland tracts should be cause for greater concern. Not just one, but
nearly all the woodpecker species here are on the decline. And woodpeckers are
generally believed to be a fine indicator of a woodland's wholeness. The Grey
Junglefowl, though heard now and then, is yet another species whose plunging
numbers are worrying. I feel bird-watchers, not just in the Mumbai region, but
elsewhere over the country should get together and devise a strategy for
estimating numbers and population density of not just the principal, super-star
species but many of the birds occurring locally and generally perceived as being
common.

The situation is serious also with our birds of prey or raptors as they are
popularly known. My good friend Rishad Naoroji, who has been researching and
photographing Indian raptors over the past two decades informs that we are
losing out on our magnificent eagles, buzzards, hawks and falcons even before
fully understanding the ill-effects of our damaging actions -- habitat loss and
poisoning due to use of insecticides and pesticides. "In fact raptor populations
worldwide are being depleted, and being at the top of the food chain, like
tigers and lions, once these are affected set of a chain reaction whose
ill-effects can be felt, over a period of time, right down to other animal
communities" informs Rishad. Suddenly, one morning we woke up to find the
White-backed Vulture, of all birds, too had dissipated.

Birds, more than any other form of life, enamour us the most. We will have to
take radical steps. Like working out some kind of a moratorium on further
construction in the Mumbai region, OR AT LEAST CONTROLLING IT, and especially
preserving the last surviving bits of  creeks. Tragically also, nearly each and
every one of the country's five hundred-plus Protected Areas is under grave
threat. More than for the birds conserving the last of our wilds is needed to
control the beast in us. Saving the almost-vanished wilderness is not
anti-development. It would be common-sense. The birds will just come and hang
around if we only let them.

At 10:13 PM 13/11/2000 -0500, Sanjoy Monga wrote:
>WHAT AILS OUR BIRDS ?
>An account of some vanishing species around Mumbai

Sanjoys musings makes me feel a bit nostalgic about the heady  birding days
in and around Mumbai over two decades ago. Though I cannot place myself in
the class of Humayun Abdulali,  Jerry Serrao, Sanjoy Monga and many other
veteran BNHS birders of what was then known as Borivali National Park (
including Karnala B.S.), I would like to add a little bit to Sanjoys notes.

>I have not here included species which observations and records reveal to
>be rather sparingly found, species such as Heart-spotted Woodpecker, Pygmy
>Woodpecker, Malabar Trogon, Malabar Whistling Thrush etc, species which
>are there but have always been in very small numbers and are invariably to
>be seen `once in a while' in certain select localities in  the National Park.

Yes, I remember these "certain selected" localities. Woodpecker's' haven
was the mixed patch of  forest immediately after your steep descend from
Tulsi dam,  just opposite little roadside  Mandir. During my fieldwork
around 1974/75 I have not only recorded in my regular census but also
ringed a few Heartspotted, Blackbacked, Goldenbacked and Rufous woodpeckers
in  this patch. May-June, just as the first monsoon showers drench the
foliage when the insects emerge all over, is the time for these
assemblages. Later in the season I have also spotted a couple of
Goldenbacked nests in the same area.  Incidentally the local resident
leopard used to take shelter in the mandir premises during heavy downpours.

Malabar trogon's beat was the stretch of slopes towards the lake behind the
Log Hut near Tulsi dam. The male, during the breeding season, would respond
to my three-whistle call and show up with his back turned towards you. I
once spent a frustrating hour with a mist net to trap him for ringing. He
was all over the place including sitting on the net poles several times but
deftly avoided falling into the net.  The following year,  Humayun Abdulali
, who mentioned that he had not seen a trogon in BNP, and was skeptical
about my observations, challenged me to show him the bird. I was greatly
relieved when the bird showed itself  to my calls and Mr. Abdulali just
shook his head with enigmatic half smile in acknowledgement.

Perhaps he( trogon) or his successors are still flitting around the stretch
of road along the lakeside among the  bamboo clumps where one I showed the
trogon to a group BNHS birders ? Please look out.

>Drastic habitat changes, especially along Mumbai's coastal tracts, along
>the numerous creeks and inter-tidal zones have no doubt contributed to a
>qualitative as well as quantitative decline of wetland and coastal biotic
>components. The reasons for a possible decline of woodland birds,
>especially in the National Park, despite a reasonably balanced habitat
>appears quite confounding and I am sure bird-watchers would agree that a
>careful, detail record of the presence of these species in the Mumbai
>environs should be helpful.

Yes, indeed.

But here in my peaceful hometown, Karkala, coastal Karnataka,  in the
shadow of Kudremukh National Park, I am quite fortunate to see and hear
many species which I had not seen in my childhood.

Just sitting on the porch of my ancestral house, I have so far recorded
form our backyard over 60 species including, Brown hawk Owl, Collared scops
owl, Lorikeet, Malabar Whistling thrush, Malabar pied hornbill, Bluewinged
& Blossomheaded parakeets, Emerald dove, Indian pitta, Racket-tailed
drongo, Storkbilled kingfisher ( Whitebreasted and Common kingfishers
nested in the two wells in our compound last year), Ashy swallow shrike,
and among the migrants, Paradise flycatcher, Blyth's reed warbler, Greenish
leaf warbler, Blacknaped oriole, Grey wagtail, to list a few.

It is intriguing to note that while some places experience a decline in
birds species assemblages, we  seem to have a reversal of trend in some
other areas.

S A Hussain



S A Hussain
504 Lawns View Apts
Sturrock Road
Falnir
Mangalore - 575 001
D.K. Karnataka. India

Telephone: 91-(0)824-448976
Tel/fax     :  91-(0)824-445647

At 10:04 PM 13/11/2000 -0500, Sanjoy Monga  wrote:
>As regards information on vulture sightings, the following are the dates
>and places on which I sighted these vanishing birds since March 2000.
>
>05th March:     01 nest of Whitebacked Vulture at Nagla side of National
>park. The nest was on a Palmyra and contained a full-grown chick.
>
>09th April:     11 Vultures (all White-backed) over Thane area of National
>Park - close to Yeur.
>
>11th April:     23 vultures (18 White-backed, 04 Long-billed and solitary
>Scavenger)
>
>Place: Ambernath - Mumbra belt (whilst traveling during an industrial shoot)
>
>16th May:       03 vultures over Nagla block of National Park, just north
>of the Bassein Creek.
>
>25th June:      08 White-backed Vultures over northern areas of National
>Park.
>
>25th October:   04 White-backed over Charkop - Kandivli (NW Mumbai).
>
>These are all the sight records since April. Let's keep a very detail,
>up-to-date account
>
>of all vulture sightings henceforth.

Thanks Sanjay, for posting this little information. I am sure more such
information from all over the sub-continent will create a better
understanding of a phenomenon no one seems to be clearly aware of.

For the past few months one has been  feeling rather uneasy over the
current trend among our distinguished  and eminent institutions and
scientists ( both local as well as overseas) to go overboard in predicting
final EXTINCTION of vultures. Yes we are all  concerned about the DECLINE
in once abundant vulture NUMBERS in some parts of the country which,
inevitably has some repercussion on rural socio-economics etc. One would
have assumed that true scientific temper required a coolheaded and
meticulous application of various parameters needed to asses the situation
rather than a wide-eyed, alarmist doomsday proclamations form the roof tops
when there is no clear scientific evidence to prove one thing or the other
!   EXTINCTION  - one needs to be careful in using this term and our
serious scientists need to be absolutely sure of their facts before they
pronounce this dreadful word. Let us not allow our heart to rule over our
head.

One would like to share a small incident with Dr. Salim Ali some years ago.
He was addressing a gathering  of small school children in Gujarat when at
end of his talk, a little girl, prompted by her parents, came up to the
dais and asked " Sir, can you please tell me which is your favourite bird ? ".

Old man thought for while and one could just see that mischievous glint in
his eyes as he replied
" Ah, my favourite bird....? Yes, my favourite bird is the Cotton teal, I
believe" .

The audience was a bit taken aback as they  were expecting him to mention
the legendary sparrow.

' But, sir, why is the Cotton teal your favourite bird ?" the girl persisted.

The Grand Old Man of Indian Ornithology slowly executed his typical head
shake and intoned in  characteristic nasal baritone "Because it is
delicious".  The entire audience was stunned.

After surveying the effect of his revelation on the stupefied audience, the
old man proceeded to deliver  a piece of his mind about dangers of mushy
sentimentality as against sober scientific rationality which allows us to
appreciate Nature's own laws and her own ways and dealings.

Let us think things over.

S A Hussain.




S A Hussain
504 Lawns View Apts
Sturrock Road
Falnir
Mangalore - 575 001
D.K. Karnataka. India

Telephone: 91-(0)824-448976
Tel/fax     :  91-(0)824-445647

Hi all,

The birding on Salim Ali bird count  on 12-11-2000,in Borivali National was
rewarding. We went in from goregaon side.The day began with a leopard
crossing the road in front of the car near the BNHS land gate ! .It remained
on the side of the road in the thickets for some time .subsequently Sanjoy
and others came and we all got down to have look at it.
Good number of raptors too. Shikra, Sparrow-hawk , pale phase of Booted
Eagle, Hobby, marsh harrier and large Eagle with broad wings being mobbed by
Pariah kites. Could possibly have been Greater Spotted Eagle.
Greenish leaf warbler , arguably the commonest winter migrant to India, was
common in the park. The greenish warbler sets up winter territories thus is
quite vocal . It's loud warbling song can be heard in October when the birds
arrive and are setting up territories. One bird was heard singing on Sunday
also. A thick billed flower-pecker was seen. And as rightly remarked by
Kiran Srivastava this bird is becoming increasingly uncommon in the park.
No Red jungle fowl was heard ,which was common sound few years back.

Nitin Jamdar

Hi Nitin et  al. ,
Lucky you got see Leopard! I have seen only once in 15 years of
birding in the park, though I had heard it several times. That too
last week of mine before I came to US.

Great post.


>The birding on Salim Ali bird count  on 12-11-2000,in Borivali National was
>rewarding. We went in from goregaon side.The day began with a leopard
>crossing the road in front of the car near the BNHS land gate ! .It remained
>on the side of the road in the thickets for some time .subsequently Sanjoy
>and others came and we all got down to have look at it.
>Good number of raptors too. Shikra, Sparrow-hawk , pale phase of Booted
>Eagle, Hobby, marsh harrier and large Eagle with broad wings being mobbed by
>Pariah kites. Could possibly have been Greater Spotted Eagle.
>Greenish leaf warbler , arguably the commonest winter migrant to India, was
>common in the park. The greenish warbler sets up winter territories thus is
>quite vocal . It's loud warbling song can be heard in October when the birds
>arrive and are setting up territories. One bird was heard singing on Sunday
>also. A thick billed flower-pecker was seen. And as rightly remarked by
>Kiran Srivastava this bird is becoming increasingly uncommon in the park.




>No Red jungle fowl was heard ,which was common sound few years back.



I think you mean Grey Jungle Fowl?  or is it I have forgotten which
fowl was seen?

Meena


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Meena Haribal
Research Associate
mmh3@...
www.people.cornell.edu/pages/mmh3
Address:Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, BTI
	 Cornell University
	 Tower Road, Ithaca NY 14853.
Phone No;607-254-4287, 607-254-5414 (W)
     	 607-277-3536 (Home)
	 Fax- 607 255-8088 or 254-2958.