Sunday, April 8, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Online dash to save the vanishing Sparrow
If you have been missing the once- familiar chirping of sparrows around your house, here’s your choice to contribute to finding out why this common bird seems to have disappeared from cities across India.
A Two-month long online surveys called Citizen Sparrow was launched on Sunday, inviting responses from people on questions such as when they last sighted the bird and details about the area they live in. The survey can be taken at www.citizensparrow.in.
“It is an elementary step to gather information. We are encouraging people to report their experience, be it a drastic drop in sparrow count or a sudden spurt. These inputs will give us valuable leads to compile pan-India data”, Suhel Quader, evolutionary ecologists at National Centre for Biological Sciences.
The environment ministry-funded survey is being undertaken by the Natural History Society, with the help of 10 partner organizations such as Indian Bird Conservation Network and Nature Conservation Foundation. The disappearance of the house sparrows so widespread till recently that the Chinese Communist Party declared it a pest in1958 and asked people to exterminate it remains a great modern mystery worldwide. In the UK, sparrows are estimated to have declined from over 12 million to 6 million since the mid-70s.
While in Europe the decline has been documented and studied, there has been no major study in India so far. Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) seeks to change that with its current initiative.
“The survey would give is the first baseline data about distribution of sparrows in the country. This would form the basis for further research,” said Kathik K, project coordinator.
The objective of moving ordinary citizens rather than experts comes with a purpose. “Almost everyone knows about sparrows. It is an attempt to reach out to people, asking them to share their stories and their understanding of these birds”, said Quader.
Participants in the survey would be asked to mark locations on a map and give information about their sparrow sightings, including sightings from the last year and even earlier. Such information will enable a comparison of sparrows in different places, and this is expected to point to particular threats or problems. The findings are intended to feed detailed studies investing causes of decline and potential measures for the recovery of sparrow populations.
Asad Rahmani, director, Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) said, “The sparrow is an indicator of a trend. A number of other birds have also declined sharply in the past few decades. We hope the survey would provide more clues about why these birds are disappearing”.
Courtesy:- Times Of India
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Black- Necked stork numbers up in Khijadia Bird Sanctuary, Jamnagar, Gujarat, India
Forest Department officials claim to have spotted 49 black-necked storks in and around Khijadia Bird Sanctuary roughly 12km from Jamnagar in the recent statewide water birds’ census.
It is a significant increase from merely six storks (including two chicks) spotted in 2002 of the 49 black-necked storks, seven were chicks, officials said. Black-Necked storks are classified as “near threatened” in India.
“In the last decade, rare birds like black-necked storks have preferred the environs of Khijadia for breeding and their numbers have increased significantly” said R.D. Kamboj, Chief Conservator of Forests, Marine National Park, Jamnagar.
Kamboj said the birds’ population estimation in and around Khijadia was carried out in the last week of January 2012, when many winter visiting birds were expected.
The number of birds as well the species has increased in Khijadia over the last four years. “During the estimation exercise, a total of 87,681 birds of 185 species were recorded at the sanctuary in the 2008 census, 41,437birds belonging to 119 species were recorded,” Kamboj said.
However, Jaypalsinh Jadeja, an avid bird watcher and ornithologist, said that the population of black-necked storks is not limited to just Khijadia or the area surrounding it but are spread over an area stretching up to Dwarka, which is roughly 150 km from Jamnagar.
“It is a magnificent bird to watch and you will definitely find at least four to five black- necked storks at Khijadiya within one km range,” said Jadeja.
Khijadia Bird Sanctuary is a wetland area located on the southern coast of the Gulf of Kutch in semi-arid region of Jamnagar district. It encompasses freshwater lakes as well as brackish/marine wetland at a place. This complex of wet lands strategically falls on Indo-Asian flyway of migratory birds welcoming the birds coming from Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan and their neighboring areas.
“The sanctuary also has birds like painted storks, darters, lesser flamingoes and Indian skimmers among others. The sanctuary has been proposed recently for inclusion as the wetland of international importance, a Ramsar site”, kamboj said.
Courtesy:- Times Of India
It is a significant increase from merely six storks (including two chicks) spotted in 2002 of the 49 black-necked storks, seven were chicks, officials said. Black-Necked storks are classified as “near threatened” in India.
“In the last decade, rare birds like black-necked storks have preferred the environs of Khijadia for breeding and their numbers have increased significantly” said R.D. Kamboj, Chief Conservator of Forests, Marine National Park, Jamnagar.
Kamboj said the birds’ population estimation in and around Khijadia was carried out in the last week of January 2012, when many winter visiting birds were expected.
The number of birds as well the species has increased in Khijadia over the last four years. “During the estimation exercise, a total of 87,681 birds of 185 species were recorded at the sanctuary in the 2008 census, 41,437birds belonging to 119 species were recorded,” Kamboj said.
However, Jaypalsinh Jadeja, an avid bird watcher and ornithologist, said that the population of black-necked storks is not limited to just Khijadia or the area surrounding it but are spread over an area stretching up to Dwarka, which is roughly 150 km from Jamnagar.
“It is a magnificent bird to watch and you will definitely find at least four to five black- necked storks at Khijadiya within one km range,” said Jadeja.
Khijadia Bird Sanctuary is a wetland area located on the southern coast of the Gulf of Kutch in semi-arid region of Jamnagar district. It encompasses freshwater lakes as well as brackish/marine wetland at a place. This complex of wet lands strategically falls on Indo-Asian flyway of migratory birds welcoming the birds coming from Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan and their neighboring areas.
“The sanctuary also has birds like painted storks, darters, lesser flamingoes and Indian skimmers among others. The sanctuary has been proposed recently for inclusion as the wetland of international importance, a Ramsar site”, kamboj said.
Courtesy:- Times Of India
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Photography of bustard now covered under Wildlife Act
The forest department has restricted the movement of people in the Naliya grasslands, a habitat of the Great Indian Bustard. This is because the movement of people was too close to the birds and created disturbance for them.
Deputy conservator of forests, #Kutch (West) division, P.A. Vihol said that recently the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) issued guidelines for the #Great #Indian #Bustard Recovery Programme.
The guidelines stated that “unethical photography during the breeding season often acts as a constant source of disturbance to the bustards. Incidents of such photography have been reported in Naliya grasslands. Due to the lack of legislative enforcement and protective measures in core breeding areas, such direct threats on Great Indian Bustard population continue unrestricted.”
Vihol said, “In order to reduce such direct threats to this critically endangered and #Schedule-I species in NaIiya grasslands, particularly during their breeding season, we are issuing a caution note to the over- enthusiastic and unethical photographers to restrict their movements near the sanctuary areas, breeding and nesting grounds. The breeding season spans from April to October.”
He cautioned that “any person found to be disturbing the birds during their breeding or even its nesting shall be prosecuted under the #Wildlife #Protection #Act 1972.”
According to officials, the act was there in place, but no such caution was issued and people use to walk very close to the birds. Hence, a decision was taken to impose this caution note based on the guidelines of the MoEF.
It has been mentioned in the guidelines that some grassland areas were ploughed during monsoon and post-monsoon season for planting better species of grass and their growth. Such activities also create disturbance to nests, eggs or chicks of the Great Indian Bustard, said a senior official, adding that the department will also impose a curb on such activities.
Courtesy:- Times Of India.
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