There about five species of vultures in India. Three of which are said to be critically endangered. These are the oriental white-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis), long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus) and the slender-billed vulture (Gyps tenuirostris). Two other species - the red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvushave) and the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus). The vulture population has declined by close to 99% in the last 20 years.

Why vultures are becoming extinct?

1) Diclofelnac

The main reason for the sudden and dramatic decline in vulture population is due to use of vertinary drug called as Dicloflenac. This is used in cattle as a pain reliever. Diclofenac is particularly lethal to vultures as it gets into vultures body when it consumes the carcasses of dead cattle which has been injected with diclofenac within 72 hours of its death. The Vultures stomachs are unable to breakdown this drug and it causes kidney failures and ultimately their death. In some cases, it affects their ability to reproduce. Since March 2005, the drug has been banned for vertinary use in India. However, it continues to be used as verterians use a human form of this drug on cattle. Another Non-steroidal anti inflammatory drug (NSAID), meloxicam, has been found to be harmless to vultures and should prove to be an acceptable substitute for diclofenac. When meloxicam production is increased, it is hoped that it will be as cheap as diclofenac. Another NSAID, Ketoprofen & aceclofenac has been proved equally dangerous for vultures but awareness regarding this hasn't yet increased.

2) Poisoning:

In some cases, farmers wanting to protect their cattle from attacks from wild animals like tigers, lions, cheetahs and leopards, poison meat. The cats which feed on them die and the vultures which feed on the poisoned meat or the cat which died because of consuming poisoned meat also die as a result.

3) Starvation:

Another reason for decline in Vulture population near villages and towns is Starvation. Villagers previously used to discard dead cattle at the edges of their villages are now selling the dead cattle to butchers for meat. Vultures which previously depended on dead meat for their subsistence are finding it increasingly hard to find food.

4) Wind turbines:

Wind turbines, heralded as an alternative source of power, has a dangerous side to it. It has been observed by ornithologists that Wind turbines can decapitate and slice vultures into two.

Other causes:

Electrocution
Malaria
pesticides
lack of nesting trees
Pardhi community in Maharashtra (called as Wagris in Gujarat) eats vultures. They catch whole flocks and devour them.

Why vultures are important?

1) Decomposing of dead bodies in the wild take anywhere from 3 to 4 times longer in the absence of vultures
2) Decline of vultures contributes to raise of diseases like anthrax, rabies as feral dogs and crows take place of vultures when vultures drastically decline.

Individual introductions:

Our first event in the introduction camp was the individual introductions we had. When I kept hearing from individual participants about what they do and how they took to birding, I was fascinated and felt quite happy in knowing that I was part of a diverse and well informed group. I look forward to our interactions and knowledge sharing opportunities.

Nature trail-1: with Saurabh

We were divided into two groups. One would be headed by experienced birder, Mr Saurabh and the other was to be headed by similarly experienced Mr. Adesh. I was to go with Mr. Saurabh. Though conventional wisdom tells us that the best time for birding is early in the morning, Saurabh made up for the lack of birds with his knowledge which he was quite happy to share with at various points on our trail (which was ominously called the leopard trail!) As we headed out into the forest area adjoining the CEC, we were told what to look out for when we were out birding. We were told how to identify various songs. We were also asked to come up with mnemonics for the bird calls we hear to help us identify the birds. He suggested some resources that we could use to come up mnemonics. We sighted / heard the following birds during the course of the trail:

1. House Crow

2. Jungle crow

3. Tailor bird

4. Common Iora

5. Oriental dwarf king fisher

6. Oriental magpie Robin

7. Puff throated babbler

We also learned about the “edge effect” ie., we tend to find more birds along the roads by the sides of jungles than deep inside the jungle because birds which want to move from one part of the forest to the other tend to perch on the trees on the edge before crossing over to the other side of the road.

Introduction to birds: Presentation by Mr. Adesh Shivkar

This presentation was a basically a quick recap of the introduction chapter which was posted on lore.com. However, it was not without new information. We learnt that Wilson’s storm petrel is the most numerous birds in the world and is sometimes referred to as a mutton bird because it is hunted by hungry sailors for meat. He also told us how the brown headed barbet and the copper smith barbet are expert ventriloquists as they can both throw their voices. He told us how, the once most numerous birds in the world, the passenger pigeons have now become extinct.

Presentation on Bird calls: by Ms. Ketki Marthak

Ms. Ketki had a short and fun presentation on bird calls which left me wanting more. We were first told how different birds make their sound and we also understood the difference between a call and a song. We also learned that by using some mneumonics, we can identify birds by their calls very soon. Some of the mnemonics that she told us is represented below:

S.No	Bird	Call Mneumonic
1	Indian cuckoo	One more bottle
2	Eurasian cuckoo	Cuck-coo
3	Hawk cuckoo	Brain Fever
4	Koel	Cou… Cou…
5	Ashy Prinia	Jimmy, Jimmy,
6	Puff Throated babbler	I will beat you
7	Lapwing	Did he do it?
8	Grey frankolin	Patela, patella, Kapil dev, Kapil dev
9	Drongo cuckoo	1,2,3,4,5 (Rising crescendo)

We also came to know about the interesting phenomenon of mimicry of birds which makes it difficult to identify birds. Towards the end of the presentation, Ms. Ketki also shared a couple of Videos on the mimicry of superb lyre bird and also the American grey catbird. It was fascinating to watch the mimicry of the birds.

Nature trail-2: with Parvish Padya

We sighted the following birds:

1. House Crow

2. Jungle crow

3. Tailor bird

4. Common Iora

5. Oriental dwarf king fisher

6. Oriental magpie Robin

7. Puff throated babbler

8. Crimson sun bird

9. Pale billed flower pecker

10. Brown headed barbet

11. Red vented bulbul

12. Red whiskered bulbul

13. Grey horn bill

14. Coppersmith barbet

15. Southern coucal

The highlight of the nature trial was perhaps our sighting of a bold brown headed barbet which was sitting conspicuously in an exposed branch. The brown headed barbet is an indicator species for a good canopy and we were happy to sight the bird in CEC campus. We came to know about the controversy surrounding the naming of the birds and the changes in recent years.

Presentation on Bird adaptation by Parvish Pandya:

After our late afternoon bird watching trip, we had a presentation by Mr Parvish Pandya. He told us about the various types of adaptations that we can find birds that have developed in an evolutionary timescale to respond to changing environments.

Bird quiz:

Bird quiz was a fun way to learn. The questions were drawn from the first chapter, from the presentations that we had earlier in the day and also from current affairs. I happened to be on the team that won the quiz (Trogan) but the quiz sure was a nice way to have recap on the introduction lesson. Especially fun was the dumb charades session towards the end of the quiz program.

Night walk inside CEC campus:

We had a night walk inside the conservation for the education centre campus. We were hoping to spot some nocturnal birds but we had no such luck. The neighbourhood woodland was alive with the sound of crickets. We understood that the daytime sounds were caused by cicadas and the night time sounds by crickets. We chanced upon a group of spotted deers grazing in the tickets nearby. We also sighted a group of bonnet macaques sleeping in a tree. The highlight however was sighting the chameleon fast asleep clinging on to a climber. Overall, the night trial helped us get a sense of the forest at the night time.

Nature Trail-3: with Adesh Shivkar

We started on the trail early in the morning on 29/06/14 (Sunday) around seven AM. We learnt that Mornings are generally the best times to sight birds as they would have woken up hungry and thirsty and would be out looking for food and water. We sighted the crimson sunbird, spotted dove, House crow, Jungle crow, Common myna, white browed bulbul, Red-vented bulbul, Red-whiskered bulbul, and Grey hornbills. We kept hearing the Puff throated babbler, Ashy Prinia, Tailor bird, fan tail flycatcher, common iora but we didn’t sight any. We were now developing a good sense of what we were hearing in the wild because of the repetitions of our activities in the previous day. Our Nature trail concluded at Salim Ali point, which was the highest point in CEC campus. We were frustrated by the number of jungle crows and house crows. These loud and rowdy birds were perhaps driving away the other birds which we could have otherwise sighted.

Introduction on Lore and grading system:

This session was conducted by Ms Priti Chogale, our course coordinator. I was fascinated to learn that we were only the second batch to do this course in an online mode. I learnt how the lore.com website would be used throughout the duration of course and also the activities planned throughout the year. As an outstation participant, it would be difficult for me to participate in the field trips organised by CEC close to Mumbai. However, Thattekad and Point calimere camps seem to be close by and definitely doable. I also look forward to the Bharatpur sanctuary visit. I learnt about the grading system of the program. While it seemed definitely doable. It does demand quite a bit of planning and organising. It does look like a busy year.

Bird survey: with Priti

After the short presentation by Mr. Kevin on the Point and Line transact survey methods by Mr Kevin , we were out on the field once again. We were given a datasheet which we had to fill based on our observations in the field at four different points in the trail. We had taken the stream trial along with the course coordinator Ms. Priti Chogole. It was definitely fruitful birding trip where were forced to record our observations on the sheet at our observations and ignore the others we might encounter along the way. We did find the scientific approach to be quite helpful in objectively recording our observations. In all we managed to locate 42 individual birds from ten species and eight families. We also had a few unidentified individuals. The highlight of this trail was perhaps our sighting of the white-rumped shama which was practising its song when it was being mobbed by two jungle crows.

Group Presentation:

Group presentation was again a fun time for us where we made a chart of all the observation sin the field and we had to present the same in from of an audience. It was a nice way to summarize and share our observations in a succinct manner.

Feedback session:

We were asked to give a feedback on the different speakers and the introduction camp. Overall, I was happy about the camp but I felt that the camp premises can be maintained well. The Toilets and bathrooms were smelly and dirty. The paint was peeling off from several walls. The sleeping arrangements left a lot to be desired. The management can at least make arrangements for decent bedding and pillows. The lunch and dinner offered on both days were fine. I felt that the breakfast offered can include a few more items.

Conclusion:

This camp has helped me understand how to keep my eyes and ears open when I go out for a bird watching trip. I also could see several new birds which I haven’t seen or heard before. I am happy that I am a part of a diverse group of people from several walks of life which would help me in learning from my peers as well.

Birding in Coimbatore

Wednesday, 23 July 2014

Vultures: What ails them?