G PLUS
NEWS | DECEMBER 29, 2018 13:29 HRS
GUWAHATI:
A student from Kerela, Leons Mathew Abraham studying at the College of
Veterinary Sciences in Assam spotted a rare bird, the Swamp grass-babbler, near
the Chandrapur area in Guwahati.
The
scientific name for the bird is Laticilla cinerascens and it is also commonly
known as swamp prinia. It is one of the most endangered grassland birds in
India in the area.
Abraham
said that the rare bird is really hard to spot, but after visiting the sar in
the evening a few times, he was able to hide and shoot a video and even get a
few pictures before it disappeared into the tussocks. He also mentioned that it
was a shock to see the bird in this area as this habitat is not really good for
the bird and its future is bleak on the island.
This
endangered bird species is specific to the Brahmaputra and Cachar plains.
However, all recent findings have found that the bird comes from a small pocket
in Upper Assam and adjacent areas of Arunachal Pradesh. The Swamp Prinia used
to be found in the Dibru Saikhowa-Amarpur area but went unrecorded for four
years until it was found again in the D’Ering grasslands of Arunachal a few
years ago.
Assam
birder, Pritam Baruah explained that the record for seeing these birds in
Guwahati is unexpected and significant as there has been no confirmed records
outside the Dibru Saikhowa-Amarpur-D’Ering region for decades and there are
still not many suitable habitats around the city. The finding of the bird in a
seasonal river island hints that the species is prone to opportunistic
movements along the Brahmaputra, which also shows the importance of conserving
the river island ecosystem in Assam.
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