Census of rare Bengal Florican kicks off

Added At: 2014-04-21 12:11 AM

Last Updated At: 2014-04-21 12:11 AM

MAHENDRANAGAR: Nepal Birds’ Association has started counting Bengal Floricans, one of the world’s rare bird species, at Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in Kanchanpur.

The counting, which will continue till May 8, began for the second time yesterday. Census of the endangered birds was conducted for the first time at the Reserve last year. 

Apart from Suklaphanta, the rare bird species are available at Chitwan National Park, and Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve in the country. 

Though Bardiya National Park was home to the rare birds in the past, they have not been spotted for the last four years, said a source at Bardiya National Park.

Besides Nepal, Bengal Floricans are also found in India and Cambodia. 

The world has recorded a total of around 1,000 Bengal Floricans. Of which, Nepal hosts around 100.

A team of four technicians have been mobilised to count the Bengal Floricans. Technician Mohan Joshi said the counting will be carried out with binoculars.

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Puffin count starts on Farne Islands

5 yearly census underway 

May 2013. A Puffin census has begun at the north east's most amazing wildlife habitat, the windswept Farne Islands, as National Trust rangers attempt to find how many breeding pairs of these iconic birds live on the Islands. 

Every 5 years

The census takes place every five years and records date back to 1939 when 3,000 breeding pairs were recorded. 

2008 showed first decine

Until 2008, each survey since the census began 65 years ago showed a steady increase in pairs of puffins on the Farne Islands, but the last count indicated numbers had fallen by a third. The 2008 survey recorded 36,500 pairs of puffins across eight islands compared to 55,674 pairs living on the Islands in the 2003 census. 

How to count a puffin

This spring and summer a team of eleven National Trust rangers will be travelling between eight of the Farne Islands to carry out the mammoth task of counting every single bird. Puffins nest underground in burrows, which means the rangers will have to put their arms into the holes to make sure that the nests are occupied during the comprehensive count. 

David Steel, Head Ranger for the Farne Islands told us: "We've been monitoring a small section of the Farnes every year since the last census in 2008 and have seen a small increase in numbers in this area. We're hoping to see an increase overall numbers this year but you can't tell after the winter we've just had." 

Continued

BRT reserve houses several rare birds: census

Chamarajanagar, Dec 3, 2012, DHNS :

Eight more birds have been added to the list of rare birds spotted during the census carried out in the Biligiriranganathaswamy Tiger Reserve in the district on Saturday and Sunday.

Some 282 types of birds were counted during the census, held on behalf of the Forest department in the 574.83-sq km reserve forest area.

Of these, the night heron, the thick-billed warbler, the dusky crag martin, the oriental turtle dove, the blue-eyed kingfisher, the bonelli eagle, the cylon frogmouth and the crested tree swift have been identified by ornithologists as being rare.

Nine species on the list of endangered birds are: the greater spotted eagle, the black-headed ibis, the nilgiri wood pigeon, the yellow-throated bulbul, the Egyptian vulture, the black-and-orange flycatcher, the grey-headed bulbul, the white-naped tit and the grey-headed fish eagle. The yellow-throated bulbul was spotted in K Gudi area.

Claiming that this is the first such scientific bird census carried out in a reserve forest area in South India, Vijay Mohanraj, the forest conservator at the tiger reserve, said that the number of rare birds are likely to go up after the verification.

Ornithologist Salim Ali carried out the census first time in the reserve in 1942-43 and spotted 60 species of birds, as per the documents in the Bombay Natural History Society. 

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/296190/brt-reserve-houses-several-rare.html