China, Russia, Mongolia jointly protect Siberian crane

Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-17 20:17:08|Editor: ZX

NANCHANG, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Six organizations from China, Russia and Mongolia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the conservation of the Siberian crane Thursday in east China's Jiangxi Province.

Also known as the Siberian white crane, or the snow crane, the species is rated as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

The six organizations -- the School of Nature Conservation of Beijing Forestry University, a Siberian cranes protection center in the city of Nanchang, two institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a Mongolian bird conservation center and a nature reserve administration in Dornod Province -- signed the MOU of Siberian Crane Research and Conservation in Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi.

Guo Yumin, a professor with the Beijing Forestry University, said that all parties decided to join hands to protect the Siberian crane after multiple discussions. The participants will work together to collect and share scientific data such as breeding areas, population size and different habitats.

According to the MOU, the Russian side will focus on the investigation of the breeding areas of Siberian crane, while the Chinese side is mainly responsible for the investigation of the bird's winter area, and the Mongolian side will carry out research on Siberian cranes in the summer area.

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Falcon from Mongolia sighted in Madayipara

Mohamed Nazeer

KANNUR , DECEMBER 09, 2017 23:20 IST

UPDATED: DECEMBER 09, 2017 23:29 IST

First spotting of Amur Falcon, a pigeon-sized migratory bird, in Kannur

Migratory bird Amur Falcon has been spotted for the first time at Madayipara here. The bird was sighted by Jayan Thomas, an ophthalmologist and bird enthusiast, on November 29. The sighting was confirmed by ornithologists C. Sashikumar and J. Praveen.

Amur Falcon is a small pigeon-sized bird weighing just 150 grams. Dr. Thomas said the bird species was first reported from the Amur river basin near Mongolia. In November/December each year the birds fly from Mongolia to northeast India, covering 5,600 km. Then they continue their journey to the wintering grounds in South Africa by flying another 22,000 km via central and western India and then back to Mongolia.

A gory history

Mr. Sashikumar said though Amur Falcon had been sighted in some parts of the State earlier, it was for the first time that the bird was spotted in Kannur. He said the bird had a gory past as it had been killed in large numbers for meat in Nagaland. Steps to protect Amur Falcons were launched in that State in 2012, he noted.

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66 Million Years Ago, Bird-Like Dinosaurs Laid Blue-Green Eggs

By Mindy Weisberger, Senior Writer | August 31, 2017 04:54pm ET

A type of bird-like dinosaur that lived in what is now China during the Cretaceous period — about 145.5 million to 65.5 million years ago — laid eggs that had a bluish-green tint, the first evidence of pigment in dinosaur eggs, according to a new study.

The well-preserved eggshells belonged to the oviraptorid Heyuannia huangi, and analysis revealed the hints of blue-green color, the researchers said. Oviraptorids were a small-bodied, short-snouted group of dinosaurs with toothless beaks, and are known from fossils found in Mongolia and China.

Blue and green egg hues are found in eggs belonging to many types of modern birds, and were long thought to have originated in bird lineages. This new finding, however, implies that egg coloration appeared earlier in the dinosaur family tree, and might have emerged alongside nesting behavior that left eggs partially exposed in nest mounds, rather than buried underground, the scientists wrote in the new study.

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Saker falcon project in Mongolia sees the hatching of 2,000 chicks in 2013

Poachers turned gamekeeper?

September 2013. 2,000 Saker Falcon chicks have hatched in 2013 as a result of an artificial nesting programme in Mongolia. The project, which is run in partnership by the Environment Agency- Abu Dhabi (EAD) and Mongolia's Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism, was launched in 2010 with an aim of increasing the wild Saker falcon population.

In 2010, EAD - on behalf of the United Arab Emirates government - signed an agreement with the government of Mongolia with the aim of building 5,000 artificial nests in the Mongolian steppes in a bid to encourage breeding among the species and increase the world's population of Saker falcons. EAD reported that 3,700 chicks have been born since the project was first launched.

Several of the artificial nests placed have been fitted with a camera which records continuously, allowing officials to record the falcons' eating habits and predator threats. This year, the project has also been extended to address the problem of Saker falcons being threatened by power line electrocution - a major cause of falcon mortality in Mongolia and China - which kills almost one falcon each week. Officials took a number of steps to address this issue including adding insulation covers on the power lines.

Read on

Pazhayangadi receives a special visitor from China

P Sudhakaran, TNN Apr 3, 2013, 03.02AM IST

KANNUR: The season of the migratory birds is almost over in Kerala. But the bird enthusiasts of Kannur are bidding adieu to the season with great cheers because they spotted a rare bird from Mongolia in the last week of March near Pazhayangadi.

"Though the hillocks and marshlands in Kannur are a hot spot for migratory birds, it was for the first time in the last eight decades that we spotted the rare bird, Chinese Snipe (Swinhoe's Snipe) here in the marshlands near Pazhayangadi," said noted bird watcher and academician Khaleel Chovva, who spotted the bird along with P C Rajeevan, Jayan Thomas on March 24

He said this bird is a rare winter visitor.

Though the records says British soldier in Kannur, Phythian Adams, had shot 15 Chinese Snipes between 1925 and 1935, there are no recent records about the spotting of the rare bird in Kerala, he said.

The Chinese Snipe (scientific name Gallinago megala ) is a medium-sized, skulking wading bird with long straight bill and a cryptic plumage. This cryptic plumage of the bird enables the snipe to remain undetected by birdwatchers and hunters in marshland.

"The bird has a erratic flight pattern. It is the difficulties in hunting a snipe that gave it the term 'sniper' referring to a skilled anti-personnel military sharpshooter," said Chovva.

He said the bird was spotted among a group of painted snipes. The snipe feeds on insect larvae, earthworms, spiders, beetles and small crustaceans. Interestingly, it feeds with its bill closed, say experts. Without removing its super sensitive bill from almost face-deep mud, the tip of the upper mandible flexes like a pitcher to grab and haul in the grub. The Chinese Snipe breeds in Mongolia and East Asia and in winter comes to India, Sri Lanka and Maldives.

Bird enthusiasts have also sighted some other migratory birds in the wetlands of Kannur during the recent years. This season they had also spotted a black stork in Munderikkadavu.

"These findings throw light on the importance of wetlands as habitat for rare and migratory birds. So these wetlands are precious and are to be preserved without any modification," said Chovva.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-04-03/kozhikode/38247298_1_bird-khaleel-chovva-kannur