Multiple Brooding of the Little Brown Dove Streptopelia Senegalensis

4 Pages·2000·2.4 MB·

by  M John George

MISCELLANEOUSNOTES
breedingindividualstendtostayoverwithinour ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
limits.
The available data and our own intensive We thank Dr. D.N. Yadav, Officer-m-
studies on the coast ofGujarat suggest that the Charge for constant encouragement, and the
gull is quite abundant on the GulfofKachchh, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New
but not so on the Gulf ofKhambat. One ofus Delhi for financial support.
(Parasharya 1984) studied the coastal avifauna
near Bhavnagar and Ghogha during 1979 to July 24, 1998 B.M.PARASHARYA
1983, but had seen it only once. It is possible K.L. MATHEW
that the species wras overlooked because of its A.G. SUKHADIA
similarities with the blackheaded gull Lams AESHITAMUKHERJEE
ridibundus in winter plumage (Ali and Ripley AINP on Agricultural Ornithology,
1983, Mundkur et al. 1988). Hence, a careful Gujarat Agricultural University,
surveyoftheGulfofKhambatmightyieldafew Anand388 1JO,
more sightings. Gujarat, India.
ReferENCES
Ali,S.(1945):TheBirdsofKutch.Oxford,Bombay. theGulfofKachchh,Gujarat.J.Bombaynat.Hist.
Ali, S. &S.D. Ripley(1983): HandbookoftheBirdsof Soc. 85(2):420-422.
India and Pakistan. Compact edition, Oxford Palin,H.&C.D.Lester(1904):TheBirdsofCutch.The
UniversityPress, Delhi. TimesPress,Bombay.
Dharmakumarsinhji, K.S. (1955): Birds ofSaurashtra. Parasharya,B.M.(1984):Studiesonthecoastalbirdsand
TimesofIndia,Bombay. theirmarinehabitatwithaspecialemphasisonthe
Mundkur,T.,L.M.Raol&S.N.Varu(1988):Distribution biology ofthe Indian ReefHeron. Ph.D. thesis,
ofthe slenderbilled gull {Lamsgenei Breme) in SaurashtraUniversity,Rajkot.
MULTIPLE BROODING OF THE LITTLE BROWN DOVE
9.
STREPTOPELIA SENEGALENSIS
Aninstanceofmultiplebroodingbyapair breeding season has led to a propensity for
oflittle brown doves, Streptopelia senegalensis multiple brooding. Predation, probably, is of
Linn, andtheirincubationrhythmwas observed secondary importance in the evolution of
in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India in 1987-1988. columbid reproductive strategy (Westmoreland
Thoughmultiplebrooding isreportedinmostof et al. 1986).
the columbids (Westmoreland et al. 1986) Apairoflittle brown doves was observed
including Streptopelia senegalensis (Ali and attemptingnestconstructionoveranelectricbulb
Ripley 1983), frequentandcontinuousbrooding hidden behind a stone pillar on the verandah of
by Streptopelia senegalensis is so far not my house. The adult birds brought the nesting
reported. The littlebrowndovereportedlyraises materials for three days, but could not succeed
two ormore broods (Ali andRipley 1983). astherewasnothingtoholdthenestingmaterials
Columbids produce food (crop milk) for intact. Tohelp them, I made acup-like structure
the young nestlings in vivo and feed older with split bamboo sticks and tied it above the
nestlings a diverse diet ofseeds. Thus, breeding electric bulb. Being disturbed, the birds moved
m
need not be synchronized with the availability totheneighbouringgardenabout 10 awayand
of a particular food. The resultant protracted made a nest in a Capparis sepiaria bush. Later,
280 JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY. 97(2), AUG. 2000
.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
the nestwiththe eggs was blownaway ina dust in the first nest). On all the occasions, except
storm. the first and the last, the time lag between first
A few days later on April 27, 1987, the andsecondegglayingwasone day.Afterlaying
adults came back and occupied the nest made the firstegg, the female leftthenest, leaving the
withbamboo sticks. FromApril 1987 to March egg unguarded. The incubation started
1988, the same pair ofbirds used the nest nine immediately after the second egg was laid and
times successively for nesting. The nesting was thereafter the eggs were never left unguarded;
a complete success five times. The eggs were except for a very short duration when the birds
preyed upon once and the hatchlings died on changed incubation duty.
three occasions. Multiple brooding details are Incubation pattern: The adult bird was
given in Table 1 colour marked while it was incubating. The
Nestingbehaviour: Bothmaleandfemale underside of the tail feather was marked with
birds actively participated in nest construction. Indian ink without catching and disturbing the
The nest building was carried out for 2 to 3 hrs bird. This was done by hiding beneath the nest
daily during the day time i.e. 0800 to 0900 hrs andmarkingtheundersideofthetailfeatherwith
in the morning and 1500 to 1600 hrs in the a swab dipped in Indian ink. This mark was
evening. It was noticed that very little nest visibleclearlyastheunderside ofthetail feather
material was brought (5 to 10 twigs) when an waswhite.Itwasnoticedintheprecedingnesting
old nest was reused. thatthemarkedadultwasamale. Theunmarked
Egg laying behaviour: On each nesting adult was noticed laying the egg while the
occasion, exceptthe secondtimewhenonlyone marked male usually incubated the egg during
egg was laid, the eggs were usually laid on the day. The adult female incubated the eggs
succeeding days. Ifthe first egg was laid in the duringthenightandhenceincubatedforalonger
evening the secondwas laid onthe third day (as duration. The change of incubating birds was
Table1
DETAILSOFTHEMULTIPLEBROODINGOFSTREPTOPELIASENEGALENSIS
S.No. Dateoccupied Dateofnest Firstegg Secondegg Hatching Leaving date Remark
construction date offledgling
1 27/04/87 29/04/87 02/05/87 04/05/87 17/05/87& 01/06/87 Success
18/05/87
2 03/06/87 03/06/87 05/06/87 nil 19/06/87 05/07/87 Success
3 06/07/87 10/07/87 12/07/87 13/07/87 26/07/87 07/08/87 Success
4 08/08/87 11/08/87 16/08/87 17/08/87 01/09/87 nil Diedon3rdday
5 04/09/87 28/09/87 01/10/87 02/10/87 15/10/87& 30/10/87 Success
16/10/87
6 01/11/87 15/11/87 20/11/87 21/11/87 nil nil Preyedategg
stage
7 11/12/87 17/01/88 20/01/88 21/01/88 03/02/88& nil Diedon4thday
04/02/88
8 08/02/88 13/02/88 15/02/88 16/02/88 29/02/88 nil Diedon5thday
9 06/03/88 08/03/88 10/03/88 13/02/88 25/03/88 09/04/88 Success
JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 97(2), AUG. 2000 281
MISCELLANEOUSNOTES
observedbetween 0800to 0900 hrs and 1500 to study, the little brown dove did not have
1600 hrs depending on the season. overlappingnesting cycles. Itwas observedthat
The fully fledged young ones leftthe nest the same adult pairs reused the nest again and
after 9 to 12 days. The total incubation period again. The faecal pellets of young ones piled
was 13 to 14 days; a single nesting cycle (from inside the cup-like nest which finally became a
the first egg laying to fledging) was 24 to 26 platform.
days.Nene(1979)reportedtheincubationperiod Ali and Ripley (1983) reported that the
ofthe littlebrown dove as 13 to 14 days andthe breeding season of little brown dove is not
full fledged young ones left the nest after 12 to defined, practically all year, chiefly January to
16 days. October.Multiplebroodingwithoutoverlapping
Renesting: It was observed that the nest is observedandone ofthe adultswas sometimes
occupationandconstructionvariedbetween0to noticed caring for the young ones as the other
24 days. The next nest occupation occurred one startedoccupyingthenest(1st, 2nd, 3rdand
within one to two days after fledging (Table 1). 5th nests).
Thenestconstructionwascompletedwithintwo Inbirds, themainmoultgenerally follows
to five days. In mourning doves, after a nesting the breeding season. The burden on the protein
failure, the period until a new clutch is begun reserves ofthebirds forreplacingthe feathers is
ranges from2to25 days,themostfrequenttime generallytoohightoaccomplishatthesametime
intervalbeing6days.Multiplebroodinghasbeen asbreeding. Onlywithabundantfoodsupply do
reported in mourning doves Zenaida macroura thetwoprocesses seemtooccursimultaneously,
,
which often attempts three to six clutches per as in many pigeons (Murton et al. 1974). The
breedingseason(HansenandKossack 1963). By present study on Streptopelia senegalensis
reusing old nests, columbids eliminate the time showed that adult birds were very weak with
and energy required for building the nest. arrested moult, probably due to continuous
Mourningdovesreusenestsin35-48%ofnesting brooding.
attempts, but this does not improve nesting
success. Itisplausible thatnestrange evolvedto Acknowledgements
reduce time intervals between nesting cycles
(McClure 1950, Harris et al. 1963, I thank Dr. N.K. Ramachandran, Wildlife
Westmoreland et al. 1986). The reuse ofan old Institute ofIndia, forhis help in diverse ways. I
nesttwicebylittlebrowndovehasbeenrecorded thank Mr. J.C. Daniel and Dr. R. Sugathan for
by Nene (1979), when the nest was reoccupied constant encouragement.
by adults within five to six days.
Individual columbids may eliminate May 25, 1998 M. JOHN GEORGE
nesting intervals by overlapping nesting cycles Department ofZoology,
i.e.simultaneouslycaringfortwosetsofoffspring Mar Thoma College,
at different stages ofdevelopment (Murton and Perumbavoor 683 542,
Issacson 1962, Burley 1980). But in the present Kerala, India.
References
Ali, S. &S. D. Ripley(1983): Handbookofthebirdsof alternativeandcomplementaryreproductivetactics.
India and Pakistan. Compact edition. Oxford Amer.Natur. 115:223-246.
UniversityPress,NewDelhi. Hansen, H.C. & C.W. Kossack (1963): The Mourning
Burley, N. (1980): Clutch overlap and clutch size: DovesinIllinois,Springfield.IllinoisDept. Comer.
282 JOURNAL BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 97(2), AUG. 2000
,,
MISCELLANEOUSNOTES
Tech.Bull.No.2. Murton, R.K.,N.J. Westwood& A.J. Issacson (1974):
Harris, S.W., M.A. Morse & W.H. Longley Factors affecting egg-weight, body-weight and
(1963): Nesting and production of Mourning moultoftheWoodPigeonColumbapalumbus.Ibis
Dovein Minnesota.Amer. Midi. Natur. 69: ISO- 116:52-73.
172. Nene, R.V. (1979): Incubation and incubationperiod in
McClure, H.E. (1950): An eleven year summary of the little brown dove Streptopelia senegalensis.
Mourning Dove observation in the west. Trans. J. Bombaynat. Hist. Soc. 76(2): 362.
NorthAmer. Wildl. Conf.15:335-346. Westmoreland,D.,L.B.Best&D.E.Blockstein(1986):
Murton,R.K.&A.J.Issacson(1962):Thefunctionalbasis Multiple brooding as a productive strategy: time
ofsomebehaviourintheWood Pigeon Columba conservingadaptationsinMourningDoves.Auk103:
palumbus. Ibis 104: 503-521. 196-203.
10. ASHY MINIVETPERICROCOTUSDIVARICATUS(RAFFLES) IN KANHA
NATIONALPARK,MANDLADISTRICT,MADHYAPRADESH
We were watching a mixed hunting party Karnala, Maharashtra [31.i.1965 (Navarro
ofbirds during a nature trail near Kisli Gate, in 1965)]; Madras, Tamil Nadu [9.xii.l984
Kanha National Park (Mandla district, Madhya (Santharam 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990)];Thekkady
Pradesh), early in the morning, on March 19, in Periyar Sanctuary, Kerala [17.xii.1989
1998, when we saw a grey and white minivet, (Robertson 1992)]; Himachal Pradesh
perchedright atthe top ofa sal Shorea robusta. [22.iii.1993 (Khacher 1994)]. Ours is,therefore,
Through the binoculars, we saw a long-tailed, only the sixth record ofthe bird from India. In
bulbul sized bird, which had a prominent white Madras, however, it is being seen regularly by
forehead and a very small supercilium. It was Dr. Santharam in December and January in the
otherwise grey on top and on the wings, and GuindyNationalParkandTheosophicalSociety
whitebelow,immediatelyrecognizedasafemale Estate.
—
minivet Pericrocotus divaricatus the white
forehead being the characteristic feature ofthis April 3, 1998 AASHEESH PITTIE
bird and a total lack ofany red, orange or pink 8-2-545 RoadNo. 7,
in its plumage, being the other. We got a very Banjara Hills
goodviewasthebirdwasperchedinfullsunlight Hyderabad 500 034
and‘co-operated’ foratleastthreetofiveminutes Andhra Pradesh, India.
beforeitflewoff, whenwesawsomewhiteinits AMITABHPODDAR
wings. This is the firstrecord ofan ashy minivet 187/7, 6th ‘A ’ Cross,
for Kanha and also the first forMadhya Pradesh. Rajmahal Vilas Extension,
Theonlyotherreportsofashyminivethave Bangalore 560 080,
been from the Andaman Islands (Butler 1899), Karnataka, India.
References
Butler,A.L.(1899):TheBirdsoftheAndamanandNicobar avifauna.J.Bombaynat. Hist. Soc. 62(2): 303.
Islands.J.Bombaynat.Hist. Soc. 12(2):386-403. Robertson, Andrew (1992): Occurrence of the ashy
Khacher,Lavkumar(1994):AshyminivetPericrocotus minivetPericrocotusdivaricatus(Raffles)inKerala.
divaricatus (Raffles) in Himachal Pradesh. J. J. Bombaynat. Hist. Soc. 88(3):455-456.
Bombaynat. Hist. Soc. 91(2): 321. Santharam,V. (1985): New Records: Ashyminivetand
Navarro, S.J. (1965): The ashy minivet Pericrocotus eyebrowedthrush.Blackbuck1(1):27-29.
divaricatus (Raffles): An addition to the Indian Santharam, V. (1986): Letters: The Ashy Minivet-II.
JOURNAL BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 97(2), AUG. 2000 283