Table Of Content2
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
benghalensis Eurasian Golden Orioles Oriolus The Black Drongos were nesting at the fork ofa
), (
m
oriolus), Black-headed Cuckoo-shrikes (Corcicina branch approximately4 fromtheground. Although I
melanoptera), White-browed Fantail-flycatchers had been watchingthe nestoffand on since myarrival
(Rhipiduraaureola), Red-vented Bulbuls(Pycnonotus and even spenttimephotographingthem,Ionlysawthe
cafer and Black Drongos Dicrurus macrocercus). Bulbul cometotheDrongonest intheearlymorningof
) (
Yellow-eyed Babblers (Chrysomma sinense) were July 8. 1 cannotsay forsurethat it began onthisday, as
buildinganest, and byJuly 14threeeggshad been laid. Iwaswatchingopportunisticallyandcouldpossiblyhave
Rufous-backed Shrikes (Lanius schach) were also missed it earlier. But the Drongo parents - both were
around, feedingchicksthat had recently lefttheirnest. feeding the chicks - were aggressive in chasing the
Thispatch containedapproximatelythirteen large Bulbul off when it came near the nest. The Bulbul
and small Teak trees Tectona grandis), eight developedastrategyofwaitingnearbyuntil bothDrongo
(
Lagerstroemia parviflora trees, three Diospyros parents had fed their chicks, and then slipping in
melanoxylon and one Terminalia alata, besides a few unobtrusively before they returned with the next food
Zizyphus and Lagerstroemia bushes. The Rollers were supply. Its arrival at the nest would herald a round of
nesting in a cavity in the Terminalia, the Orioles had beggingand itwould feed a Drongochick. Onthisfirst
hung their basket nest on the lower branches of the day, 1 also saw the Bulbul chase offthe Yellow-eyed
largest ofthe Diospyros and the Babbler was weaving Babbler that was moving close to the nest tree. The
its cone in a small Zizyphus bush. The others chosethe Bulbul continued to feed the Drongo chicks every day
shelter oftwo ofthe Lagerstroemia for their nest - the after this, and we were able to photograph and film it
Fantail-flycatcher, Bulbul andCuckoo-shrikesharedthe doingso. BytheeveningofJuly9,thetwolargerDrongo
same 10 m hightree in ascendingorder,and the Drongo chicks were outside the nest and hopping along the
was in anothersimilarsized tree,c. 20m away. Ali and branch; on July 10 these two were moving among the
Ripley (compact handbook of the birds of india and upperand lowerbranchesofthetree, althoughallthree
Pakistan, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1987) were in or next to the nest by evening. The Bulbul
say that some species, including orioles and bulbuls, continued to partake in the feeding. By midday ofJuly
“commonly build in the same tree as holds a Black 1 1,thethird chickhad also leftthenestandfromJuly 1
Drongo’snest”asthe latterisparticularlyforceful in its onwards,all threehad leftthenesttreeandweremoving
protection from other species. Perhaps this accounts inthen—eighbouringTeaktreeswhichaffordedthemmore
forwhat seemed to be a relatively high densityofnests cover also from the rain. The Bulbul continued to
in such a small patch. The White-browed Fantail- bring food and feed them and the chicks continued to
flycatcher isalsoapugnaciousdefenderofitsterritory. beg when they saw it nearby. The Drongo parents
Exact dates of hatching of the chicks are not appeared to have got used to this arrangementtoo, and
recorded. ByJuly4,the Roller, Drongoand Oriolewere 1 saw no more aggression directed towards the Bulbul
all feedingchicks. Theroller’schickscould notbe seen bythem. Indeed, on July 12 evening, two ofthe chicks
and the adults proved too shy to watch closely. The were sitting fairly close together and I saw one ofthe
Oriole’s three chicks were still small and unfeathered, Drongoadultsand the Bulbul oneitherside,hardlytwo
but the Drongo’s three were already partially fledged. feet apart, feeding almost simultaneously. The Bulbul
The fantails were first seen feeding on July 9 and the was still followingthe three Drongo chicksaround (by
three chicks had probably only recently hatched. nowtherewasnodoubtoftheirparentage)andfeeding
TheCuckoo-shrikes’'nestwas spottedon July 1 1, themwhen we departed on July 15.
although the adults had been seen carrying food a few
days earlier. The bulbuls were first seen feeding only August9, 2001 JOANNA VAN GRUISEN
on July 15, and it seemed likely that these chicks were B-4/198 SafdarjungEnclave
also recently hatched. New Delhi 10029, India.
1
REDISCOVERY OFTHE YELLOW-THROATED BULBULPYCNONOTUS
15.
XANTHOLAEMUSYN THE ANAIMALAI HILLS, WESTERN GHATS, SOUTH INDIA
The Yellow-throated Bulbul (Pycnonotus of extensive removal of its prime habitat, fuelwood
xantholaemus) is uncommon and patchily distributed extraction and quarrying (BirdLife International 2000,
in South India (Grimmett et al. 1998, Ali and Ripley Collar etal. 1994).
1971)- The species is classified as vulnerable because IntheAnaimalai Hills,theYellow-throated Bulbul
160 1 Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 101 (1), Jan.-Apr. 2004
.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
was reported once by the Pollachi-Valparai road,just channel,which suppliestheAliyarDamwithwaterfrom
aboveAliyarDam(Kannan 1992),butcouldnotbefound the western side of the Anaimalai Hills. The birds
again in subsequent searches (Kannan 1998). Whistler behaved likeapair: sittingsidebyside,feedingtogether,
and Kinnear (1932; also cited in Ali and Ripley 1971) and following each other. Some days later, we located
mention a record of 1886 in the Anaimalai Hills by three more specimens on the steep slopes ofthe hills
W. Davison. Unfortunately, the cited reference (Ibis, near the road Pollachi-Valparai. It seemed to us that
1886, p. 146) is wrong, so we could not examine that twoofthese birds, again possiblypaired, were hunting
location for the occurrence of the Yellow-throated thethird one out oftheirterritory.
Bulbul. In the same area, three more species of bulbuls
The favoured habitats of the Yellow-throated were found; the Red-whiskered Bulbul Pycnonotus
Bulbul are hill scrub and deciduous forests (Ali 1942). jocosus,theRed-vented BulbulP. cafer,andtheYellow-
Thus, the Yellow-throated Bulbul should only be browed BulbulP. luteolus. TheYellow-throated Bulbul
expected on the drier eastern slopes ofthe Anaimalai hadthelowestrelativeabundanceofthefourcongeneric
Hills. In studies of the avifauna of the western and species. At Horsley Hills (Andhra Pradesh), the same
central parts ofthe Anaimalai Hills, in which tropical bulbulswererecordedassympatricbySubramanyaand
rainforest, tea gardens or cardamom and coffee Prasad(1996),buttheretheYellow-throatedBulbulwas
plantationsaredominating,theYellow-throated Bulbul the most abundant species.
wasthereforemissed(Kannan 1998,Vijayan 1978,Ali
1969, Stonor 1946). August3, 2001 WOLFGANG BEISENHERZ
WelookedfortheYellow-throatedBulbulinMarch, UniversityofBielefeld,
2001 on the eastern slopes ofthe Anaimalai Hills. We DepartmentofBiology,Universitatsstr25,
found two birds some kilometres south ofthe location 33615 Bielefeld,Germany.
where Kannan (1992) observed it, near the open Email; [email protected]
REFER EN C E S
Ali, S. (1942): The Birds ofMysore Part II. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Kannan. R. (1992): The yellowthroated bulbul (Pycnonotus
Soc 43: 318-341 xantholaemus) in the Anamalai Hills. Newsletter for
Ali, S. (1969): BirdsofKerala. Oxford University Press, Bombay. Birdwatchers32: 19.
Pp. 311. Kannan,R.(1998):AvifaunaoftheAnaimalaiHills(WesternGhats)
Ali, S. & S.D. Ripley (1971): Handbook ofthe BirdsofIndiaand ofSouthernIndia.J. Bombaynat. Hist. Soc. 95: 193-214
Pakistan. Vol. 6. Oxford University Press, Bombay. Pp. 94- Stonor, C.R. (1946): Field Notes on the Birds ofthe Anaimalai
95. Hills(Cochin).J. Bombaynat. Hist.Soc. 46: 119-125.
BirdLifeInternational(2000):ThreatenedBirdsoftheWorld.Lynx Subramanya, S. & J.N. Prasad(1996): Yellow-throated bulbulsat
Edicions&BirdLife,Barcelona,Cambridge,UK. Pp.420. HorsleyHills.J. Bombaynat. Hist. Soc. 93: 55-58.
Collar, N.J., M.J. Crosby & A.J. Stattersfield (1994): Birds to Vijayan, V.S. (1978): Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary and its
watch 2. BirdLife Conservation Series No 4. BirdLife, adjacentareas.J. Bombaynat. Hist. Soc. 75: 888-900.
Cambridge, UK. Pp. 234, 281. Whistler,H.&N.B.Kinnear(1932):TheVernayscientificsurvey
Grimmett,R.,C. Inskipp&T. Inskipp(1998):TheBirdsoftheIndian oftheEasternGhats(Ornithologicalsection).Pt II.J. Bombay
Subcontinent. ChristopherHelm, London. Pp. 697-698. nat. Hist. Soc. 35: 737-760.
16. ASIAN BROWN FLYCATCHERMUSCICAPA DAUURICA AT MT. ABU,
RAJASTHAN
Intheearlyafternoon ofMarch 25,2001 wefound and had a uniform pale brown-grey wash across the
an Asian brown flycatcher Muscicapa dauurica near breast and flanks. The whitish eye-ring around the
Sunset Point, Mt. Abu. The bird was busy catching strikinglargeeyesand lorewereprominentanddistinctive
insects attracted to a blossoming mango tree. It was even in the shade of the tree. The throat was
oblivioustoourpresenceand itsattention was uponthe conspicuouslywhite. The bill wasblack,withthebasal
tree foraboutten minutes. Itwas quite easy to observe halfofthe lowermandibleconspicuouslypale. The legs
the bird as it made sallies to catch the insects in the and feet were blackish.
lower tree canopy. AccordingtoAli and Ripley(1996), it isa partial
Beingfamiliarwith the species in south India, we migrant having a disjunct breeding range and its
were able to identify it easily. It was brownish-grey movements are imperfectly understood. As some birds
aboveandoff-whitebelow(includingundertailcoverts), reach their breeding grounds in the Himalaya in
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 101 (1), Jan.-Apr. 2004 161
