Tree Pie (Dendrocitta Vagabunda) in the Arid Thar Desert

1 Pages·2001·0.6 MB·

by  M Zafar-Ul Islam

MISCELLANEOUSNOTES
sporadically between the Eastern Ghats and March 27, 1999 C. SRINIVASULU,
Satpura Hills. V.VASUDEVARAO,
*G. RAVINDER,
Acknowledgements V.NAGULU
Wildlife Biology Section,
We
are grateful to the Forest Department, Department ofZoology, Osmania University,
Andhra Pradesh for a grant thr—ough the Andhra Hyderabad 500 007,
Pradesh Forestry Projects Biodiversity Andhra Pradesh, India.
Projects. We also thank the Chief Wildlife * RangeForest Officer (Wildlife),
Warden, Andhra Pradesh for facilities. One of Kawal Wildlife Sanctuary,
us (CS) acknowledges a Research Fellowship Jannaram, Adilabad Dist.,
fromCSIR, New Delhi. Andhra Pradesh, India.
References
Ali,S.(1951):Discoveryoftheso-named‘Malabar’Black Bharos,A.M.K.(1992):OccurrenceoftheIndian Black
WoodpeckerDryocopusjavensis(Horsfield)inBastar Woodpecker Dryocopus javensis (Horsfield).
(East Madhya Pradesh). J. Bombay not. Hist. Soc. J. Bombaynat. Hist. Soc. 89(2): 255.
49(4) 787-788. Ripley,S.D.,B.M.Beehler&K.S.R.KrishnaRaju(1988):
Ali,S.&S.D.Ripley(1987):HandbookofBirdsofIndia Birds of Vishakapatnam Ghats, Andhra Pradesh,
andPakistan.CompactEdn.Ox.Univ.Press,NewDelhi. J. Bombaynat. Hist. Soc. 84(3): 540-559.
15. TREE PIE (DENDROCITTA VAGABUNDA) IN THE ARID THAR DESERT
In January 1998, while studying the habitation, and gardens (Ali and Ripley 1983).
Houbara bustard Chlamydotis undulata in the Owing to the developmentofthe Indira Gandhi
Thar desert of Rajasthan, we visited Dhanana, NaharProjectandagricultureinthe Thardesert,
about 110kmwestofJaisalmercity. Dhananais tremendous changes are taking place in the
an extremely arid area with sand dunes all avifaunal composition of the Thar (Rahmani
around. Large trees, except for a few khejri 1997). New forestbirds can now be seen in the
Prosopiscinerariatrees,areabsent.Beyondthis plantationsdevelopedoneithersideofthecanal.
villagethereisnohumanhabitation,asitisclose However, Dhanana is located at least 150 km
to the international border. There was a small from the nearest canal plantation. Therefore, its
Border Out Post (BOP) ofthe Border Security presence in this extremely arid region is worth
Force, atop a large sand dune. In the BOP area, recording.
therewerethreeneemtrees Azadirachtaindica).
(
We reached Dhanana at about 1330 hrs, the April 6, 1999 M. ZAFAR-ULISLAM
temperaturewasabout36°C. Weweresurprised ASAD R. RAHMANI
to see a tree pie Dendrocitta vagabunda on one Bombay Natural Histoiy Society,
oftheneemtrees. Thisbirdhasnotbeenreported Hornbill House, Mumbai 400 023.
SATISHKUMAR
here earlier.
The tree pie is usually found in forest CentreofWildlife & Ornithology,
plantations,secondaryjungle,cultivation,human Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, 202 002.
References
Ali,SAlim&S.D. Ripley(1983): HandbookoftheBirds Rahmani,A.R.(1997):TheeffectofIndiraGandhiNahar
of India and Pakistan (Compact Edition). Pp Project on the Avifauna of the Thar Desert.
378-379. J. Bombaynat. Hist. Soc. 94(2): 233-266.
JOURNAL BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 98(2),AUG. 2001 281