Aves: India
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Aves
Introduction
Due to diverse ecological conditions ranging from the montane to the low land terrain and from the rain forest to the arid zone, birds of varied forms occur in India.
Birds play both beneficial and harmful roles in the habitat. Many of them contribute a lot towards the process of pollination of flowers, dispersal of seeds, as scavengers and also as predators of rodent and insect-pests; while many others are considered harmful as they destroy seedlings, seeds, grains, flowers and fruits of useful plants. Some of them also act as vectors of disease¬causing agents like viruses, fungi, bactena, etc., which are transmitted to other inhabitants of the area.
Birds are generally recognised as the best known and taxonomically most mature group of organisms (Mayr 1942). Linnaeus (1758) listed 564 avian species. The most recent and complete summary is a mimeographed list issued from the American Museum of Natural History by MOlOny, Beck and Farrand (1975) which, with addendum, lists 9,026 species. Mayr (1946) lists 8,616 species and states 'The period of new discoveries is practically at its end' Ali and Ripley (1969-1974) lists 2,110 species and subspecies, belonging to 405 genera and 78 families, from the Indian region. Of these, 350 are winter migrants, 42 are endemic, 47 are listed as threatened and two have, in all probability become extinct.
Historical Resume
i) Pre-1900
In the fltst half of the nineteenth century the study on the birds of the Indian subcontinent was initiated by Edward Blyth, Cura,tor of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta. He paid special attention to the birds of Calcutta and its surroundings. His enthusiasm goaded him to correspond with naturalists of w~de-ranging profession throughout India, such as Col. S .R. Tickell, Capt. Hutton, Mr. B. H. Hodgson, Maj. T. Berdmore, Sir Walter Elliot, and Mr. E. L. Layard, for donation of their valuable bird collection for study and preservation in the collections of the Asiatic Society. He described a number of new species of birds and published many papers in the Journal of the Asiatic Society ofBengal.
Blyth (1849) compiled the Catalogue of the Birds of the Asiatic Society's Museum on the basis of information on Indian birds and made the foundation for all subsequent taxonomic w<?rk on Indian Ornithology.
In subsequent tenure, other important collections from different parts of India were made by the following workers: Name ofcollector Year of collection Place of collection
N. Majumdar, C. S. Roy &, B. K. DUlta, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta. Animal Resources ofIndia Name of collector Year of collection Place of collection
In.addition, the following persons presented specimens to the Asiatic Society :¬ Rev. J. Barbe and Capt Lewes from Nicobar Islands, Mr. E. G. L. Webb and Mrs. Oakes fro~ Darjiling and J. McClelland from Assam. T. C. Jerdon (1862, 1964) published Birds ofIndia (in two volumes) dealing with•all the avian species from India, known at that period. A. O. Hume concentrated on the study of birds' nests and eggs and also their behaviour. He explored various geographical terrains like the islands of the Bay of Bengal, western India, eastern India, etc., A. o. Hume (1869) published My Scrap Book; or Rough Notes on Indian Oologyand Ornithology. Hume and Oates (1889 and 1890) published Nest and Eggs ofIndian Birds, in three volumes. Hume started and edited a journal of Ornithology, Stray Feathers from Calcutta and with his efforts 11 volumes appeared between 1872 and 1988.
The Fauna ofBritish India: Birds (1st ed) vols.l and 2 were written by E. W. Oates (1889 and 1890) and subsequently the 3rd and 4th volumes of the same title by W. T. Blanford (1895 and 1898). The fauna volumes contained much of the information available during that period on the birds of India, Bunna and Ceylon (= Sri Lanka).
ii) 1901-1947
E. C. S. Baker (1922-1930) published a new series of Fauna ofBritish India: Birds (2nd ed.) in eight volumes, dealing with 86 families, 598 genera and 1672 species and subspecies. In this publication for the frrst time, the trinomial system was used in a systematic manner. Besides, he initiated faunal mapping and zoogeographical studies in the country. Baker (1932-1935) also published four volumes on The Nidification ofBirds ofthe Indian Empire.
During this period some note-worthy expeditions/surveys were conducted in different states of India which enriched our knowledge on the taxonomy, zoogeography and general biology of Indian birds. Some of the important area-wise contributions on the taxonomy of Indian birds are as follows.
Andhra Pradesh: Whistler and Kinnear (1930-1937) and Ali (1933, 1934, and 1938).
Assam: Coltart (1902), Stevens (1914 and 1915), Betts (1947) and Biswas (1947). Bihar: Inglis (1904, 1907 and 1909).
Himachal Pradesh: Whistler (1919-1928), Hingston (1921), Basil Edwardes (1926), Koelz (1937 and 1939) and Jones (1947). .
Jammu &Kashmir: Buchanan (1903), Magrath (1911 and 1912). Ludlow (1920), Osmaston (1923-1931), Whistler (1922-1936), Meincrtzhagen (1927), La Personne (1928), Bates (1929¬1949).
Kamataka: Ali (1942 and 1943). Kerala: Ali (1935-1937). Aves 651 Madhya Pradesh: D' Abreu (1935), Ali (1939-1940), Hewetson (1940) and Roonwal (1942).
Maharashtta: Ali and Whistler (1939 and 1940) and Abdulali and Ali (1940). Manipur : Higgins (1914-1934).
Nagaland: Ticehurst (1926).
Punjab: Currie (1916), Donald (1917-1921), Jones (1921 and 1927) and Whistler (1918, 1923¬1925).
Rajasthan: Whistler (1938), McCann (1942 and 1943) and Biswas (1947). Sikkim : Stevens (1923-1925), Ali (1926), Meinertzhagen (1927) and Ludlow (1937).
Tamil Nadu : Barnes (1938 and 1939) and Koelz (1947). qttar Pradesh: Whymper (1902, 1907 and 1911), Osmaston (1913 and 1921), Cotton (1914), Matthews (1918), Field (1922), Gill (1923-1925), Hudson (1930) and Briggs (1931 and 1934). West Bengal: Osmaston (1904), Finn (1917), Law (1928) and Inglis (1935-1965).
iii) 1948-1990
After independence the following area-wise contributions on taxonomy, ecology and status of bints were made. Andaman & Nicobar Islands: Abdulali (1964, 1965, 1967, 1971), Das (1971), Dasgupta (1976). Andhra Pradesh: Majumdar (1984). Arunachal Pradesh: Betts (1956), Ripley (1980), Saba (1985). Goa : Grubh and Ali (1976). Gujarat: Dharmakumarsinhji (1954), Abdulali (1962 and 1963), and Himmatsinhji (1960¬1970). Himachal Pmdesh : Alexander (1951). Kerala: Jackson (1954-1971). Madhya Pradesh: Hewetson (1956), and Majumdar (1984). Manipur : Roonwal and Nath (1949). Meghalaya: Koelz (1951). Mizoram : Koelz (1954) Nagaland: Ripley (1952), Das (1971). Orissa: Mukherjee (1953),. Ripley (1978), Majumdar (1978, 1979, 1981, 1988 and 1990), Majumdar and Dasgupta (in press). . Uttar Pradesh: Lavkumar (1956). West Bengal: Saba et ale (1971), Gauntlett (1985), Majumdar et al (in press). Revisionary studies were undertaken on a number of species. Ticehurst (1938) revised the genus Phylloscopus. Alexander (1948) studied the status of Dusky Willow-Warbler, Phylloscopus !uscatus, Biswas (1951) of Indian Plaintive Cuckoo, Cuculus passerinus, and Biddulph (1954) of the Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Hydrophasianus chirurglls. Mees (1957) revised the Indo-Australian Zosteropidae. Majumdar (1978) resuscitated the Eastern Ghats' population of the Rufous-bellied Munia, Lonchura k~laarti vernayi as a distinct subspecies. Majumdar (1980) reviewed the taxonomic status of South Indian Black-headed Oriole, Oriolus xanthornus maderaspatenus and showed that Orissa populauon belonged to the southern Indian subspecies. Majumdar (1981) synonymized the Eastern Hill Myna, Graeula religiosa pe!,insuiaris with the Northern Hill Myna. Graeula religiosa inlermedia. Ripley (1984) studied the status of Brachyplerix eryptiea.
Breeding Biology
Betham (1903) studied the birds nesting around Pune and elsewhere. Ludlow (1920) worked on the nidification of several birds in Ladakh. Ali (1931), Ali and Ambedkar (1956 and 1957), Ambedkar (1958) and Crook (1960) studied various aspects of breeding of the Baya (PloceK' philippinus). Betts (1952) studied the breeding biology of some species of birds in the hills of southern India, and Betts and Lowther (1952) of those in Kashmir. Bates (1960) studied the nesting habits of the Goldfmch, Carduelis earduelis and C. eanieeps, Gee (1960) the breeding biology of the Grey or Spottedbilled Pelican, Peleeanus philippensis, and Ali (1960) on the nesting behaviour of Rosy Pelican, Peleeanus oMerotalus in the Runn of Kutch. George (1963) studied the breeding behaviour of the Indian Robin, Saxieoloidesjulieala. Lamba (1963-1970) studied the nidification of the Common Indian House Crow, Black Drongo, Common Myna, Indian Roller, Indian Pond Heron, Spottedbilled or Grey Pelican, Indian Hoopoe, Indian Jungle Crow, Roseringed Parakeet, Indian Purple Sunbird, Koel, Purplerumped Sunbird and Indian Shikra. Sengupta and Brahmachari (1968) studied the food habits of connorants in the breeding season. Singh and Kumar (1982) studied the breedi~g biology of Psillaeula krameri.Field (1982) published a rough list with notes on the breeding birds in Gonda district
Feeding habits
Mason and Maxwell-Lefroy (1912) studied the feeding habits of birds in India Bates (1943) studied the feeding habits of the Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus). Beresford (1944) studied the winter food of birds i~ Kashmir. Kirkpatrick (1943) worked on feeding habits" of the Indian Pond Heron (Ardeola grayii). Abdulali (1964) studied the feeding and other habits of the Greater Flamingo, Phoenicopterus roseus in India. Mukherjee (1969, 1972 and 1975) worked on the feeding habits of the waterbirds of the Sunderban, West Bengal. Ramzan (1971) worked on Avian fauna of Ludhiana district and food and feeding habits of some of the common birds of Punjab. The feeding habits of Roseringed Parakeet, Psittaeula krameri has been studied by Sidhu (1913). Simwat and Sidhu (1974) and Toor and Ramjan (1974).
Toor and Ramzan (1974) studied seasonal food and feeding habits of birds of Punjab. Mukherjee and Saha (1915) and Hamid Ali el ale (1978) studied the food and feeding habits of Common Baya. Gupta (1975) studied the stomach contents of the Great Indian Bustard, Choriotis nigrieeps. Simwat (1911) studied the feeding habits of the House Sparrow, Passer domeslieus, and its nestlings in Punjab. Mathew el ale (1980) studied the feeding habits of certain species of birds affecting agriCUlture. Narang and Lamba (1980, 1984) studied the feeding habits of five species of Indian Myna.
Ecology
Ali (1932) worked on the birds attracted by flowers in India. The same author (1945) also studied the ecology of Flamingoes in Kutch (=Kachchh). Ecological studies have been conducted on Baya (Mathew, 1972) and Weaver bird (Mathew, 1976). Sharma (1976) worked on pestilence of grain crops by biras. Toor and Sandhu (1980) worked on seasonal and diurnal fluctuations in the population of bird fauna in natural vegetation in the vicinity of Halwara Airfield, Punjab. Khajuria and Sharma (1983) studied the habits of some high altitude birds of Western Himalayas. Majumdar and Brahmachari (1988) and Rehmani (1988) reviewed the bird communities of the major grassland types of India.
Migration
Donald (1952) studied migration of birds across the Himalaya, and Ali (1962) on wagtails in Aves 653 Kerala. In between 1963 and 1969; Biswas studied bird migration in southern west Bengal with a view to collect data regarding the pattern of migi'ation, period of stay in the wintering area, time taken for journey, etc, George• (1964) studied the same in Bihar. Mathew (1971) rev"iewed the recovery data obtained by the Bombay Natural History Society's Bird Migration Study Project. Khacher (1976 and 1978) studied migration across the Himalaya
Hazards in aviation
The damage caused to aircrafts by birds like vulture, kite, hawk, pigeon, crow, etc., have increased alarmingly in recent years, and runs to crores of rupees. The (our international airports at Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi and Madras account for nearly 60% of bird hit cases. Hazards in aviation caused by different species of birds in India and its associated managements have been studied by Singh (1982), Bamwal (1982), Rao (1982), Joseph (1982), Sharma (1982), Agarwal and Bhatnagar (1982) and others.
Control
Bindra and Toor (1972) worked on the harmful birds of agricultUre. Chahal. et ale (1973) worked on bird-pest of crops. Sidhu and Simwat (1973) studied the control of the House Crow (Corvus splendens) through poison-baiting. Simwat (1975) worked on control of Roseringed Parakeet in Punjab. Bhatnagar (1976) studied significance of bird management and also worked on bird-pests of agriculture and their control. Dhindsa and Toor (1978) worked on the role of birds in controlling insect-and rodent-pests. Bhatnagar (1980) studied the avian depredation and its control in certain agricultural crops. Dhindsa (1980) worked on the ecology of the weaver birds of Punjab and Sandhu and Toor (1981) on harmful birds and their control. Bhatnagar and Singh (1981, 1982) studied damage caused by birds to barley. Bhablagar and Bhattacharjee (1982) studied bird damage in soybean and its control. Sandhu and Dhindsa (1982) and Shivanarayan (1982) studied the damage by Roseringed Parakeet to crops and its management. Bhatnagar et ale (l982) made on appraisal of bird damage in Pearl Millet and its control. Sandhu and Toor (1984) worked on some pestiferous birds of agriculture and their management in Punjab. Majumdar and Brahmachari (1987) studied the major avian predators ofinsect-and rodent-pests of paddy in India and their management
Distribution
Abdulali (1953) studied the distribution of the greenbilled Malkoha (Rhopodytes viridirostris) and Ara (1951) of-the Bluebearded Bee-eater (Nyctyornis atherlonl). Majumdar (1989) studied the past and present wintering distribution of the White Stork in India and made suggestions for its conservation. Morphology
Bhaduri and Biswas (1947, 1954) worked on caeca and the main cervical and thoracic arteries of some Indian birds, Bhaduri et ale (1957) studied the arterial system of the domestic pigeon (Columba livia). Bhattacharjee (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1989) worked on jaw and tongue muscles of some Indian birds. Majumdar and Roy (1989) studied the caeca of 70 species and subspecies of birds belonging to 31 families and 12 orders.
Conservation
Mukherjee (1981) and Rahmani (1988) worked on the conservation of Bengal Rorican. Bharat Bhushan (1986) rediscovered the Jerdon's Courser in Cuddapah district of Andhra Pradesh and the area has now been declared as Srilankamalleswara Wildlife Sanctuary. Ali (1981, 1983) and Rahmani (1987) worked on the status and conservation of the Great Indian Bustard. Another endangered species of bird, Whitewinged Wood Duck is getting protection in Bordubai Tea Stare. and at the Gauhati Zoo Park where it successfully breeds. The status of the Nicobar Megapode has been worked out by the Zoological Survey of India.
Estimation of Taxa
Changes ,in bird species names are now more a matter of taxonomic revaluations than new discoveries, although new species continue to be'discovered (Lowery and Tallman, 1976). Total number of avian species recorded from the world (Walters, 1980) as well as from India (Ali and Ripley, 1969-74) and the number of species represented in the National Zoological Collections of the Zoological Survey of India are indicated below : C>rdcr Family Approximate No. of species World India ZSI Collection
Aves 655 Order Family Approximate No. of species World India ZSI Collection
Family Approximate No. of species World India ZSI Collection
Current studies In the Zoological Survey of India the following projects on birds are in progress: i) Avifauna of Tripura, ii) Avifauna of Meghalaya, iii) Avifauna of Gujarat, iv) Avifauna of Manipur, v) Avifauna of Uttar Pradesh, vi) Avifauna of Arunachal Pradesh, vii) Avifauna of Southern Bihar. Majumdar and Roy have compiled a catalogue of the type-specimens of birds present in the Zoological Survey of India. Other than the Zoological Survey of India, scientists at the Andhra Agricultural University, Hydcrabad; Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana; Gujarat Agricultural University, Anand; Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi; and Kalyani University, Kalyani are engaged in the study of birds of agricultural importance. Studies on physiologi.cal aspects (i.e., endocrinology and reproductive physiology) have been undertaken in the Zoology Departinents of the universities of Calcutta, Banaras and Kalayani. Various workers of the Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay, are engaged in the status survey of Jerdon's Courser, Great Indian Bustard, Siberian Crane and Blacknecked Crane. S. Sengupta of the Zoological Survey of India is engaged in the study of mysterious behaviour of birds in Jatinga Village of Haflong, Assam. Outside India
International Council for Bird Preservation based at Cambridge, England have launched many conservational projects on birds all over the world. Smithsonian Institution Washington, U.S.A., is engaged in taxonomic studies of the Indian avifauna. Ms Poonwad of Mahidal University, Bangkok has undertaken a project on breeding behaviour and conservation of hombills of the world. International Crane Foundation in U.S.A. is engaged in captive breeding of cranes and also maintaining the natural populations allover the world. The World Pheasant Association in England is involved in captive breeding programme of me species of pheasants including those of India.
Expertise India
In ZSI
N. Majumdar, S. Chattopadhyay, S. S. Saha, D. K. Ghosal, C. S. Roy, J. M. Dasgupta, B. B. Dutta, S. Ghosh, B. K. Dutta, S. Basu Roy, all of 'M' Block, New Alipur, Calcutta ¬ 53. A. S. Mahabal, High Altitude Zoology Field Station, Zoological Survey of India, Solan, Himachal Pradesh. P. C. Tak, Northern Regional Station, Zoological Survey of India, Dehradun, Uttar Pradesh.
Elsewhere
Humayun Abdulali, 75, Abdul Rehman Street, Bombay 400 003 Aasheesh Pittie, 14-7-370 Begum Bazard, Hyderabad 500012 Prakash Gole, IB, Abhimanshree Society, Pashan Road, Pone 411008 Maharashtra. K. K. Neelakantan, 26/1643, Unni's Lane, Trivandrum, Kerala. R. K. Bhatnagar, Il)dian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, New Delhi. R. M. Naik, Saurashtra University, Rajkot, Gujarat D. N. Mathew, Professor of Calicut University, P.O. Kozhikode, Kerala. B. S. Lamba, 2/11, Old Survey Road, Dehra Dun 248 001, Uttar Pradesh. Asad R. Rahmani, Bombay Natural History Society, Hornbill House, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road, Bombay 400 023. Robert B. Grubh, Bombay Natural History Society, Hornbill House, Shahecd Bhagat Singh Road, Bombay 400 023. A. K. Mukherjee, 28/15 New Ballygung Road, Calcutta -700 039 B. Biswas, 46/2, S.N. Banerjee Road, Calcutta 700 0.14.
Abroad
Kaxi Zaker Husain, Prof. of ZOOlohy, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh. Tan Yao-Kuang, Institute of Zoology, Academia Sinica, 19 Zhongguancun Lu. Haidian, Beijing, China. S. Somadikarta, University of Indonesia, Faculty of Science, Depok 16424, Indonesia. Sarath W. Kotagama, 15 Centre Road, Jayanthipura, Battaramulla Colombo, Sri Lanka. Boonsong Lekagul, Association for the Conservation of Wild Life, 4 Old Custom House Lane, Bangkok 10500, Thailand. Lucia Lin Severinghaus, Institute of Zoology, Academia Sinica, Taipei. Taiwan, Republic of China. E. Mayr, 'Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 02138, 1. 2. Amadon, Department of Birds, American Mpseum of Natural History, New York 10024, 3. 4. D. Ripley, Smithsonian Institution, U.S. National Museum, Washington, D.C.70S 660, 5. 6. H. V oous, Zoologisch Museum, Plantaga, Meddenlaan 53, Amsterdam ... C, Netherlands. 7. Meise, Zoologisches Museum, Martin Luther King Platz 3, D. 2. Hamburg 13, Germany. 8. Salomonsen, Zoologiske Museum, Universitetsparken 15, Copenhagen, Denmark. 9. Dorst, Sows Directeur de Laborataire, Museum National d' Histoire Naturalle, 55, rue de B offon, Paris (V), France. 10. F. Mee, Rijksmusum van Naturlijke History, Raamstog 2 Leiden, Natherland. 11. A. Paynter, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass 02138, U.S.A.
Selected Rererences
Ali, S. 1941. The Book ofIndian Birds. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay. Ali, S. &Ripley, S. D. 1968-197t. Handbook "of the Birds ofIndia and Pakistan together with those of Nepal. Sikkim, Bhutan and Ceylon. 10 vols., Oxford University Press, Bombay. Baker, E. C. S. 1930-1933. The Fauna ofBritish India! Birds, 8 vols. (2nd edition). Taylor and Francis, London. Blandord, W. T. 1895 -1898. The Fauna 0/British India, Birds, vols. 3 & 4 (1st edition). Taylor and Francis, London. Hume, A. O. &Oates, E. W. 1889-1890. Nests and Eggs of Indian 'Birds, 3'vols., R. N. Porter, London. Jerdon, T. C. 1862-1864. The Birds ofIndia. 2 vols. (3 parts). Published by the author, Calcutta. Oates, E. W. 1889 -1890. The Fauna ofBritish India, Birds, vols. 1 &2 (1st edition). Taylor and Francis, London. Whistler, H. &Kinnear, N. B. 1949. Popular Handbook of Indian Birds. Oliver &, Bovd, Edinburgh &London. Ripley, S. D. 1982. A synopsis of the Birds ofIndia and Pakistan together with those ofNepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Ceylon (2nd edition) Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay. Walters, M. 1980. The Complete Birds ofthe World. David &Charles, London.
