Birds

International Migratory Bird Day (May 14)

Flying high
International Migratory Bird Day, organized by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, will be held on May 14 this year, with the theme of "Bird Collisions." Organizers will promote awareness of the large-scale avian mortality at buildings, communication towers, and other human-made obstacles during migration. This will include factors that cause avian collisions, including communication towers, wind turbines, traffic, plate glass, and power lines. Materials will address the impacts of each, while offering positive solutions and ways individuals, communities, and organizations can get involved in minimizing impacts and conserving birds.

International Migratory Bird Day is an annual celebration of one of the most important events in the life of a migratory bird and its journey between summer and winter homes. IMBD was created to focus public attention on the need for action to conserve birds and their habitats through celebrations and education programs

The objective:

• To increase public awareness of migratory birds and their conservation needs
• To help educators, nature centers, wildlife refuges, classroom teachers, bird clubs, and bird businesses provide information about birds and bird conservation.
• To offer IMBD participants a place where they can find the materials needed for a festival or education program focusing on birds.
• To encourage groups of all kinds to host an education event focusing on birds and bird conservation.

What has been achieved ?
International Migratory Bird Day’s principal accomplishments are its continued growth over the last 10 years and its increased recognition in the birding community. IMBD is becoming known as an important source of quality education materials focusing on birds and provides a venue for diverse groups to share with the public.

IMBD is also one of the few programs that provides materials in Spanish to Mexico and countries in Central and South America. The program works with a number of funders and collaborates with biologists in Latin America, Canada, and the United States

Bird migration

One of the greatest mysteries of bird life is migration or traveling. Every year, during autumn and early winter, birds travel from there breeding haunts in the northern regions of Asia, Europe and America to the southern, warmer lands. They make the return journey again during spring and early summer

Why birds migrate?
Food, water, protective cover, and a sheltered place to nest and breed are basic to a bird's survival. But the changing seasons can transform a comfortable environment into an unlivable one -- the food and water supply can dwindle or disappear, plant cover can vanish, and competition with other animals can increase.
Most wild animals face the problem of occupying a habitat that is suitable for only a portion of the year. Fortunately, however, nature has provided methods for coping with the situation. One method, known as hibernation, involves entering a dormant state during the winter season. The other method, known as migration, involves escaping the area entirely. Because of the powers of flight, most birds adapt to seasonal changes in the environment by migrating.

How they do it ?
Some birds make the long journey in easy stages, stopping to rest on the way. Others fly great distances without pausing to rest and feed. Some fly by day, some both by day and by night, but most of them speed on their way through darkness after the sun has set.

Birds usually travel in flocks. The V-shaped formation of cranes and geese attracts much attention as the bird's speed across the sky. Swallows, flycatchers, warblers, shore birds and water-birds being to gather in flocks- each with its own kind-and, after a great deal of excited fluttering, twittering and calling, they rise up into the air and away they go.

Usually the male birds go first to their breeding grounds in bachelor parties and the female birds follow them in a few days!

The movement of birds with the changing seasons was known from the earliest times, but people had strange ideas as to why the birds traveled, or where they went. To explain their absence from a place in a particular season, they said that the birds buried themselves in the mud and slept there throughout the winter! Later, detailed studies of migration started. Information was gained by directly observing the habits of birds, and also by ringing. Bird movements are also studied by creating artificial conditions and studying their effects on birds.

Today, most of the information on migration has come from ringing young and adult birds. Ringing is done by capturing a bird and putting on to its leg a light band of metal or plastic. The band bears a number, date, identification mark, and the address to which the finder is requested to return the ring. The bird is then set free. The place where such a bird is shot captured or found dead gives clue to the direction and locality to which the bird has migrated.

Classification of birds
With regard to periodic seasonal movements, or migration, all birds can be classified as belonging to one of four groups:

• Permanent residents, or just "residents," are non-migrating birds such as House Sparrows who remain in their home area all year round.
• Summer residents are migratory birds such as Purple Martins who arrive in our Northern backyards in the spring, nest during the summer, and return south to wintering grounds in the fall.
• Winter residents are migratory birds who have "come south" for the winter to our backyards. White-throated Sparrows, who are summer residents in much of Canada, are winter residents in much of the U.S.
• Transients are migratory species who nest farther north than our neighborhoods, but who winter farther south; thus we see them only during migration, when they are "just passing through.

Advantage of bird migration
The advantage of the migration strategy is that, in the long days of the northern summer, breeding birds have more hours to feed their young on often abundant food supplies, particularly insects. As the days shorten in autumn and food supplies become scarce, the birds can return to warmer regions where the length of the day varies less and there is an all year round food supply.

Disadvantage
The downside of migration is the hazards of the journey, especially when difficult habitats such as deserts and oceans must be crossed, and weather conditions may be adverse. The risks of predation are also high. The Eleanora's Falcon which breeds on Mediterranean islands has a very late breeding season, timed so that autumn passerine migrants can be hunted to feed its young.

Factors involved in migration
Whether a particular species migrates depends on a number of factors. The climate of the breeding area is important, and few species can cope with the harsh winters of inland Canada or northern Eurasia. Thus the Blackbird Turdus merula is migratory in Scandinavia, but not in the milder climate of southern Europe. The nature of the staple food is also important. Most specialists insect eaters are long-distance migrants, and have little choice but to head south in winter.

Sometimes the factors are finely balanced. The Whinchat Saxicola rubetra of Europe and the Siberian Stonechat Saxicola maura of Asia are a long-distance migrants wintering in the tropics, whereas their close relative, the European Stonechat Saxicola rubicola is a resident species in most of its range, and moves only short distances from the colder north and east.

Another cause of birds occurring outside their normal ranges is the "spring overshoot" in which birds returning to their breeding areas overshoot and end up further north than intended. A mechanism which can lead to great rarities turning up as vagrants thousands of kilometres out of range is reverse migration, where the genetic programming of young birds fails to work properly.

Navigation How do birds find their way? Simple.
Through a combination of Sighting (they don't call it a "bird's eye view" for nothing) features like rivers, coastlines, and mountain ranges. Monitoring Earth's magnetic field, apparently with their visual system and with tiny grains of a mineral called magnetite in their heads Observing the stars

Using the sun for guidance Smell And probably following their neighbors (many birds migrate in large flocks)

How do the birds find their way back to home ?
The ability of birds to return to a familiar place from any distance is a remarkable feat of nature. For centuries people have taken advantage of this ability in homing pigeons by using them to take messages from distant points back to familiar sites. Homing pigeons are domesticated non-migratory birds with an instinct to return to their lofts (nesting sites) that is improved with training and by selective breeding. Training is started at short distances from the nesting site; over time, this distance is gradually increased to hundreds of miles from its loft at a completely unfamiliar location flies in the direction of home within a minute or two of its release. How does this extraordinary behavior work?

Understanding homing behavior is one of the greatest challenges to ornithologists. Fortunately, because they are able to carefully control the conditions under which the pigeons are released, researchers have been able to learn a great deal about how the birds navigate their way home. Although homing ability has been fostered in pigeons by careful breeding and selecting of stock, it appears that training is not always necessary: Many species of wild birds perform similarly remarkable feats. One such bird is the migratory Manx Shearwater. Built like tiny albatrosses, these seabirds spend most of their lives skimming over the ocean surface far from the sight of land. They come ashore only to nest in burrows, which they dig in the ground on offshore islands in order to be safe from predators. The ease of locating and observing their nests make shearwaters ideal subjects for homing experiments. Migration trends in India

Some 30 species of birds are involved in this yearly pilgrimage to and from the Indian subcontinent. They range from the tiny-tot warblers, half the size of sparrows, to the great dignified cranes whose calls can fill you with melancholia. Perhaps are most popular (certainly amongst the sportsmen) are the wildfowl, the dozen or so species of ducks that rocket across the skies. Less well-known are the mud-loving waders, those long-legged, stiletto billed birds that are given short shrift because they are so similarly clad in splotched greys and browns-and often very difficult to spot. And almost unnoticed, are the pint-sized warblers and flycatchers that flit and flicker in gardens and groves all over the country. Following this largesse of meat on the wing, are raptors-harriers, falcons and kites, all out for the killing.

Depending on the species, the length of the trip may vary between a few hundred kilometers to a marathon 8000 kilometres (roughly the distance between India and Siberia from where several of our migratory species come). While the smaller birds-the warblers, redstarts and wagtails-may clock a conservative 50 kilometres per hour, the larger ones, like the ducks and geese can cruise for hours at double that speed. The average distance flown ranges between 240 kilometres and 970 kilometres and flying time involved may be between six and 11 hours. While most birds keep to an altitude between 500 metres and 1000 metres, some like the Bare-headed Geese may take a short-cut by overflying the Himalayas. The smaller species prefer flying by night, the larger ones travel by day.

On-the-spot accuracy, which enables the Redstart to find its way to your lawn without error is brought about by using such navigational aids as the sun, the stars, landmarks such as mountain ranges and river valleys and the earth’s gravitational and magnetic fields. While we know that birds use these aids for direction-seeking, exactly how they do it still remains baffling. On-the-dot punctuality, which enables the Redstart to greet you on virtually the same day every year is governed by hormonal changes which trigger the travel impulse acting in consonance with the changing length of day. And the reason behind these monumental journeys, despite the immense casualties they inflict (due to hunting, had weather and collision with manmade objects) is simple survival.

Most of these birds breed in Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Siberia during summer, which may be a nice enough season to live there. But these areas turn frigidly inhospitable during winter and food is virtually impossible to come by. Insect life dies out, aquatic life is sealed under ice, and animals hibernate undergound. While here, on the subcontinent, the sun is warm and sublime and there is plenty to eat everywhere. So the birds fly down by the million, pouring through the river valleys of the Indus and Brahampurta on either side of the Himalayas (or simply overflying the mighty mountain range, and spreading themselves all over the subcontinent).

The species, which you are likely to meet, depends largely on the type or habitat you frequent. The Redstart on your lawn is likely to be kept company by the white wagtail, a prosperous looking creature, in black, white and ash-grey, who will saunter about your property as though he owns it. Other, slimmer wagtails, usually found near water, include confusing variants of the yellow and grey, all of which mercifully however, do wag their tails! In parks and groves, solemn Redbreasted Flycatchers will twitch and flicker after insects-little khaki-clad birds with drooping wings and an orange smudge on their breasts (which only the males have). Up in the leafy canopy, Lesser Whitethroats will “tch-tch” disapprovingly at you for no reason at all. If there is pond or lake nearby, the diminutive Grey-headed Flycatchers, will call the shots- fiercely driving away any interloper from what he thinks is his private air-space.

Bird Sanctuaries in India
Among the most famous bird sanctuaries in India are, the Keoladeo Ghana National Park in Bharatpur, the Corbett National Park and the Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary, part of Project Tiger. These sanctuaries offer wide variety of bird species. Here one can watch countless birds in their natural habitat and take pleasure in their charming habits.

Keoladeo Ghana National Park is one of India's pioneer wildlife conservation centers. Considered to be the best sites for bird watching in the world, the sanctuary annually hosts thousands of visitors who come to view the spectacular wildlife

Spread over an area of 30 square km of marshy swamp, kadam forests, woodland and shallow lakes, the sanctuary offers habitat to both nesting indigenous birds as well as migratory water birds. An amazing number of more than 330 species of birds have been spotted and identified in the sanctuary. The Siberian Crane, the finest and rarest of migratory birds, are the cynosure this sanctuary and are regular visitors. Sometimes called 'The Lily Bird' in India and the 'Snow Wreath' in Russia, the Siberian Crane is believed to have existed in this world for over one million years. However it is of great concern that only 125 pairs of these pure white, crimson-billed cranes estimated to survive worldwide. Profusion of marine vegetation, frogs, fish, insects and mollusks, as well fine setting for migratory birds go a long way to make Keoladeo Ghana National Park an ideal place for pelicans, storks, herons, egrets and kingfishers. Breeding females stay in peaceful co-existence and it is of no surprise that one tree can have nests of different birds. The sanctuary is know to have been the best breeding ground for more than a thousand species of birds. Migratory birds start arriving in the month of October. They include a variety of Geese, Ducks, Raptors, Geese, Warblers and Waders.

Extending over an area of 800 sq km, the Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the forest hills of the Aravalli ranges in the state of Rajasthan. It provides habitat to more than 200 species of birds including the Gray Hornbill, Crested Serpent Eagle, Black/Red Headed Bunting, Wryneck Woodpecker Babbler, White Breasted Kingfisher, Little Brown Dove, Small Minivet, Golden Oriole, Great Gray Shrike, Pale Harrier and Tailor Bird. The list goes on. An example of typical dry deciduous forest, the sanctuary remains lush and green during the monsoons and dry during the rest of the seasons.

Other place is the Pong Dam reservoir is 65 km Pathankot and 115 km from Dharamsala. Nestled in the sylvan surroundings of the Kangra valley, the sprawling Pong Dam wetland has emerged as a major habitat for migratory birds in the country as also an attraction for bird watchers.

The most common bird species that have arrived and often visit this lake every year include ruddy-shell ducks (surkhab), bar-headed geese, mallards, coots, pochards and pintails besides rare red-necked grebe and gulls. These species come from as far as China, Siberia, Central Asia, Pakistan and Ladakh. According to a census, more than one lakh migratory birds visited the lake last year.

Apart from being home to the tiger, Corbett National Park is also noted for the bird watching. Considered to be one of the best bird watching sites in the world, the park is home to some 600 species of birds. This number exceeds the total number of bird species found in Europe and is about one fourth of the diversity found in India. A case in point is that out of the 69 species of raptors found in India, 49 can be seen in Corbett. Spreading out on an area of 520 sq km, the Corbett National Park is a hot destination for bird-watchers. Bird-watchers from across the world make a beeline to this park during winters when the bird diversity is at its zenith.

Problems being faced by bird sanctuaries in India

The main problem faced by Bharatpur Bird Sanctury is that :

Water problem . In the past few years farmers have diverted two of three rivers which once flooded the wetlands, leading to a drop of more than 50 percent in the number of birds arriving from northern climates each winter. The consecutive droughts have dried up the water table in Bharatpur bird Sanctury. The state of Rajasthan is facing draught problem for the last 2- 3 years. And this time rains were less. There is a huge water problem. Every year, around 400 species of birds used to fly in from various destinations of like China, Europe, Siberia, Russia and Sri Lanka to the sanctuary. Only 5,700 of the 15-17,000 migratory water birds that regularly visit the park arrived this year, according to wildlife officials. The problems confronting Bharatpur are being mirrored across a range of wetlands in India as urbanisation, growing pollution and demands to feed India's billion-plus population place massive demands on water supplies. The shrinking water supply to Bharatpur meant that the migratory birds where flying to other wetlands in India, where hunters could stalk them as they lacked the same degree of protection. Even the alternative homes for the birds are dwindling fast.

Around 38 percent of the wetlands in the country have disappeared over a 10-year-period between 1991 to 2001, according to the results of a survey based on satellite imagery conducted by the Space Application Centre in Ahmedabad (news - web sites).

Municipal wastes are being dumped into them, wetlands are being converted into farmland and entire housing colonies are being built on them. The trend is dangerous because it rewards short-term economic gain at the cost of ignoring irreparable damage for recharging groundwater. "The ecosystem service value of wetlands is 20 times that of forests for the same unit area. Wetlands should not be treated as wastelands. They are the most productive units. We need a national policy for conserving them.

Problems faced by birds
Of the challenges faced by bird populations, the majority are related to human activities. Some of the most significant threats of the past century have been overcome due to increased advocacy for wildlife and the passage of numerous laws protecting birds and their habitats. However, major threats persist, putting numerous species at risk and requiring our attention and action. The fact is that despite the areas set aside for wildlife, some bird populations are still at risk from habitat loss. Much of the landscape continues to undergo degradation and conversion due to human development and disturbance.. In addition, growing numbers of birds are killed due to collisions with human structures and equipment, including power lines, communication towers, wind turbines, glass windows, and automobiles.

Some species of birds are still threatened by commercial exploitation; most notably, parrots targeted for the exotic pet bird trade. Trade in wild-caught parrots, coupled with habitat loss, has resulted in the parrot family having more globally threatened species than any other family of birds. The U.S. used to be the largest consumer of parrots, legally importing 250,000 mostly wild-caught parrots a year. This changed with the passage of the U.S. Wild Bird Conservation Act, which controls trade in parrots listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and with Mexico’s ban on exporting parrots. The Act also helped reduce smuggling, but illegally-caught parrots still flow across the border. The black market and the legal trade still occurring in many countries are cause for great concern. Consumers should take care to never buy a wild caught parrot: for every one that reaches a store, four will have died along the way. Birds are still victims of pesticide exposure. An estimated 7 million bird deaths are attributed to homeowner use of pesticides. These figures do not include birds that perish after a period of illness, that die after feeding on poisoned insects, rodents, or other prey, or losses due to failed reproduction (eggs left unhatched or nestlings left to starve).

Rapid Transit: the ins and outs of bird migration
Let's face it--when it comes to dealing with winter, most birds seem an awful lot smarter than humans. Instead of griping about the weather, they simply head for a warmer climate. Let's look at a few facts on bird migration:

The arctic tern flies a phenomenal round trip that can be as long as 20,000 miles per year, from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back. Other sea birds also make astounding journeys: the long-tailed jaeger flies 5,000 to 9,000 miles in each direction.

Arctic terns can migrate as far as 20,000 miles per year.

The sandhill and whooping cranes are both capable of migrating as far as 2.500 miles per year, and the barn swallow more than 6,000 miles. For the last word on bird migration, see the Atlas of Bird Migration.

Why do about 520 of the 650 bird species that nest in the United States migrate south to spend the winter ?
Because they get bored shivering in the dark. And because it's bleak in the winter. And because there's nothing to eat. And because their ancestors did it.

Why do some birds go north for the summer ?
Because there's more to eat. The 24-hour days near the Arctic Circle produces a fantastic flowering of life. This brief, but abundant, source of food attracts many birds (and mammals such as the caribou) to the Arctic for breeding purposes.

What influences migration patterns over the long term ?
Changes in climate (particularly ice ages), and shifts in the positions of islands and continents as a result of tectonic drift.

How do they keep going ?
Some birds store a special, high-energy fat before the trip. Soaring raptors, for example, may not eat for several weeks as they migrate. Other species eat along their migration routes.

How high can they fly ?
Higher than Mt. Everest. Bar-headed geese have been recorded flying across the Himalayas at 29,000 feet. Other species seen above 20,000 feet include the whooper swan, the bar-tailed godwit, and the mallard duck.
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Some of the causes behind Vulture decline in central India.
For the last couple of years almost everybody concerned with nature conservation is worried about the recent disappearance of vultures. There has been a decline in the population of two most common species of vultures, the white -backed Gyps bengalensis and Long-billed Vulture Gyps indicus. What is the cause? Is it viral attack or something else?

Poisoning and Poaching
Extending the famine time to dangerous levels is one aspect. What about poisoning and poaching? In Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana and Punjab when cattle deaths decreased, the persons engaged in skinning of animals become virtually jobless these persons have resorted to poisoning stray cattle for their skins that bring them Rs. 1000-1500 each. The skinned bodies are left in the field for scavengers. One can imagine death of vultures due to feeding on such poisoned carcasses. A single case can finish fifty to hundred vultures instantly or slow poisoning leading to death.
In areas adjoining forest a cattle kill by a carnivore is invariably poisoned for skin of the carnivore that brings handsome money. Even in 10% of poisoning cases the vulture population is at great risk. A teacher near tamia in Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh told us about death of 150 vultures on a poisoned carcass of bullock a few years ago. Unfortunately such cases are not reported and are not published even in local press.

Cattle's Going to Slaughterhouses
There use to be some reluctance in the minds of the older people to sell an old cow or an old bullock they owned. The new generation is not that sentimental and does not hesitate to dispose off unwanted cattle. After having collected the large data about the cattle going to the slaughterhouses or taking a natural death in several parts of central India and correlated these figures with the present vulture population, we can firmly say that the vultures are dying due to shortage of food now. Incubating parents are not getting sufficient food nearby nesting site and hence such sites are reduced.

Loss of Grazing Land
Due to the increase in human population more and more land is being brought under plough resulting in loss of grazing lands for the cattle. An average villager finds it difficult to feed his useful cattle and wants to dispose off the older stock. In areas where the traditional grazing fields are available, the situation appears to be normal and vultures can still be seen.

Modern agriculture practices
In areas where tractor facility is available, the practice to plough the field by bullock is fast disappearing. In these areas you can hardly see a bullock cart or see bullocks sloughing a field. This extreme dependence on tractor in Rajas than, Haryana and Punjab may some time pose a problem in the event of diesel scarcity.

Killed For Eyes
Vultures are killed for eyes too. It is believed that one can locate hidden treasure with the help of "surma" prepared using the (sharp) eyes of vultures. In a recent shocking incidence near Sheopur in northwest Madhya Pradesh on 20/2/2001 forty vultures lost their lives. A cow was poisoned and transported in a bullock cart to a place far away from the usual skinning grounds where the vultures perished. A person reported the death of vultures to forest officials. They found 26 bodies of vultures; eyes of these vultures were probably removed. Since the case was four days old the stinking bodies did not permit finer examination. After finishing the vultures in Rajasthan they (the Surma wallas) have crossed chambal in search of new vulture areas.

Killed for Skin
Vultures are killed for skin, too. In Sohagpur range of Hoshangabad dist, the police seized some skins. During investigations it was found that vulture skins were collected by Pardhis after trapping them on carcasses, and were sold as rabbit skins. Such skins are collected at Jabalpur and sent to Bombay where a firm in Byculla exports such skins.However the same paradhi community in Amravati district of Maharashtra also found using these skins ,specially on vulture legs, for making the bird traps.

Birds : Government Interventions

BNHS : Environmental Information System (ENVIS) Centre
ENVIS (Environmental Information System) Centre at the Bombay Natural History Society was established in 1996 by the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India. BNHS primarily deal with the Avian Ecology and Inland Wetlands. The Centre at the BNHS has entered its seventh year of operation during the year 2003-2004.
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Birds : NGOs Interventions

CAT : Application for Ban of Diclofenac use as a Veterinary Drug for the protection of Vultures
The dramatic decrease in the population of three of India’s eight Vulture species has been of great concern to conservationists. This Vulture crisis was discussed in many fora and detailed studies were conducted to determine the cause for the same.
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CAT : Survey of Flamingos along Thane creek
CAT along with Sanctuary Asia, Wetlands International, Godrej & Boyce Co. Ltd. and the Maharashtra Forest Department started a survey along the Thane Creek in Mumbai in 2006. The aim of this project is to estimate the population of flamingos found within the Thane Creek area and to understand their distribution within the Thane Creek. This project will help identify the areas of ecological importance within the Thane creek.
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BNHS : Need to start 'Project Bustards'
Not many know that the Great Indian Bustard and the Lesser Florican endemic to the Indian subcontinent, are now on the brink of extinction.
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BNHS : Telugu-Ganga Canal and Jerdon's Courser and its habitat
Jerdon's Courser's habitat is under great threat by the construction of the Telugu-Ganga Canal in and around two protected areas in Cuddpah District, Andhra Pradesh.
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BNHS : Vulture Conservation
Your Society and the Indian vultures need your urgent help.
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BNHS : Asian Waterfowl Count (AWC) 2007
AWC is an annual event carried out during 2nd & 3rd week of Jan for collection & dissemination of information on waterbirds & wetlands.
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BNHS : Important Bird Areas & IBCN
An effective way to save birds is to save the places where they live; the identification of such representative habitats is carried out through the Important Bird Areas Programme of BirdLife International.
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Vulture Conservation programme in Central India
Study done by Nature Conservation Society Amravati(NCSA):
NCSA had selected four breeding sites in central India for vulture conservation project. One near Shivpuri , second near Betul ( both in Madhya Pradesh) ,third in Pench Tiger reserve in Maharashtra and fourth Paratwada near Melghat Tiger reserve.Inspite of limited funds available, NCSA kept our study restricted to only two breeding sites in the breeding season of Oct-2001-to March 2002.

NCSA have simultaneously collected the sighting data from Mandla, Balaghat,Shivpuri, Jabalpur, Betul districts from Madhya Pradesh and Amravati, Nagpur,Akola, Bhandara, Chandrapur districts from Maharashtra.

Objectives of NCSA vulture study Project
1) Breeding site monitoring to see any dead vulture on and around nest.
2) Monitoring the Vulture population near breeding site.
3) Monitoring feeding areas.
4) Identifying cobblers operating in feeding areas of vulture and forming rapport with them to help breeding population of Vultures in the respective area..
5) Discussions with cattle keeping communities in feeding areas (for paying them not to sell the old cattle to slaughterhouses).

Methodology
1) The local persons in skinning business, cobblers,cattle owners would be involved in the Project to get their participation.
2) Paying cobblers, cattle owners, skinning persons to ensure food for vultures and provide non poisoned carcasses to them in the breeding areas.
3) Paying compensation to old cattle holders to let them die naturally for making the carcasses of dead cattle available to breeding population of vultures.
4) Collecting dead vulture samples for testing if some individuals found dead.

Some of the observations from the Paratwada (Dist.Amravati) site.
The three nests of Long-billed Vulture are seen at Dharkhora (Paratwada) site in the present breeding season. On 17 th October 2001 and on 19 th November 2001 our team made visit to the site and recorded the presence of four Long Billed Vultures but no nest was recorded on the cliffs. However on 12 th January 2002 the team recorded two nests on the cliff. On 14 th January 2002 the team saw nest building activity of third Long billed Vulture. No egg was laid by any of these three vultures till our last visit on 14 th January.
The two vultures (we call them Charlei and Sim) that have completed their nests, spend their most of the time on the nests. However other third one (James) is busy in collecting the sticks and arranging it.

The team interviewed the cobblers from nearby Kohana, Sasoda and Buradghat village. They are presently jobless as people from these villages snd their old unproductive cattles to slaughterhouses as they gets good price like Rs.1000 to Rs.1200 per cattle. Nobody allows the cattle to die naturally.

Pench Tiger Reserve
Team visited Pench Tiger Reserve and found 5 nests on 3 rd December2001.It was monitored on 7 th January 2002 and 23 rd February 2002.When the team inspected the nests on 7 th January 2002 and monitored all five nests on sadle dam road they found two vultures hatching eggs whereas one chick was out on another nest. Out of these nests one was at Kharighat whereas others were in compartment number 516, 529, 527..Mr.Rangari a keen forest Guard was accompanying the team who had also reported 20 vultures on the kill.

Last year one Vulture was found dead on the tree in Pench Tiger reserve and hence the team wanted to check it this year. This incident of two deaths in Pench has provided researchers a challengeable job to find out the exact reason.

Sighting data
25 th December 2001-Near Sindewahi (10 km east to Pangadi- Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve)- 07 Long billed Vultures.

09 th Jan 2002-Chui village on Seoni- Kanha road in MP-01 White backed vulture .
Kanhiwada village on Seoni- Kanha road in MP- 05 Long billed vultures on carcass .

Vultures Death in Pench :news from Daily Hitawada

In Feb 2001 two White Backed vultures are found dead in Pench Tiger Reserve.One was hanging dead on the tree whereas another was found near carcass of Chital.Satpuda Foundation monitoring Vulture population in Pench Tiger Reseve .

Nature Conservation Society Amravati started working on "Vulture Conservation Project" in 2001 and small amount was made available to field activities under this project.Instead of being a part of controvercial discussion of the cause of "Vulture decline" NCSA focused on working on all the possible and said threats by experts.It was decided to monitor the vultures at selected breeding sites in central India during the breeding season of these Gyps species.

While monitoring the breeding population of vultures at these breeding sites NCSA have kept their eyes open to all the possible causes behind the vulture decline. Most experts suspect that a viral disease is main cause of death of vultures, however some does not seem to be adequate evidence and feel that a viral attack cannot extend all the year round and cannot affect vultures of the entire subcontinent where the climatic conditions vary so much.

But these two deaths made ornithologist alert and curious to check the "disease hypothesis".

Kishor Rithe of Satpuda Foundation have expressed that the saying, vulture (White-backed and Long-billed) decline is up to 90% in the Indian sub-continent, is the wild guess. Without knowing the population of vultures that existed earlier, a percentage of vulture declines cannot be calculated. No percentage of vulture declines for the sub-continent is known so far.

He further informed that a disease caused by Birna virus killed all the vultures in India according to the recent hypothesis of a group of birdwatchers who beleive in "disease hypothesis". The same group had suggested that the vulture disease was caused by Adeno Virus. One year ago the vulture mortality was said to be due to pesticide bio-accumulation according to the same group (according to Dr Rahmani's, Director, BNHS reported statement to Rajya Sabha-Indian Parliament- to a question on the cause of vulture decline on 12-02-1999). The disease hypothesis has not been proved yet.

However the local staff of Pench Tiger Reserve is monitoring the Vultures with NCSA and Satpuda Foundation. RFO Mr.Khandekar and a forest Guard Mr.Rangari have gathered the data of nests in Pench Tiger Reserve.

Satpuda Foundation team has made three visits to the Pench to record observations of breeding population of White Backed Vultures.The team monitored five nests in Pench.But these deaths have shocked the team itself as it has proved that Breeding population of Vultures in Pench is in trouble.

The maximum population of White Backed Vultures seen in Pench during the survey in December 2002 is 60.

Conclusion
From our four years survey experience we believe that
1) The Vulture decline is primarily connected to the lack of food and also the fact that wild and domestic animals are often poisoned, particularly in and around PA's.
2) The domestic cattle are being sold to slaughterhouses in central India and Cobblers are even found jobless.
3) Incubating parents do not get the food easily around the nesting sites. These parents do not range far from the nest in search of food.
4) So finally we have decided to make food available to incubating parents.

Vulture Conservation in the field
Nature Conservation Society, Amravati (NCSA) has been working on vulture conservation in central India for the last five years. Satpuda Foundation has recently joined these efforts and is helping NCSA in other areas of Maharashtra, besides Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. We have collected data about the presence of vultures in central India and also specifically monitored the breeding sites of Whitebacked and Longbilled Vultures. Our five-year survey indicates that vulture decline is primarily connected to lack of food and also to an extent due to the poisoning of wild and domestic animals, particularly in and around protected areas. Domestic cattle are being sold to slaughterhouses in central India. (Even cobblers are found jobless!). Incubating vultures do not get food easily around their nesting sites, and they do not range far from the nest in search of food. Nature Conservation Society, Amravati and Satpuda Foundation jointly decided to make food available to incubating vultures.

A different problem has emerged, where we now need your help. Our partner NGO based in a village near Navegaon National Park in Maharashtra has started feeding carcasses to breeding vultures in the nearby hills. Because of this effort, the population of Longbilled as well as Whitebacked Vultures has increased in and around Navegaon National Park. Here, 80-year-old Madhavrao Patil, his son and grandson, Bhimsen Patil are putting in tremendous effort to conserve vultures. Bhimsen Patil convinced a few local cattle transporters to donate few old cattle (sometimes dead cattle such as those that die during transportation). Carcasses are transported to the vulture-breeding site for vultures to feed on. But dogs are found monopolizing these carcasses and preventing vultures from feeding. To counter this, we are planning to erect a reasonably large but low mesh enclosure where we can keep the carcasses and make them available for safe feeding. The proposed location is close to the hills where the vultures breed as well as to a lake on the other side. Vultures need water immediately after feeding so this location is most suitable. Veteran ornithologist Mr. P.M. Lad has promised us technical assistance in this venture.

Abstract
For the last two three years almost everybody concerned with nature conservation is worried about the recent disappearance of vultures.There have been a decline in the population of two most common species of vultures, the white -backed Gyps bengalensis and Long-billed Vulture Gyps indicus. What is the cause? Is it viral attack or something else?
Most experts suspect that a viral disease is main cause of death of vultures, however some does not seem to be adequate evidence and feel that a viral attack cannot extend all the year round and cannot affect vultures of the entire subcontinent where the climatic conditions vary so much.
Nature Conservation Society Amravati started working on "Vulture Conservation Project" in 2001 and small amount was made available to field activities under this project. Instead of being a part of controversial discussion of the cause of "Vulture decline" NCSA focused on working on all the possible and said threats by experts. It was decided to monitor the vultures at selected breeding sites in central India during the breeding season of these Gyps species.
This report explains about our understanding of the problem based upon our past surveys and data collected

Birds : Corporate Interventions

Atul : Migratory Birds

Presence of humming of birds in forests or gardens is a natural thing but it is really wonderful that in a site full of chemical plants, a variety of birds come to roost among the trees in the factories year after year. These birds build their nests, lay their eggs and hatch them. After staying for several months they fly away with their young ones on their long journey, to wherever, only to return to Atul the next season. Atul Complex provides an interesting demonstration of this extra ordinary occurrence because of our commitment to Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development.
Most of the time visitors unable to distinguish and quote with great awe:
"Chemical plant in a bird sanctuary or A bird sanctuary in a chemical plant"
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