Jalaplavit (ISSN 2321-1881), Vol. 9, No. 2, June 2019 Table 1. List of Wetlands of International Importance in India under Ramsar Convention. S. No. State/UT S. No. Name of Ramsar Site Area in ha Kolleru 90100 1. Andhra Pradesh 1. Deepar Beel 4000 Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary 12000 2. Assam 2. Pongdam 15662 Renuka 20 3. Gujarat 3. Chandratal 49 Wullar 18900 4. Tso Morari 12000 Hokersar 1375 4. Himachal Pradesh 5. Mansar & Surinsar 350 6. Ashtamudi 61400 Sasthamkotta 373 7. Vembanad kol 151250 Bhoj 3201 5. Jammu & Kashmir 8. Loktak 26600 9. Chilika 116500 Bhtarkanika 65000 10. Harike 4100 Kanjli 183 11. Ropar 1365 Sambhar 24000 6. Kerala 12. Keoladeo NP 2873 13. Point Calimere 38500 Rudra Sagar 240 7. Madhya Pradesh 14. Uppar Ganga 26590 East Kolkatta wetland 12500 8. Manipur 15. 26 sites 6,89,131 ha 9. Orissa 16. 17. 18. 10. Punjab 19. 20.. 11. Rajasthan 21. 22. 12. Tamil Nadu 23. 13. Tripura 24. 14. Uttar Prdaesh. 25. 15. West Bengal 26. Total Source: (https://nrcd.nic.in) 51
Jalaplavit (ISSN 2321-1881), Vol. 9, No. 2, June 2019 About the Authors Ms. Kanchan Puri is presently working as Programme Coordinator in Environment Education Division of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, New Delhi. She has earned M.Sc in Biodiversity and Conservation from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi with skills developed in working on Protected Areas using Geospatial tools. Prior to joining the Ministry, she had worked with WWF-India. Her research interests include developing spatial databases for conservation of biodiversity & natural resource management through use of geospatial techniques. She has published one book on mapping forest fire risk zones and about twenty research papers in reputed international journals. Dr. Ritesh Joshi is a Scientist with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, New Delhi. Dr. Joshi has conducted research on the behaviour and ecology of the Asian elephant for more than a decade (from 1999-2011) in the Rajaji National Park and adjoining protected habitats. After completing his B.Sc., M.Sc. & PhD. in Environmental Sciences, he worked with G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment and Sustainable Development and Doon Institute of Engineering and Technology as a Scientist/Assistant Professor. He was awarded the ‘DST-Young Scientist Fast Track Scheme’ by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India in 2004 and 2008. He has published four books on wildlife and nearly ninety research papers in various reputed national and international scientific journals. The Department of Official Languages, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, has honoured him with the ‘Rajiv Gandhi National Award (Rajiv Gandhi Rashtriya Gyan-Vigyan Maulik Pustak Lekhan Puruskar) for one of his books titled ‘Wildlife of Uttarakhand and Conservation’. 52
Jalaplavit (ISSN 2321-1881), Vol. 9, No. 2, June 2019 Purple Heron Preying on a Common Quail at Wadhwana Wetland, Gujarat State, India 1Anika Tere, Kartik Upadhyay, Rahul Bhatt & Neel Solanki Email of Corresponding Author1: [email protected] The Purple Heron Ardea purpurea Kumbhar, 2015). This wetland was is a wide ranging wader and a residential visited on 12 December 2018 during 1200 breeding bird of Gujarat. It belongs to hrs to 1600 hrs. The Purple Heron was the order Ciconiiformes and family recorded with a prey- a bird-in its beak. Ardeidae (Ali & Ripley, 1983; Parasharya Careful observation with the help of a et al., 2004; Grimmett et al., 2011; pair of 10X50 binoculars revealed the Ganpule, 2016). It is known to feed on bird to be a Common Quail (Cotumix crustaceans, mollusks, insects, fishes, cotumix) (Fig. 1). The heron dipped the amphibians, reptiles, small birds and bird frequently into the water to kill it their nestlings and small mammals and then tried to swallow it (Figs. 2, 3, (Kushlan & Hancock, 2005; Martinex- 4). However, it could not swallow the Vilalta et al., 2018). The stomach prey at one attempt and kept on dipping content analysis of about 70 adult birds the prey in the water frequently. The from Sundarbans, West Bengals revealed feeding behaviour of the heron was that their diet mainly comprised of fish observed continuously for around ten (57%), reptiles (21%), crustaceans (14%) minutes until the bird flew away taking and insects (8%) (Mukherjee, 1971). the prey in its beak to the interior of the wetland. The sequence of feeding Wadhwana wetland (22°6' 3.6\"N behavior of heron was captured with the Latitude; 73°17' 27.6\"E Longitude) is help of digital cameras. The located near Dabhoi Taluka, Vadodara identification of prey was later district, Gujarat. It is managed by the confirmed by photographic evidences. irrigation and forest departments of Gujarat (Padate et al., 2008; Dabgar & 53
Jalaplavit (ISSN 2321-1881), Vol. 9, No. 2, June 2019 Neel Solanki Fig.1 A Purple Heron holding a Common Quail Cotumix cotumix in its beak. Rahul Bhatt Fig.2 The Purple Heron dipping the quail in water. 54
Jalaplavit (ISSN 2321-1881), Vol. 9, No. 2, June 2019 Rahul Bhatt Fig.3 The Purple Heron taking the quail of water. Rahul Bhatt Fig.4 The Purple Heron trying to swallow the quail. 55
Jalaplavit (ISSN 2321-1881), Vol. 9, No. 2, June 2019 The Purple Heron is recorded to References feed on small fishes, amphibians, reptiles and mammals in past. However, Ali, S. & S. D. Ripley (1983). Handbook it is also recorded feeding on medium to larger sized birds in recent past few of the birds of India and Pakistan decades. It was recorded feeding on a fully grown Jungle Babbler (Turdoides together with those of Bangladesh, striata), White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) and a lark Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. (Alaudidae family) (Johnson, 1988; Patel, 1998; Mistry & Patel, 2018). Compact ed. Delhi: Oxford Recently, it was also recorded preying on a Barred Buttonquail (Turnix University Press. suscitator) in Navasari outskirts area (Patel et al., 2018). The size of Jungle Dabgar, P. J. & B. A. Kumbhar (2015). Babbler, White-throated Kingfisher and Barred Buttonquail is 25 cm, 27-28 cm Study of aquatic macro-phytes in and 15 cm respectively (Grimmett et al., 2011). Common Quail is 20 cm in and around Wadhwana wetland at size. It is a winter visitor, passage migrant and also a resident bird of India, Dabhoi taluka. Internation Journal mainly inhabiting crops, paddy fields and grasslands (Grimmett et al., 2011). of Scientific Research. 4(2): 417-419 It is assumed here, that the heron might have arrived at the wetland after Ganpule, P. (2016). The birds of capturing the prey from its natural habitat. Looking to the sizes of prey Gujarat: Status and distribution. birds recorded earlier by different authors and based on our observation, it Flamingo 8 (3)-12 (4): 2-40 seems that the heron feeds mainly on small to medium sized prey, but is also Grimmett, R., C. Inskipp & T. Inskipp opportunistic to hunt larger birds from the aquatic and terrestrial habitats. (2011). Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. 2nd ed. London: Oxford University Press & Christopher Helm. pp. 1-528 Johnson, J. M. (1988). Purple Heron (Ardea pupurea) swallowing a Jungle Babbler. Journal of Bombay Natural History Society. 85 (1):190 Kushlan, J. A. & J. A. Hancock (2005) Herons. Bird families of the world. 1st edition. Oxford University Press. Oxford, UK. Martinez-Vilalta, A., A. Motis, & G. M. Kirwan (2018). Purple Heron (Ardea pupurea). Handbook of the birds of the world alive. Lynx editions, Barcelona. 56
Jalaplavit (ISSN 2321-1881), Vol. 9, No. 2, June 2019 Mukherjee, Ajit Kumar (1971). Food Diet of Purple Heron as per IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019-1* habits of water birds of the Diet of Purple Heron consists of fish Sundarban, 24-Parganas district, 5-15 cm long (del Hoyo et al. 1992#) (occasionally up to 55 cm), salamanders West Bengal, India-II. Herons and (Kushlan and Hancock 2005$), frogs, insects (del Hoyo et al.1992) (e.g. beetles, Bitterns. Journal of Bombay Natural dragonflies, hemiptera (Kushlan and Hancock 2005) and locusts (Hancock and History Society. 68 (1):37-64 Kushlan 1984)), crustaceans (del Hoyo et al. 1992), spiders (Kushlan and Hancock Mistry, V. & N. S. Patel (2018). Purple 2005) and molluscs (Hancock and Kushlan 1984) as well as small birds and mammals, Heron Ardea pupurea hunts a lark. snakes and lizards (del Hoyo et al. 1992). Indian Birds 14 (3):87-88 *Source: BirdLife International (2016). Ardea purpurea. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Padate, G., S. Deshkar & S. Sapna Species 2016:e.T22697031A86466990. http://dx.d oi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016- (2008). Influence of Narmada water 3.RLTS.T22697031A86466990.en. Downloaded on 07 June 2019. inundation on the duck population #del Hoyo, J., Elliot, A. and Sargatal, J. of Wadhwana irrigation reservoir. 1992. Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 1: Ostrich to Ducks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Proceedings of Taal 2007: the 12th $Kushlan, J. A. & J. A. Hancock (2005) Herons. Bird world lake conference: 131-136 families of the world. 1st edition. Oxford University Press. Oxford, UK. Parasharya, B. M., C.K. Borad, & D. N. Rank (2004). A checklist of Birds of Gujarat. Birds Conservation Society, Gujarat. Pp 1-27. Patel, P. (1998). Purple Heron eating White-breasted Kingfisher. Newsletter for Birdwatchers 38 (2):37-38 Patel, M., P. Kapdi, N. Tandel & U. Bangoria (2018). Purple Heron preying on a Barred Buttonquail. Flamingo Gujarat. 16: Oct-Dec 2018: 13-14. 57
Jalaplavit (ISSN 2321-1881), Vol. 9, No. 2, June 2019 About the Authors Dr. Anika Tere (Extreme Left): Dr. Anika Tere completed her B. Sc. and M. Sc. in Zoology, with specialization in Avian Biology and Ornithology. She is a teacher and a researcher. She pursued her Ph. D. on the Ecology of Flamingos in Gujarat State, which was the first Ph. D. in on flamingos in India. She had done research on wetlands, aquatic and terrestrial birds. Her main subjects of interest are Ornithology, Wetland Ecology and Biodiversity. Kartik Upadhyay: He is an active naturalist and wildlife photographer. He had been involved in several projects and studies on birds, mammals and bats. Rahul Bhatt: He is naturalist and wildlife photographer. His subject of interest are birds and mammals. Neel R. Solanki (Extreme Right): Mr. Neel R. Solanki is an Engineer. He is a keen bird watcher and an eminent photographer. 58
Avichal Tatu Jalplavit (ISSN 2321-1881) is an e-Periodical dedicated to creating wetland biodiversity appreciation and awareness for its conservation. It is free for authors and readers. We welcome popular articles, research papers, observation notes, photographs and drawing regarding wetlands and wetland biodiversity. Email them to [email protected] till mid-September 2019 for the next issue.
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