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International Journal of
eISSN: 2574-9862

Avian & Wildlife Biology

Mini Review Volume 3 Issue 4

Sighting of Indian grey hornbill and rufous woodpecker at Nandankanan wildlife sanctuary, Odisha, India

Rajesh Kumar Mohapatra Mohapatra

Biologist, Nandankanan Zoological Park, Odisha, India

Correspondence: Rajesh Kumar Mohapatra, Nandankanan Zoological Park, Odisha, India, Tel 9199 3756 3742

Received: June 06, 2018 | Published: July 31, 2018

Citation: Mohapatra Rk. Sighting of Indian grey hornbill and rufous woodpecker at Nandankanan wildlife sanctuary, Odisha, India. Int J Avian & Wildlife Biol. 2018;3(4):307-308. DOI: 10.15406/ijawb.2018.03.00106

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Abstract

Nandankanan Wildlife Sanctuary, Odisha, India is home to a rich assemblage of faunal and floral diversity including 121 species of bird species. The present communication reports addition of two new species namely Indian grey hornbill Ocyceros birostris (Scopoli, 1786) and Rufous woodpecker Micropternus brachyurus (Vieillot, 1818) to the existing checklist of Nandankanan Wildlife Sanctuary.

Observations

Nandankanan Wildlife Sanctuary (NWS) is located between 20º23’08” to 20º24’10”N and 85º48’09” to 85º48’13” E, spreading over an area of 4.37 sq.km in the state of Odisha, Eastern India. The sanctuary enjoys a moderately hot humid climate around 30ºC with annual average rainfall of 1350mm. The vegetation is of moist mixed deciduous type.1 There is scanty literature on birds of NWS. Kamal et al.,2 recorded 53 species of birds from “Kanjia” lake of NWS. A checklist of 120 species of birds of 41 families was reported by Panda et al.,3 Mohapatra et al. added one more species i.e., Stork billed kingfisher (Pelargopsis capensis) to the checklist.4 The present note intends to report addition of two new species to the above checklist. The sighted birds are Indian grey hornbill Ocyceros birostris (Scopoli, 1786) (Figure 1). Rufous woodpecker Micropternus brachyurus (Vieillot, 1818) (Figure 2). Both birds were sighted and photo-documented by the author during ad libitum field survey inside the sanctuary area. Both species were identified on site and confirmed.5,6 Indian Grey Hornbill is grey colored with white under parts, red iris & a tail with white tip and dark sub-terminal band. The bill is dark-grey to black surmounted with a casque extending upto the point of curvature in the bill. Rufous Woodpecker is a medium sized rufous colored bird with short black bill and black barring on the wing and tail. The bird lacks a crest. Male has crimson patch on ear covert which is pale buff in case of female.5,6

Figure 1 Indian grey hornbill Ocyceros birostris at NWS.

Figure 2 Rufous woodpecker Micropternus brachyurus at NWS.

Spatiotemporal details of sightings of Indian grey hornbill and Rufous woodpecker were given in the Table 1. Indian grey hornbill has a wide distribution range including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal.7 In odisha the species was reported from Sundargarh,6,8 Ganjam,9,10 Athagarh, Cuttack,11 Joda, Keonjhar districts12 and Baisipalli Wildlife Sanctuary13 spreading over Nayagarh and Boudh districts of Odisha. Rufous woodpecker is having a very wide distribution range including India; Bangladesh; Bhutan; Brunei Darussalam; Cambodia; China; Indonesia; Lao People's Democratic Republic; Malaysia; Myanmar; Nepal; Singapore; Sri Lanka; Thailand; Viet Nam.14 In Odisha, the species was recorded from Mayurbhanj district15 and Kalrapat Wildlife Sanctuary, southern Odisha.16

SNo

Species

Date

Time

Latitude

Longitude

1

Indian grey hornbill

25-03-2018

04:03pm

20º23’43.99”N

85º49’17.79”E

2

Indian grey hornbill

28-04-2018

07:48am

20º23’44.11”N

85º49’21.58”E

3

Rufous woodpecker

22.05.2018

07:31am

20º24’24.3”N

85º49’12.9”E

4

Rufous woodpecker

27.05.2018

08:05am

20º24’20.5”N

85º49’10.8”E

Table 1 Spatiotemporal details of sighting of Indian grey hornbill and rufous woodpecker

Conclusion

Indian grey hornbill (Ocyceros birostris) and Rufous woodpecker (Micropternus brachyurus) were observed at Nandankanan Wildlife Sanctuary between March and May, 2018. These species were not report earlier from the sanctuary. There is a need for further study on the bird diversity of Nandankanan in general and biology of the above species in particular to enrich our knowledge and contribute towards their conservation.

Acknowledgements

None

Conflict of interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.

References

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  2. Kamal S, Indresh GN, Mishra AK, Vertebrate faunal diversity of Kanjia Lake, Nandankanan. e-planet. 2009;7(2):29–33.
  3. Panda S, Mishra S, Mishra AK, et al. Nandankanan Faunal Diversity. Odisha: Nandankanan Biological Park, Forest and Environment Department, Government of Odisha; 2010. p. 152.
  4. Mohapatra RK, Panda S, Purohit KL. Wintering avian population of Nandankanan wildlife sanctuary, Odisha. Tigerpaper XL. 2013;(2):31–34.
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  14. BirdLife International. Micropternus brachyurus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016.
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