THE BIRD LIFE
Migratory Attractions: White Pelicans, Great Crested Grebe,
White-Horned & Greylag Geese, Barheaded Geese, Ducks, White & Black
Stork, Brown-Headed Gull, Great Black-Headed And Lesser Black-Backed Gulls
Other Avifauna: : Large & Little Cormorant, The Indian Shag,
Darter, The Grey & Pond Heron, Large, Medium & Little Egret,
Spotbill, And The Large Pied Wagtail
Lying below the Himalayas on the route of migratory birds,
and being so varied in terrain, vegetation, insect life and aquatic prey,
Corbett Park has always been exceptionally rich in its avifauna, with some
500 species residing or sojourning in it. In recent years, with the
formation of a large freshwater lake beneath the dam, there has been a
notable and sudden influx of water birds and waterside birds, and nearly
600 species are listed in the survey conducted by the Zoological Survey of
India team.
WATER BIRDS AND WATERSIDE BIRDS
The Rare Aves
Both migrants coming in mainly as winter visitors and resident species
are among the water birds of the reserve, and in both these broad classes
some are common and some quite rare, and only time can determine whether
or not the species now known as "Rara Aves" at the lake and
watersides will become much less uncommon, or even common, in a few years.
For example, only a very few White or Rosy Pelicans have so far been seen
here, but since elsewhere they arrive in numbers during the cold weather,
they may well become regular winter visitors here also.
The
Migratory Lot
Among the migrants that may be seen at the lake or along the streams
should be mentioned the Great Crested Grebe, a few White-Fronted and
Greylag Geese, and Bar-headed Geese in numbers, 15 or more kinds of Ducks,
an occasional white stork and more commonly the black stork, a variety of
plovers, sandpipers, snipe and similar birds, the Brown-headed Gull and
more commonly the Great Black-headed and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and a
number of wagtails.
Common Residential Attractions
The following are common water birds that are not migratory but resident:
all 3 kinds of cormorants such as large and little Cormorant and the
Indian Shag, the Darter, the Grey Heron, the Pond Heron, all 3 kinds of
Egrets - the large, the medium and the little Egret, the Cattle Egret, the
white-necked and black-necked storks, the Spotbill, the large Pied Wagtail
and occasionally a white-capped Redstart or River Chat - the Spur-winged
Lapwing is quite a feature of the reaches of the Ramganga.
BIRDS OF PREY
Migratory birds of prey come into India during the cold
weather and some, such as the Osprey, may stay on right into April. Some
of them come in the wake of the migratory Waterfowl, the Peregrine Falcon,
for instance, which is also called the "Duck Hawk" in North
America. Of course there are also quite a few resident waterside birds of
prey, and other raptorial birds. These are the main hunters of the Chuars
and woodland clearings; the black-winged Kite, the Indian Shikra (both
resident), the Booted Hawk Eagle and the Steppe Eagle as uncommon winter
visitors and along the wooded watersides the Crested Serpent Eagle, which
is common, Pallas's (Ringtailed) Fishing Eagle and the Himalayan
Grey-headed Fishing Eagle, and occasionally the lesser and greater Spotted
Eagles (all more or less resident), and near the lake the Osprey as a
winter visitor. Hawk eagles are to be found though not commonly, in the
forests, as also the Crested Honey Buzzard and the Black Eagle. Harriers
and Buzzards are birds of the open scrub. The vultures of the reserve
include the impressively big Indian and Himalayan Griffon Vultures (the
latter a rare winter visitor), the Himalayan long-billed Vulture, which
nests in tall trees, such as the red silk cotton and the Indian
white-backed vulture (these two are the common vultures of the reserve)
the usually solitary Black Vulture and occasionally a Lesser White
Scavenger Vulture.
NIGHT BIRDS
The night hunters are the owls, the Nightjars and the
Thick-Knees. No less than 18 kinds of owls are listed as occurring in the
reserve, but except for the Spotted Owlet, none of them seems common; in
riverside forests, Fish Owls may be seen, active even by day when it is
not too sunny, and at night the yelping, regularly spaced calls of Scops
Owls maybe heard.
Summer is the time of the Nightjars, and they are best told apart by
their individualistic, reiterated calls, heard at nightfall and right
through moonlit nights- the monotonous runs of 'chucks' of the jungle
Nightjar and the unmistakable whiplash 'Sweesh' of Frankline's Nightjar,
the last call is not regularly repeated and most often heard in the hour
before dawn.
The Stone Curlew Haunts the riverside pebbly scrub, and so does its much
larger cousin, the Great Stone Plover, the representatives of the thick
knees here, birds with enormous eyes and dagger bills that lie low all day
and come out by dim light and darkness to hunt insects, crustaceans, and
other small fry.
WOODLAND BIRDS
The varied tree forests, mixed Deciduous, stands of lofty
Sal and stands of young Sheesham along the river, and the rich shrub
growth on the forest floor provide a congenial setting for many woodland
birds, Such As Green Pigeons, Parakeets, Cuckoos, Hornbills, Barbets And
Woodpeckers, Orioles, Drongos, Pies, Babblers and Thrushes. Summer is the
best season to look for these.
Cuckoos:
The Rose-ringed and Blossom-headed parakeets in regular flocks and the
Alexandrine or Large Indian Parakeet in smaller parties are fairly common
- there are less common Parakeets. There are a number of Cuckoos, but the
common species are the seasonal common Hawk Cuckoo or the 'Papiha' whose
frenzied, reiterated calls are heard in summer.
The less insistent, far pleasanter, cadenced 'broken-pekoe' of the Indian
Cuckoo (Cuculus Micropterus) also enlivens the forests then; both birds
are highly arboreal and an inconspicuous grey brown, so that they are
seldom seen though so often heard. The Coucal or Crow Pheasant is common
on the outskirts of the tree forests; it is a Nonparasitic Cuckoo.
Hornbills:
Two very large arboreal birds Pied Black and White, the Indian and the
Great Pied Hornbills, may be seen in the mixed forests; the latter is the
larger and distinguished from the former, even in a fleeting overhead
view, by its white neck and the black sub terminal band across its white
tail; the Indian Pied Hornbill has the neck black and the lateral feathers
of its tail black. The much smaller Indian Grey Hornbill also occurs here.
Only the Coppersmith or crimson-breasted Barbet and the much larger Green
Barbet are common here; both are much given to their monotonous calls
reiterated in long runs, the Coppersmith's 'tonk, tonk, tonk' and the
Green Barbet's 'kotrrr, kotrrr'. No less than 17 species of woodpeckers
have been are present in the park, those commonly seen are the Little
Scaly-bellied Green Woodpecker, the Black-naped Green Woodpecker and the
beautiful Golden-backed Woodpecker.
Common Woodiers
The Golden and black-headed Orioles, and a number of Drongos are typical
woodland birds- the king crow or Black Drongo is oftener seen in the open
clearings. Tree Pies, Minivets, Woodshrikes, Babblers and a variety of
Thrushes are among the other familiar woodland birds. The Magpie Robin,
the Himalayan Whistling Thrush and the Black-throated Thrush should be
specially mentioned here. Conspicuous among the Flycatchers is the
Paradise Flycatcher.
Among the ground birds are the peafowl (quite common, but very shy of
men, unusually so, in the reserve), the red Junglefowl (The ancestor of
all domestic strains of poultry) and the White-Crested Kalij Pheasant,
which is common in the Undershrub of Sal forests.
BIRDS OF THE OPEN GROUND AND GRASSLANDS
A great many birds, typical of open country, can be seen in
the grassy clearings and Chuars. The resonant, challenging call of the
black partridge, which is specially common, marks the commencement and the
end of each day. Doves, Bee-eaters, Rollers, the Hoopoe, shrikes, larks,
mynas bulbuls, warblers, and finches belong here.
The Ring Dove and the Spotted Dove are to be seen in numbers, perched on
bushes or feeding on the ground; the little brown dove and the Red Turtle
Dove are also there, but are much less common. The beautiful Little
Emerald Dove is a bird of woodland clearings, but often seen on the banks
of streams.
Besides the familiar Small Green Bee-Eater, The Chestnut-headed and
Blue-tailed Bee Eaters are features of the open terrain, as also the
Roller and occasionally, the Hoopoe.
One would expect Larks in grasslands and there are a few here, but the
only one that is common is the Indian Crested Lark. The common Shrike of
these open scrubs is the Rufous-backed Shrike.
The Greyheaded and common mynas dominate all others of their clan,
assembling in hundreds, even in thousands, in the evenings to roost-such
assemblies may be seen in summer outside the Mota Sal forest.
Nine species of bulbuls are also found over here, but the two that are
frequently seen are the White-Cheeked and the Red-vented Bulbuls, in bush
covered open country; the latter is especially common, as in most parts of
India.
Except for the well-known Tailor Bird, and perhaps also the Ashy Wren
Warbler, the vast clan of the Warblers is hard to tell apart in bush and
grass. Some 40 species inhabit the park, quite a few of them migratory.
Robins, Chats and Redstarts are notable features of these tracts. The
Bush Chat is especially common, a fluffy little bird poised on top of a
grass culm or a thin twig with a patch of white above the tail and a neat
white line across its wings displayed in flight, that flits effortlessly
about from one perch to another, the male black and the female earth
brown.
The Finches and Bayas (Weaver-Birds), and the house sparrow, are
naturally very much there in the scrub and grasslands. Four kinds of
Weaver Birds including Bayas, the Red Munia or Amadavat and the Spotted
Munia, and an unmistakable Brownish Finch with a perky crest which is the
crested bunting, merit special mention.
AIR BIRDS
Though Swifts are more aerial than Swallows and Martins, and
quite unrelated to them, since both these classes spend so much of their
time on the wing, they may be mentioned together. The Indian Alpine Swift
and the Himalayan White-rumped swift are features of the summer skies;
they are among the larger swifts and fly at a dizzying speed. The
white-rumped Spinetail and the house swift are also resident here and
fairly common. The deciduous forests are notable for the crested swift.
The Dusky Crag Martin and Striated or Redrumped Swallows are familiar
sights of the reserve, perched in hundreds on the electric lines. The
Indian Cliff Swallow and the Wire-Tailed Swallow are summer visitors.
