Forest Owlet-Conservation Action Plan (FO-CAP) - Zoom Meeting held on 24th/25th November 2020 in the campus of Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (Sacon), Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. click here

Brutal killing of Peregrine Falcons and other Accipiters in Punjab

Mr. Vikram Jit Singh, Wildlife Correspondent reported the illegal killing of migratory raptors (Peregrine falcon) and resident raptors by pigeon fanciers in Punjab. This has been going on for a number of years and was first reported by him in 2018. These fanciers are so emboldened that they made videos of gory slaughter of raptors and uploaded them up on social media forums such as TikTok. Here is his write-up in the Hindustan Times `Wildbuzz’ column of May 10, 2020 with some videos that have surfaced from Whatsapp groups and a screenshot of a pigeon fancier who put up a gory video of slaughtering a Shikra on TikTok.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/wildbuzz-falcons-face-isis-style-butchery/story-C10mHOdlmUafiIbyPlRxiP.html?fbclid=IwAR14V4IZR_E1Ud8Uldw7BV52YvkNo12XHGzciWA4C4Pu5bW6eM8V4mHHdjU

Following persistent protests top forest officials of the Punjab Forest department and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau swiftly swung into action against the men who maimed and brutally killed the Peregrine Falcons and other raptors as well.

On 24th April 2020 a White-backed Vulture was found in a sugarcane field in the village of Kushinagar, which lies in the easternmost district of Uttar Pradesh. A large crowd gathered to see this critically endangered vulture which bore two patagial tags numbered C3 as well as a satellite transmitter. The Local forest authorities took possession of the bird which seemed to be exhausted. It was reported in the newspapers and further investigation revealed it was one the vultures tagged in Nepal in 2018-19.
See: https://www.amarujala.com/gorakhpur/vulture-caught-with-chip-at-kushinagar

Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary, Maharashtra: Ramit Singal and his birder friends heard the low hoots of the Forest Owlet and excitedly went in search of it. After tracking the call for about 10 minutes they got closer but the Owlet flew away a couple of hundred meters ahead. Another 10 minutes of careful searching yielded the Forest Owlet calling persistently from atop a Terminalia tree. They spent more than 15 minutes in the company of this charismatic species and even watched it being mobbed for a while by a Red-vented Bulbul, Common Woodshrike and Chestnut-shouldered Petronia. The Owlet was unperturbed and when the troublesome birds left, it closed its eyes and kept silent. Sound recording by Ramit Singal.

Mr S. Sangeeth Sailas recently had his paper titled "Factors influencing habitat use by owls in a mosaic landscape in the Garo Hills, Northeast India" published in Ardea based on his MSc research on owls in the Garo Hills of Meghalaya. Upon completing his Masters course at Sacon, Coimbatore, Sangeeth is now enrolled as a doctoral student at the Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia in the Czech Republic. We wish him all success for his PhD.

Recipient of our grants, Dr Prachi Mehta received her Special Achievement Award, World Owl Hall of Fame in May 2022 at the International Owl Center in Minnesota, USA. This award is given to individuals for their sustained efforts towards owl research and conservation. She was selected for this award by a panel of eminent scientists from the USA, UK, Mexico, and Taiwan and is a recognition of her long term research on the Forest Owlet and other owls in Central India. It is a proud moment for owl research in India and a strong incentive for increasing studies on owls in the country.

Marcot, B. G., D. B. Lesmeister, T. Wilson, E. Volkman, and P.Anderson. 2020.

Applying principles and methods of risk analysis: a case example of Northern Spotted Owl research in a dynamic pandemic landscape. Research Paper PNW-RP-617. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. Portland OR. 30 pp.

AVAILABLE AT: https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/61414

The Most Polluted Bird in the World

Scientists in Canada found a Cooper’s Hawk with stunningly high levels of a flame retardant. A Cooper’s Hawk found dead near Vancouver, Canada, has the unfortunate distinction of being the most polluted wild animal on record, thanks to a diet rich in landfill birds, scientists announced last week. One of the male Cooper’s Hawks that the researchers found was in particularly bad shape, with PBDE levels of 196 parts per million. It far surpassed the previous titleholder for most-polluted bird: a Peregrine Falcon from California with PBDE levels of 94 parts per million.

Workshop on "Securing Vulture Populations in Southern India" 8th & 9th January 2018 in Udhagamandalam (Ooty), The Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. VCWG-SI Resolutions

This workshop sponsored by RRCF and organised by Dr. B. Ramakrishnan, Assistant Professor, Govt. Arts College, Udhagamandalam brought together many vulture researchers, toxicologists, conservation organisations & NGO’s along with senior forest department officials from the southern States of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. to discuss, evaluate and endorse future action and recovery plans for the conservation of vultures. This was followed by a field visit on 10th January 2018 where many participants, escorted by forest guards, walked a little distance to observe nesting vultures. There was a bit of nervous excitement when elephants trumpeted in the river down below and a short detour had to be made to avoid confrontation.

SVPSI 2018 Workshop Proceedings.

We congratulate Dr. Nishant Kumar on successfully defending his PhD thesis titled "Ecology and Ethno-ornithology of Black Kites Milvus migrans in Delhi, India" at Oxford University, UK.

Owl Awareness Workshops with the Forest Department

Dr. Prachi Mehta & Jayant Kulkarni's workshop "Protection of Nest Sites of Forest Owlet and Other Owls in Managed Forests in Khandwa Circle: A Report on Workshop with Forest Officers and Frontline Staff at Awaliya – December 2015".