Leapfrogging in common babblers Turdoides caudatus caudatus (Dumont)

1 Pages·1992·0.59 MB·

by  A M K Bharos

376 JOURNAL BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 89
spotted while they were perching on a dry bush Ali, S. and Ripley, S.D. 1987). Salim Ali during his
about60cm from theground and later flewto a near- ‘Birds ofMysore’survey (1939) did not come across
by tree. Subsequently on the morning of 23 August thisspecies. The present sighting is the southernmost
1987 a pairofthisspecieswasseen inthe same area. for Karnataka and probably also the first report of
The white1b8e.llied minivet is known to occur thisspeciesbetween Belgaum and the Nilgiris.
south up to Belgaumand also thebase ofthe Nilgiris
(HANDBOOKOFTHE BIRDSOFINDIAANDPAKISTAN, March 13, 1991 S.KARTHIKEYAN
SPOTTED LONGTAILED WREN-BABBLER SPELAEORNIS
TROGLODYTOIDES (VERREAUX) IN ARUNACHAL PRADESH
According to the HANDBOOKOFTHE BIRDS OF Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh.It is alongan elephant
INDIAANDPAKISTAN (Ali, S. and Ripley, S.D. 1983) track to the nearby hill peak (2940 m altitude) and
the spotted longtailed on when-babbler is rare resi- about 5 km north of Chaku, the grid reference being
dent and has been reweded only in eastern Bhutan. I 825392(Toposheet83 A/8).
sighted1o9n.27 April 1991 morethan fourofthe above Eagle Nest Sanctuary falls in west Arunachal
birds in a mixed party ofbrownheaded tit-babblerAl- Pradesh in West Kameng district. The area is very
cippega cinereiceps and yellowbacked sunbird close to East Bhutan where the bird has been
Aethopy nipalensis. This sighting was done in a recorded.
m
scrub/rhododendron forestat an altitude of2800 at
0930 hrs near Chaku in Eagle Nest Wild-life July 7, 1991 PRATAP SINGH
LEAPFROGGING IN COMMON BABBLERS TURDOIDES CAUDATUS
CAUDATUS (DUMONT)
The general habits of common babblers have Movement ofthe flock was accomplished by the rear
been described in ‘HAND BOOK OF BIRDS OF INDIA birdjumping forward, over the nextbird,and landing
AND PAK2I0S.TAN’ (Ali S. and Ripley S.D. 1983) as, the about 15-25 cm ahead and so on. This way the flock
m
species keep in flocks of six to twenty individuals traversed a distance of about 6.5 on the wall and
m
sometimes even in the breeding season, spending its another 5 on the next wall, pausing intermittently
time on the ground, hopping about rapidly with a to probe for insects and feedingthereon.
bouncing gait, more commonly and scuttling like a Leapfrogging in cattle egrets has been recorded
ratunder thesparse vegetation and hedges. (JBNHS 83 (2): 432, Paul Newton) but its adoption
On 8 May 1990, around 1730 hrs a flock of by common babblers has not been mentioned in the
eight birds was noticed indulging in a typical be- available literature.
haviour termed as ‘leapfrogging’. A flock appeared
on a parapet wall and started probing for insects. July 9, 1991 A.M.K.BHAROS
KASHMIR REDBREASTED FLYCATCHER MUSCICAPA SUBRUBRA
HARTERT AND STEINBACHER AT OOTY
While watching birds at the edge of a shola edgedwith black.
close to Radio Astronomy Centre, Ooty1 on 11 The bird wassighted in a wattle plantation bor-
,
December 1990 one of us (SK) spotted a flycatcher dering the shola and it never flew above one and a
very similar in habits to the redbreasted flycatcher half metres from the ground. Using the HANDBOOK
Muscicapapar\>abutwith extensive redon thebreast OF THE BIRDS OF INDIAAND PAKISTAN (Ali, S. and
Ripley, S.D. 1987, 2nd Compact ed.) the bird was
^or earlier record from Ooty, see S.C. Harrap & N.J. later identified as the Kashmir redbreasted flycatcher
Redmann, 1989JBNHS86(3):460-61—Editors. Muscicapa subrubra Hartert and Steinbacher. The