Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T09:08:51.780Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The recent distribution of endemic, disjunct and globally uncommon birds in the forests of Kerala State, south-west India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2010

V. J. Zacharias  and
Anthony J. Gaston
V. J. Zacharias
Affiliation:
St Joseph's College, Devagiri, Calicut, Kerala 673 008, India
Anthony J. Gaston
Affiliation:
Canadian Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Research Centre, 100 Gamelin Blvd., Hull, Quebec, Canada K1A 0H3
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Summary

Surveyed the avifaunas of 24 forest areas in Kerala State, south-western India, over the period 1973–1997, recording 309 species. We give details here of distributions and status for all species endemic to South Asia and all those having isolated populations, disjunct from conspecifics in northern India (disjunct species). Most bird species found in Kerala that are endemic to southern India, or form disjunct populations, occur in forest habitats. Those species endemic to the Western Ghats (passerines), or constituting disjunct populations (raptors) tend to have more restricted occurrence than other forest birds. For the passerines this is because they are mainly confined to high elevation forests and grasslands: rather restricted habitats in Kerala. The raptors may be more dependent than other species on large areas of forest and hence may have suffered from recent reductions in forest cover. Current trends in forest clearance for agriculture and plantations and encroachment by settlers, threaten especially the birds of low and middle altitude forests. The present status of such birds as Malabar Pied Hornbill Anthracoceros coronatus, Great Eared Nightjar Eurostopodus macrotis, Lesser Coucal Centropus bengalensis and White-bellied Blue Flycatcher Cyornis pallipes seems to be markedly worse than that described by Ali (1969) for the 1930s. These species, as well as Dollarbird Eurystomus orientalis and Black-crested Baza Aviceda leuphotes, are patchily distributed at low densities and may be vulnerable to extirpation from local areas. Higher altitude habitats, where many endemics occur, cover smaller areas, but are less threatened. However, some species occurring at low densities (Rufous-bellied Eagle Hieraaetus kienerii, White-bellied Shortwing Brachypteryx major, Black-and-orange Flycatcher Ficedula nigrorufa, Broad-tailed Grassbird Schoenicola platyura) may be vulnerable to extirpation or extinction in the long term. Kerala has a large network of protected areas (National Parks, Sanctuaries). Effective protection of those areas should be sufficient to maintain most species, although the coverage of low altitude forest is poor and remaining fragments should be carefully protected. There is continuous pressure on all habitats and bird populations will need to be carefully monitored in future if Kerala's endemic and disjunct populations are to be maintained.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bird Conservation International , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , September 1999 , pp. 191 - 225
Copyright
Copyright © Birdlife International 1999

References

Ali, S. (1949) The Satpura trend as an ornithological highway. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. India 15: 379–386.Google Scholar
Ali, S. (1969) Birds of Kerala. Bombay: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ali, S. and Ripley, S. D. (1987) Compact handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan, together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Second edition. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Baker, A. C. S. (1935) Nidification of birds of the Indian empire. London: Taylor and Francis.Google Scholar
Betts, F. N. (1951) Birds of Coorg. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 50: 20–63, 224–263, 667–684.Google Scholar
Champion, H. G. and Seth, S. K. (1968) A revised survey of the forest types of India. New Delhi: Government of India.Google Scholar
Collar, N. J., Crosby, M. J. and Stattersfield, A. J. (1994) Birds to watch 2. The world list of threatened birds. Cambridge, U.K.: Birdlife International (Birdlife Conservation Series 4).Google Scholar
Daniels, R. J. R., Joshi, N. V. and Gadgil, M. (1990) Changes in bird faunas of Uttara Kannada, India, in relation to land use over the past century. Biol. Conserv. 52: 37–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davison, W. (1883) Notes on some birds collected in the Nilghiris and in Wynaad and parts of southern Mysore. Stray Feathers 10: 329–419.Google Scholar
Ferguson, H. S. (1900) Birds not recorded from Travancore in “The Fauna of British India”. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 12: 202–203.Google Scholar
Ferguson, H. S. and Bourdillon, T. F. (1904) The birds of Travancore, with notes on their nidification. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 15: 455–474, 654–673; 16: 1–18.Google Scholar
Gaston, A. J and Zacharias, V. J. (1996). The recent distribution of endemic and disjunct birds in Kerala State: preliminary results of an ongoing survey. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 93: 389–400.Google Scholar
Harrap, S. C. and Redman, N. J. (1989) Some observations of scarce birds in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 86: 460–461.Google Scholar
Hussein, S. A. and Khan, M. A. R. (1977) A new subspecies of Bay Owl [Phodilus badius (Horsfield)] from Peninsula India. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 74: 334–336.Google Scholar
Inskipp, T., Lindsay, N. and Duckworth, W. (1996) An annotated checklist of the birds of the Oriental Region. Sandy, U.K.: Oriental Bird Club.Google Scholar
Jackson, M. C. A. (1971) Random notes on birds in Kerala. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 68: 107–114.Google Scholar
Kannan, R. (1993) Rediscovery of the Oriental Bay Owl Phodilus badius in peninsular India. Forktail 8: 148–149.Google Scholar
Kinloch, A. P. (1921) Rough notes on the avifauna of the Nelliampathy Hills. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 27: 939–944.Google Scholar
Kinloch, A. P. (1923a) Further notes on the avifauna of the Nelliampathy Hills. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 29: 294.Google Scholar
Kinloch, A. P. (1923b) On the birds of the Nelliampathy Hills. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 29: 564–565.Google Scholar
Mace, G. and Stuart, S. (1994) Draft IUCN Red List categories. Species 21–22: 13–24.Google Scholar
Nichols, E. G. (1944) Occurrence of birds in Madura District. II. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 44: 574–584.Google Scholar
Pascal, J. P. (1988) Wet evergreen forests of the Western Ghats of India. Pondichery, India:Institute Français de Pondichery.Google Scholar
Primrose, J. B. (1938) Supplementary observations on the Munnar section of the ornithological survey of Travancore and Cochin. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.. 40: 500–507.Google Scholar
Randhawa, M. S. (1980) A history of agriculture in India. New Delhi: Indian Council of Agricultural Research.Google Scholar
Robertson, A. and Jackson, M. C. A. (1992) Birds of Periyar. Jaipur: Tourism and Wildlife Society of India.Google Scholar
Stonor, C. R. (1946) Field notes on the birds of the Anamalai Hills (Cochin). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 46: 119–125.Google Scholar
Sugathan, R. (1981) A survey of the Ceylon Frogmouth (Batrachostomus moniliger) habitat in the Western Ghats of India. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 78: 309–315.Google Scholar
Sugathan, R. and Varghese, A. P. (1996) A review of the birds of Thattakad Bird Sanctuary, Kerala. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 93: 487–506.Google Scholar
Sugathan, R. and Natarajan, V. (1988) Occurrence of Bourdillon's Great Eared Nightjar (Eurostopodus macrotis bourdilloni) at Neriyamangalam, Kerala. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.. 85: 424.Google Scholar
Vijayan, V. S. (1978) Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary and adjacent areas. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 75: 888–900.Google Scholar
Zacharias, V. J. and Gaston, A. J. (1993) The birds of Wynaad, southern India. Forktail 8: 11–23.Google Scholar