Birdwatchers in Gujarat are excited after an orange-headed thrush (Geokichla citrina citrina), normally noticed within the Himalayas, Eastern Ghats, and Sri Lanka, was seen in Ahmedabad early this yr. With this, the variety of species of birds recorded within the state has gone as much as 117.
The petite forest-dwelling chicken was sighted by Ishaan Lalbhai, son of businessman Punit Lalbhai, within the household’s backyard in Koteshwar on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on March 9. Later, Punit Lalbhai, fellow birdwatcher Sunil Kini, Ruchita Soni, and Ishaan noticed it once more in the identical backyard on April 9. The sighting has been detailed within the latest situation of Flamingo Gujarat, the quarterly journal revealed by Bird Conservation Society, Gujarat (BCSG), an Ahmedabad-headquartered NGO working for the conservation of birds within the state.
“On March 24, 2023, at around 17:30 hours, while on a regular birding trip at our garden area in Ahmedabad, I encountered a male orange-headed thrush… The bird was seen well, and it was noted that it moved on the dry leaf bed and looked for insects. It was identified as an orange-headed thrush, and photos were taken from a safe distance. Later, the photos were shared with Devvratsinh Mori, Prasad Ganpule, and Sunil Kini, and it was confirmed to be of the nominate G. c. citrina subspecies,” 11-year-old Ishaan has written in his article revealed in Flamingo Gujarat, stressing that that is the first-ever document of Geokichla citrina citrina in Gujarat. Punit Lalbhai is vice-chairman and government director of Arvind Limited, one of many greatest textile producers in India.
Geokichla citrina cyanotus, a sub-species of orange-headed thrush, is a resident chicken in forests of north and south Gujarat areas and there are scattered information of this sub-species within the Saurashtra area additionally, the Flamingo Gujarat article says.
Geokichla c cyanotus will be distinguished from Geokichla c. cintrina by its black vertical stripes throughout the attention and the ear coverts.
As per the Flamingo Gujarat article, Geokichla c. citrina lacks such stripes and, as a substitute, has an unmarked orange-rufous head and a broad white bar on the slaty-blue wings. They forage on the foliage on the forest ground and their vary extends into south-east Asia.
“Ishaan had been seeing this bird since February and he managed to click good photos in March. This bird is 0common in North and North East India as well as in the Eastern Ghats, southern India, and Sri Lanka,” Kini informed The Indian Express.
“While this bird is a species preferring forests and woodland, the Lalbhai family’s garden is spread over around 10 acres and is a wooded area which can attract such birds,” he added.
Kini stated that he too noticed the chicken throughout a chicken walk the Lalbhais had organised on April 9. “Sometimes, woodland birds are seen in gardens in cities also. Some time ago, an Indian Pitta had made a garden on CG Road in the heart of Ahmedabad its home for a month,” stated Kini, a birdwatcher from Ahmedabad.
Devvaratsinh Mori, assistant managing editor of Flamingo Gujarat, dominated out the potential of the individual seen within the Lalbhai property being an escapee. “While birds of this species do have vibrant colours, there are no known records or literature, portraying birds of this species as pets. Hence, I don’t think the one sighted in Ahmedabad was an escapee,” he stated.
The chicken was not seen within the backyard after April 9, the article says. Prasad Ganpule, a outstanding birdwatcher of Gujarat and former editor of Flamingo Gujarat, stated that the orange-headed thrush seen in Ahmedabad could possibly be a vagrant.
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“Birds of this species are known to migrate from their breeding grounds in the Himalayas to their wintering grounds in the Eastern Ghats and Sri Lanka. The time of its sighting in Ahmedabad suggests that this individual bird could be migrating back to its breeding ground. But Gujarat is not known to be the migration path of this species. So, this particular bird could be a vagrant,” stated Ganpule.
With this, the variety of species of birds recorded in Gujarat has gone as much as 117. In truth, the identical article information a rescue of a red-tailed tropicbird, a chicken that lives at sea more often than not, by Nagajan Modhwadiya in Javar village on the outskirts of Porbandar metropolis on April 16 this yr.
+This can also be the primary document of this species in Gujarat, taking the species rely to 618.
