Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 June 2020 | 12(9): 16166–16169
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5537.12.9.16166-16169
#5537 | Received 07 November 2019 | Final
received 15 June 2020 | Finally accepted 17 June 2020
Breeding site records of three
sympatric vultures in a mountainous cliff in Kahara-Thathri,
Jammu & Kashmir, India
Muzaffar A. Kichloo
1, Sudesh Kumar 2 & Neeraj Sharma 3
1 Department of Environmental
Sciences, Govt. Degree College, Thathri (Doda), UT of Jammu and Kashmir 182203, India.
2 Department of Environmental
Sciences, Govt. MAM College, Jammu (Jammu), UT of Jammu and Kashmir, 180006,
India.
3 Faculty of Life Sciences,
Institute of Mountain Environment, Bhaderwah (Doda), UT of Jammu and Kashmir 182222, India.
1 omar.mzfr@gmail.com, 2 sudesh1098@gmail.com,
3 nirazsharma@gmail.com (corresponding author)
Editor: M. Zafar-ul
Islam, Prince Saud al Faisal Wildlife Research Center,
Taif, Saudi Arabia. Date
of publication: 26 June 2020 (online & print)
Citation: Kichloo,
M.A., S. Kumar & N. Sharma (2020). Breeding site
records of three sympatric vultures in a mountainous cliff in Kahara-Thathri, Jammu & Kashmir, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(9): 16166–16169. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5537.12.9.16166-16169
Copyright: © Kichloo
et al. 2020. Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: The study
was funded by Institute of Mountain
Environment, Bhaderwah Campus, University of Jammu.
Competing interests: The authors
declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: The authors gratefully
acknowledge the Department of Wildlife Protection, Chenab Circle, Government of
Jammu & Kashmir for their support and assistance in conducting this
study. The authors are also thankful to the
Rector, Bhaderwah Campus, University of Jammu for
providing necessary logistics and travel support. The help rendered by Mr. Ajaz
Ansari and Mr. Nissar Ahmed of IME during the field
surveys is highly appreciated and duly acknowledged.
Vultures
occupy a vital position in an ecosystem as efficient scavengers. They are believed to have evolved with
ungulates who provided the food in the form of sick, injured or depredated
individuals (Mundy et al. 1992). Of
late, they have started exploiting the vast food resources created by man in
terms of animal waste (Naoroji 2006). They are hence considered the most successful
raptors world over. Once abundant in the
region, their population in the Indian subcontinent is on a continuous decline. It is mostly attributed to the food shortage,
diclofenac, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) poisoning,
pesticides, and diseases among others (BirdLife
International 2006, 2008; Swan et al. 2006; Prakash et al. 2007, 2012, 2019;
Cuthbert et al. 2011a,b).
Of
the nine vulture species occurring in India (Naoroji 2006;
Praveen et al. 2016), six have been reported from the erstwhile state of Jammu
& Kashmir (eBird 2020) and five from the upper
Chenab catchment (Sharma et al. 2018).
The current communication deals with the breeding records of three
sympatric vultures, viz., Himalayan Vulture Gyps himalayensis,
Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus, and Bearded vulture Gypaetus barbatus from a
mountain cliff in Kahara, Thathri
(33.1210N & 75.8530E, ca. 1,500m), a part of upper
Chenab catchment. The Himalayan vulture,
a ‘Near Threatened’ species (Birdlife International 2017a) has a broad range
extending from the Palearctic realms in the high altitudes of central Asian
republics and the Himalaya from Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, northern India
through southern Tibet and Nepal to Bhutan and central China to Singapore
(Birdlife International 2020). Occurring
at 600–2,500 m, they have been seen foraging up to 4,500m and even beyond (Ali
& Ripley 1968; Grimmet et al. 2011)
The
Egyptian Vulture, listed ‘Endangered’ (Birdlife International 2019), is widely
distributed from northern Africa and southwestern Europe to southern Asia
(Birdlife International 2020). Comparatively smaller than other
vultures and an opportunist feeder (feeding on a vast range of food), it is the
only living member of the genus Neophron. While other vulture species live in large
groups, these are mostly seen either solitary or in pairs. The mating pair often remains together
outside the nesting period, an unusual trait for raptors (Birdlife International
2020).
Bearded
Vulture, the only member of genus Gypaetus distributed
across the Palearctic, Afrotropical and Indo-Malayan regions is considered rare
in some areas and thought to be declining (Ferguson-Lees & Christie
2001). In India, the species is fairly
common throughout the Himalayas from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh (Naoroji 2006). The
altitudinal movements occur during the winters when individuals occasionally
hover as low as 600 m (Birdlife International 2020). It is listed as ‘Near Threatened’ on the IUCN
Red List (Birdlife International 2017b), and its declining populations coincide
with poisoning (accidental and targeted) as well as habitat degradation,
disturbance of breeding sites and collision with power lines (Ferguson-Lees
& Christie 2001).
Vultures are usually believed to compete for several
types of resources including food (Petrides 1959; Konig 1983; Mundy et al. 1992; Hertel 1994) habitat and
nest sites (Fernández & Donázar 1991; Margalida & Garcia 1999; Bertran
& Margalida 2002). Evidence of interspecific aggression at nest
sites has also been observed between sympatric vulture species (Blanco et al.
1997; Pascual & Santiago 1991; Aykurt & Kiraç 2001). The
competition, resource apportionment and population density of vultures can
sometimes allow sympatric species to have considerable overlap in resource use
(Wiens 1977; Steenhof & Kochert
1988). We, through this communication,
present the interesting breeding sight records of three large-sized vultures in
a cliff mountain. The steep mountain
block is characterised by rugged rocky outgrowths with narrow grassy slopes and
scattered woody patches, deciduous at the base and conifers at the top. The cliff is a potential habitat for
Himalayan Goral Naemorhedus goral,
Rhesus Macaque Macaca mulatta,
and Kashmir Gray Langur Semnopithecus
ajax.
On July 11, 2019, while doing a reconnaissance survey
for Eurasian Otter Lutra lutra in the Kalnai
River at Kahara in district Doda
of the union territory of Jammu & Kashmir, we spotted three active nests of
vultures in rocky crevices of the cliffs (1,350–1,570 m) overlooking a deep
gorge. Of these, two were of the
Himalayan Vulture (Images 1 & 2) and one of Bearded Vulture (Image 3). Made of twigs and lined by dry grass, the
nests mostly east-facing, were built on the ledges or in cavities and small
caves on cliffs well protected from predators.
The vultures preferred the inaccessible cliffs on the left bank for
nesting, though a few active nests were observed along the right bank too. The right bank’s drier slopes were exposed to
a myriad disturbances, (road networks, habitations, stone crushers, micro-hydel
power projects, etc.) and thus not ideal for nesting.
We
visited the forward area again on 28 July 2019 and found two more nests, one belonging
to the Egyptian and the other to the Bearded Vulture. The former made of twigs intertwined with
fabric occupied one juvenile and an adult Egyptian vulture resting nearby
(Image 4). The other massive nest of the
Bearded Vulture (Image 5) observed a few hundred feet above, housed a juvenile
and the parent birds (Image 6). The
roosting sites for all the vultures were found close to the observed active
nests.
From
the field observations, it is evident that the mountain cliff provides
potential breeding habitat for the vultures and possibly other birds of prey as
well. The inaccessibility, rugged
topography (for nesting) and the abundant food base (gorals, monkeys, langurs, pikas, and rodents) make it an ideal nesting location for
the vultures. Further, the two adjoining
townships (Thathri and Kahara)
provide adequate food resources, as most of the Egyptian and Himalayan vultures
are attracted to the carcases and carrion dumped at
the municipal solid waste sites located ca. 8km downstream. The stony areas could possibly be used by the
Bearded Vultures to break bones. The
presence of iron-rich springs or rocks could be the other factors signalling their dominance.
The authors further aim to study the resource apportionment and
influence of habitat variables (climate, terrain, disturbance) on the nest site
characteristics.
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