90
SHORT NOTES
size of adults made no attempt to run away when
approached. By contrast, the chicks of African
Skimmers Rynchops flavirostris are described to ‘run
from the scrape, flatten out on the sand and remain
still’ in response to danger (Coppinger et al. 1988).
Threats and disturbance
During the June visit, the river had dried considerably
and the large island with the skimmer colony had
become connected to one of the banks by a sandbank.
Goats and cattle had grazed on the island, and may
have trampled over eggs and chicks. Dogs were seen to
eat nestlings, and possibly eggs. One chick was found
bleeding on the head from a cut, perhaps caused by
either trampling or a bite. The damming of the river
Chambal upstream in Rajasthan, and an irrigation
project, have led to markedly lower levels of water
during the dry season in recent years, causing the river
to dry up completely in parts. This reduces the availability of islands for skimmers, or makes the islands
more accessible from the banks. In 2001, the water
level was very low during the nesting season and no
skimmer nests were found in the NCS (NCS forest
staff verbally 2003). Disturbance from planned development such as proposed railway and road bridges,
and increased removal of water for irrigation further
threatens skimmer habitat in the area. It is crucially
important that deep water and river flow is maintained,
so that suitable nesting islands remain isolated by water
throughout the breeding season. These issues need
addressing if the species is to be conserved effectively
in the sanctuary.
Forktail 20 (2004)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The observations were carried out while carrying out fieldwork
under the project ‘Impact of land use change on the habitat and
ecology of the Indian Sarus Crane (Grus a. antigone) in the IndoGangetic flood plains’ of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), and I
thank the Director and B. C. Choudhury for facilities and infrastructure. R. Chauhan and family are thanked for making the stay in
Etawah comfortable and congenial. R. Chauhan, S. Chauhan, D.
Singh and A. Verma assisted in fieldwork. A previous draft of the
manuscript benefited from the comments of S. Javed, A. R.
Rahmani, K. Sivakumar, and an anonymous reviewer, and I am
grateful for their assistance. I am particularly grateful to Will
Duckworth for discussions on the status of the Indian Skimmer in
South-East Asia, and for providing many pertinent references.
REFERENCES
Ali, S. and Ripley, S. D. (1969) Handbook of the birds of India and
Pakistan. Vol. 3. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Baker, E. C. S. (1922–1930) The fauna of British India, including
Ceylon and Burma. Second edition. London: Taylor and Francis.
BirdLife International (2001) Threatened birds of Asia: the BirdLife
International Red Data Book. Cambridge, U.K.: BirdLife
International.
BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004. CDROM. Cambridge, U.K.: BirdLife International.
Coppinger, M. P., Williams, G. D. and MaClean, G. L. (1988)
Distribution and breeding ecology of the African Skimmer on the
upper and middle Zambezi river. Ostrich 59: 85–96.
Sharma, R. K. and Singh, L. A. K. (1989) Wetland birds in the
National Chambal Sanctuary. Unpublished report to Crocodile
Breeding Centre/Wildlife Institute of India.
Sharma, R. K., Sharma, S. and Mathur, R. (1995) Faunistic survey
of river Mahanadi vis-à-vis environmental conditions in Madhya
Pradesh. Tigerpaper 22(3): 21–26.
Zusi, R. L. (1996) Family Rynchopidae. Pp. 670–677 in J. del Hoyo,
A. Elliott and J. Sargatal, eds. Handbook of the birds of the world.
Vol. 3. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions.
K. S. Gopi Sundar, Principal Coordinator, Indian Cranes and Wetlands Working Group, c/o International Crane
Foundation, E-11376, Shady Lane Road, Baraboo,Wisconsin 53913-0447, U.S.A. Present address: c/o Wildlife
Protection Society of India, M-52, Greater Kailash Part-I, New Delhi - 110048, India. Email:
gopi@savingcranes.org
First record of Christmas Island Frigatebird
Fregata andrewsi for Timor-Leste (East Timor)
COLIN R. TRAINOR
There are only three acceptable records of the
Critically Endangered Christmas Island Frigatebird
Fregata andrewsi for Wallacea, all from the Lesser Sunda
islands of Lombok, Semau (off Timor) and West Timor
(McKean 1987, Johnstone et al. 1993, Coates and
Bishop 1997, BirdLife International 2001). Here I
describe the first record for the new nation of TimorLeste (East Timor).
At 15h30 on 1 March 2003, four frigatebirds were
observed in flight over the Dili harbour area. The birds
were observed from a distance of 40–50 m without the
aid of binoculars and were not identified. During a
prolonged period of strong wind (c.40–50 km/h) they
continued to fly over beach-front habitat near the Hotel
Tourismo, heading towards Cape Cristo Rei
(8o31’26”S 125o36’33”E), 5 km north-east of Dili.
I collected my binoculars and took a taxi to Cristo
Rei beach. Between 16h30 and 17h15 a total of 17
frigatebirds were observed as they soared, singly, in
pairs and a party of five, towards the cape, where they
gathered in a loose group before soaring east along the
coast at c.17h30. One pair of birds soaring about 60 m
directly above my head included an all-black male
Great Frigatebird Fregata minor, together with a male
Christmas Island Frigatebird. The latter was identified
by its dark (perhaps black) bill, black neck, chest, upper
Forktail 20 (2004)
SHORT NOTES
belly and underwing, with a striking white lower belly.
It was clearly an adult. At least one female Great
Frigatebird was identified in the group. Several females
with white spurs on the axillary feathers were also
observed, however I could not determine whether they
were Lesser Frigatebird Fregata ariel or Christmas
Island Frigatebird (possibly both were present).
Frigatebirds are regular along the coast near Dili
with observations of small numbers every few days in
the period March–May 2003. A large group of up to 150
individuals was frequently seen at Manatutu. The only
other record of Christmas Island Frigatebird for Timor
was also of a single adult male, observed along the coast
near Kupang on 26 June 1986 (McKean 1987).
The Christmas Island Frigatebird is considered a
vagrant to the Lesser Sundas (BirdLife International
2001). However it should be emphasised that limited
and highly sporadic effort has been expended by
ornithologists along the coasts of these islands.
Further, this ornithological note is the first based on
direct observations in Timor-Leste since 1973
(McKean et al. 1975, see also Trainor and Soares 2004,
this issue).
91
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Fieldwork in East Timor, undertaken on behalf of BirdLife
International Asia Programme, was supported by the Asia Bird Fund
of BirdLife International, with principal support from The Garfield
Foundation and the BirdLife Rare Bird Club.
REFERENCES
BirdLife International (2001) Threatened birds of Asia: the BirdLife
International Red Data Book. Cambridge, U.K.: BirdLife
International.
Coates, B. J. and Bishop, K. D. (1997) A guide to the birds of Wallacea.
Alderley, Australia: Dove Publications.
Johnstone, R. E., van Balen, S., Dekker, R. W. R. J. (1993) New
bird records for the island of Lombok. Kukila 6: 124–127.
McKean, J. L. (1987). A first record of Christmas Island Frigatebird
Fregata andrewsi on Timor. Kukila 3: 47.
McKean, J. L., Mason, I. J. and O’Connor, L. W. (1975) Birds not
previously recorded from Timor. Emu 75: 62–64.
Trainor, C. R. and Soares T. (2004) Birds of Atauro Island, TimorLeste (East Timor). Forktail 20: 41–48.
Colin R.Trainor, 3 Empire Crt Anula 0812, Northern Territory, Australia. Email: Halmahera@hotmail.com
Diet of Houbara Bustard Chlamydotis undulata in
Punjab, Pakistan
MUHAMMAD SAJID NADEEM, FAIZ ALI and M. SAEED AKHTAR
Houbara Bustard Chlamydotis undulata (taxonomic
treatment follows BirdLife International 2004) ranges
from North Africa, through the Middle East to
Mongolia. In Pakistan, where the present study was
carried out, it is largely a winter visitor (Cramp 1980,
Roberts 1991–1992).The species is omnivorous, eating
fruit, seeds, shoots, leaves and flowers, with animal prey
including locusts, grasshoppers, mole-crickets, and
beetles (Cramp 1980). Here we describe gizzard
contents of Houbara Bustards collected in Punjab,
Pakistan.
METHODS
A total of 34 Houbara Bustard gizzards were collected
during 1999–2000 from hunting parties and local
trappers in Rajanpur/Rojhan, Thal and Cholistan
regions, Punjab, to determine the food preferences.
Samples were immediately fixed in 10% formaldehyde.
Unfortunately it was not possible to record mass, age
and sex of the birds. Plant and animal matter of
contents were separated, weighed and identified in the
Botany and Zoology Departments, University of the
Punjab, Lahore.
RESULTS
Most of the matter found in the Houbara Bustard
gizzards was plant material (78% by mass). Parts of
seeds, leaves, flowers and young shoots of 19 plant
species belonging to 11 families were identified
(Table 1). The most frequent included Dipterygium
glaucum (91% of samples and 40% of total dry mass),
Capparis decidua (65% and 2.7% respectively),
Haloxylon salicornicum (35% and 1.7%) and Farsetia
hamiltonii (32% and 11%). Among the animal matter,
the most frequent species was Adesmia aenescens (94%
of samples and 11% of total dry mass), Pimelia indica
(24% and 2.2% respectively), and Arthrodosis sp. (21%
and 2.5%). The proportion of animal matter appeared
to increase from October to February (Table 2).
DISCUSSION
The results presented here accord well with other
studies of Houbara Bustard diet. In Pakistan, Mirza
(1971) analysed gizzard contents of 100 individuals,
and reported that 88% of samples contained both plant
matter (including the genera Haloxylon, Farsetia,
Fagonia, Tribulus, Zygophyllum, and Crotalaria) and
animal matter (including insects such as grasshoppers