Foraging Ecology of White-Bellied Heron (Ardea insignis) in the Fast-Flowing Rivers of Namdapha Tiger Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh, India

Is the population of the Critically Endangered White-bellied Heron in Namdapha Tiger Reserve, India, declining?

“…Since 2016, herons in Bhutan have stopped re-using nests each year and have changed to a single-use nesting pattern while abandoning older nesting areas, leading to unsuccessful nests in many locations (Acharja, 2020). There are now as few as five breeding pairs in Bhutan (Acharja, 2020) and two active nests recorded from two locations in Arunachal Pradesh (Mondal, 2018;Reddy et al, 2021). Given their rarity and critical conservation status, it is imperative to monitor their populations.…”

“…Given the political instability in Myanmar, the eastern Arunachal region is among the last refuge for the eastern population of the heron. In this region, the Namdapha Tiger Reserve (area: 1,985 km 2 ), which has harboured low but stable heron populations in this region (Maheshwaran, 2008;Mondal, 2018;Menzies et al 2021), is the largest and most important protected area for the species in the region. Recently, the bird has been reported from areas adjoining Namdapha (Habung et al, 2019;Reddy et al, 2021).…”

“…Their extant distribution is extremely patchy across Bhutan, Myanmar, and a few locations in northeast India (Stanley Price & Goodman, 2015). Existing studies on the heron have focussed on their foraging (Mondal & Maheswaran, 2021), breeding (Mondal & Maheswaran, 2014; Acharja, 2020, Reddy et al, 2021), or anecdotal natural history observations (Maheshwaran, 2008; Acharja et al, 2021; Khandu, 2022). Information on encounter rates or densities of heron that can aid population monitoring is relatively limited (but see Menzies et al, 2021).…”