<b>The Vulnerable Indian Skimmer <I>Rynchops albicollis</I> Swainson, 1838 (Aves: Charadriiformes: Laridae) breeding in Odisha, eastern India</b>

Abstract

The Indian Skimmer is a globally threatened bird native to Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Vietnam. In India, it is more confined to the north, from Punjab through Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh to West Bengal, extending up to Odisha. Earlier, the bird was known to breed only in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, we confirm here the breeding of the Indian Skimmer along the river Mahanadi near Mundali, Odisha, eastern India. So, further monitoring at the breeding site and survey along the entire Mahanadi River are essential to understand the status of the Indian skimmer in Odisha. The information will also aid in reassessing its global status and formulating conservation plans.

Observations on Indian Skimmer Rynchops albicollis Swainson, 1838 (Aves: Charadriiformes: Laridae) breeding colonies in Middle Ganges stretch, India

“…Many species of birds are known to utilize the river and its associated habitats to complete partial or entire lifecycles (Page & Gill 1994;Vaughan et al 2007;Froneman et al 2011;Rahmani 2012). Additionally, the riverine system has an intricate relationship with humans, which sometimes causes overexploitation and habitat degradation, and can adversely impact the populations of species like the Indian Skimmer and the Black-bellied Tern Sterna acuticauda (Kar et al 2018;. In our study area, we observed multiple pressures on the river system, which negatively impacts the breeding cycle of Indian Skimmer and may severely affect the species at the population level on a long run.…”

“…It gradually helps in identifying key conservation priorities and monitoring the effect of change in policy and environment (Havstad & Herrick 2003;Giron-Nava et al 2017). However, long-term ecological monitoring of the waterbirds and their associated habitats is limited in India (Prasad et al 2002;Kar et al 2018;Singh & Sharma 2018;Debata et al 2019). The riverine systems of India facilitate the occurrence of river-dependent birds by providing shelter, forage, and breeding grounds (Islam & Rahmani 2008;Rajguru 2017;Sinha et al 2019).…”

“…The known breeding grounds of the species reported from India are National Chambal Sanctuary on river Chambal in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh (Sundar 2004;Das 2015;Shaikh et al 2018;Singh & Sharma 2018), Narora Ramsar Site on river Ganges in Uttar Pradesh (Siddiqui et al 2007), Son Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary on river Son in Madhya Pradesh (Dilawar & Sharma 2016), and Pong Dam Wildlife Sanctuary in Himachal Pradesh (Fernandes & Besten 2013). However, new breeding records have been reported in the last five years from the middle Ganges stretch (Ankit et al 2018;Mital et al 2019) and Mahanadi (Rajguru et al 2017;Debata et al 2018). The breeding season starts after the winters ranging from February to May in different breeding sites.…”

Population Size, Behavior and Threats to Indian Skimmers (Rhynchops albicollis) at Their Largest Known Wintering Site

“…This is a consequence of habitat fragmentation and degradation of lowland river and lake systems throughout much of their range (BirdLife International 2020). At present, India is the last remaining breeding ground for Indian Skimmers where they mainly breed in Ganges (Ankit et al 2018;Mital et al 2019), Chambal (Das 2015), Son (Dilwar and Sharma 2016) and Mahanadi rivers (Debata et al 2017). Bangladesh is the last remaining stronghold for nonbreeding Indian Skimmers in winter, and >1,000 skimmers can still be seen in Nijhum Dweep National Park in the south-central coast of the country annually (Islam and Khan 2005;Das 2015;Das et al 2020a).…”

“…Yet, Mohsanin (2014) reported a 90 % decrease of Indian skimmers in Bangladesh between 2000 and 2013, and the species is now considered Critically Endangered by IUCN Bangladesh (2015). Any form of protection or management, however, is hindered by specific ecological knowledge (Rahmani 2012;Debata et al 2017;Das et al 2020a).…”