Abstract
Winter raptor migration and movement is poorly documented for peninsular India, mainly due to the lack of geographical bottlenecks. We describe, for the first time, the use of a garbage dump in a metropolitan city as an alternative visual winter raptor monitoring station. The daily count, adult to juvenile ratios and species composition of three migratory raptor species, Steppe Eagle Aquila nipalensis, Black-eared Kite Milvus migrans lineatus and Tawny Eagle Aquila rapax are presented. Ground temperatures at the garbage dump site and surrounding area, and the wing beat rate of migratory raptors before and after arrival in the early morning were measured. A total of 355 raptors migrating over a period of six observation days with 250 adults and 105 juveniles were recorded. The temperature of the garbage dump was significantly higher than the surrounding area, while the wing flapping rate was significantly lower over the garbage dump area. It is possible that migrating raptors use garbage dump thermals in the early morning to save energy with soaring and gliding flight (versus flapping flight). We propose that such sites may be used as visual winter migration monitoring stations in metropolitan cities in peninsular India.
Highlights
ELA FOUNDATION PUNEOPEN ACCESS | FREE DOWNLOADMigration of large raptor populations occurs annually between Eurasia and Africa, North and South America, and Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia and Australia; these migrations are known to occur along specific flyways (Christensen et al 1981; Shirihai 1987, 1988; Shirihai & Yekutiel 1991; Shirihai & Christie 1992; Elphik 1995; Yosef 1995; Meyburg et al 2003)
The time of arrival of the raptors was at 0640hr and all the raptors departed by 0940hr
Inland visual raptor migration surveys were conducted in Indonesia and were shown to be useful (Germi 2005; Germi & Wahiyo 2006)
Summary
Migration of large raptor populations occurs annually between Eurasia and Africa, North and South America, and Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia and Australia; these migrations are known to occur along specific flyways (Christensen et al 1981; Shirihai 1987, 1988; Shirihai & Yekutiel 1991; Shirihai & Christie 1992; Elphik 1995; Yosef 1995; Meyburg et al 2003). Central Asian populations of Steppe Eagles are known to winter in Africa (Steyn 1982; Meyburg et al 2003) and in Nepal (Christensen & Sorensen 1989; deCandido et al 2001). There is a need for research to find the whereabouts of Steppe Eagles that migrate across and along the Himalayas in to the Indian subcontinent (deRodger 1989; den Besten 2004)
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