Black-naped Oriole sighted

Rare visitor: The black-naped Oriole ringed at Point Calimere.

Ornithologists at seaside bird sanctuary of Point Calimere have recorded a rare visitor, black-naped Oriole, a migratory bird breeding in eastern Siberia, China, Korea and Vietnam. This is the first time the species has been ringed and recorded in the sanctuary.

The bird is a rare visitor to the plains of Tamil Nadu but has already been sighted along the State’s coast line from Chennai to Thoothukudi on a few occasions. The visits of the bird have been documented between November 2015 and April this year at Guindy National Park, Chennai, and on Indian Institute of Technology-Madras campus, suggesting that some birds wintered in those areas. This being a data deficient species, at times overlooked as the more common Eurasian Golden Oriole, its distribution or visits to Tamil Nadu is yet to be documented clearly, aver researchers.

The Black-naped Oriole, which prefers unobtrusive canopies, was recorded in the tropical dry evergreen forests at the Point Calimere Sanctuary, presumably on its autumn passage to a wintering site further southeast.

The individual trapped at the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) Bird Migration Study Centre at Point Calimere was marked with a metal ring to facilitate recording of its age and other details.

Established in 1994, the Point Calimere field station is the first and only branch of the BNHS. Ringing of birds has been the main objective of this facility as it helps in finding out the migratory habits of the birds, the species which migrate to Point Calimere from Siberia, China, the Mediterranean Sea, the Himalayas, Australia, etc., according to BNHS Deputy Director S. Balachandran.

The BNHS has been supplementing the efforts of the State Forest Department in studying the arrival and stay of the migratory birds.

Speaking on the ringing of birds, Dr. Balachandran said they would be trapped early in the morning by spreading mist nest in specific locations. The various details of the birds caught are then recorded meticulously at the Centre after which aluminium rings with specific markings of Point Calimere and also containing the unique number of the bird is fitted to the leg of the bird before setting it free. The bird would not undergo any harm during the whole process, said Dr. Balachandran.This year more than 400 birds had been ringed.