Migrating birds in Chaibasa, Jharkhand
It was evening of mid July, sun was already set but the sun rays were shimmering in the sky. I was out to breath in the fresh air of evening and what I saw were maybe the largest birds I had ever seen in my this life. These were five large storks sited on the Dalbergia sissoo (Indian redwood or Sheesham tree). I have seen storks earlier but these were of extra large size. This happen in July 2021.
In this article I am wandering and wondering around some of migrating birds specially about Storks in Jharkhand.
Migration is the phenomenon of shifting of some species in a large groups from their natural/permanent home or habitat. They do so to escape seasonal temperature and weather; some are cold habitat adapted and migrates in summer season to the colder areas and some are warm habitat adapted and migrates in the winter season to the warmer countries. Some migrates to breed. Some migrates in search of batter food opportunities. And also some migrates because of loss of their natural habitat; which is sad.
So we can say migration is a vacation trip with whole community for 3 to 4 month or so. And it brings opportunity for local folks to observe and admire these birds.
The world of migrating birds is full of wonders. They change there habitat, visits other areas, they cover long distance, some make nest individually but some in large colonies, some are small and some are largest among the bird family. Their feeding habits, their living habits everything strike my Cerebrum too hard. Lets learn about these amazing creatures, not in detail but I'll try to cover every large species of storks, after all I am investigating "that stork group".
According
to a survey on Jharkhand held in 2018, around 46,883 birds of 69
different species, out of which 57 are waterbird species and 12 wetland
species migrate to Jharkhand between January to February.
- Indian Pitta ‘Navrang’ _ Pitta brachyura : passerine bird having, origin in Indian subcontinent. Their speciality is their 9 colored wings.
- Asian Paradise flycatcher _ Terpsiphone paradisi :
- Pheasant tailed Jacana _ Hydrophasianus chirurgus
: All jacanas grab my special attention because of their long feet and
toes, through which they are able to walk on the water...haha not
water...on the water vegetation i.e. on large water leaves on the surface.
- Copper
smith barbet _Psilopogon haemacephalus : Sounds like the copper smith
hitting metal with his hammer.
Storks
It was evening of mid July, sun was already set and sun rays were shimmering in the sky. I was out to breath in the fresh air of evening and what I saw was ,or I should say; were largest bird I had ever seen in my whole life. These were five large stork sited on the Dalbergia sissoo (Indian redwood or Sheesham tree). I have seen storks earlier but these were of extra large size.
After searching for these migrating birds on internet and a little research I got some data and an article of Hindustan Times dated 3rd of January 2019. This article was based on the telling of a wildlife bird photographer 'Nayanam'.
According to Nayanam 11 male and female
Asian Open Bill Storks were spotted on the Chandmari Pond near Chaibasa
bus stand. And so I did google about Asian Open Bill Stork. Asian Open
Bill Storks are most common in southern region of India. They are white and
black in color. The special feature of this species is that their upper
and lower beak have a gape. and so they got this fancy name. Their
zoological name is Anastomus oscitans.
_by_Shantanu_Kuveskar.jpg)
Photograph by Shantanu Kuveskar Location : Mangaon, Raigad, Maharashtra, India
| Order: | Ciconiiformes |
| Family: | Ciconiidae |
| Genus: | Anastomus |
| Species: | A. oscitans |
I have noticed these birds this season, they are big but not the size of those mysterious storks. These birds are relatively smaller than typical stork having size of 68 cm height and 81 cm length. Anastomus oscitans are smaller storks and could not be the one I witnessed. So I keep on searching and reading and again searching...
So lets see some of the largest storks in India:
Greater Adjutant (Leptoptilos dubius)
| Order: |
| ||
| Family: | Ciconiidae | ||
| Genus: | Leptoptilos | ||
| Species: | L. dubius |
Photo by it's owner; couldn't find on internet
Leptoptilos dubius is the largest stork species in India. It's head and neck is more or less naked and having some similarities with Vultures in it's appearance. The fun fact which take it closer to vulture is that L. dubius are also scavengers like the vultures. And for this feeding habit, greater adjutant have bad reputation. However they sometimes attack on its prey, but somtimes; vultures also do this as well with weak and feeble animals. They look really scary though.
Greater Adjutant are restricted to Assam. But in 20th century and earlier they were common to many other parts of India. They were in abundance in Kolkata, and were specially called "Culcutta Adjutant". However, sadly they had vanished till the early 1900s. In year 2006 a small group with 35 nests of Adjutant was discovered in Bhagalpur, Bihar. In year 2008 their population was nearly 1000 in India. Presently the whole population of The Greater Adjutant is found only in Cambodia and Assam, India. The total estimated no. is 1000 in the globe and out of which 600 to 700 are in Assam.
Now this amazing bird have gone at the edge of Extinction. Programs and projects are running by both government and non-government organizations. You can check the full report here .
The bird have average length of 1.36m, height of 1.50m and wing wide-span of 2.50m.
Lesser Adjutant (Leptoptilos javanicus)
| Order: | Ciconiiformes |
| Family: | Ciconiidae |
| Genus: | Leptoptilos |
| Species: | L. javanicus |
Photo by OurPlanetImages.com
Laptoptilos javanicus are relatives of greater adjutant but smaller then them. They are less scavengers and mainly feed on water creatures. It is thus common near water bodies. They are found in different countries of Asia ex. India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia, Malaysia, Viet Nam.
They are large, 87–93 cm from bill-to-tail and stands about 110–120 cm (43–47 in) tall. They weighs from 4 to 5.71 kg.
Their population in India is centered in Bihar, West Bangal and Assam. They live solitary life and are non-migratory. But who knows some of friends thought, lets do a real trip and by chance they come to my house. West Bengal and Bihar are not too far from here.
So what I found
Migration is common in many wild creatures. However they were huge but I don't remember them scary and Greater Adjutant is real scary. I think that maybe I had seen a small group of Open Bill Storks.
Ibis
After two years,this May, I see a group(19-22) of Black headed Ibis in Saraikela. Wow these amazing birds. They have black head, bill and feet, covered with white beautiful feathers on body. Their bill is long. And their body size is large.
| Domain: | Eukaryota | ||||||
| Kingdom: | Animalia | ||||||
| Phylum: | Chordata | ||||||
| Class: | Aves | ||||||
| Order: | Pelecaniformes | ||||||
| Family: | Threskiornithidae | ||||||
| Subfamily: | Threskiornithinae |
There are 29 living Genus and 4 extinct genus of ibis.
The species I witnessed was Threskiornis.
Threskiornis is a genus of ibises, wading birds of the family Threskiornithidae. They occur in the warmer parts of the Old World in southern Asia, Australasia and Sub-Saharan Africa. They are colonial breeders, which build a stick nest in a tree or bushes and lay two to four eggs. They occur in marshy wetlands and feed on various fish, frogs, crustaceans and insects.
Adult Threskiornis ibises are typically 75 cm long and have white body plumage. The bald head, neck and legs are black. The bill is thick and curved.
Wrong way to say goodbye
Today is 5th of September, and I am kind of feeling low. Today again I saw Open Bill on my Dalbergia sissoo. They are really common in Chaibasa during rainy season. Sometimes I doubt myself. I didn't took picture of those birds two years ago and maybe I was wrong. Maybe they were not that much huge in size. Maybe they are the same species I see today. So maybe it's time to close the investigation and move on 😩.
But, all this taught me a lot about waders, and migrating birds. Different birds' body parts, and their funny group names, their behaviour, and their hugeness.
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