What is in news : Scientists of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, will geotag the spot-billed pelicans at Kokkrebellur in Mandya district to track their flight path and study their migratory patterns

Details:

• Will help understand the habitat preferred by the birds
• Will help initiate conservation measures through suitable interventions, apart from throwing light on their nesting patterns and breeding biology.
• Around 250 pelicans come to roost at Kokkrebellur during peak season, and this is in addition to painted storks.
• The pelicans which arrive at Kokkrebellur around October or November tend to roost for an extended period of time lasting up to six months.
• Whereabouts are not known for the remaining period and geotagging will to help not only track their movement but also ascertain the preferential habitats of these birds in different seasons and at different location
• In the past, the birds used to be ringed and provided with an identity tag, and ornithologists and birders would identify them and confirm their presence in different location when sighted in those places.
• But their flight path remained unknown as ringing the birds with ID tags did not provide for real-time monitoring to track their movement

About :

• Kokkarebellur village is named after the painted stork (Mycteria leucocephala), which is called “kokkare” in the native Kannada language.
• The village is situated near Maddur between the cities of Mysore and Bangalore.
• Apart from painted storks, spot-billed pelicans are also found here in large numbers. Both are classified to be near threatened in the IUCN Red List.
• The village is one of the 21 breeding sites of those birds in India.

SPOT BILLED PELICAN

• Large pale waterbird
• Hefty pinkish pouched bill marked with diagnostic dark spots on the upper mandible. Head is grizzled with a hint of a shaggy crest
• Back of the neck is dark
• Rings of bare skin around each eye that make this bird look like it’s wearing glasses
• Often seen in large lakes and estuaries fishing in groups
• Nests in noisy colonies in trees bleached by droppings