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  • “Checklist of Birds of Amravati District” Released
    December 20 , 2016.
  • “Checklist of Birds of Amravati District” compiled by Wildlife and Environment Conservation Society, Amravati (WECS) was released during the 17th Vidarbha Pakshimitra Sammelan organized by Bahar Nature Foundation Wardha at Sevagram on 10-11 December 2016.

    Mr. Pravinsingh Pardeshi, Principal Secretary to CM, inaugurated the meet. Dr. V. T. Ingole, president of Sammelan chaired the inauguration ceremony, while MLA Dr. Pankaj Bhoyar, PCCF (WL) Sri Bhagwan, Mr. Shailesh Nawal Dist. Collector of Wardha, Mr. Srinivas Reddi CCF Pench, Dr. Gajanan Wagh Former president of Sammelan, Mr. Kishor Wankhade president of BNF and Dr. Jayant Wadatkar Honorary Wildlife Warden of Amravati and representative of Maharashtra Pakshimitra were present on the dais on this occasion.
    WECS, which is active in Amravati district on Bird research, studies and documentation has released the first checklist in 2010. The latest checklist has 392 birds species, district has shown an increase of 51 bird species and Melghat Tiger Reserve has also shown an increase of 30 species and number went upto 295 from the previous 265 species. “some of the tecords like Hume’s Lark and Long billed plover have turned out to be first records for Maharashtra”, Dr. Jayant Wadatkar Said.
    Environmental problems has become a matter of concern for the world. Drastic and unnatural changes in the environment and also seems to affect the birds. The habitat of birds also caught in danger due to that the list of threatened bird species increased from 21 to 34. Such list has been given in this checklist. It makes a separate mention of Birds species found in of Melghat Tiger Reserve. Mahendri & Pohara- Malkhed Reserve forest. Similarly the list of Birdwatching spots and hotspots and map have also been included in this checklist. Marathi names of the Birds have also been given as per the authentic list which was published by BNHS and Maharashtra Pakshimitra.
    Dr. Jayant Wadatkar, Dr. Gajanan Wagh, Mr. Ninad Abhang, Mr.Kiran More, Mr.Alkesh Thakare, Shishir Shendokar, Gaurav Kadu, Manish Dhakulkar, and Saurav Jawanjal from WECS and Dr. Raju Kasambe and Mr. Nandkishor Dudhe from BNHS took efforts for documentation, compilation and publication. The list will be made available on the website of WECS and would also be available at the office of the Society.

  • Cambridge student studying important bird areas in region
    Manka Behl| Jun 23, 2016.
  • Nagpur: The region is getting international recognition as a rich bird habitat that attracts flocks of various migratory birds. A research student from University of Cambridge, UK, is conducting an assessment of Indian Bird Conservation Network (IBCN) and Important Bird Areas (IBAs).
    Odacy Davis, who is pursuing her MPhil in Conservation leadership, visited Nagpur on Wednesday and interacted with members of Wild-CER organization which is a partner in IBCN programme. The project in India was initiated by Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) for identification of potential IBAs and their monitoring, research and conservation of IBAs and threatened bird species and citizen initiatives for bird conservation.
    Two days back, Davis was in Amravati studying the bird hotspots with volunteers of Wildlife and Environment Conservation Society (WECS). "She visited IBAs in Melghat Tiger Reserve and Mahendri Reserve Forest. During the visit, she studied the bird habitats, threats and methods of conservation that are presently being practised," said Jayant Wadatkar, state coordinator of IBCN and secretary of WECS. Not just success stories, Davis said that she was also looking for loopholes in the existing conservation methods. "This is the first of its kind assessment and will be helpful in conservation programme. The areas I have visited till now are very important in terms of biodiversity," she said.
    Davis said more coordination between government agencies and NGOs was needed. "At some places, I found bird habitats were under threat from pollution, improper waste disposal and other factors. The agencies need to work at grassroots level. Government should provide funding for such areas if they are not a part of national parks or sanctuaries," she suggested.
    Raju Kasambe, Important Bird Area (IBA) programme manager with Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), said that findings of the assessment would help in identifying the pros and cons of the huge network. "The report will be shared with us and we will be willing to implement the suggestions," he added.
    Davis, who has also visited Jalgaon, will now be heading towards Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Goa.

  • Rare migratory bird Black Baza sighted in Kolsa
    Manka Behl| TNN | May 3, 2015
  • NAGPUR: Bird-lovers of the region have a reason to feel excited as Vidarbha is becoming a favourite host for rare migratory birds. In a rare sighting, a raptor bird, Black Baza, was sighted in the Kolsa range of Tadoba. This is believed to be the first sighting of this bird in the Vidarbha region.
    The small sized bird was sighted by Pune-based wildlife enthusiast and avid bird-lover Gajanan Bapat. Black Baza, whose scientific name is Aviceda Leuphotes, is usually found in North-eastern states of the country and neighbouring countries like Thailand.
    Bapat was on a morning safari in Tadoba when he sighted the bird perched on a tree near a waterhole around 8.30am. "At first, I could not identify the bird as it looked different and I had never seen something like it before. So, I immediately took some snaps and decided to identify it later. I was ecstatic as I sighted the bird for about two minutes," he told TOI. He added that there have been no previous records of Black Baza sighting in Vidarbha.
    Honorary wildlife warden of Amravati district and secretary of Wildlife and Environment Conservation Society, Jayant Wadatkar, informed that the bird was last sighted in the state in 1986. "I did some journal research and found out that Black Baza was last sighted at Bhimashankar. The bird lives in evergreen jungles and must be migrating back to its native place," he said.
    Wadatkar added that the bird must have halted in Tadoba for a day or two and is expected to fly North, passing through Gadchiroli and Chhattisgarh as they have rich evergreen forests.
    "The bird species usually migrates towards southern states between Goa and Kerala in winters," he added.

  • Long-billed plover sighted in Amravati: First report from Maharashtra
    TNN | Apr 25, 2014, 06.25AM IST
  • NAGPUR: The Wildlife & Environment Conservation Society (WECS), Amravati, has recorded first sighting of long-billed plover. This is the first sighting of the bird in Maharashtra and possibly in entire peninsular India.
    "The WECS volunteers recorded the bird during its 'Bird back migration study programme'. As per available literature and latest information, the bird has never been sighted in Maharashtra before," said Jayant Wadatkar, honorary wildlife warden of Amravati. Wadatkar said long-billed plover usually bred in Arunachal Pradesh. There have been a few reports about the birds being sighted near Delhi, Andamans, Nepal and even Sri Lanka.
    The plover was sighted at Kekatpur lake by WECS volunteers Kiran More, Ninad Abhang, Jayant Wadatkar, Gajanan Wagh and Gaurav Kadu, all from WECS Amravati.
    "Though the bird was sighted in April first week, we took sufficient time for confirmation. The reason was that another bird, little ring plover, is a common migrant across the country and looks similar to the long-billed," said Wadatkar. However, the one identified as long-billed plover was big in size. It is a winter visitor to northern India.

  • First sighting of Chestnut-winged cuckoo in Vidarbha
    Vijay Pinjarkar | Nov 2, 2013
  • NAGPUR: The little known Wan Wildlife Sanctuary, 350km from here in Buldhana, has recorded the first sighting of a Chestnut-winged cuckoo, a passage migrant bird through Central India.
    Jayant Wadatkar, honorary wildlife warden of Amravati and secretary of Wildlife and Environment Conservation Society (WECS), claimed this is the first sighting in Maharashtra. However, well-known bird expert Dr Anil Pimlapure says the Chestnut-winged cuckoo is sighted in Konkan and Western Ghats. "I have sighted the bird long back near Chandoli National Park. But it has never been sighted in Vidarbha," said Dr Pimlapure.
    Another avid bird watcher Dr Sudhanshu Kothe says, "I've not heard about sighting of the bird in Central India. The sighting should be part of a study."
    The Chestnut-winged or red-winged cuckoo was recently recorded by Wadatkar and his team, comprising Gaurav Kadu, Ninad Abhang, Kiran More and Ved Patki. The team was in Wan, part of Melghat Tiger Reserve, for an ongoing survey for a project on Satpuda.
    There are records of the bird at Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha. The bird is found in North India, Nepal, East China, Indo-China and Myanmar.
    Previous records have shown it to be a resident of North India, a passage migrant through Central India, and wintering in South India, Sri Lanka, Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and Borneo. Records also refer to the bird as a passage migrant in India that breeds in Himalaya, North-East India and Bangladesh.
    "Sighting of the bird has added another variety of bird species found in Melghat," said Wadatkar. He said the bird must be using the Satpuda link to migrate from Eastern Ghats to Western Ghats or vice versa.
    In Peninsular India, the bird has been recorded as a passage migrant, or a rare straggler along the eastern coastal areas, or scarce but regular rainy season or winter visitor in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. However, sightings of Chestnut-winged cuckoo are quite rare. In fact, it appears to be a rare, scarce or uncommon species everywhere, except for some areas of

    About Chestnut-winged Cuckoo



    The Chestnut-winged cuckoo is found in South-East Asia and parts of South Asia. It has dark glossy upperparts, a black head with long crest chestnut wings, a long graduated glossy black tail, rufous throat dusky underside and a narrow white nuchal half collar. They breed along theHimalayas and migrate south in winter to Sri Lanka, southern India and parts of Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. It is about 47cm long.


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