Arockianathan Samson

Bombay Natural History Society | BNHS · Vulture Programme

Breeding sites of critically endangered white-rumped vultures (Gyps bengalensis) were studied in the Segur plateau of Nilgiris from August 2011 to August 2012. Both direct survey on foot and questionnaire survey were conducted with local inhabitants in and around the study sites. In total, 68 nests of white-rumped vulture were observed in two diffe...

The construction of a road, directly and indirectly, impacts on the ecosystems where the road is built. Highways passing through national reserves/wildlife sanctuaries have an adverse impact on wild animals. The present survey was conducted to estimate the road kills on the state highways passing through the Nilgiri north territorial forest divisio...

Vultures are nature’s most successful scavengers, and they provide an array of ecological, economic and cultural services. There are nine species of vulture found in the Indian sub-continent, four of which are found in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve viz. Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus, Red-headed Vulture Sarcogyps calvus, White-rumped Vul...

PDF of submitted version available for free at: http://publish.illinois.edu/maxallen/files/2019/06/Sebastian-Gonzalez-et-al.-MS.pdf Understanding the distribution of biodiversity across the Earth is one of the most challenging questions in biology. Much research has been directed at explaining the species latitudinal pattern showing that communi...

The ecological health and challenges encountered by Ooty Lake, a prominent wetland area in India, have been comprehensively investigated in this research article. A multi-faceted approach was employed, combining focal animal sampling, pH assessment, microbial testing, and mammal diversity assessment were carried out to provide a holistic understand...

The Pallikaranai Marsh Land is home to a diverse range of bird species in a transition zone that has been subject to disturbances. To ensure the preservation of the natural resources in the PML, it is recommended that human populations and constructions, including the garbage dump yard, be relocated outside of the area. Livestock grazing within the...

The species extinction rate has recently accelerated worldwide and is a thousand times higher than through natural processes alone. Small, isolated populations are especially vulnerable to extinction due to deterministic and stochastic threats. Hence, the conservation of such populations is challenging. The present study from 2015 to 2021 aimed to...

Erythrism occurs in various shades and degrees of intensity, but it has not been previously reported in the Golden Jackal within its global or Indian range. Documenting this rare colour morph and expression of erythrism in the Golden Jackal could serve as an indicator of the consequences of an isolated population in the Nilgiris. We encourage...

The order Lepidoptera, encompassing both butterflies and moths, species within lepidoptera play a pivotal role in ecosystem dynamics as key pollinators. Within this order, moths, constituting the vast majority, take on multifaceted roles within the natural world. With over 12,000 known species documented in the Indian subcontinent alone [1,2], moth...

The present checklist results from extensive long-term field observation from 2011 to 2022. Field observations were systematically conducted during the mornings (6:00 to 10:00) hr and in the evenings (16:00 to 18:00) hr every month from 2011 to 2022. The study recorded 58 species of raptor species, with 32 resident and 26 winter visitors, including...

Tricholepis erubescens was described by Hampson in 1891 and placed in the family Arctiidae and tribe Lithosiini. Watson et al. (1980) replaced the name Tricholepis with Chiretolpis due to the junior homonym of Tricholepis (Blanchard, 1850). Over the past two decades, several molecular studies of Noctuidae and a reappraisal of family limits hav...

Resumen El 28 de enero de 2023 a las 02:30 p. m., el primer autor (DC) registró y fotografió la especie de gato de color completamente negro durante el safari en la jungla en el Gran Rann de Kutch, Gujarat, India. Con base en la evidencia fotográfica identificamos a la especie como gato de la selva (Felis chaus), el cual estaba afectado por melanis...

On 28th January 2023 at 02:30 PM first author (PC) recorded and photographed the completely black in colour cat species during the jungle safari in the Great Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, India. Based on the photographic evidence we identified the species as Jungle cat (Felis chaus), which was affected by melanism. In this note, we highlighted the import...

Lesser Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna javanica is a medium-sized duck belonging to the family Anatidae. It is a widespread resident in the Indian subcontinent and is mostly found in fresh water marshes, shallow ponds, and lakes with emergent vegetations (Grimmett et al. 2011).

Leucism is expressed as the almost total decoloration of certain or whole parts of the body, but preserving the typical color of eyes, nails, and skin. We show the first known case of leucism in a three-striped palm squirrel in Telangana, India. On 12th December 2022, we observed a white-coloured juvenile three-striped palm squirrel along with its...

Beak deformities may be permanent or temporary and are caused by various factors. Despite its vast geographical area in India, there has been little research on beak deformities in wild birds, and few cases have been reported. In the present study, we described, as far as we know, the first known report of a beak deformity in the Egyptian vulture (...

Beak Abnormality in Indian Rock Dove (Columba livia) in Nilgiris, India

This study was conducted on a 30 km stretch of the Coonoor Ghat National Highway 67 (Coonoor– Burliar – Kallar – Mettupalayam) over a one-year period from October 2016 to September 2017 to assess the impact of vehicular traffic on nocturnal mammals. During twice-monthly surveys (24 in total) an observer and driver rode a motorbike at 10–15 km/h, an...

The lake at Udhagamandalam is a man-made one, and over recent decades, has become one of the major tourist attractions in the Queen of the Hills, with a boat-club situated in one corner. T he lake is fed by the Kodappamund channel, which runs down from the erstwhile Toda hamlet of the same name on Kotagiri Road, under the culvert at Charing Cross,...

Menoedius andrewesi FAUVEL, 1903 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae) is reported for the first time since its description. Characters for recognition are mentioned, and a photograph of the beetle in nature, taken at Lovedale (Nilgiri Mountains, Tamil Nadu, India), is provided.

The Nilgiri Marten Martes gwatkinsii Horsfield, 1851 is a mustelid endemic to the Western Ghats (8.31667-21.26667° N), a range of low mountains in southwest India and a global biodiversity hotspot. It is one of the rarest and least known species of martens in the world. The present study focused on the status, distribution, altitudinal variation an...

Uropeltis woodmasoni, commonly known as Woodmason’s Earth Snake is a species of snake in the family Uropeltidae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats of India and it has been recorded in the Anaimalai, Palani, Meghamalai, Nilgiri, and Ashambu Hills. This fossorial species inhabits moist soils and was primarily reported to be found in montane shola fo...

The pin-tailed snipe (Gallinago stenura) also known as the pintail snipe, is a small stocky wader. It breeds in northern Russia and migrates to spend the non-breeding season in southern Asia from Pakistan to Indonesia. It is the most common migrant snipe in southern India, Sri Lanka and much of Southeast Asia. It is a vagrant to northwestern and no...

The Black-and-Orange Flycatcher Ficedula nigrorufa is a species of flycatcher endemic to the central and southern areas of the Western Ghats, the Nilgiris, and Palni hill range in southern India. The main population of this bird is found in the high elevation plateaus (above 1,500 m asl) areas of the Nilgiris, Palani Hills, Biligirirangans (Bellaji...

In the study of diptera diversity and distribuiton conducted in 2020-2021 we found insect species in 23 families out of 64 common individual species. Site-A Hidden Valley is considered to be the place with the highest number of individual (861nos). In this study we found that most pollination in the Nilgiris in the diptera order is done on small...

The Kashmir Flycatcher Ficedula subrubra is endemic to the Indian subcontinent. This bird species is declining globally and IUCN Redlist categorised this species as Vulnerable (Bird Life International 2016). Jammu & Kashmir Government set to declare Kashmir Flycatcher as a new official bird. The Kashmir Flycatcher breeds in the northwest Himalaya,...

This study article is based on the types of migratory birds in Ooty Lake and how they spend six months in this lake and the ecosystem and structure of the area around the lake. The description of the vegetation cover of the reservoir is given. A list of the inhabitants of the lake is given. The ecological state of the lake as a habitat for many s...

Species assemblages often have a non‐random nested organization, which in vertebrate scavenger (carrion‐consuming) assemblages is thought to be driven by facilitation in competitive environments. However, not all scavenger species play the same role in maintaining assemblage structure, as some species are obligate scavengers (i.e., vultures) and ot...

The present record of lchthyophis bombayensis form the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve shows the new locality record of lchthyophis bombayensis from the Western Ghats region. Further studies are required to understand the better distribution of this species in Tamil Nadu state

Albinism is a hypo-pigmentary disorder with a total lack of melanins in hairs, eyes, and skin due to the heritable absence of functional tyrosinase enzyme in pigment cells affecting all skin and hairs, resulting in a total white fur with red eyes. On 10th August 2019, 11:30 am during a fieldwork we recorded an albino male wild boar in Sathyamangala...

Article Leucism is expressed as the almost total decoloration of certain or whole parts of the body, but preserving the typical color of eyes, nails, and skin. This note highlights the occurrence of leucism in three-stripes palm squirrel in Upper Nilgiris region, Tamil Nadu, India

Article The construction of a road, directly and indirectly, impacts on the ecosystems where the road is built. The present survey was conducted to estimate the road kills on the state highways passing through between the district Udhagamandalam and Mettupalayam (55 km). Tamil Nadu, India. The road kills were monitored three times a month between A...

Semnopithecus priam is a Near Threatened species found in southern India and Sri Lanka. On 25 July 2020, a melanistic S. priam individual was observed in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, India. This observation revealed that it is the first known case of melanism in Semnopithecus priam in India and its distributional range.

The Garganey Anas querquedula breeds widely across the temperate and boreal regions of Eurasia, from the United Kingdom, continental Europe, and Scandinavia, east through Russia and other regions of northern and central Asia to the Kamchatka Peninsula, Sakhalin Island, and northern Japan (Brazil 2009; Mullarney & Zetterstrom 2009). It is highly mig...

In this note reported on dilution in Fulvous breasted Woodpecker Dendrocopos macei in Hamirpur (31. 686N & 76. 521E), in Himachal Pradesh, India. It is situated in the Shivalik Hills of Himalaya.

The present study aimed to assess the population status, breeding ecology, and conservation threats of Critically Endangered White-rumped Vulture in Sigur Plateau, Tamil Nadu, India from June 2011 to May 2012. The population of White-rumped vulture was estimated in the roosting and nesting sites twice in a month. Nesting colonies were systematicall...

Vultures play a very important role in the ecosystem as scavengers and are also a symbol of Indian culture. Amongst all the raptors, vultures are the most successful in exploiting the vast food resources created by humans and animals in the form of dead carcasses in the environment. Vultures have declined from many parts of their former ranges in I...

House sparrows Passer domesticus is the commonest and widest distributed bird species in nature. It is primarily associated with human habitation e.g., agricultural land, village, and urban areas. The study was conducted in selected areas of Rural, Suburban, and Urban areas in the Nilgiris. Two sets of questionnaires were developed for this study....

Vultures are nature’s most successful scavengers, and they provide an array of ecological, economic, and cultural services. The present study was aimed to attempt on the status, distribution, and habitat utilization of various vulture species in the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve from November 2018 to March 2019. In STR, vultures were counted on-road...

Human-wildlife conflicts occurred when human beings take negative actions on wildlife and vice-versa. These research works are aimed to investigate the driving forces for human-wildlife conflict and mitigating measures to support policymakers and conservationists from October 2019 to March 2020. Two sets of questionnaires namely ‘precise and closed...

House sparrows Passer domesticus are the commonest and widest distributed bird species in nature. House sparrow numbers have declined by about 60% in urban and suburban areas and the habitat composition and quality in urban suburban landscapes is likely to have changed over this period. In large cities, the number of house sparrows decreased signif...

The lesser noddy (Anous tenuirostris), also known as the sooty noddy, is a seabird in the family Laridae. The lesser noddy occurs on islands in the tropical and subtropical Indian Ocean. The present report of the three records showed that it is a first recorded observation of lesser noddy in East coast of Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary in Chennai, Tam...

In this note, we record the highest elevation limit for Indian Pangolin (in the Nilgiris) with photographic evidence.

Nesting Behaviour of House Sparrow in Urban gradient in Nilgiris

Vultures provide a crucial ecosystem service through the disposal of carcasses and their loss has had huge socioeconomic impacts across the Indian Subcontinent. In south India there are seven species of vultures are recorded of which four species of vultures namely Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus), Red-headed Vulture (Sarcogyps calvus), Whi...

The current study will be aimed to investigate the survey on the status and Distribution of Indian Pangolin in Nilgiri Eastern Ghats Landscapes. Southern India.

Nesting behaviour of Blue Rock Pigeon in Urban Environment in Nilgiris

This study was undertaken to assess the threat from road kills for three-striped palm squirrels in the tropical forest of Sigur plateau, Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu, and Southern India from January 2014 to December 2016. Road kills were recorded along the Udhagamandalam to Masinagudi state highway passing through Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (40...

The present study was carried out on the nesting behavior of IGS in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve during the month of June 2015 to June 2017 (2 years). A total of 192 nesting trees with 279 nests belong to 19 tree species were identified as nesting trees preferences of IGS. Of which Bambusa arundinacea grass species was the dominant nesting grass spe...

The organization of ecological assemblages has important implications for ecosystem functioning, but little is known about how scavenger communities organize at the global scale. Here, we test four hypotheses on the factors affecting the network structure of terrestrial vertebrate scavenger assemblages and its implications on ecosystem functioning....

The present study recorded a total of 174 incidences of vertebrate fauna. Of which, reptiles (39.65%) were more percentage followed by mammals (33.33%), birds (19.54%) and amphibians (7.47%). Among birds House sparrow was severely affected followed by Eurasian collard dove, Jungle babbler, Common myna, Red vented bulbul, Francolin, Laughing dove we...

A total of 82 individuals Indian giant squirrel in a 68 sighting were recorded in 200km of total transects with the encounter rate of 0.41 individuals per km. 9 species of nesting trees were identified a total of 48 nesting trees contained 61 numbers of nests in 20km transect with an average of 3.05 nests per km and 2.4 nesting trees per km. Termin...

The present study aimed to estimate population status, habitat utilization and threats to Indian peafowl in Sigur Plateau, Tamil Nadu on November 2016 to March 2017. A total of 1091 individuals of peafowls were recorded in 487 sightings in 1080 km (2.28±0.05) with the encounter rate of 1.01 individuals/km. In Dry Deciduous Forest a total of 570 ind...

Urban ecosystems pose a very important ecological challenge in conservation, restoration, and reconciliation ecology. Numerous studies have addressed the effects of urban development on bird communities in temperate regions. However, little is known about the effects of urbanization on avifauna in the tropics, despite the fact that the rich tropica...

The Malabar Pied Hornbill (MPH) is a near threatened and this species is endemic to the low elevation moist forests of Western Ghats, a few locations in central India, Eastern Ghats and Sri Lanka. The present study was aimed to understand on the nesting tree preference by A. coronatus in Pillur Valley, Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu, and Southern India...

Predators have evolved strategies to maximize the nutrient intake within different kinds of habitats by selecting different prey species. Prey selection determines spacing patterns and structure of social pattern between predators. Prey selection is critical in understanding life history strategies. A total of 50 scat samples were collected from fi...

The genus Hemiphyllodactylus Bleeker, 1880 remains one of the most poorly known genera of geckos. So far, Hemiphyllodactylus aurantiacus (Beddome, 1870), the Southern Indian half leaf-fingered gecko (also known as the southern ghats slender gecko), has been reported only from few locations in southern Indian states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka an...

The Cinereous Vulture Aegypius monachus is classified as Near Threatened under the IUCN Red List of threatened species. The species is a partial migrant, and a nomad. Cinereous Vultures adults are mostly sedentary while the juvenile birds disperse over larger areas. In South Asia the Cinereous Vulture is resident in arid to semi-arid mountains of P...

India. A total of five tree species were identified as nesting tree preference by the MPH in the Pillur Valley, Western Ghats. Four of these five tree species were identified as belonging to the hard wood category. The nesting tree Madhuca longifolia counted six nests (n = 6)in five nesting trees (n = 5). Overall seventeen nest site characters were...

This note reports the largest specimen of Bibron’s Coral Snake recorded till date.

Rhinoceros beetle (Xylotrupes taprobanes ganesha Silvestre, 2003) recently recorded from Nilgiri hills,Western Ghats.

Rhinoceros beetle (Xylotrupes taprobanes ganesha) Silvestre, 2003 recently recorded from Nilgiri hills,Western Ghats. The distribution of this species were reported from Kerala and Tamil Nadu regions so far here after no works were done in this subspecies distribution so for in this region. This present observation ensure the occurrence of X. Tapro...

The black stork (Ciconia nigra) is a large bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. On 11th March 2018 10:30 AM we sighed 16 wooly Necked Stork foraging on the river bed of Jagalikadavu White-rumped vulture nesting habitat in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu, Southern India. Among the 16 individuals one individual was different for their group compl...

Spiders are an important group of generalised predators in the world. They are the largest order of Arachnids and rank seventh in the total species diversity among all the other groups of organisms On 28th May 2017 4:30 pm we found the ‘Nilgiri Large Burrowing Spider’ (Haploclastus nilgirinus) from Coonoor, The Nilgiris, Western Ghats a total of 40...

Chital uses more wooded habitat during the cool-dry season and early summer (November to May), where fallen fruit, leaf litter, and browse are available. The present record envisages that the occurrences Chital in higher elevation due to foraging and avoid the predators in upper Nilgiris in winter season.

In this chapter, we presented the population status and distribution of the Nilgiri Langur Trachypithecus johnii from Nilgiris of Western Ghats. The studies were carried out in the Nilgiri North Forest Division from December 2011 to March 2012.

Vultures play an essential role in environmental health by scavenging meat from carcasses and take place end of the ecosystem as decomposer, without which the ecosystem is incomplete. The vultures are under serious threat in all its distribution ranges. In Southern India, there are five species of vultures successfully thriving unlike Northern Indi...

White Stork Ciconia ciconia (Linnaeus, 1758) usual winter migrants to India, are widespread in the country, generally occurring in low densities in their winter habitat. On 24 December 2013 the White Stork was recorded in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu followed by 13 February 2018 the second record was registered in this region. Lite...

Wetlands are defined as transitional lands between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems where the water table is usually at or near the surface or the land is covered by shallow water. Water birds are an important component of most of wetland environment, as these occupy several trophic levels in the food web of wetland nutrient cycles also wetland,...

we observed an unusual feeding behavior of the House Sparrow Passer domesticus in the meat market at Udhagamandalam, The Nilgiris. Both the parents of a family of sparrows were seen collecting and subsequently feeding pieces of dressed mutton to their nestlings.

Population status of declining House sparrows in the Ketti valley, The Nilgiris

The article on First Train Collision Record for King Cobra Ophiophagus hannah (Cantor 1836) in the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, Southern India. This is the first record in this region.