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Offal dumping sites influence the relative abundance and roosting site selection of Black Kites (Milvus migrans govinda) in urban landscape: a study from Kolkata metropolis, India

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment

December 2017
190(1)

DOI:10.1007/s10661-017-6391-7

Authors:

Subhendu Mazumdar

Shibpur Dinobundhoo Institution (College)

Dipankar Ghose

WWF India

Goutam Kumar Saha

University of Calcutta

Although Black Kites (Milvus migrans govinda) serve as major scavenging raptor in most of the urban areas, scientific studies on this important ecosystem service provider are almost non-existent in Indian context. The present study was carried out in a metropolis in eastern India to find out the factors influencing relative abundance and roosting site selection of Black Kites. Separate generalized linear models (GLMs) were performed considering encounter rate and roosting Black Kite abundance as response variables. The study conclusively indicated that encounter rates of Black Kites were significantly influenced by the presence of garbage dumps in its vicinity. Numbers of Black Kites were also higher in the roosting sites situated closer to garbage dumps and open spaces. In addition, expected counts of Black Kites significantly increased in roosting sites situated away from buildings and water bodies. However, built-up area and tree cover around the roosting sites had no influence on the abundance of Black Kites therein. With rapid urbanization and changing offal disposal patterns, our findings would be useful to ensure continued availability of food and roosting sites of Black Kites in urban areas.

Map of Kolkata, India (location of 22 communal roosting sites of Black Kite is indicated by black dots)

…

Season-wise (mean ± SD) comparison of encounter rate of Black Kites in Kolkata, India [Columns with the same letters (b in case of monsoon and post-monsoon) are not significantly different from each other (Bonferroni post hoc tests P > 0.05), and columns with different letters indicate significant difference between a pair of foraging strategies (Bonferroni post hoc tests P < 0.05). Error bars indicate standard deviations (SD) of means]

…

a Comparison of encounter rate (mean ± SD) of Black Kites between transects with and without garbage dumps in Kolkata, India. Error bars indicate standard deviation (SD) of means. b Month-wise comparison of encounter rate (mean ± SD) of Black Kites between transects with and without garbage dumps in Kolkata, India. Error bars indicate standard deviation (SD) of means

…

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Offal dumping sites influence the relative abundance

and roosting site selection of Black Kites (Milvus migrans

govinda) in urban landscape: a study from Kolkata metropolis,

India

Subhendu Mazumdar &Dipankar Ghose &

Goutam Kumar Saha

Received: 21 April 2017 /Accepted: 5 December 2017 /Published online: 14 December 2017

#Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2017

Abstract Although Black Kites (Milvus migrans

govinda) serve as major scavenging raptor in most of

the urban areas, scientific studies on this important

ecosystem service provider are almost non-existent in

Indian context. The present study was carried out in a

metropolis in eastern India to find out the factors

influencing relative abundance and roosting site selec-

tion of Black Kites. Separate generalized linear models

(GLMs) were performed considering encounter rate and

roosting Black Kite abundance as response variables.

The study conclusively indicated that encounter rates of

Black Kites were significantly influenced by the pres-

ence of garbage dumps in its vicinity. Numbers of Black

Kites were also higher in the roosting sites situated

closer to garbage dumps and open spaces. In addition,

expected counts of Black Kites significantly increased

in roosting sites situated away from buildings and water

bodies. However, built-up area and tree cover around

the roosting sites had no influence on the abundance of

Black Kites therein. With rapid urbanization and chang-

ing offal disposal patterns, our findings would be useful

to ensure continued availability of food and roosting

sites of Black Kites in urban areas.

Keywords Milvus migrans govinda .Black Kite .

Urban .Communal roost .Garbage dump .Kolkata .

India

Introduction

Black Kite (Milvus migrans) is one of the most successful

birds of prey in the world (Ferguson-Lees and Christie

2001) and is reported to be a gregarious bird (Cramp et al.

1980;Donazar1992) that opportunistically exploits a

wide array of food sources (Delibes 1975; Shiraishi

et al. 1990) and is attracted by the conspicuous availabil-

ity of food at urban waste disposal sites (Blanco 1994 and

1997; Kabouche and Ventroux 1999). They are positively

influenced by moderate levels of human impacts mainly

due to its scavenging habits and hunting opportunism

(Sergio et al. 2003). Use of human dominated areas by

the Black Kites is linked to the profitable human wastes

(Blanco 1997). The Indian subspecies, M. m. govinda,is

also a widely distributed, resident and medium-sized kite

with large populations in urban areas (Ali and Ripley

1983;Naoroji2007).

Generally, waste generation and its management are

often associated with degree of urbanization (Ogbonna

et al. 2007). As the cities become modernized, higher

amount and complex composition of wastes are pro-

duced (Mukhtar et al. 2016). It was estimated that total

solid waste generation in Kolkata Municipal

Environ Monit Assess (2018) 190: 20

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-6391-7

S. Mazumdar

Department of Zoology, Shibpur Dinobundhoo Institution

(College), Shibpur, Howrah, India

S. Mazumdar (*):G. K. Saha

Department of Zoology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India

e-mail: subhendumazumdar@gmail.com

D. Ghose

Species & Landscapes Division, WWF-India, 172B Lodi Estate,

New Delhi, India

Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.

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