Breeding site of rare Indian skimmers spotted along Gomti in UP's Barabanki

LUCKNOW: A possible breeding site of rare Indian skimmers — also known as Indian scissors bill (Rynchops albicollis) birds — has been spotted along the Gomti river in UP's Barabanki district.

On Friday morning, a flock of seven Indian skimmers was spotted in Subeha, 75 km away from the state capital.

Last year, a team of experts from Wildlife Institute of India (WII) — an autonomous natural resource service institution under the ministry of environment forest and climate change, government of India — had spotted 57 skimmers in the same area for the first time.

Under a project called ‘Biodiversity Conservation and Ganga Rejuvenation’ which is an integral part of National Mission for Clean Ganga to rejuvenate the river by restoring ecological integrity, the WII team is working on the Ganga’s tributary Gomti which originates from Gomat Taal in Pilibhit district and merges into the Ganga in Ghazipur district.

Speaking to TOI, WII team leader Vipul Maurya said, “Indian skimmer, Rynchops albicollis, is a threatened riverine avian species. It breeds on sandy rivers during summers and is known to migrate to its non-breeding grounds when the rivers are flooded.”
The estimated population of Indian skimmer is between 2,450 and 2,900.

“Much of the information on Indian skimmer ecology and habits is anecdotal and descriptive. There is no clarity as to from where they migrate, but river Chambal hosts a significant breeding population of them,” said Vipul who hails from Lucknow.
According to Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, Indian skimmers start arriving in Chambal sanctuary by November and with receding water level and formation of islets and sandbars, the birds gather and start colonizing the nesting sites by March.
Nesting takes place from March to June; some late nesters continue nesting activity until July.
By the arrival of monsoon and flooding in the river, the birds start departing; by this time, the fledglings are able to take stable flights.
Most of the adults, as well as juveniles, leave Chambal by August to migrate to their non-breeding site.
During the non-breeding season, Indian skimmer has a wide area of occurrence in the country, mainly in the north, from Punjab (rare) through Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar to West Bengal, extending to Odisha (Chilika), and the Brahmaputra.
The species has also been recorded from 16 states in India, namely Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.
“Spotting Indian skimmer in Barabanki was surprising, but at the same time, it suggests that the Gomti river is habitable for birds unlike the previous notion. We have reason to believe that Subeha with its small sandy island along the Gomti river is a breeding ground for Indian skimmer,” added Vipul Maurya who has nearly two decades of experience in the wildlife field.
His team members who spotted Indian skimmers on Friday included Sumit Nautiyal, the project assistant of WII, and Anuj Singh, the section officer of Subeha, Barabanki forest division.
Picture credit: Wildlife Institute of India