Rare long-billed dowitcher sighted in NCR
THE LONG-BILLED
DOWITCHER IS A COASTAL BIRD THAT BREEDS IN CENTRAL ASIA BEFORE MOVING TOWARD THE TROPICS FOR THE WINTER
A rare sighting of a long-billed dowitcher at Mohammedabad village in Sonepat has triggered excitement among birders in Delhi-NCR, with experts saying this is the first sighting of the bird in the region since it was last seen at the Sultanpur National Park in 2013. Suresh Sharma, a veteran birder from Sonepat, spotted the long-billed dowitcher on Friday afternoon in a paddy field.
“I saw the bird and took a photograph, realising that it didn’t look like any of the other birds in the marsh. I initially thought it was an Asian dowitcher, but closer scrutiny showed that it was actually a long-billed dowitcher,” Sharma said, adding that the bird was in its brighter, breeding plumage.
Breeding adults of the species are known to have orange undersides, with varying black and white stripes around their necks and sides.
Nikhil Devasar, a Delhibased birder, explained that the long-billed dowitcher is a coastal bird that breeds in Central Asia before moving toward the tropics for the winter. “Shorelines are the bird’s natural habitat. The specimen Sharma spotted on Friday is likely a vagrant, as it is rarely seen in the plains. The last sighting in Delhi-NCR is from at least five or six years ago,” he said.
The bird’s affinity for a shoreline habitat, birders said, is the reason for multiple sightings in India’s coastal states Kerala, Maharashtra and Gujarat, though it has also been previously seen in Punjab’s Harike region. Describing the sighting as a “lucky find”, Sharma said: “I don’t think I would have spotted the bird if it wasn’t for the rains. A downpour in Sonepat on Saturday has submerged a paddy field, creating the right marshy habitat that dowitchers prefer.”