According to the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) , a new bird species known as the European Roller (Coracias garrulous) was spotted for the first time in Nepal.
The European Roller, also known as “Theuwa” in Nepal and a Nilkantha species, was discovered by the NTNC in Upper Mustang of the Annapurna Conservation Area in Kekighan, Lomanthang Rural Municipality, Ward No. 5, at a height of 3,781 meters.
The bird was discovered in Lomanthang, according to the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), and it was the first time the bird has been seen in the country. With the addition of this new bird species, Nepal now has a total of 889 bird species.
Ram Bahadur Gurung of ACAP Lomanthang was the first to picture the bird on August 29. Two days later, a second encounter was recorded and sent in for confirmation.
Rishi Baral, the NTNC-ACAP Mustang officer-in-charge, began the identification and verification procedure after that. Ornithologists Dr. Hem Sagar Baral, Som G.C. Tim Inskipp, and Carol Inskipp have all validated the new bird species’ identity.
According to ornithologist Dr. Baral, the European Roller is the only member of the roller family of birds and the only breed in Europe.
“Two species of Roller family — Indian Roller and Indo-Chinese Roller — are already found in Nepal, while another bird, the broad-billed roller, visits Nepal from South East Asia during the summer,” Dr. Baral explained.
The European Roller’s range now includes the Middle East, Central Asia, and Morocco, but it is no longer found in Western Europe. The European Roller can be found in a wide range of environments, with the exception of treeless plains.
This is one of the species whose numbers have decreased as a result of agricultural intensification. Lower quality forage environments have resulted from deforestation, diminished grazing pasture, and conversion of grassland to other uses.
The bird is a non-breeding visitor to Nepal, according to Dr. Baral. “This year we only documented one bird,” he continued, “but additional birds may be reported next year and sighted in the Terai lowlands in the future.” The bird has an average age of 10 to 12 years and can weigh up to 150 grams, according to him. It has an orange-brown back and is mostly blue.
On August 29, at 1:11 p.m., Gurung photographed the bird for the first time on his camera, thinking it was a new case for Nepal.
When he first observed the bird on the border wall of a paddy field 800 meters east of Lomanthang, he was on his way to Chhojung Monastery for a feasibility study of an alternative trekking route. It was discovered on a peepal tree for the second time. The sparrow-sized bird is slightly larger than the medium-sized bird.
The Annapurna Conservation Area currently boasts a total of 519 bird species with this latest addition.
source: risingnepal
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