Quest for the Tree Sparrow
“It was the very best that Andhra Pradesh had to offer,” said ornithologist Bruce M Bheeler about the pristine forests and avian diversity of the Visakhapatnam Ghats in the mid-1980s, when he was working alongside KSR Krishna Raju and the BNHS team.
In 1972, it was in this landscape, during a BNHS banding workshop that ornithologists KSR Krishna Raju and Trevor D Price collected a male specimen of the Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) from Lambasingi village. A population of approximately 300 birds was estimated in the region, some of them nesting on the roofs of thatched huts in the village. It was the first-ever record of the species from South India outside its known range in the North and North-east parts of India.
Male Tree Sparrow with a rufous cap, black and white cheek
Male House Sparrow with gray crown and white cheek
Unfortunately, in mid-80s a violent fire swept across the village of Lambasingi and destroyed the houses where the House and Tree Sparrows were found nesting. Later, Tree Sparrows were never reported again from the landscape in the past 30 years. I recently headed out to Lambasingi and the surrounding tribal hamlets, searching for the Tree Sparrow. Lambasingi is now also called the Kashmir of Andhra Pradesh, as it is well known for its booming strawberry farms.
On New Year’s eve, I journeyed on a state service bus from Vijayawada to Tuni, a town close to the ghats around Visakhapatnam. It was a six-hour bus journey, and I kept myself occupied with bus-birding, watching the hundreds, or probably thousands, of Cattle Egrets in the paddy fields of Krishna and Godavari delta. Sightings of Egrets in these numbers reminded me of a discussion on local migration patterns of Cattle Egrets in South India.
Reaching Tuni, I switched to a smaller “palle velugu bus”, the service that ensures connectivity to remote villages and settlements in the state. It was a cramped yet earthly bus, most of the passengers were tribals returning to their villages from nearest markets and some girl students returning to their tribal welfare school after purchasing school books.
It turned dark by the time our bus started climbing the ghat road. Breaking the silence of the night, the girls began singing some Telugu movie songs. It was very entertaining, and I was surprised by the fluency and ease with which they were singing. One after another, the children went through all the latest movie numbers.
At 8.45 pm, I was dropped at the deserted junction in Lambasingi village. Santosh, a good friend and wildlife enthusiast, picked me up and we drove to a small camping site on a strawberry farm. Whilst comforting ourselves near a small campfire, I heard a Spotted Owlet calling nearby (https://ebird.org/checklist/S62735008). We quickly discussed the morning birding plans before slipping into our sleeping bags to escape the cold night.
Girl students from a tribal welfare school singing on a rural bus journey from Tuni to Lambasingi in Andhra pradesh
Early morning views over a strawberry farm in Lambasingi
It was 6 degree C in the morning, and I woke up to the calls of Mynas and Scimitar Babblers (https://ebird.org/checklist/S62786347). A thick blanket of fog covered the sight of hills in the background. Quickly finishing our morning chores, we headed out to the Tajangi reservoir to check out for any migratory waterfowl. En route to Tajangi, we heard Vernal Hanging Parakeets, Bulbuls, and House Sparrows (https://ebird.org/checklist/S62786425). Realizing that the Tajangi reservoir has nothing much to offer due to the disturbance from tourist activity, we quickly headed out in search of a village called Busalakot, where Trevor Price recorded sightings of Tree Sparrows. With little help from local tribals, we managed to find the small paved road that leads to the village, which is about 16 km from Lambasingi.
Bike rides in this part of the country are an experience in themselves. Beautiful, tall Silver Oak plantations and Pine trees make us humble. It was a scenic drive through small hamlets, coffee plantations, and scrub jungle patches over the ghats. We tried our best to check all the birds en route, especially ensuring no Sparrows were missed. Oriental Honey Buzzard, Common Rosefinch, Bar-winged Flycatcher Shrike, Blue-bearded Bee-eater, Tree Pipit, Munias and Parakeets were some notable sightings (https://ebird.org/checklist/S62787138). A couple of Snipes skulking far away in the paddy stubs caught my attention. Despite getting a photograph, I could not identify the species as the features were not captured correctly. But the sight of Snipes excited me as the Jack Snipe and the Wood Snipe were a couple of the species I was looking for and which had been recorded earlier in the region. Visakhapatnam was well known for Snipe hunting during the British regime, attracting seasonal Snipe hunters all the way from Madras.
We reached Busalakot village at noon. The road from Lambasingi ends at the village, and the only mode of commuting beyond the village is on foot. We stopped at the small school at the entrance of the village and discussed our Sparrow search with the only teaching assistant in the school. Leaving his class with a 5th standard student in charge, the teaching assistant guided us into the village to look for Sparrows.
A couple of young and curious villagers offered us help; we showed them pictures of the Tree Sparrow and explained some quick identification pointers for the bird. We walked around the only two streets in the village, closely examining all the Sparrows in the Tamarind trees and on the roofs of houses. After a couple of hours, with no luck, we started walking towards the centre of the village. This is when I spotted an odd-looking Sparrow peeping out from under the roof of a house. It was odd for a House Sparrow, but the rufous cap was not complete as in the Tree Sparrow. Could it be a hybrid species mentioned in one of Trevor Price’s works from the region in 1977-79? Before I could take a photograph, the bird dissappeared back into the roof and never showed up again.
Busalakota village, school in foreground
Agave americana plant
We waited for some time and looked for the village head to discuss overnight stay options. Unfortunately, the head of the village (president) had left for the nearest town and was not expected back till the next day. From our previous experiences in the landscape, we know that it's always safe to communicate and discuss overnight plans with the village head to avoid attracting any unnecessary attention. In the absence of the village head, we did not have any other option but to drive back to Lambasingi. At the edge of the village, an odd snake-like plant caught my attention. I took some pictures, and later, some friends identified it as Agave americana, an exotic species.
We returned to Lambasingi immediately and, after a quick lunch, headed out to Tajangi reservoir. After some time birding at the reservoir, I took a late evening bus back to Tuni (https://ebird.org/checklist/S62787224). It was an incomplete mission to the Northern Eastern Ghats, inviting me to the landscape again.
References:
Cox, S. (1898): Game in the Waltair District. JBNHS 12: 574-575
Price, Trevor & Raju, K.S.R.Krishna (200). "The Eastern Ghats". Sanctuary Asia. XX (4): 28–33.
Raju, K. S. R. Krishna & Price, Trevor D (1973). "Tree Sparrow Passer montanus (L.) in the Eastern Ghats". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 70: 557–558.
S Dillon Ripley; Bruce M Beehler & K.S.R Krishna Raju (1987). "Birds of the Visakhapatnam Ghats, Andhra Pradesh". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 84 (3): 540–559.