Why do Cormorants spread their wings?

Have you ever wondered why Cormorants spread their wings wide with a crucifixion-like posture , according of course a delight to watch with enough photography opportunities?

Well ! The most obvious reason of course is to dry their feathers after a swim or dive to catch their prey. However, there are some more explanations, with differing views and observations from experts. Number of theories have been propounded.

These include casting a shadow on the water to have a better vision to spot their next target, have a better balance on land, absorb heat to digest their food by exposing their bellies to the glow of the sun, to signal to other cormorants the availability of food or merely to rejoice their success in catching their target.

However, Dr Robin Sellers, a professional engineer and amateur ornithologist, having observed this posture of birds for years have negated most of these theories concluding that this posture is all about adapting to the wind to dry their feathers.

According to his findings published in published his findings in the journal Ardea, when the wind was up to, or more than, a strong breeze on the Beaufort scale (4 or more), cormorants spent, on average, 2.5 minutes standing like crucifixes. With hardly a flutter in the air (0 to 1 on the scale) they stood with their wings out for nearly five minutes and generally extended them further. The birds also faced the wind - more than half of them orienting within one compass point of its direction when conditions were virtually still, but more than 80 per cent when a good breeze got up. According to him, Cormorants tend to hold their wings out for longer in lower temperatures and when they had been under water for longer. Light rain reduced their fervour and heavy rain put a stop to any spreading at all.

If wing-spreading signalled feeding success, the birds would not do it when diving proved unsuccessful. And the theory of casting a shadow on the water only helps birds that adopt a stand-and-wait strategy - like herons - rather than those that dive as much as 10 metres down in murky water.

Dr Sellers calculated that between 30 and 90 grams of water have to be expelled from a cormorant's plumage after an average dive. It would need up to 222 kilojoules of body heat to evaporate it, an amount that could be sacrificed providing enough fish were caught to make up for the loss.

On the other hand, Dr David Gremillet of Neumunster Zoo in Germany says that wing- spreading may, after all, be a digestive aid. He found that cormorants that feed on cold fish held their wings out, often for 20 minutes and when fed on pre-warmed to cormorant body temperature hardly bothered to make a wing movement. His conclusion is that cormorants expose their bellies to absorb the sun's heat, a warm glow that aids the digestion.

Dr Chris Mead of the British Trust for Ornithology acknowledges that wing-drying and digestion aids may jointly explain the cormorant's striking stance. He says the heating up their food is the most important reason. Why else would cormorants be all black if it wasn't to absorb heat through their plumage?

Whatever may be the reason for their postures, Cormorant diving in the water, catching the fish and spreading their wings wide open with their black glistening bodies are a delight to watch.

The pictures are those of Little Cormorant were clicked in Thapli, Haryana, India during September, 2018 

Sacred or in distress ? A wake up call !

The Indian Roller,  Neelkanth,  is  considered a sacred bird in the Hindu Mythology but unfortunately this same belief brings enormous misfortune to this lovely bird known for its mid air acrobatics( and hence the name Roller). It gets its name Neelkanth because of its blue(Neel) throat (Kanth).  It is a reminder of Lord Shiva, the Neelkantha, when he drank poison and had a blue throat.  It is state bird of Karnataka, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and the Telangana. 

The Indian roller hip hops  in the air, careening and somersaulting to the delight of all those who watch it.  People consider it auspicious to see it on special occasions, especially Dushera and the Durga Puja. Its five colours are also reminiscent of the five Pandavas. People think to see it , it  will bring good fortune to them and all their sins will be washed away. This is mere superstition and like all other superstitions is far away from logic and truth. 

However, because of this belief ,  the Indian Roller get into lots of misery, suffering and pain. It is mercilessly  captured and put into cages to be shown to people for a charge during the festive season.  It is covered with cloth, its  wings are chopped or glued ,  its feet are tied with wire to refrain it  from flying away. When in captivity , it does eat grains and drink very little water. Often, it dies out of starvation and even when freed after the festive season, the chances of its survival are dim as by that time it  gets very weak. Another superstition is that if its wings are chopped and mixed with grass as feed for cows, the cows will yield more milk.

To end its torture and suffering, some well meaning NGOs , especially the International Humane Society, India have taken up the issue with the authorities. The efforts have yielded some results but more needs to be done. The bird needs your assurance that whenever you see it  trapped or being caged or tortured, you will come to its rescue The Indian Roller, the Neelkanth, needs you. You can call toll free helpline 1800 4255 564 or call International Humane Society at 91-7674922044. By the way, International Humane Society has launched awareness campaigns, including a wonderful one for the school going students, to educate people against the superstitions attributed to the bird. 

Indian Roller is protected under  the Schedule IV of the Wildlife(Protection) Act 1972. The penalty for violating this Act is a fine of Rupees Twenty Five Thousand or imprisonment. 

The Indian Roller was born to fly free to delight your eyes with its acrobatics in flight, to spread the joy and happiness of its very being. It will continue to do so, provided you come to its rescue. Will you?

 

Far from the maddening crowds to the calmness and serenity of the Nagar Van( City Forest) !

As Joshi family woke up on the auspicious RakshaBandan on August 26, a duck along with a train of her tiny 20 cute ducklings wandered into the backyard of highly populated Sector 22, Chandigarh residence. The family was at loggerheads at how these ducklings appeared in their backyard as there was no wetland, the natural habitat for the ducks.

Knob-billed Duck with her ducklings 

The rituals of RakshaBandan took a backseat for a while as the Joshi family's immediate concern was the safety and welfare of the duck and her ducklings. Staying calm , the family tried calling up various NGOs but to their dismay, they could not get through till they got in touch with Ms Dimple Bedi Kamra, a renowned bid and animal lover and rescuer who readily agreed to do her bit. It was indeed a huge challenge to gather the flock and relocate it. However, Ms Kamra's deft handling based on her skills, expertise and experience eventually yielded the results. The ducklings and their mother were put into a box, ready to be shipped to safety . These were the Knob-billed Ducks.

According to Mr Vikram Jit Singh in his column in Times of India, Chandigarh Edition, "This species prefers to lay eggs in a large natural hollow of an ancient tree in a wetland or by its shores. However, on occasion, the female duck lays eggs in tree hollows away from wetlands either due to lack of suitable trees or wetland disturbance or other reasons. This species has been photo-documented laying eggs in old, big houses or abandoned factories with large spaces in the roof. Old vulture nests, hollows in old fort walls and earth cliffs are also used for nesting by Comb ducks infrequently. The Joshi residence shares a boundary with a creche, which nurtures a thick, undisturbed grove of ancient trees. The Comb duck is most likely to have nested in one of the creche's trees. After the ducklings were born, the wandering mother duck in a vain, desperate search for a wetland led her brood into the Joshi residence. The problem is that when Comb ducks nest so far away from wetlands and amid dense urbanisation, the brood gets marooned and faces threats from dogs, cats, vehicle hits and human abductors. The ducklings, along with the mother, have to be caught and translocated to a suitable wetland."

The bird along with her ducklings were shipped to the recently established Nagar Van (City Forest) where they were released into one of the wet bodies. Interacting with me along with my fellow birders, Mr J.K.Ranjan, the Officer in Charge of the Nagar Van said that the bird and her ducklings are indeed enjoying the calmness and serenity of the Nagar Van. They are indeed the star attraction of the Van. In the same water body we could also see a family of spot-billed ducklings.

The Nagar Van has a rich natural biodiversity where one could see a large species of birds such as Kingfishers, Water Birds, Parakeets, Drongos, Cuckoos, Peacocks, Doves, Shikra , hornbills ( including the Pied ones). The Chandigarh Forest Department has set-up a hide for bird photographers to enable them take some good photographs of birds that sit on the perches around the water and food arrangements for the birds. A large number of butterflies including the beauty, Helen Butterfly were seen fluttering around while various kinds of beetles and insects were spotted. There was greenry all around with thick forest area. If one is lucky one could also see Sambar and other species of deer. However, one needs to watch his or her steps as the area does have snakes including the Cobra and the Russel Viper.

Nagar Van is indeed a laudable initiative of the Chandigarh Forest Department to give the residents of Chandigarh, the City Beautiful a gift of nature.