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Rare forest owlet spotted at Tansa sanctuary

The bird, found in the Satpuda range, has been seen so close to Mumbai for the first time

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For more than a century, the forest owlet was considered extinct till researchers spotted it in 1997 in the Toranmal reserve forest in the Satpuda range. Now, for the first time, it has been found in the Western Ghats.

The bird, which is categorised as critically endangered in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List, was spotted at the Tansa wildlife sanctuary near Mumbai. This sanctuary is known to be an important bird habitat.

Last month, in October, former Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) employee and naturalist Sunil Laad, along with his companions, spotted the forest owlet perched on a dry tree one morning. The bird clearly looked different from the commonly found spotted owlet due to its unspotted crown, complete collar on breast, dark primaries and a broadly banded tail. Calls of the forest owlet could also be heard 7 kilometres away from this location during subsequent visits to Tansa.

The habitat where it was located is similar to the Satpuda range, that is a dry deciduous forest with open patches. The only difference is that the habitat in Tansa wildlife sanctuary in Palghar district is due to destruction done by human beings.

"It is a matter of delight to know about the discovery of an extremely rare bird so close to Mumbai. Measures needs to be taken to protect them," said Dr Asad Rahmani, director of BNHS.

As the find is 250 km away from the Satpuda range, researchers believe that there is need to check if more forest owlets can be spotted in the intermittent habitat, that is between Satpuda and Western Ghats, or if it is a local migratory bird.

Soon a paper by Sunil Laad and Rohidas Dagale will be published in Journal of BNHS detailing about the finding at Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary.

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