Rare bird species from China spotted in Arunachal Pradesh forests

It's "an intrusion" from China into Arunachal Pradesh that has made India's birds' list richer.

Researchers from Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), a Mumbai-based NGO, on February 8 documented a Three-banded Rosefinch, a rare bird in high-altitude coniferous forests in Arunachal Pradesh during its journey from China to Bhutan.

Atharva Singh and Himadri Shekar Mondal, researchers from BNHS, first photographed a male and a female individual of this species at Sela Pass, Arunachal Pradesh, at an altitude of 3,852 meters above sea level. "This pair was seen with a flock of White-browed Rosefinch, a species commonly seen in this landscape. The species belongs to the family of finch, Fringillidae, which are seed-eating passerine birds with a distinctively conical bill," BNHS said in a statement.

The research team led by Girish Jathar, assistant director of BNHS, is conducting intensive surveys of finches across the Eastern Himalayas as part of an ongoing study funded by Oracle.

Arunachal Pradesh shares a border with China.

The team said the species is resident of Southern China and vagrant in Bhutan and was for the first time seen in Arunachal Pradesh, a new addition to the list of birds from India. The team recently published this finding in the journal, Indian Birds.

Atharva Singh, lead author of the paper said that the Three-banded Rosefinch may be using the high altitude temperate coniferous forest of Arunachal Pradesh as a passage while migrating from China to Bhutan. "Thus, this landscape is a potential corridor for this species," he said.

Jathar, who is leading Climate Change and Himalaya Program at BNHS said that the altitudinal record of this species sighting from India is higher than its previous known altitudinal records from China. Hence, it opens up interesting ecological research on the species in future, he said.

The birds' list of India so far has documented 1,340 species from India and new species are being reported mainly due to advent of new technology and enthusiast birders reaching remote areas. Since 2016, the birds' checklist of India has increased by 104 new species, which were not reported previously. Five new species have been added to the list this year so far, said the statement.