Pair of black-headed bunting bird photographed in Asifabad

Forest officials said the birds were sighted in the region for the first time, indicating how flora of this region was conducive to birds.

Kumram Bheem Asifabad: A pair of black-headed bunting birds, usually seen in south-east Europe and Iran, has migrated to the forests of Kumram Bheem Asifabad as part of winter migration. Forest officials said the birds were sighted in the region for the first time, indicating how flora of this region was conducive to birds.

“While the female male black-headed bunting bird was spotted at an irrigation tank in Kosini village of Kaghaznagar, its male companion was found at Sirpur (T) mandal centre when I was birding at the two spots a few days back,” Rajesh Kanny, a wildlife photographer of the Forest department told Telangana Today. He claimed the birds were photographed in the region for the first time.

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Forest officials said migration of birds belonging to western countries reflect the favorable living conditions of this region’s landscape. They stated that many tanks and lakes attract various bird species inhabiting Europe, Asia and northern India in the winter. They informed that the winged visitors would return to their native habitats after a brief stay for about two months here.

Incidentally, the forests of Kaghaznagar division are home to 270 bird species ranging from water birds, terrestrial and aerial birds to raptors. In addition to that, around 100 bird species including migratory and rare ones were discovered during the maiden edition of Bird Walk held by the forest department in the district in 2019. A similar quantum of the winged wonders was found in the second phase of the event in 2022.

On November 21, Lingampalli Krishna, a passionate wildlife photographer from Adilabad photographed a rare migratory bird, Western Marsh Harrier in the forests of Undam village in Thalamadugu mandal of Adilabad district. The raptor is distributed in Asia, Indian Subcontinent, Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia.

In January, Migratory ducks, Northern Pintails, native to European countries were photographed in lakes of Kaddam forest range in Nirmal district. They were on a two-month long winter vacation, crossing many countries and flying nearly 7,000 kilometres.