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Black-Tailed Gull Makes Historic Debut in India
20 Apr
Summary
- Bengal records its first sighting of a black-tailed gull.
- This marks the 933rd bird species documented in the state.
- The gull is native to East Asian coastlines, rarely seen this far south.
Bengal has officially recorded its first sighting of the black-tailed gull, a species typically found along the shorelines of East Asia. This remarkable discovery adds the 933rd bird species to the state's documented avian population.
The bird was photographed on South 24 Parganas Kargil beach by birder Shantanu Ghosh and his companions. The identification was confirmed by international and local ornithologists, including British birder Chris Kehoe and Sandeep Biswas, a regional reviewer for e-bird.
Sandeep Biswas noted that the black-tailed gull is a common species in Southeast Russia, Japan, Korea, and East China, usually wintering further south. The nearest previous record was in the Gulf of Thailand, indicating this sighting is exceptionally rare for India.
This significant find occurred during the Poila Baisakh Bird Count. Kanad Baidya of the Birdwatchers' Society stated that the bird is considered a vagrant, seen outside its usual wintering range. This marks the first new species recorded in Bengal during the Poila Baisakh Bird Count in four years.
