Birder spots little bittern at Okhla Bird Sanctuary

A birder reported spotting a little bittern at the Okhla Bird Sanctuary (OBS), a “rare and unusual sighting” for the National Capital Region (NCR), according to experts

A birder reported spotting a little bittern at the Okhla Bird Sanctuary (OBS), a “rare and unusual sighting” for the National Capital Region (NCR), according to experts.

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Wing commander (retd) N S Khaira said he spotted three birds of the species in late June and managed to take a few photographs.

A small heron with a dark back and cap, a white neck and patches on the wings, Little Bitterns breed in the Kashmir region and migrate to South India or Africa. A shy and crepuscular species that often lives low in reed beds near lakes or rivers, there are no records of the bird being spotted at OBS and, according to www.ebird.org (an online database of bird distribution), there is no record of it having been spotted in Delhi either, apart from some birders’ accounts of 1968.

“I spotted two males and one female, flying low over the dense reeds. One male was chasing the other. They flew twice in circles, briefly, like in a chase depicting territorial behaviour. What caught my eye was the distinct pale panel on each upper wing of the birds. Rest of the wings were black. The cap and tail were also black, which made the pale panels stand out and eye-catching,” said Khaira. “Since I was on the tower and the birds were flying low, the upper side plumage was clearly visible. Had I been standing on the ground I may have missed noticing the distinctive pale panels and confused the birds with Yellow Bitterns. Size and shape of the Yellow and the Little bitterns are quite similar – both types flew low and would vanish quickly into the reeds.”

Examining the pictures, which were slightly blurry as the birds were in flight, a number of experts confirmed it to be the Little Bittern.

“The bird seems vagrant, which means it’s not in its normal habitat. This is indeed a good spot for Delhi. The bird has been spotted in Gujarat and Ranthambore,” said ornithologist and conservationist Bikram Grewal.

“It’s a rare sighting for the NCR and it seems that the bird must be in passage, after breeding in Kashmir from April to June, and flying from the North, down to the South or to Africa. As far as I recall, one sighting was made at Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary, Jhajjar over 11 years ago,” said birder Kanwar B Singh.

“This is something very rare. There are five Bitterns in India of which Yellow Bitterns, Black Bitterns and Cinnamon Bitterns are common, while Great Bitterns and Little Bitterns are rare,” said Anand Arya, another bird enthusiast.

According to the forest department, there are “no clear records” of the bird in OBS. “This is great information for our sanctuary. There are no records of when this bird was last spotted here, though we are certain that there had been no spotting of Little Bittern over the past ten years at least,” said PK Srivastava, divisional forest officer, Gautam Budh Nagar.