Research Projects

The Central Asian Flyway (CAF) is thought to be used by more than 200 species of birds during the course of their migratory journeys (Ali et al. 1987, Grimmett et al. 2016). But currently, migration studies and long-term monitoring is confined to only a few species of birds especially on waterfowl and raptors have been neglected. A previous project by the PI on Montagu’s and Pallid harriers showed that both species used the western-circum Himalayan flyway avoiding high elevation crossings of the Himalayas by using this corridor. A synthesis of the studies in the CAF shows that there are possibly multiple migration corridors used by different species, but these could vary based on the species and its traits. Hence it’s not only important to undertake detailed studies on species using the CAF but also have enough individuals per species to get a robust understanding of the CAF. Currently, only one or two individuals are studied. The main objectives of the study are (1) We hypothesise that Pied harrier will circumvent the Himalayas through its eastern boundary to reach its breeding areas in China or Russia. This is one of the species that bred in India a few decades back but there are no recent records largely because no detailed survey was done. Using high-resolution GPS-GSM tags, identify important breeding, stopover and wintering sites used by Pied harriers, (2) Correlate migration of Pied harriers with environmental variables such as resource availability, wind patterns and ground elevation en route and (3) Compare and contrast Pied harrier migration with Montagu’s and Pallid harriers studied earlier using GSM tags to arrive at the dimensionality of the Central Asian flyway. This study on Pied harriers will fundamentally define the extent of migration routes of harriers in the CAF, provide information on critical stop over, breeding and wintering areas which together will enable to develop a comprehensive conservation plan for the CAF