Rare migratory bird sighted in Uttarakhand's Mukteshwar

A pair of rufous-backed redstart, a rare migratory bird also known as the eversmann's redstart, was sighted for the first time in Uttarakhand during a bird walk, according to a senior ecologist here. The bird walk was organised as part of an year long nature guide training programme in Mukteshwar by NGOs Centre for Ecological Development and Reasearch (CEDAR) and Titli Trust with the support of the state's forest department.

K Ramnarayan, who led the bird walk and has more than 20 years of experience in the field, said the pair was spotted in the farms and orchards of Mukteshwar. “We observed the pair (a male and a female) for around 80-85 minutes during which they flew out of sight and came back, making it possible for us to photograph them,” he said.

The bird is found in the mountains of central Asia and southern Siberia but migrates downhill to warmer climes including India during winter, the ecologist pointed out. The bird has only 536 sightings worldwide including 23 in India but none in Uttarakhand, he claimed adding that this is the first sighting of the bird in the state.

“We followed all the rules of ethical bird watching and captured the pictures of the pair on our DSLR cameras," Ramnarayan, who lives in Sarmoli village of Pithoragarh district's Munsiari, said.