Assam: Mongolia-tagged endangered eagle spotted in Kaziranga for 5th consecutive year

Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) scientists have recorded the presence of an endangered fishing eagle, originally tagged in Mongolia, inside Kaziranga National Park in Assam. The sighting took place on March 16 this year, marking a significant development in tracking the migratory patterns of the species. 

According to Dr Batmunkh of Wildlife Science and Conservation Centre (WSCC), examining the global registry revealed that the Pallas's fish eagle a male bird with ring A25 and named Ider was tagged at Buuntsagaan Lake in Central Western Mongolia on August 21, 2020. 

Since then, Ider returns to Kaziranga National Park each year for breeding and changes nesting location only once. During the non-breeding season, from June to September, Ider visits the Buuntsagaan Lake, Dr Batmunkh said, as per ANI.

Pallas's fish eagle (Haliaeetus leucoryphus), listed as "endangered" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, is a poorly studied fish eagle across its entire range of fish eagles.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently posted on X: "The endangered Pallas's Fish Eagle, tagged in Mongolia, has made Kaziranga its breeding ground for five straight years, putting Assam on the map of epic bird migrations. Witnessed these winged wonders."

The species was formally considered to be locally common across central and southern Asia. However, according to a report published by BirdLife International, the number has retracted significantly during the 20th century, and the bird is believed to be largely absent from its former stronghold areas such as the Caspian and Kazakhstan.

Due to declining population size, IUCN classified the Pallas's fish eagle as a "vulnerable" species (IUCN, 2016). The conservation status was further downgraded to "endangered" in 2021 (IUCN, 2023). The number of mature individuals in the wild is estimated to be around 2,500 to 9,999 (Birdlife International, 2016).

Dr Sonali Ghosh, Field Director of Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve, as per ANI, said that Pallas's fish eagle exhibits interesting "reverse migration" behaviour as it breeds in Kaziranga during winter (from November to March) and then migrates to Mongolia every year. "Kaziranga is one of the best locations to watch the Pallas's Fish eagle in the world," Dr Ghosh added.

The Central Asian Flyway (CAF) is one of the nine global waterbird flyways, comprising migratory routes from the northernmost breeding grounds in Siberia to southernmost non-breeding grounds in the West and South Asia, The Maldives and British Indian Ocean Territory (CMS 2005). Covering at least 279 populations of 182 migratory waterbird species, the flyway spans 30 countries of North, Central and South Asia and TransCaucasus (CMS 2019).

India, located at the heart of CAF, hosts approximately 370 migratory bird species from three major flyways, with 310 predominantly using wetland habitats.

Kaziranga National Park (IBA Code: IN-AS-03) and Laokhowa and Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuaries (IBA Code: IN-AS-02) are "two Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in Kaziranga Tiger Reserve (KTR) that are known for being important for waterbirds". (With agency inputs)