Out Of The Woods

The six mummified specimens of Psittacula intermedia, popularly known as Rothschilds Parakeet, housed at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York, may not be relics of an extinct species anymore. After 103 years of supposed extinction, the mystery of the yellow mandible is back to haunt birdlovers. Because 26-year-old Rajat Bhargava is ruffling the feathers of the ornithological establishment: he claims to have rediscovered the Rothschilds Parakeet, the worlds rarest parrot, in India.

At a roadside dhaba off New Delhis Max Mueller Road, he mimics the 220mm long creature that flaunts a yellow lower beak, yellowish white-tipped feathers, slaty-purple cheeks and a maroon shoulder patch all hallmarks of the Intermediate Parakeet, the name currently being used to refer to the Rothschilds Parakeet.

 

Phweeet..phweeet..., Bhargava squawks over the din of evening traffic and raucous echo of a thousand home-bound birds. He says this birds call is similar to the blossom-headed parakeet species, yet harsh unlike it. It dines on everything from wildfruits to grain to paddy, although its favourite is maize.

But should we take this discovery with a pinch of salt? A parakeet which has never has been spotted in the wild and knowledge of its existence is entirely based on one source AMNHs Rothschild collection.

In 1895, American naturalist Walter Rothschild obtained the first six specimens of this bird in London, which found its way there through a skin shipment from Mumbai. Description of its looks apart, facts about its habitation and distribution are as tenuous as the bird. The question of whether it is a separate species or simply a hybrid of the genus Psittacula remains in the realm of unsolved avian mysteries, and has become a controversy raging for almost a century now.

This is not the first case reported on this little known bird. Apart from a few odd reports on the bird, Sharad Sane of Mumbai claimed, in as long ago as 1975, that he had found the Rothschilds Parakeet near Varanasi. The specimens of the bird that he found, kept at the Bombay Natural History Society, however, show a black lower mandible. This was enough to create a controversy among ornithologists for whom minute variations can make a crucial difference. Sane has disputed claims that the original specimens stored at AMNH lost the colouring on the beak due to chemicals used in preservation and that it was indeed black in colour.

Bhargava begs to differ. If it is not about the Rothschild that you ask, then what could it be? If it is only a hybrid as people allege, than can all the five specimens that I have studied look alike as in Rothschilds first collection? Whether the bird is a hybrid or part of a species, we will know only after the DNA tests. But I have found the Rothschild.

Bhargavas association with parrots as parakeets are commonly referred to in India, even though there are no parrots native to the country go back to his childhood in Meerut. This city, 70 km from Delhi, used to be the largest bird exporting centre in the country prior to the ban of the trade in 1991. And beyond the backyard of his house lived a community of 200-odd bird traders, to whom Bhargava says he owes a great deal for teaching him how to build cages and keep birds. I have seen parrots there by the thousands. And after seeing the practical side of it for so long and so closely you can tell which one is different, says Bhargava, whose favourite bird, of course, is the parrot earning him the nickname Tota in school.

But yet, he points out, it is not easy to spot the Rothschilds Parakeet, which he says flies free in the Dehradun and Nainital districts. There are about 20 species and subspecies of the genus Psittacula, apart from the Rothschild Parakeet. Among them, four species the rose-ringed slaty-headed, Alexandrine and blossom-headed are common in North India. The Psittacula fan, who is currently in the middle of completing a PhD on birds at Aligarh Muslim University, says the bird tends to flock with the blossom-headed parakeet, and differences between the two are so minute (the blossom-headed has a black lower mandible) that it is easy to miss it.

By Bhargavas estimation, there may be less than 100 of these birds in the foothills of the western Himalayas which is why it is necessary to identify its nature reserve, and conserve quickly to gain insight about its lifestyle. In his paper on the Rothschilds Parakeet due to be published soon, Bhargava who is also a specialist in the captive breeding of pet birds would like to see the introduction of a full-time course on breeding the bird. Why cant we have this? In the US, they have managed to raise the numbers of one wild and four captive Spix Macaw to 40. There were five Catham Island Black Robins left in the wild through captive breeding they have raised the number to 150.

The reason, as always, is funds or the lack of it. Bhargava has found it tough to raise money for the DNA tests, which can cost between Rs 6-20 lakh, and are performed at the Centre of Cellular & Molecular Biology, Hyderabad. The tests are crucial to resolve whether the Intermediate Parakeet is a hybrid or a separate species, as Bhargava claims.

But even as he struggles to raise those funds, sometime in the next two weeks Bhargava proposes to free one of the birds back in to the wild in full camera view. A tiny bird ring will be attached to its leg so that the birds travelling pattern can be tracked.

Asad R Ramani, ornithologist and director of the Bombay Natural History Society, is cautious on this rediscovery: It is a controversial topic and I cannot make any judgement now. This is a claim for which DNA testing is advisable because external features can be misleading. The bird could be a hybrid a cross between the rose-ringed and blossom-headed parrot, or between the latter and the slaty-headed parrot. But I am proud of Rajats effort he was one of my students. We would like to get funds for testing, but have not managed yet. We are still approaching potential funding organisations.

Not all bird rediscoveries, however, are as befuddling, or are required to go through DNA tests. Photographs identifying external features suffice in some cases like that of Pamela Ross, who rediscovered the forest spotted owlet last month near Mumbai. As of now, not a single DNA test has been done on the 200-odd threatened bird species listed in the Red Data book and compiled with the aid of Bird Life International. Among the 1,300 bird species in the country, five were considered extinct: the Rothschilds Intermediate Parakeet, the pink-headed duck, the mountain quail, the forest spotted owlet and the Jerden Courser. A BNHS team found the Jerden Courser in 1986 near Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. This leaves ornithologists to fan the countryside only for the mountain quail and the pink-headed duck, if the Rothschilds Parakeet has indeed been found. And if Rajat Bhargavas claims are proven right, moving your eye upwards will mean that youre looking at the first picture of a live Rothschilds Parakeet.