Activity budget of wintering Indian skimmer Rynchops Albicollis at Damar Char, Bangladesh

Abstract

The Indian Skimmer Rynchops albicollis is categorized as a globally ‘Vulnerable’ or ‘Critically Endangered’ species, depending on the ranking source. This is mostly because of its rapid population decrease due to widespread degradation and disturbance of its habitat in lowland rivers and wetlands. At present, the last strongholds of the Indian Skimmer are in India and Bangladesh. Here we describe the species’ activity budget in its wintering ground at Damar Char, an island on the southern coast of Bangladesh. We used scan sampling during 47 hours of observations to quantify the Indian Skimmer activity budget between January and March 2016. Skimmers spent most of the time roosting (49%), followed by flying (33%), being alert (11%), preening (4%), foraging (2%), and interacting with others (1%). There was no significant difference in activity budget over the three-month period. The skimmers spent nearly half of the day flying or being alert (Σ = 44%) due to anthropogenic disturbances, a factor found at a high level at the roosting sites in Bangladesh. Protecting their roosting sites and minimizing disturbances would certainly improve conservation of the Indian Skimmer in Bangladesh.