-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Brown Rock Chat (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Himalaya
- Start date
Paul Chapman
Well-known member
MJB
Well-known member
I note that BirdLife Datazone maps it in two disjunct areas, the first west of Rawalpindi between Fateh Jang, Attock and Mithial, and the other south of that in the Talagang-Kallar Kahar-Khura area, only some 70-100km from the Afghan border.
It's resident in behaviour, being found in marginal pastureland, but primarily in rocky, cliff-bordered areas (of which there is an abundance!) and so its main preference is for an ecological niche that suffers little disturbance year-round and probably has not been much surveyed by ornithologists of late. No populations declines are known from its main range. The chances of undiscovered small outlier populations are better than even, I suggest!
MJB
MJB - The population of the Brown Rock Chat was found only within the Lahore area maybe until recently as 20-30 years ago. Since then it expanded West rapidly. The populations you mention are recent extensions. My family originates from the Northern section of the Attock disrict - on the border of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa formerly known as the North West Frontier Province. The first time I saw this bird in this area was in January 2011 - granted I only visit the region every 2-3 years but I saw 3. In March 2014 I saw them quite regularly and they were singing and breeding. My uncle mentioned that these birds have slowly moved into this area over the last 8 years. Now they are firmly established. I saw 1 in Peshawar City in March 2014. In January 2016 I saw them at Takht bhai in Mardan District and in the vicinity of the Terbela Dam. In fact it is spreading North and has been recorded in Balakot. It is firmly established in the Peshawar Valley and has almost certainly advanced into Afghanistan but just needs to be seen there. It has also been seen and recorded in Dera Gazi Khan and Dera Ismail Khan. In Pakistan no photo as been obtained from Sindh yet.
Most of the sightings are from Urban areas, towns, villages, ruins, new developments - they thrives in these areas. I wonder if one will be recorded in the WP in our lifetime?
Most of the sightings are from Urban areas, towns, villages, ruins, new developments - they thrives in these areas. I wonder if one will be recorded in the WP in our lifetime?
MJB
Well-known member
That's a good job well done! If you are not already in contact with BirdLife International, you might like to let them know of this data, or at least ask to whom you might send it. You could try https://plus.google.com/u/0/+BirdlifeOrgInternational
and open the 'Report an issue' window.
MJB
Last edited:
Similar threads
