Rare seabird spotted off Kollam coast

Arabian Tropicbird is on the IUCN list of threatened species

Arabian Tropicbird, one of the rarest seabirds in the State, has been sighted off the Kollam coast during a pelagic survey jointly undertaken by the Forest Department and Thiruvananthapuram-based Travancore Nature History Society (TNHS).

Figuring in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, the subspecies is generally found in the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Aden, Red Sea, Pakistan, western India, south-western Sri Lanka and the Horn of Africa. It is also a rare but regular vagrant to Seychelles Island.

While it had earlier been considered a subspecies of the Red-billed Tropicbird ( Phaethon aethereus aethereus) of Central Atlantic Ocean which breeds on islands south of the equator, the Arabian Tropicbird ( Phaethon aethereus indicus) is distinguished by its smaller size, orange bill with black cutting edge and the shape of eye-line.

According to TNHS research associate Kalesh Sadasivan, there are fewer than half a dozen confirmed sightings till date in Kerala. The last sighting was recorded in Chalakudy in 2020, he said.

The survey also recorded sightings of Greater Crested Terns, Lesser Crested Terns, Common Terns, Heuglin’s Gull, Arctic Skua, Pomarine Skua and Long Tailed Skua. While Gull Billed Terns and Whiskered Terns were plentiful in numbers, the survey teams also sighted pods of Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins and Olive Ridley Turtles in the region.