Tom and Margot Southerland, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA

Corbett National Park is located to the northwest of Delhi some 180 miles distance in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It is difficult to reach, however, as it takes an overnight train trip on a narrow gauge RR to nearby Moradabad or by a six hour highway drive. We actually arrived by train from Agra.

For a birder it is a trip well worth the effort. The wooded park is beautiful, India's first (1936) national park, and sizable in that it covers 201 square miles. And for birds it is strategically located in the foothills of the Himalayans. Nearby are locations for the Ibis bill but we were several weeks too late since human disturbances push them further away after they made an initial appearance for the winter, and time prevented us from devoting the effort needed to search for just one species.

While we were in Corbett, the weather was cold in the early mornings and late afternoon, more so than usual probably because of El Ni?o. Perhaps the weather explains why we saw few people in the park. Except at three rustic forest rest houses you are forbidden to walk within the park, and several years ago a British bird leader went chasing on foot after a bird in the shrubs where he was killed by a tiger. Being in an open vehicle is limiting, and often the birds were seen one by one. We were slightly handicapped that we were the only serious birders out of four, but that was somewhat offset by the fact we had someone with us who was knowledgeable about birds.

There are also elephants in the wild, and we saw a small group and later a bull. Other mammals include Spotted Deer, Sambar, Hog Deer, Common Jackal, Barking Deer, Jungle Cat and Wild Boar. We also saw both the Mugger Crocodile and the needle-nose Gavial (Gharial). At one of the rest areas you can ride an elephant through the brush in the woods and the open grasslands to look for tigers and other wildlife. We would rate the elephant ride only fair for seeing birds.

Finally, outside the area en route back to the railroad station we also saw Cattle Egret, Sarus Cranes (2), House Crow and Black Drongo.

Sightings

India: Corbett; One Sighting per Species; from 1-23-98 to 1-27-98.

Note: The list uses the check list of James F. Clements from Birdwin of Santa Barbara Software.

1. Great Cormorant (or) Phalacrocorax carbo
2. Common Pochard (or) Aythya ferina (pair)
3. Little Egret (or) Egretta garzetta
4. Striated Heron (or) Butorides striatus (1)
5. Black Stork (or) Ciconia nigra (about 7-8)
6. Osprey (or) Pandion haliaetus (1 in tree)
7. Black-shouldered Kite (or) Elanus caeruleus
8. Black Kite (or) Milvus migrans
9. Pallas' Fish-Eagle (or) Haliaeetus leucoryphus (1 sitting and flying)
10. F Lesser Fish-Eagle (or) Ichthyophaga humilis(1 in tree, another sit. nearby)
11. White-rumped Vulture (or) Gyps bengalensis
12. F Long-billed Vulture (or) Gyps indicus (1 sitting, another days later)
13. Eurasian Griffon (or) Gyps fulvus (several)
14. F Cinereous Vulture (or) Aegypius monachus (2 sitting before 1 flew)
15. Crested Serpent-Eagle (or) Spilornis cheela
16. F Changeable Hawk-Eagle (or) Spizaetus cirrhatus (sitting imm.)
17. Eurasian Kestrel (or) Falco tinnunculus
18. Gray Partridge (or) Perdix perdix
19. Red Junglefowl (or) Gallus gallus (2 males walking before flying)
20. Kalij Pheasant (or) Lophura leucomelanos (3 males with a female: gr. views)
21. Indian Peafowl (or) Pavo cristatus
22. Common Greenshank (or) Tringa nebularia
23. Common Sandpiper (or) Tringa hypoleucos
24. Little Ringed Plover (or) Charadrius dubius
25. F River Lapwing (or) Vanellus duvaucelii (12)
26. Eurasian Collared-Dove (or) Streptopelia decaocto
27. Alexandrine Parakeet (or) Psittacula eupatria
28. F Slaty-headed Parakeet (or) Psittacula himalayana (2 and then 5)
29. Plum-headed Parakeet (or) Psittacula cyanocephala
30. Red-breasted Parakeet (or) Psittacula alexandri (4)
31. F Jungle Owlet (or) Glaucidium radiatum (at Ramnagar; 2 sitting)
32. F Crested Treeswift (or) Hemiprocne coronata
33. Common Kingfisher (or) Alcedo atthis
34. Stork-billed Kingfisher (or) Pelargopsis capensis (1 sitting)
35. White-throated Kingfisher (or) Halcyon smyrnensis
36. F Crested Kingfisher (or) Megaceryle lugubris (2 but not together)
37. F Blue-bearded Bee-eater (or) Nyctyornis athertoni (pair)
38. Eurasian Hoopoe (or) Upupa epops (4)
39. Indian Gray Hornbill (or) Ocyceros birostris (4)
40. Oriental Pied-Hornbill (or) Anthracoceros albirostris
41. Great Hornbill (or) Buceros bicornis (1 poor view fly. but calling in distance)
42. F Brown-headed Barbet (or) Megalaima zeylanica (at Ramnagar)
43. Lineated Barbet (or) Megalaima lineata (1 plus group of 6-7)
44. F Blue-throated Barbet (or) Megalaima asiatica (1)
45. F Gray-capped Woodpecker (or) Dendrocopos canicapillus (1; nice views)
46. Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker (or) Dendrocopos macei (1)
47. F Streak-throated Woodpecker (or) Picus xanthopygaeus (1)
48. F Scaly-bellied Woodpecker (or) Picus squamatus (1 plus a pair)
49. F Gray-faced Woodpecker (or) Picus canus (male)
50. Black-rumped Flameback (or) Dinopium benghalense (1)
51. Rusty-tailed Flycatcher (or) Muscicapa ruficauda
52. White-bellied Drongo (or) Dicrurus caerulescens (1)
53. F Bronzed Drongo (or) Dicrurus aeneus (about 10 sallying)
54. Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo (or) Dicrurus remifer (1)
55. Rufous Treepie (or) Dendrocitta vagabunda (at Ramnagar; 2)
56. Gray Treepie (or) Dendrocitta formosae
57. Large-billed Crow (or) Corvus macrorhynchos
58. Scarlet Minivet (or) Pericrocotus flammeus (male, 2 females)
59. F Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike (or) Hemipus picatus (at least 2 sallying)
60. Long-tailed Shrike (or) Lanius schach (2)
61. F Brown Dipper (or) Cinclus pallasii (2 plus 2 more)
62. Blue Whistling-Thrush (or) Myiophoneus caeruleus (several)
63. Verditer Flycatcher (or) Eumyias thalassina (male)
64. F Rufous-bellied Niltava (or) Niltava sundara (male)
65. Gray-headed Canary-flycatcher (or) Culicicapa ceylonensis
66. Oriental Magpie-Robin (or) Copsychus saularis
67. Indian Robin (or) Saxicoloides fulicata
68. F White-capped Redstart (or) Chaimarrornis leucocephalus (8)
69. F Plumbeous Redstart (or) Rhyacornis fuliginosus(atleast3 males,2 fem.)
70. F Little Forktail (or) Enicurus scouleri (1, super view)
71. F Slaty-backed Forktail (or) Enicurus schistaceus (1, great view)
72. Common Stonechat (or) Saxicola torquata
73. Pied Bushchat (or) Saxicola caprata
74. F Gray Bushchat (or) Saxicola ferrea (1 plus 1)
75. Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch (or) Sitta castanea (female)
76. Sand Martin (or) Riparia riparia (4)
77. Dusky Crag-Martin (or) Hirundo concolor (1)
78. Red-whiskered Bulbul (or) Pycnonotus jocosus
79. F Himalayan Bulbul (or) Pycnonotus leucogenys (at least 15)
80. Red-vented Bulbul (or) Pycnonotus cafer (a few)
81. Common Chiffchaff (or) Phylloscopus collybita
82. Greenish Warbler (or) Phylloscopus trochiloides
83. F Gray-hooded Warbler (or) Seicercus xanthoschistus (1)
84. Red-billed Leiothrix (or) Leiothrix lutea (several in a group)
85. Great Tit (or) Parus major
86. White Wagtail (or) Motacilla alba (1)
87. White-browed Wagtail (or) Motacilla madaraspatensis (6)

87 species