Ballari: Much to the excitement of wildlife lovers in Ballari, a rare pigeon, which is normally sighted in Western Ghats has been sighted at Hampi. Yellow-footed green pigeon is quite common in the Western Ghats and wooded areas.

But the bird has now sprung a surprise by making an appearance in the drier area of world heritage site of Hampi. “There were twenty of these birds. I was thrilled with this. I could not believe it myself,” said Shivashankar Banagar, a Hospet-based bird watcher and photographer.

The bird which is basically an Eastern Ghats species, winters in the Western Ghats and spends some time in the drier areas enroute. The bird though has been documented in a book, “Birds of Hampi” by Samad Kottur, Banagar says that this has been the first record at Hampi.

“The bird was first sighted at Hazara Rama Temple and then there were many at Mahanavami Dibba,” informed Banagar. The bird according to Samad is common in Sandur, which is rich in greenery, Kariammana gaddi and other places, where there is more green cover. “The bird prefers wooded area and wooded area in higher altitude,” said Samad.

“It is in fact a vagrant species (a bird or animal which migrates locally in search of food),” he added. Another bird expert at Kamalapur said that since the bird thrives on ficus fruit and there are aplenty in Hampi, it may be the reason for sighting of the bird.

SOURCE : http://www.bfirst.in/category/state/yellow-footed-green-pigoen-sighted-at-hampi-507553