Wednesday 27th August, 2008
on small creatures such as aquatic
insects, worms and crustaceans. It
feeds mainly during the evenings
and at night, sometimes going away
to feed in the evenings and returning
to the roost in the morning. It has
the habit of frequenting paddy fields,
but is not usually a pest of paddy as
‘Sensational’
fossil illuminates
birth of dinosaurs
Text and Illustrations by
Jagath Gunawardana
D
Artist’s impression of Archaeopteryx
by Harry de Quetteville
A
n archaeological dig in
central Germany has
unearthed fossils which
could be the oldest record of
dinosaur life ever.
The dinosaur find, at a
quarry near the town of
Bernburg 90 miles south-west
of Berlin, appears to date
from 250 million years ago.
Scientists previously
believed that dinosaurs
evolved from smaller reptilians around 235 million years
ago.
But the new find could
radically redraw archaeologists’ understanding of the
dawn of the Triassic age, and
the birth of the dinosaur era.
“This is a spectacular,
unique achievement,” said
regional archaeology chief
Harald Meller, announcing
the discovery.
He said that the crucial
remnants believed to be fossils of bone fragments - had
been secured, but the German
authorities called on amateur
enthusiasts to stay away from
the site, for fear of damaging
potential further finds.
Other experts declared the
dig of “sensational importance”.
If confirmed, the find
would add to a long list of
landmark archaeological
dinosaur discoveries in
Germany, including the
Archaeopteryx, which showed
a link between dinosaurs and
birds.
It was discovered in southern German in the 19th century, helping to cement the reputation of Darwin’s theory of
evolution.
© The Telegraph Group
London 2008
ucks, swans, geese and teals,
collectively known as waterfowl, belong to the family
Anatidae and are characterized by
flattened beaks, long necks, short
tails and webbed feet. The strong and
stout legs have the three front toes
webbed and a free hind toe. Their
wings mybe long and pointed in
strong fliers but short and rounded
in others. The blunt flattened beaks
have lamellae along the sides and a
horny nail at the tip that points
down. They are all good swimmers
and divers and spend much time in
the water.This family has about 160
members, of which 15 have been
recorded from Sri Lanka. Of these,
two are residents, six are winter
migrants and another five are
vagrants. The status of the other two
are noteworthy. One, the Comb-Duck,
was extirpated (made locally
extinct), during the early part of the
last centaury, while the other, the
Spot-billed Duck, long considered as
a rare winter visitor has been found
breeding in the Mannar areas for the
last six years. Of the two residents,
the Lesser Whistling Teal is the
commoner and is also the commonest and the most widespread
of the ducks found in Sri
Lanka.
The Lesser Whistling Teal
(Dendrocygna javanica) is
also called the Lesser
Whistling Duck, Indian
Whistling Duck and the
Tree Duck. In Sinhala, it is
known as the TumbaSeruwa and Seruwa. It is
about 42 c.m. (17 inches) in
length, or smaller than a
domestic duck. It is a longnecked bird with broad and
rounded wings, rather long
legs that stand in a rather vertical stance. The nail on the
upper mandible of the beak is
very prominent. The body is
mainly a coppery-brown
colour with a pale eye-ring, the
crown is black and a dark line
runs from it through the nape
and foreneck to the back The
back feathers are black or
dark gray with pale fringes.
The flight feathers are black
while the covers are chestnut red. The rump is chestnut red and the tail is
black. The dark brown eyes
look black from a distance.
The beak and legs are dark
gray or black. Males and females
are similar in appearance.
It is a peaceful, gregarious bird
that
is usually
found as small
flocks numbering about
15 to 20 birds. It can be seen together
with other water birds and is peaceful in habits. Larger flocks of up to
or more than a hundred can be seen
at times. A mainly crepuscular and
nocturnal bird, it spends most of
the day in a shaded place in a wetland or on a branch of a tree. It
inhabits wetlands such as
marshes, reed beds, paddy
fields, tanks, lagoons, streams
and canals and is always found
in places that have grasses,
reeds and water plants such as
lotus and water lilies, avoiding
areas with large expanses of
open water. It spends most of
the day resting, sometimes
sleeping and swimming slowly
or standing and feeding occasionally. It becomes active
towards evening and starts flying
and swimming actively to commence feeding. The call is a shrill,
whistling “twee-twee” that is
uttered frequently in flight. The
flight is not strong or fast, the
birds continuously and rapidly
flapping their wings. It can walk
well and steadily, without the
waddle of ducks.
This bird is mainly a herbivore, feeding not only on the
seeds and leaves but also
on the tender shoots
and stems of
water plants.
It also
feed
some believe, but feeding more on
the tender leaved and stemmed water
plants growing as weeds and some
creatures. Food is taken off the surface while walking or swimming or
will readily dive under water to get
food. It can dive well and deep, and
can stay under water for about 30
seconds, if necessary. It swims well,
often at a slow leisurely pace but
quite fast if needed. It is not shy but
is often vary of human beings, staying always on the alert and swimming or flying away if disturbed or
threatened. A flock may suddenly
take off, circle the area for a while
and get down to resume resting or
feeding. When disturbed, they take to
the air with loud calls and may fly
away to another destination.
The Lesser Whistling Teal has
two breeding seasons, one occurring
during May to July and the other
during November and December. The
breeding season is heralded by their
courtship displays that are often
accompanied by chasing in
flight, accompanied
with loud, continuous
calling. They sometimes nest in the holes
of trees and other in
reed beds and grass tussocks along and in water bodies. The nest is made up of grasses, reeds and other water plants and
is a shallow platform. The eggs are
white and the clutch is large, numbering from 7 to 12 but even more at
times. Incubation takes about three
weeks and the young can swim
immediately after hatching. The
young are white with dark brown or
black stripes that makes a very good
camouflage among the weeds. The
young always accompany the parents
and form a loose flock, swimming
and feeding together with the parents. When swimming, they form a
line behind the parent. Thee young
feed on their own, taking food off the
surface. The parents keep a watchful
eye and do not let the young stray
into open waters.
This bird is seen in both the low
country wet and dry zone wherever
there are suitable habitats. They are
still common in the wetlands around
Colombo and can be seen even in
some places within the city limits of
Colombo such as the wetlands in the
Narahenpita area. However, their
numbers and the distribution have
both shown some decline during the
years due to the loss of habitats. In
some areas, the clearing of water
ways of reeds and other plants have
deprived them of resting, feeding
and breeding places. They often fly
over during the night, the characteristic whistling calls helping to identify the species. It was shot in large
numbers by the British colonialists,
not for food but mainly for what they
term as sport. There was hunting of
this bird in some areas but this habit
is not known now and those who
hunted it claim that the flesh is not
tasty. It is a protected species under
Section 31 of the Fauna and
Protection Ordinance at present and
it is an offence to kill, injure or harm
them or keep or sell the flesh of it.
Anyone of these can carry a penalty
of 10,00 to 20,000 rupees (the fines
being increased from the initial
5,000 to 10,000 rupees by the Increase
of Fines Act, No. 12 of 2005) or/ and
a jail term of 2 to 5 years. It is an
offence to take or destroy their nests
or eggs, which also carries the same
penalties. The serving or preparation
of its flesh for food is prohibited
under Section 54 of the same enactment and carries the same fine. The
Lesser Whistling Teal has a wide distribution in Asia from the Indian
sub-continent trough Myanmar,
Thailand, Indo-China, Malaysia to
Indonesia.
Leisureland 2-3
Pregnant? Fired?
Boss must pay
Anjuli Flamer
Caldera presents
ART WALK 2008
Black holes can
‘act as midwives
to aid star birth’