Spot-billed pelicans

Context: A nematode infestation has led to mass mortality of spot-billed pelicans (Pelicanus philippensis) at Telineelapuram Important Bird Area (IBA) in Naupada swamp of Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh.

Key Points

• Over 150 spot-billed pelicans have succumbed to the infestation since December, according to Forest officials, with 21 birds dying in the past 72 hours alone.
• Only adult birds have succumbed to the infestation till date. Until now, in South India, the Telineelapuram IBA is the prime winter sojourn for the spot-billed pelican for breeding. 
• The same IBA is also a breeding habitat for the painted stork (Mycteria leucocephala).
• If the mortality rate continues unchecked, the species is likely to disappear completely from the swamp in a matter of days.

Key Concern

• The nematode infestation would not spread from one species to another species as per the studies carried out by the experts in Karnataka State. 
• “The way the infestation transfers from the fish, snails, and invertebrates is complex. It is purely related to water and aqua ponds.

About Spot-billed pelicans

• They are member of the pelican family. 
• They breeds in southern Asia from southern Iran across India east to Indonesia. 
• It is a bird of large inland and coastal waters, especially large lakes. 
• It is mainly white, with a grey crest, hindneck and a brownish tail. The feathers on the hind neck are curly and form a greyish nape crest.
• They are capable of hunting huge fish from the water bodies and swamps and thus, it is vulnerable to infestation. 
• The species is found to breed only in peninsular India, Sri Lanka and in Cambodia.
• Thousands of spot-billed pelicans and a few hundred painted storks migrate from the Siberian region to breed in the Telineelapuram IBA and a majority of them prefer to stay here instead of going back home.
• Estimates suggest that increased protection has since enabled a recovery in their numbers and the status of the species was changed from vulnerable to near threatened in the 2007 IUCN Red List.

About Nematode infestation 

• The nematode infestation appears to pre-dispose the birds to become weak and then starve, unable to-ingest food. 
• As the infestation intensifies, the gizzard and proventriculus get clogged by high nematode loads, blocking the intestinal passage. This further leads to starvation and, eventually, death.