2 April, Bumthang. The long term bird monitoring program through mist-netting exercise at the Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environment (UWICE) has contributed a new bird record for Bhutan. The mist-netting team (Sherub, Ugyen Tenzin and Karma Wangdi) have confirmed Burmese Shrike (Lanius collurioides) male as another additional number of birds in Bhutan. It was caught in the “Scrub I” net line on 2nd of April at 8:00am. The bird weights about 26.2g with wing 8.6cm, tarsus 2.8cm and tail 9.3cm long. Some of the distinctive features of the bird are its dark chestnut mantle, white tail sides and chestnut rump. The team said that an insectivorous bird shrike has come back from their winter grounds in the altitudes. Capturing of the Burmese Shrike at this elevation is the highest record and on the western most in its distributional limits.
Mist-netting exercise at the Institute started from 22nd August 2013. Bird enthusiasts carry out this exercise every day from 6:00am-9:30am. So far the team has banded more than 1500 birds. The main objective of the program is to learn and document; bird diversity and change with season, bird community and composition, breeding biology and age structure. Body mass and morphometric data of every captured bird are recorded and a database is managed at the Institute. Sometimes school going children are also invited for this activity to out-reached program for bird education
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