Grey Hypocolius sighted at the Narara Marine National Park in Gujarat

Grey Hypocolius (Hypocolius ampelinus), a rare bird, was sighted by two Mumbai-based professionals and keen amateur birders. The bird was photographed on 26 February 2015 by Kunal Munsiff and Nosherwan Sethna at the Narara Marine National Park near Jamnagar in Gujarat.

The findings were published by Bombay Natural History Society (BHNS) after Munsiff and Sethna submitted their findings to the BHNS.

Grey Hypocolius is a small passerine bird species and is a sole member of the genus Hypocolius and is placed in the family of Hypocoliidae.

This slender and long tailed bird is found in the dry semi-desert region of northern Africa, Arabia (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen) Afghanistan, Pakistan, and western India.

It is a migratory bird and generally fly in flocks and forage mainly on fruits, migrating south in winter.

The bird is listed under the Least Concern category of the Red List of Threatened Species of IUCN.