Indian Peafowl , Pavo cristatus Linnaeus

Local names
Mor, Manjur, Mayura (Hindi)
Mayur (Bengali)
Mur (Sind)
Mor-male, Landor-female (Maharashtra)
Manja-male, Mania-female, (Orissa)
mabja (Bhutia)
Dode (Garo)
Mayil (Malayalam, Tamil)
Monara (Sinhala)
Nemali (Telugu)
Navilu (Kannada)
Mor-male, Dhel-female (Gujarat)

It is the size of a vulture.The gorgeous ocellated tail of the adult cock , 1 to 1.5 m long , is in reality the abnormally lengthened upper tail coverts . Hen also crested like cock, but smaller , mottled brown with some metallic green on the lower neck and lacking the ornamental train.They can be seen in parties or droves in deciduous forests.Also locally semi-domesticated about villages and cultivation , where protected by religious sentiments.
Distribution
Throughout the Indian union , locally upto 1800m in the Himalayas , Sri Lanka, Bangladesh.Replaced in Myanmar by the species P.muticus with a pointed crest.
Habits
Inhabits dense scrubs and deciduous jungles - plain and foothill-preferably in the neighbourhood of rivers and streams.Polygamous; usually parties of one cock with 4 or 5 hens , but seasonally of the sexes seperately.Always excessively shy and alert.Slinks away through the undergrowth on its legs , and flies only when suddenly come upon, or to cross a ravine or open river bed.Roosts at night in large trees.
Food
Grain, vegetable shoots, insects, lizards, snakes etc.
Call
A loud harsh, screaming may-awe , and short grasping shrieks ka-ann repeatedly rapidly 6 to 8 times with a pumping action of head and neck.Cock displays before his bevy of hens erecting and fanning out his showy train , and struting and posturing to the accompaniment of paroxysms of quivering.
Nesting
Nesting season is from January to October.Nest is a shallow scrape in the ground in a dense thicket ,lined with sticks and leaves .Eggs are 3 to 5 , glossy pale cream or cafe-au-lait colour.
















All photographs taken at Tadoba-Andhari Tiger reserve, Chandrapur,Maharashtra

Eurasian Golden Oriole ( Oriolus oriolus , Linnaeus)

Its local names are
Peelak(Hindi,Gujarati,Marathi)
Poshnul, Poshinul (Kashmiri)
Sona Bau (Bengali)
Vanga pandu (Telugu)
Manjakkili(Malayalam)

It is of the size of a myna.Its colour is bright golden yellow with black in wings and tail, and a conspicuous black streak through the eye.Female has a dull colour and more green shade.They are found singly or in pairs among leafy trees and wooded country.


Distribution
They are distributed practically all over the Indian union excepting north-east India.Also found upto 2000m in the Himalayas ,Bangladesh,Pakistan and Sri Lanka.Not found in Myanmar.Resident in some areas, migrant in others.An individual ringed in Bhavnagar,Gujarat in Sep 1961 was recovered in Tadzhikistan in Central Asia in Jun 1971.Our only Indian race kundoo differs from the European chiefly in that its black eye-streak extends behind the eye.
Habits
Its habits are arboreal.A dweller of open but well wooded country , partial to groves of large trees around villages and cultivation, and in gardens and along roadsides even in noisy towns.It has strong dipping flights.
Call
A harsh cheeah and clear fluty whistles something like peelo.
Food
Insects,banyan and peepul figs and other fruits and berries , also flower nectar.
Nesting
Nesting season is from April to July.Nest is a beautifully woven deep cup of grass and bast fibres bound with cobweb , suspended hammockwise in fork of leafy twig above 4-10m from the ground.Eggs are 2 to 3 , white , spotted with black or reddish brown.Both sexes share all domestic duties.

All photographs taken at Tadoba-Andhari Tiger reserve, Chandrapur,Maharashtra

Oriental white-eye , Zosterops palpebrosus (Temminck)

Its local names are
Baboona (Hindi)
Motichur (Sagar, M.P.)
Daotisha-gophu-pi (Chachari)
Vellai Kanni (Tamil, Chennai)
Kannadi kurivi (Tamil, Madurai)
Pukuruvi (Tamil, Sri Lanka)
Mal kurulla (Tamil, Sinhala)

It has the size of a sparrow and is a tiny square-tailed greenish yellow and a bright yellow bird with a conspicuous white ring around the eye and slender pointed and slightly curved bill.It is gregarious bird in the trees, gardens and wooded countries.

Distribution
It is distributed practically throughout the Indian union,Bangladesh, Pakistan,Sri Lanka, and Myanmar excepting desert regions .It is resident and locally migratory.It has four geographical races based on details of size and colouration.

Habits
It is arboreal in habits.Flocks of 5 to 20 or more hunt energetically for insects among the foliage of trees and bushes.They often cling upside down and peer into likely nooks and crannies in the manner of tits.They also subsist largely on flower nectar and on the fleshy pulp of fruits and berries.

Call
Feeble jingling conversational notes keep the members of a flock together.In the breeding season the male delivers a pleasing , tinkling song reminiscent of the Verditer Flycatcher's . It commences almost inaudibly, grows louder and finally fades out as it began.

Nesting
Nesting season is principally from April to July.The nest is a cup of fibres neatly bound with cobwebs (similar to a miniature oriole nest).The nest slings hammock wise in the end fork of a thin twig and hangs normally 2 to 4 m above the ground.Eggs are generally 2 to 3 pale blue in colour, sometimes with a cap of deeper blue at the broad end.Both sexes share the domestic duties.

Photographs taken at Tadoba-Andhari tiger reserve, Chandrapur, Maharashtra

Red Whiskered Bulbul - Pycnonotus jocosus(Linnaeus)

All photographs taken at RGPPL Colony,Anjanvel, Tal-Guhagar, Dist-Ratnagiri, Maharashtra





















Its local names are
Kamera bulbul , Pahari bulbul (Hindi)

Size
It is of the size of a Myna, almost 20cm (8in)

Field characters
Greyish brown above , white below with a broken blackish necklace on breast.Black,upstanding,pointed crest,crimson 'whiskers' and crimson patch under root of tail are distinguishing features.Both sexes are alike .They are found in pairs or loose gatherings.

Distribution
They are found all over the Indian union, except the arid portions of the northwest(Rajasthan etc.),Bangladesh,Myanmar, and Andamans.Recently introduced in Nicobars.They are distributed patchily upto about 2000m .Not found in Sri Lanka and Pakistan.These birds have five races mainly on details of colouration.

Habits
Common in gardens and light scrub jungles, both near and away from human habitations.Large numbers collect to feed on banayan and peepul figs and winged termite swams.Has no song as such , but its joyous notes and vivacious disposition make it a welcome visitor to every garden.
They prefer better-wooded localities and commonly found in hills up to 2500m.Its joyous querulous notes are more musical than the Red-vented bulbul and is readily distinguishable.

Nesting
Nesting season is from February to August.This season is locally variable.
Nest is similar to other bulbuls.It is a cup of rootlets, sometimes plastered outside with cobwebs, in a bush or tree.The nest is located about 10m above the ground.
Eggs are 2-3 faint pinkish white.
Both sexes share parental duties.

Lesser Adjutant Stork- Leptotilus javanicus(Horsfield)

Photographed by Sh.Anurag Kumar at Dudhwa WLS , Uttar Pradesh


Its local names are
Chinjara Chandana, Chandiari, Bang gor, Chhota garur (Hindi)
Madanchur, Madantak (Bengal)
Tokla moora (Assam)
Bor tokola (Nowgong,Assam)
Dodal konga,Doidal gatti gadu (Telugu)
Meva kokku (Tamil)
Mana (Sinhala)
Vayalnaicken (Malayalam)

Size
Its size is almost of a vulture.

Field characters
Standing height 110-120 cm .Colour is glossy black above and white below.No neck pouch.Generally found in swamps and flooded lands.Both sexes appear alike.

Distribution
Resident and locally migratory.Found in North East India, Kerla, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.Uncommon in continental India.

Habits
Normally solitary and behavior similar to the Adjutant-Stork but less of a scavenger and more shy.Affects well-watered country.

Food
Fish,Frogs, Reptiles and invertebrates.

Call
Said to make a guttural noise.

Nesting
Its nesting season is November to January.The nest is a massive platform of sticks in lofty Salamalia or other trees.Eggs are generally 3-4 and white in colour.The main nesting area is NE India.Only circumstantial evidence of its nesting is in Kerla.Declining in Sri Lanka owing to disturbance in its breeding site.

Great Cormorant , Phalacrocorax carbo

Its local names are
Pan kowwa (Hindi)
Pani kaori (Assamese)
Pan-kawri (Bengali)
Bonta kaki (Telgu)

Size :
Its size is about a domestic duck.

Field Characters :
In non-breeding seasons it is distinguished from cormorants only by its size.Its colour is black.Breeding birds have a white colour on head and neck.Also they have a large white patch on either flank which is conspicuous in flight.They have a yellow gular pouch which becomes less bright in non-breeding birds.Non-breeding birds are without a white colour in their plumage.Juveniles are white above and brown below.Adults acquire a plumage from the fourth year.

Distribution :
They are resident as well as migratory.A ringed bird from Kazakhstan was recovered in Punjab.They are found throughout India up to over 3000m.

Habits :
They inhabit large inland waters ,sand banks,tidal lagoons etc.They are found singly or in flocks.They hunt fish by diving and chasing them under water.

Food:
Their food is almost exclusively fish.















Nesting :
Their nesting season is generally from September to February, but may vary in different localities.Their nest is a massive platform in colonially mixed heronries.Eggs are 3 to 5 or 6 in numbers with pale blue colour with a white chalky layer on them.Both sexes share domestic duties.Courting birds engage in tail raising and bending the head backwards until it almost touches the back.The male all the while flaps its wings slowly.







































































All photographs taken at Periyar Tiger Reserve, Kerla

Black-crowned Night Heron

Black-crowned Night Heron , Nycticorax nycticorax
(Picture : an immature Black crowned Night Heron)

Located at Bolghatty Island, Ernakulam


Its local names are
Waak,Kwaak, Tar bagla, Kokrai (Hindi)
Bor (Kashmiri)
Bachka (Bengal)
Chongkhu (Manipur)
Raat baggal. Raat Kokku , Raj kok (Marathi)
Awaak , Waak (Gujrat)
Gadri (Sind)
Chinta wakha (Telgu)
Vakka (Tamil)
Toppi kokku ( Malayalam)
Re kana kokka (Sinhala)

It is nearly the size of a Indian Pond Heron and has the general effects of a stocky Indian pond heron with stouter bill.Its colour is ashy grey above with glistening black back and scapulars and white below.Crown and nape are black . The long occipital crest is black with some white plumes intermixed.
Young birds are streaked brown , rather like Indian pond heron.
Both sexes are alike . These are gregarious birds flying at dusk with loud raucous kwaark .
They are distributed throughout the Indian union , Bangladesh,Pakistan,Sri Lanka and Myanmar.They are resident and locally migratory.
Habits :
Largely crepuscular and nocturnal .Affects jheels and other inland waters as well as tidal creeks and mangrove swamps.Colonies spend the daytime resting in clump of leafy trees , often far from water , and fly out of their accustomed feeding grounds at dusk.They come out in ones and two's , uttering a distinctive kwaark from time to time.Their flight is like that of the Indian pond heron.It is distinguished with a steady flapping, with neck pulled in , and in silhouette resembles that of the flying fox and gull.The same communal roosts and nesting trees are occupied year after year.
Food:
Crabs, fish , frogs , aquatic insects etc. They usually procure the food actively rather than acquiring them in the 'wait and strike' manner of the herons.
Nesting :
Between April and September in North India
December to February in the south.
Nest is usually a twig structure typical of the egrets.Nests are built in colonies in canopy of large leafy trees or screwpine brakes , near or removed from water. Eggs are generally 4-5 , pale sea-green in colour .Both sexes share all domestic duties.