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