Nature Magnified

Malabar Starling

2012-04-09T02:55:04-07:00

The Malabar Starling (Sturnia blythii) is also known as the Malabar White-headed Starling or Blyth's Starling. Until recently it was considered conspecific with Chestnut-tailed Starling (Grey-headed Myna) and placed in genus Sturnus but is now considered a full species.

It is distinctive from the former species, in having a white head, which contrasts the cinnamon-brown breast. The upper-parts are grey while the rump is orange-brown.

The wings are also grey with black primaries and brown secondaries. The tail which is grey is tipped with chestnut. The eye is greyish and the bill is amusingly coloured blue at base, green in middle and yellow at the tip.

The females have a greyer head and the juveniles are a grey-brown. However, there is also an opinion that the females and males be similar.

They can be usually found in pairs or in flocks – small or big. Like other starlings they can fly in large flocks with great synchrony.

This species is thought to be endemic to the Western Ghats and is resident here. They feed on insects, seeds, fruits and nectar.

The are found in open woodland and cultivations with scattered trees and in young forest plantations and also close to human settlements. The breeding season is thought to be between April and May.

	Sighting Information:
Location:	Sharavathi valley wildlife sanctuary
Date:	April 1 2012
Time:	Morning; 7:25 AM
Weather:	Sunny morning
Other Details:	A couple of these birds was seen high in the treetops. Flying back and forth. There was also a Pompadour Green Pigeon sitting in close proximity

Hump-nosed Viper

2012-04-08T20:59:50-07:00

The Hump-nosed viper (Hypnale hypnale), is also known under several synonyms - Merrem's hump-nosed viper,hump-nosed pit viper, Oriental hump-nosed viper,hump-nosed pitviper, kunakatuwa (Sinhala), Churutta (Malayalam).

This snake is a small member of the pit-viper family and grows to just 30-45 cm in length. Pictured here is a fully grown adult snake.

It has a distinctly triangular head and brown colouration. The snout is pointed and turned upwards and ends in a hump. The body colouration is a brownish grey with a double row of large dark spots. The underparts are brownish or yellowish. The tip of the tail is yellow or reddish.

They are often found in leaf litter, tree cavities and low vegetation in forests. This species is restricted to south India and Sri Lanka.

They are mostly diurnal, being most active during early mornings and early nights. They can commonly be seen basking in the early morning sunshine by the side of streams.

It is generally sluggish but very alert when hunting or roused. It can coil back and remain in a striking pose when disturbed to deter its adversaries. However it will not hesitate to attack and is capable of fast strikes.

Their usual prey includes geckos, mice, frogs and lizards.

This snake is known to vibrate its tail when annoyed, much like a rattle snake.

Although, the bites from this species were previously only thought to cause minor localized complications, is now known to be serious, and can lead to fatality if not treated within a few hours.

Bites are usually sustained to the hands or feet and no antivenom has been developed from the venom of this species. The bite of this snake may result in hemostatic dysfunction, acute kidney injury and death. However, there are polyvalent antivenom which can be used to treat the bites.

	Sighting Information:
Location:	Linganamakki reservoir, in Sharavathi Valley wildlife sanctuary
Date:	1st April 2012
Time:	Morning; 8:20 AM
Weather:	Sunny dry morning.
Other Details:	Two individual snakes were seen, both heading away from the reservoir, probably after an early morning drink and/or sunbathing. This one was among the leaf litter, almost camouflaged, except for its movements. When handled it assumed its striking pose and maintained it for the next 10 minutes as I photographed it. Other than this, it displayed no aggression. At no point did it try to strike. After 10 minutes it started to flick its tongue out and test the air. At this point the handler put the snake back into the litter and allowed it to go on its way.

Black-winged Kite

2012-04-03T01:11:05-07:00

The Black-winged Kite (Elanus caeruleus) is a small kite which is best known for its ability to hover in mid air like a Kestrel. It is very similar to the Australian Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus axillaris) and the White-tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus) of North and South America.

The forehead, face and the lower plumage is white, except the region immediately around the eyes, which is white. The remainder of the upper plumage is grey.

The shoulder patch and wing tips are black. The tail is mostly white with median tail-feathers and the outer web of next pair light grey. The sexes are alike. Juveniles may have a rufous-fulvous head, browner shoulders, tail tipped with white and breast feathers tipped with fulvous.

It is a bird of open country and frequents cultivated country and is generally seen in the vicinity of grassy areas. It can be seen perched on telegraph poles or hovering in mid-air. The wings extend beyond the tail when the bird is perched.

While hovering it can swoop down on its prey. The pre consists of insects such as grasshoppers, crickets and other large insects, lizards and rodents. Injured birds, small snakes and frogs also fall prey. However, it does not always catch its prey like this. It also swoops at it from a perch or by hawking close to the ground.

The bird is mostly silent but they are known to have a high-pitched squeal or a soft whistle.

These birds are known to roost in communities of 15 or more birds. The nesting season varies widely and two broods per year have been known to be raised, with the rearing happening in more wooded areas. the nests are mainly twigs, lined with grass and placed in trees –preferentially Babul trees. Three to four eggs are laid.

	Sighting Information:
Location:	Nandanavana Layout, Bannerghatta outskirts.
Date:	18th Marc 2012
Time:	Morning; 7:00 AM
Weather:	hot, sunny morning.
Other Details:	A single bird seen perched on an electric post, adjusting its wings and jerking its tail up and down, in characteristic fashion and later looking out for prey studiously.

Bay-backed Shrike

2012-03-27T01:56:31-07:00

The Bay-backed Shrike (Lanius vittatus), is another member of the Shrike family. It has a very characteristic black “bandit” band running across the eyes.

It has its crown and upper neck, a light grey, divided from the black by a whitish area. The back and the shoulders are a deep chestnut brown colour.

The rump is white, the wings black with a white patch and the tail is also black, with white outer feathers. The lower parts are all white except for the breast and flanks which show a fulvous colour. The bills and legs are black.

It is a common bird in cultivations, often perched in exposed positions. It is widely distributed in in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. In the South of India, it avoids the South-west rainy areas. It is a resident species but can migrate locally.

It is a bird of open country and cultivations consisting of groves of trees and avoids deserts and thick jungles. It can often be seen perched on the top of trees, bushes or on telegraph lines watching for prey. Its prey consist of insects, caterpillars and lizards etc. When the prey is spotted, it flies down, captures it and eats it on the ground before flying back to its perch. It is also known to impale prey on a thorn and then tear it apart with its beak

This bird has a fixed territory and one can repeatedly sight the bird in a defined area as it does not usually stray from its territory.

The call is a harsh churring note but the bird is known to have a more melodius warbling song and is known to mimic other birds.

the breeding season is from March to September and the nest is a large cup, intricately woven together from grass, twigs, rags feathers etc. It is plastered with cobwebs and lined with fine grass, usually located at the fork of a tree branch. Four – six eggs may be found.

	Sighting Information:
Location:	Nandanavana Layout, Bannerghatta outskirts.
Date:	18th March 2012
Time:	Morning; 8:00 AM
Weather:	Hot Sunny morning.
Other Details:	Seen perched atop a thorny bush, quite undisturbed by my presence watching for prey, which it would quickly descent to catch before returning to the perch.

Report your sightings of common birds on ICBMI

2012-03-23T04:07:12-07:00

There are times when I go bird watching and come across a common bird such as a myna, pigeon or crow and completely ignore it. Most of them don't make it to mine or anyone else's bird watching lists. As a result data on such birds are seldom recorded and they are barely noticed until something about them becomes a cause for concern. So, how do you get people to pitch in and report data from the more common birds?

The Nature Forever Society has come out with a brilliant citizen project called as the Common Bird Monitoring of India (ICBMI)

Built along the lines of SeasonWatch and MigrantWatch , ICBMI presents an opportunity for common people to register and define an area in which they can monitor and report sightings of common birds. The data will be used in a scientific study to undertake long term monitoring of India’s Common birds.

For useful practical purposes, 18 species have been listed as common birds. These are:

Coppersmith Barbet -Megalaima haemacephala, Common Hoopoe -Upupa epops, White-throated Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis,,
Green Bee-eater -Merops orientalis, Greater Coucal -Centropus sinensis, Rose-ringed Parakeet -Psittacula krameri, Rock Pigeon
-Columba livia, Black Kite -Milvus migrans, Cattle Egret -Bubulcus coromandus, House Crow -Corvus splendens, Black Drongo -Dicrurus macrocercus, Indian Robin -Saxicoloides fulicatus, Common Myna -Acridotheres tristis, Barn Swallow -Hirundo rustica, Red-vented Bulbul -Pycnonotus cafer, Ashy Prinia -Prinia socialis, Purple Sunbird -Nectarinia asiatica, House Sparrow -Passer domesticus.

The site reports that there is little or no study of the status , population and geographic distribution of these species on a landscape level. The common bird monitoring programme will help in collecting details on the population and distribution of these birds over a period of time and help in creating baseline data which can then be used to study region specific trends of many species.

Apart from these common birds, you can also report on any bird that you spot in your defined locality.

Once registered you can choose a time to watch birds for 15 minutes in your chosen space to watch birds (You can do that from anywhere and one can register more than one location) and then report your observation on the site.

There is a data tab on the website which also allows you to view data by locality, time or species.

The site also offers a CBMI kit. “The CBMI Kit includes materials like bird guide to 18 common birds you need to monitor when you go out to watch birds and a simple data form for recording your observations You can download the kit from this website or order it for free when you register or when you email cbmikit@cbmi.in”

With time, the project is expected to generate a huge quantity of useful data on common birds and if you are one of those nature enthusiasts who can take 15 minutes a day off (you probably do it anyway), go ahead and register.

PS: the success of citizen science projects depends upon the involvement of people and for people to get involved, people need to be made aware of such initiative. So, to my 216 followers on Facebook, 1063 followers on Twitter, 172 feed subscribers, 95 blogger (Google friend connect) and email subscribers and those of you who randomly drop by. Please share this and help spread the word.

Tawny-bellied Babbler

2012-03-20T00:18:32-07:00

The Tawny-bellied Babbler, (Dumetia hyperythra), also known as the Rufous-bellied Babbler, is a small bird of the babbler family.

It has the front half of its crown, a reddish brown and the upper plumage, wings and tail, an olive brown in colour. The sides of the face and entire lower plumage bright fulvous colour. The tail is narrowly barred.

There are four races present and only the southern populations have a white throat, as seen in the birds pictured here. This population also has a short supercilium. The legs are a very pale fleshy colour.

This bird is a bird of thick cover. It was difficult getting a good photograph of the bird as they kept to the scrub and only showed themselves briefly.

It usually keeps to thorny scrubs, and tall grass in small parties of 4-8 birds. The birds keep in contact using small cheep-cheep sounds along with harsh tittering notes.

The birds follow each other from bush to bush, keeping out of sight as far as possible. When an alarm is raised, they scatter in all directions and reassemble when the alarm is over. The food consists of insects and larvae but nectar from flowers is also taken.

The nesting season of this species is in the monsoon, generally between May and September. The nest is usually built on, or very close to, the ground, either amongst dead leaves, in coarse grass, or in small bushes. It is a ball constructed from bamboo leaves or grass. Three to four eggs are laid.

	Sighting Information:
Location:	Nandanavana Layout, Bannerghatta outskirts.
Date:	18th March 2012
Time:	Morning; 7:30 AM
Weather:	Hot sunny morning after overnight rains
Other Details:	A flock of 6-8 birds seen in burnt out thorny scrubs, in close proximity with a group of yellow-eyed and common babblers.

Brown shrike

2012-03-15T02:13:13-07:00

The Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus) is a small bird belonging to the Shrike family. It has a reddish brown upper plumage, especially prominent on the crown and nape.

There is a very prominent broad blackish line through the eye, often called as the “Bandit Mask”. The wings are a darker brown colour while the lower plumage dirty whitish, whiter on the throat and belly and the breast and flanks are usually barred finely with black.

The legs are a bluish black and the bill is a horny-brown colour. It has a very harsh chattering voice:

It is commonly found in different types of vegetation including cultivation and dry scrub or mixed bamboo jungle to the fringes of forests. It usually perches on small trees, bushes or wires, from where it looks out for prey. When it spots the prey it launces itself to capture the prey from either the ground or mid air and returns with it to the perch.

The bird is a migratory species and they arrive in winter to India in August to September and depart in April. This makes it one of the earliest visitors to arrive and latest to leave. A few non-breeding birds also seem to linger in the plains
throughout the hot weather.

They breed between May-June and the nest is a massive cup of grass built in trees or thorny bushes. A closely related species is the Isabelline Shrike (L. isabellinus).

	Sighting Information:
Location:	Sarjapur
Date:	26th Feb 2012
Time:	Morning; 8:30 AM
Weather:	Sunny morning
Other Details:	A single bird seen sitting atop a thorny bush looking for prey.

PS: A brown shrike was featured here earlier, spotted in Karimannoor, Kerala.

Spotted Owlet

2012-03-12T01:45:00-07:00

The Spotted Owlet (Athene brama) is a small owl that is fairly common in Southern India. It is about the same size as the Barred Jungle Owlet featured here earlier.

The sexes are alike and the prominent features of the bird are the white around the eyes and forehead. The upper parts, wings and tail is greyish to earthy-brown. The top of the head has small white spots, the rest of the upper plumage is more or less boldly spotted and in places almost barred with white.

It has an indistinct whitish half-collar on the hind neck. The iris is pale golden-yellow and bill and feet greenish-yellow. The facial disc is very indistinct in this owl.

They are generally found everywhere, especially in gardens about houses, in twos and threes. They are known to be wide awake during the day, and are known to make extraordinary noises at dusk.

When disturbed from their daytime site, they bob their head and stare at intruders like below:

It is probably the commonest and most familiar owl in India. It is nocturnal in its habits. After spending its day in its hole, its emergence is often signalled by weird screeching calls before it takes off on hunting trips.

They are known to be capable of hovering. Three – four individuals often live together. The food generally consists of beetles and crickets. Small animals and lizards are also taken.

The breeding season is November to April. They nest in cavities or holes, often competing with other birds such as Mynas. the nest is often lined with leaves and feathers. Typically 3-4 eggs are laid.

	Sighting Information:
Location:	Sarjapur
Date:	26th Feb 2012
Time:	Morning; 8:50 AM
Weather:	Sunny morning after overnight rains
Other Details:	Seen singly, sitting atop a tiled roof. After I got a bit too close, it began bobbing its head up and down and flew into a nearby tree, from where it continued to watch me.

Rufous-tailed Lark

2012-03-08T21:59:41-08:00

The Rufous-tailed Lark (Ammomanes phoenicura) is also called the Rufous-tailed Finch-Lark and is a bird of stony habitats.

It has a dark brown upper plumage, the wings are brown with margins of a lighter brown. The tail and the entire lower plumage is a deep rufous with the chin, throat and breast streaked with brown. The tail has a a broad black bar across the end.

The sides of the head has mixed rufous and brown with a pale rufous streak over the eye. Subspecies and individuals may appear brighter or duller. Bill is thick brown and slightly curved. The sexes are identical.

It is usually found in open plains and ploughed fields but can also be seen perched on wires. It may be seen singly in breeding season, but in groups otherwise. It normally keeps to the ground, where it feeds on seeds and insects. They walk along the ground and make quick dashes to capture insects.

It is known to crouch and stay still when disturbed and will only fly when approached very close. The call is a series of small tweeps:

The breeding season lasts from February to April. The nest is a slight depression on the ground, made in open fields or plains, made by scratching or in a natural cavity. This is usually sheltered by a tuft of foliage or stone or mud. three-four eggs are laid.

	Sighting Information:
Location:	Sivanahalli
Date:	18th Sept 2011
Time:	Morning; 9:50 AM
Weather:	Sunny morning
Other Details:	Seen singly, sitting on a rocky area, quite unmoved by a rather large group of birdwatchers.

Review of BirdFieldGuide – A field guide app for birdwatchers on Android/iOS.

2012-03-20T00:48:37-07:00

In this digital age, bird watching has transformed itself from the days of the binocular and notepad into something more. Modern bird watchers are equipped with all sorts of electronic gadgets, such as digital SLRs, telephoto lenses, compasses and GPS equipment. One thing lacking was the digital field guide and now with the advent of the mobile smart phones and tablets even that has become a reality. Being in North America, there are such apps such as Audubon Birds, iBird Explorer Pro, National Geographic’s Handheld Birds, Peterson Birds of North America and The Sibley eGuide to the Birds of North America.

Being in India though, I wanted something that was more Indian in content and I found one such app in BirdFieldGuide – which describes itself as a comprehensive hand-held digital field guide to the Birds of South and South East Asia, covering both resident and migratory birds and includes information for over 1200 bird species with scientific classification, detailed species description like diagnostic identification factors, range distribution, habitat, field behaviour and nesting & migratory patterns.

I have to say, it is a rather unimaginative name for obvious reasons and at least a hint that it is India specific could have been more helpful.

A free version of this app is available both in the Android market, (now Google Play App store) and iTunes store. The free version limits your search to a daily limit of 5 birds per day. I have since purchased the full versions of both the iPad version and the Android phone version, which costs a very reasonable 100-150 Rs (depending on the version). It has since then been made available for the Blackberry Playbook. also. When you install the app, on Android it also asks you to install Adobe air, which is annoying, but once that is installed. it should work fine.

When you start up the app you are greeted with an interface menu with different choices. The first of these – Reference is a confusing term. It should have been “Field Guide” or “Birds”, for it leads to a database of all available birds.

The Reference tab takes you to an impressive collection of birds in alphabetical order. You can select each alphabet in the side tab to limit your search.

Furthermore, there is an advanced search tab, which is the most brilliant feature of this app. Clicking this, brings up a detailed selection menu to help you narrow down your search for an unknown bird. If all you know are say, the bird’s colours, and the bill shape and of course the size, you can considerably narrow down your search targets into those that fall within these characteristics.

When you have found your bird, you can click on it to bring up a detailed page with more information. While some pages do have detailed information, others were sorely lacking in it. You do get an option to listen to the bird call (if that's available). But there are no maps showing the distribution and the description is often very sparse. Some birds have no more information than just the taxonomy. This is where the app truly needs to improve.

The i-phone and i-pad versions,comes bundled with all bird images and bird calls. In the Android device,you will need to do a one-time download of the bird images and calls from the Help menu. This is due to the file size restrictions on the android apps in the store. Once this has been downloaded, the internet is not essential for it to work. The images though were not very detailed, but it is commendable that so many birds have been made available in photographs.

The Help menu, other than providing instructions on using the App, has a useful Beginners guide and an illustrated description on the parts of a bird.

These sections will come in handy, especially for the novice birders who start out from bird photography and then move into birding as a hobby, or if you want a quick reference of the described parts in the text.

Another useful feature, which could have been a killer, but hasn’t been fully executed to perfection is the ability to make a list of birds seen on a trip. A very good concept which I believe every birding app should provide.

You can add a trip with name, location and date of the trip. You also have the option to map the location of the trip. This however, never worked for me. I added the birds after the trip and when I tried to map the trip, it opened up Google maps with the birds tagged to my home location and not that of the trip. There was no option to change this.

You can add birds one by one, selecting the bird from the exhaustive list available in the apps database. You can also select the number spotted and the gender/maturity details and whether you saw or heard the bird.

Here I think the creators missed a trick by ~~not being able to input notes~~, and custom numbers. Also what would have been great is if it provided the ability to map each bird to a location rather than just for the entire trip.

Finally, in this age of social networks and sharing, the app provides you with the ability to post your trip details to Facebook and Twitter.

Clicking on this, asks you to allow the app authorization by opening the authorization page within the app itself. This is a fantastic idea, but unfortunately, it just didn't work no matter how many times I tried.

However you do have the option of emailing the trip report and this did work without a flaw. It would be useful to generate such reports to send out to birding groups and friends. Finally, there is also the option of uploading the report to a central repository. While this is good, I have no idea where this is going and that is a huge negative. If I want to give off the information the least I should know is where it is going to.

You do have the option of going back to your report on the phone/tablet and editing it. However, this information is not synchronised between your devices. Also, it is not stored in the cloud, therefore, if you lose the app or the phone …all your trip reports will be gone..

Another interesting but trivial feature is the Quiz tab, which provides you entertainment when you cant do real birding.

To Summarize:

A very handy app that is sure to catch the interest of tech savvy birders, providing a convenient alternative to the log book and heavy field guide. However, it doesn't replace either the log book or the field guide and needs to go a long way before it can stake claim to being the ideal option. It requires more detailed descriptions, maps etc and should provide ability to GPS tag each bird by location. The share option should be improved to work with social networking sites. Finally, it is most essential to have the app sync data between devices and/or store this information in the cloud.

For now though, it is the only Indian bird app that I am aware of and it provides a handy reference guide on your phone, when you may not have with you, a detailed field guide. Given the very reasonable price point I would say, if you are a birder with a compatible android or iOS device, get this app now. If you are unsure you could always play around with the free versions first.

A video of the BirdFieldGuide in action from the creators of this app.

Links:

Jalsa Labs

iPhone version
iPad HD version
iPhone & iPad Lite version ( Free )
Android Phone version
Android Tablet HD version
Lite version for Phone & Tablet (Free)
PlayBook HD version
PlayBook Lite version (Free)

Black-headed cuckoo-shrike

2012-03-06T00:06:22-08:00

The Black-headed Cuckooshrike (Coracina melanoptera) is a medium sized grey and white bird, in open country sides with good tree growth.

The male has a black head and upper breast with dark grey upper plumage. The wings are also black, with the grey or white margins on the flight feathers.

The tail is blackish, with the central feathers being a dark ashy grey. The rest of the under parts are a pale ashy-grey fading to white in the lower regions.

The female, is a paler ashy grey, with the feathers barred paler or darker grey. The lower parts may be barred with black and white.

It has a distinctive whistling call in the breeding season, but it is usually a very silent bird. The male can be heard at the beginning on the breeding season the regular call is a repeating series of whistles:

This bird prefers trees surrounding villages and can be spotted in avenues of roadside trees orchards and gardens. It almost never descends to the ground.

They are usually found in small parties which fly from tree to tree, hunting for insects and larvae, which makes up its food.

The breeding season is usually between April to May, in the south. The nest is made of twigs and roots and placed in the fork of a branch or the junction between the branch and tree.

	Sighting Information:
Location:	Sarjapur
Date:	27th Feb 2011
Time:	Morning; 8:40 AM
Weather:	Sunny morning.
Other Details:	Male seen in a tree foraging for food. Female spotted on Sept 18th 2011 at Sivanahalli.

Tailor bird

2012-02-27T00:27:32-08:00

The Common Tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius) is a tiny bird that is more heard of than seen. Its name is one of the more famous ones but not as many have seen or will recognize the bird. It is a very shy bird and is usually hidden by its small size and camouflaged plumage within the leaves of trees.

However, it is a loud bird and can be heard before it is spotted. The call is much louder than what is expected for such a small bird. When it calls, the throat swells and reveals the concealed black spots on the sides of the neck.

Below is the call of the bird:

When spotted its distinctive features are the greenish upper body plumage, long upright tail and the rust coloured forehead and crown. It has a rather long and pointed bill, with the upper mandible darker and the lower mandible a fleshy colour. The legs are straw coloured to pale reddish.

The tail is long and pointed in summer and short and rounded in winter and the bird carries it almost erect in a wren-like fashion. In the breeding season, the male acquires two central tail feathers that are two inches longer than the winter feathers.

The bird is more famous for its nest, which is built by sewing two or more leaves together and building a soft nest within the cavity within. The sewing is done with threads of cobweb, silk from cocoons, wool or cottons. The breeding season is principally from May-July. Around 6 eggs are laid.

It is a common garden bird and is commonly seen around human habitation.

	Sighting Information:
Location:	Sarjapur
Date:	26th Feb 2012
Time:	Morning; 8:50 AM
Weather:	Sunny morning after overnight rains
Other Details:	Seen foraging among the branches of a tree along with a black-headed cuckooshrike.

Download Free eBooks on Indian Birds

2012-01-31T02:12:31-08:00

Apart from the physical copies of bird field guides that I own, I frequently consult a number of free ebooks that I have downloaded from the internet, while writing the birding articles on this blog. I often get queries about the source of these bird books and most people are surprised to know that they are available for free on the web.

Most of these are Indian government work done before 1947, and is public domain under the Indian Copyright Act 1957. It is available under a Creative Commons Public Domain License.

I have put together a list of books below which have proved very useful to me, providing more information on birds, their habits, distribution and habitats than is commonly available in the field guides that I use. These may not be “up to date” ( especially regarding current nomenclature and classification), but information such as this does not get out-dated.

The books are available to read online or download in a variety of formats such as PDFs or in EUPUB, Kindle etc, which are suitable for a number of ebook readers. If you are downloading the PDF version, I would suggest using the “PDF with text” link, as these will make the files searchable.

Please use the links provided below to access the books on Archive.org - a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form, which provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, and the general public.

If my readers are aware of more useful, freely available ebooks that are worth sharing, please leave a link in the comment section.

The Birds of Southern India including Madras, Malabar, Travancore, Cochin, Coorg and Mysore. By Baker, HR and C M Inglis (1939) - Here

Popular handbook of Indian Birds by Hugh Whistler (1949) - Here

The Book of Indian Birds, by Salim Ali (1941) - Here

The Fauna of British India (includes Ceylon and Burma). E C Stuart Baker

Birds – Vol 1

Birds – Vol 2

Birds – Vol 3

Birds – Vol 4

Birds – Vol 5

Birds – Vol 6

Birds – Vol 7

Coppersmith Barbet

2012-01-24T02:27:51-08:00

The Coppersmith Barbet is also known as the Crimson-breasted Barbet or Coppersmith (Megalaima haemacephala). It is distinctive in the crimson coloured forehead and breast patch along with a yellowish eye ring.

The bird gets its name from the call, which resembles a coppersmith striking metal with a hammer.

They are fruit eating birds, and are found solitary, in pairs or in groups, usually on fruit trees or sunning themselves on the branches of tall trees.

They are cavity nesting birds and compete with other cavity nesting species. The breeding season is from February to April, but they breed most throughout the year. They are known to excavate nests in tree cavities. Three to 4 eggs are laid.

	Sighting Information:
Location:	Sarjapur, Karnataka
Date:	27th Mar 2011
Time:	Morning; 8:50 AM
Weather:	Sunny morning
Other Details:	A lone bird flew into a tree and sat there quite a while. It seemed to be feeding and something is present in its beak.

Black Ant-spider

2012-01-17T23:11:16-08:00

I`ve featured several spiders on this site which are mimics of ants. Featured here is another convincing candidate.

This spider also appears to be a mimic of the Polyrhachis species of ants. If you didnt look too closely it would be easy to dismiss this fellow as another foraging ant.

Ants and Ant-lions

2012-04-03T01:53:01-07:00

I`m sure a lot of you have come across this innocent looking pit while exploring outdoors and have passed by it without giving it a second glance. The more exploratory among us, especially as kids couldn't just help but pour some mud into it!

But hey, what is this? Who made this pit and why is it so perfectly conical? Look a little closer and you may get a clue.

Hang on…its so perfectly camouflaged but there seems to be some creature at the bottom of the pit!

Zoom in …and there’s definitely something there!

Zoom in further…and uh oh…are those claws I see in there? They look evil!

Yes, those are definitely claws and it seems to be attached to something too! Now its really caught my attention.

But hang on, I`m not the only one who is curious here. There’s an ant come along who seems to be equally curious!

It is a small ant, too small to move the sandy soil as it walks. It pauses by the ledge of the pit and looks in.

Luckily for it, the soil doesn't budge and it doesn't fall in. It’s not sure what is there at the bottom of the pit. It could be food.

But it wisely decides against exploring further and moves away. An ant’s daily life is full of such decision making and taking the wrong one could mean the difference between life and death!

I look in another pit nearby and that should give me an indication of the fate of ants who were too curious around this pit. There’s an empty shell of a dead ant embedded in the soil just around the rim of the pit.

As I`m looking at this, along comes another ant. This one is far lager in size and is equally curious as to what lies in the pit. He bends inward at the rim to investigate further and then things begin to happen quickly... too quick for my photographic reflexes!

The soil gives way beneath its feet and the ant slides down to the bottom of the pit. It struggles on its way to the bottom, but each futile attempt to move up releases the loose soil around the walls of the pit and carries the ant further down to the awaiting jaws. Yes these are jaws not claws!

The creature with the jaws itself makes the situation worse by flicking soil upwards from the centre, causing something of a controlled mudslide bringing the ant closer towards the centre.

Then as soon as the ant is within grasp. the jaws lock on to the helpless ant and pull it down into its muddy deathbed.

The ant struggles while it can, desperately trying to release itself, but the grip is a death grip and it knows its fate is sealed.

The creature slowly drags the ant inwards and soon nothing is seen at the pit bottom. No ant and no jaws… The creature will soon suck the ant dry and cast its body out of the pit.

So, what exactly are we dealing with here? What is this creature? If you haven't already guessed by now, it is called an Ant-Lion. The ant lion is the larval stage of the ant lion fly.

The claw like protrusions are actually its jaws, attached to the creature’s head. The ant lion is also sometimes called the Doodlebug.

The above and below 2 images, were taken in reverse order and actually show the creature digging itself into the mud although it appears as if it is emerging from the mud.

This is because, the ant lion cannot walk forward. It can only move backwards! Thus, its posterior is used to push itself into the sandy soil, while the feet are use to flick sand upwards and help build the conical pit/trap, with the insect placed in the centre.

Below is the insect removed from the pit , highly magnified. Notice the toothed jaws and hairy body.

While the jaws make it hard for insects (ants) to escape their death grip, the hairs alert the ant lion about any movement within the soil around its pit, and prepare them for the possible feast!

When outside the pit, it is an amusing sight to see the ant lion walk backwards. A lay person will almost be convinced that its head its on its abdomen and is likely to thing that the head and jaws are the tail/abdomen.

The larva, will soon pupate and from the pupa will soon emerge the ant-lion fly. But that's another story which I hope to feature another time!

PS: Here is the photo of an adult ant-lion fly taken at night. You can see the mane like hair from which it derives the name –Lion:

Extreme macro images of a butterfly head

2012-01-04T22:07:30-08:00

Butterflies are not easy to approach and hence getting close-up images of them are a difficult task. However, even if an opportunity should present itself, getting a close-up of their eyes is still hard.

I was lucky to find this Common Emigrant butterfly (Catopsilia pomona) sitting still on a dry branch. It appeared as though it had just emerged out from its pupa but something had gone wrong and it couldn't fly.

I assumed it would be easy enough to get a few close-up shots of its eyes, but for some reason, focusing on a butterflies eyes never works for me.

Unlike flies, dragonflies and wasps, whose extreme macro head-shots turn out awesome due to their compound eyes, the eyes of butterflies, which are also compound eyes, never turn out be as good. I suppose this is due to differences in the type and structure of different compound eyes in insects.

On another note, did you realise how hairy a butterfly is? These hair-like structures are sensory in function, but also come in handy for picking up pollen when they dip their heads into deep flowers and help in pollination.

PS: Here`s wishing all my readers a very happy 2012. I havent been very active in the past few months, but I hope to rectify that and will keep up with the regular posts henceforth.

Peek-a-boo!

2011-10-10T00:43:11-07:00

This Ground Skimmer dragonfly (Diplacodes trivialis) male was rubbing its face with its legs when I took this image. I dont know if it was due to the flash, but the resulting image makes it appear as though it is covering its eyes and playing peek-a-boo with me!

Indian Eagle-Owl or Rock Eagle Owl

2011-09-26T02:06:19-07:00

The Indian Eagle-Owl is also called the Rock Eagle Owl or Bengal Eagle Owl (Bubo bengalensis). It is a species of large horned owls.

It is a large bird with conspicuous horn-like tufts over large orangish eyes. The head and neck are a twany-buff and heavily streaked with dark brown.

It has a white facial disc, edged with a blackish brown.

The bird is usually seen sitting motionless among rocks or ravines by the daytime.

It is the commonest of the larger owls of India, and lives in hollows in rocky cliffs, ruined buildings, ravines etc, but often take refuge in trees.

They feed on frogs, lizards, snakes, mammals birds and insects.

The breeding season is from December-May. No nest is made and eggs are laid in a hollow scraped in the soil, generally on a cliff or bank face.

	Sighting Information:
Location:	Sivanahalli, Bannerghatta
Date:	18th Sept, 2011
Time:	Morning; 9:40 AM
Weather:	Sunny morning
Other Details:	Spotted sitting in a tree. Flew away and sat on another tree for a while where it was not too concerned with us as long as we kept our distance.

Time-lapse video of a caterpillar feeding

2011-09-11T04:57:43-07:00

It’s been a while since I`ve done any macro photography, so when this caterpillar showed up on one of the potted plants, I just had to do something. Unfortunately it didn’t stay long enough..but here’s what I got – a time lapse series of it decimating a few leaves and shoots.

Shot using my Sony A550 + Minolta 100mm f2.8 lens with a Aputure intervalometer.

Painted Storks in Flight

2011-08-12T00:14:25-07:00

Skywatch

Tickell’s Flowerpecker

2011-07-15T04:45:44-07:00

Tickell's Flowerpecker or Pale-billed Flowerpecker (Dicaeum erythrorhynchos) is one of the smallest birds occurring in South India.

It is ashy-olive on its upper parts and buffy white on its under-parts.

The bill is pale, fleshy coloured and is slightly curved. The iris is brown and the leg is dark greyish in colour.

This bird can be easily confused with the Nilgiri flowerpecker (Plain flowerpecker), but that bird is darker with a dark beak.

These birds are thought to be intimately connected with the spread of the parasitic plants of the genus Loranthus, whose berries it feeds on. The seeds which are very sticky are spread by this bird, which when excreted, stick to the vent of the bird. In order to get rid of the sticky seeds, the bird rubs its vent against the branches, thus getting the seed stuck onto the branch from where it grows.

It is a very restless bird, flying from tree to tree and hopping from flower to flower while uttering its incessant chik-chik-chick call:

…..the call may also extend into a twittering.

The bird tests each berry with its mandibles before eating the ripe ones. Digestion is extremely rapid, and the sticky seeds pass out within 3-4 minutes and the seeds are extruded after feeding on every three or four berries consumed.

The breeding season is from February to May and the nest is very similar to those of the sunbirds – a pear shaped structure, constructed from fibres, cobwebs etc. suspended from its stalk from a twig. When the female sits in the nest, its head can be seen looking out through the entrance which is on one side. One to three eggs are laid.

	Sighting Information:
Location:	Bannerghatta
Date:	19th June 2011
Time:	Morning; 7:40 AM
Weather:	Overcast morning after overnight rains
Other Details:	A pair of birds seen, hopping about on a teak tree, restlessly jumping from branch to branch.

Asian Openbill

2011-07-18T00:43:13-07:00

The Asian Openbill or Asian Openbill Stork, (Anastomus oscitans) is a large stork found in South Asia.

The entire plumage is white except the end of the wings and tail which are broadly tipped with black. In most birds the white is sullied by a smoky grey which is also thought to represent the breeding plumage.

The most distinguishing feature of this bird is its bill. Both the upper and lower mandibles are slightly curved, leaving a slight gap in the centre, giving it an “open bill”.

These are among the most common of Indian Storks, occurring in the vicinity of rivers, lakes marshes and irrigated lands.

It is a social bird and is often found in considerable flocks. It is also a strong flier and can be seen soaring for long periods in the air.

It mainly feeds on freshwater molluscs, fish and crabs. Frogs and insects may also be part of its diet.

The breeding season is between July and August. They are colonial and each colony may consist of about 400-500 pairs and sometimes includes other birds such as Ibises and Herons.

Nests are often in large trees and consists of a circular pattern of sticks with a depression, lined with grass and leaves.

A clutch consists of 4-5 eggs.

	Sighting Information:
Location:	Ranganathittu bird sanctuary
Date:	23rd April 2011
Time:	Morning; 7:00 AM
Weather:	Overcast morning after overnight rains
Other Details:	Seen in a large flock along with Herons, Ibises, Pelicans and Painted Storks on an island colony.

Pied Crested Cuckoo

2011-07-12T04:20:13-07:00

The Pied Crested Cuckoo (Clamator jacobinus) is also known as the Jacobin Cuckoo or Pied Cuckoo. It is the 5th species of Cuckoo to be featured here.

It is a black and white bird, easily distinguished by its crest. The upper plumage is all black, including the street. There is a broad white band running through the wing. The under parts are all white. The long tail is graduated and tipped with white.

The bill is black, feet bluish black and the iris is reddish brown.

This bird is distributed across India and Africa. The East African population migrates to India during April. The resident population in India is thought to be found only in South India.

They prefer dry open woodlands, groves and gardens. It never descends to the ground. They feed on hairy caterpillars and fruits.

It is a noisy bird and birds can be heard calling from prominent perches and while chasing each other:

Like most other Cuckoos it is a brood parasite on babblers and crow nests, destroying one or two of the owners eggs before laying two or three of its own. Majority of the eggs are laid in June. The young birds have darker plumage than their parents, evidently in order to deceive their foster parents. The nestlings do not evict the eggs of the host from the nest.

There exists great enmity between these bids and crows and the latter can often be seen chasing the former.

	Sighting Information:
Location:	Yerppanahalli, Bannerghatta, Bangalore
Date:	12th June 2011
Time:	Morning; 8:00 AM
Weather:	Sunny morning after overnight rains
Other Details:	One bird seen on the same tree with an Asian Koel, feeding on hairy caterpillars. It did not seem to mind me until I got too close.

Pompadour Green Pigeon

2011-07-11T03:13:10-07:00

The Pompadour Green Pigeon (Treron pompadora) is a species of forest dwelling pigeons. This species has at least 5 sub-species.

The head is greenish-yellow with a grey patch on the forehead. The back and the wings have a maroon chestnut colour. In the females this maroon mantle is replaced by greenish grey.

The wings also have a distinct yellow edging. The legs may be red in some species. It is the sub-species axillaris which have the greyish legs pictured here. The iris is a dark reddish , the beak whitish-grey with a greenish or bluish tinge.

They are usually seen single or in small groups, usually in the forests. They almost never descend onto the ground and are mostly seen in the branches of trees.

They are frugivorous and are quite quarrelsome when feeding together as a group. Wild figs are especially favoured. They are very wary of humans except when feeding. The call is a soft whistle as they clamber among the branches:

They have a very fast and strong flight.

It breeds between March to June, sometimes extending into August. The nest is a platform of twigs, placed in bushes or small trees. Only 1-2 eggs are laid. Both sexes share all duties.

	Sighting Information:
Location:	Gudalur
Date:	29th May 2011
Time:	Morning; 7:15 AM
Weather:	Overcast morning after overnight rains
Other Details:	Seen sitting solitary on the topmost branches of a tall tree at a distance of approx 50 m from us. Appeared undisturbed by humans. A similar spotting 1 hr later in another location.