Balaji PB Photography

09/04/2024

So well articulated.

To find the birds, you have to know them.

11/04/2023

White-crested laughingthrush
Garrulax leucolophus
Bhimtal, Uttrakhand

The white-crested laughingthrush (Garrulax leucolophus) is a member of the family Leiothrichidae.It is a highly social and vocal bird found in forest and scrub from the Himalayan foothills to Southeast Asia.

G. leucolophus is commonly found in foothill forests, up to elevations of 1600m. It favours dense, moist and shady thickets and scrubs, and the edge and understory of broadleaved secondary forests, where it can hide from predators and take shelter from the subtropical sun.

Similarly to other laughingthrushes, G. leucolophus is omnivorous and opportunistic. It subsists mostly on invertebrates such as beetles, spiders, flies, mealworms and caterpillars, snails and leeches. However, it also eats fruits, seeds, nectar, and even small reptiles and amphibians (snakes, lizards and frogs).

Information source: Wikipedia

09/04/2023

Cattle Egret
Bubulcus ibis
Palladam Puliampatti, Tamilnadu

The cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) is a cosmopolitan species of heron (family Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics, and warm-temperate zones.

Originally native to parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe, it has undergone a rapid expansion in its distribution and successfully colonised much of the rest of the world in the last century.

Nesting in northern India begins with the onset of monsoons in May.

The nest is a small, untidy platform of sticks in a tree or shrub constructed by both parents. Sticks are collected by the male and arranged by the female, and stick-stealing is rife.

The clutch size can be one to five eggs, although three or four is most common.

Information source: Wikipedia

07/04/2023

Common Green Magpie
Cissa chinensis
Bhimtal pachai, Uttrakhand

The common green magpie (Cissa chinensis) is a member of the crow family, roughly about the size of the Eurasian jay or slightly smaller.

It is found from the lower Himalayas in north eastern India in a broad south easterly band down into central Thailand, Malaysia, Sumatra and northwestern Borneo in evergreen forest (including bamboo forest), clearings and scrub.

This bird seeks food both on the ground and in trees, and takes a very high percentage of animal prey from countless invertebrates, small reptiles, mammals and young birds and eggs. It will also take flesh from a recently killed carcass.

The nest is built in trees, large shrubs and often in tangles of various climbing vines. There are usually 4–6 eggs laid.

Information source: Wikipedia

06/04/2023

Indian Scimitar Babbler
Pomatorhinus horsfieldii
Munnar, Kerala
05/04/2023

The Indian scimitar babbler (Pomatorhinus horsfieldii) is an Old World babbler. It is found in peninsular India in a range of forest habitats. They are most often detected by their distinctive calls which include an antiphonal duet by a pair of birds. They are often hard to see as they forage through dense vegetation. The long curved yellow, scimitar-shaped bills give them their name.

The Indian scimitar babbler is a resident breeder (non-migratory) bird. Its habitat is forest and secondary growth mainly in the hilly regions. They feed on insects on the ground or on vegetation. Hopping on the ground, they may turn over leaves or probe in leaf litter for prey. They may sometimes join mixed-species foraging flocks.

They breed from December to May. The nest is a large and loose globular mass of foliage concealed in a bush on the ground or low down. They usually lay three eggs (but varies from two to four) which are pure white in colour.

Information source: Wikipedia

03/04/2023

Woolly-necked Stork
Ciconia episcopus
Walayar reservoir, Tamilnadu

The Asian woolly-necked stork or Asian woollyneck (Ciconia episcopus) is a species of large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It breeds singly, or in small loose colonies. It is distributed in a wide variety of habitats including marshes in forests, agricultural areas, and freshwater wetlands across Asia.

The Asian woolly-necked stork walks slowly and steadily on the ground seeking its prey, which like that of most of its relatives, consists of amphibians, reptiles and insects.

Typically, a large stick nest is built on a tree, and clutch size is two to six eggs, with five and six eggs being less common. Birds use both forest trees and scattered trees in agricultural areas to build nests.

Information source: Wikipedia

02/04/2023

Bronzed Drongo
Dicrurus aeneus
Chinnar WLS, Kerala
31/03/23

The bronzed drongo (Dicrurus aeneus) is a small Indomalayan bird belonging to the drongo group.

The bronzed drongo is found in the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats of India and the lower Himalayas from western Uttaranchal eastwards into Indochina and Hainan, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and northern Borneo. This species is usually found in moist broadleaved forest. This species is exclusively found in forested areas.

They are found singly or in a group of two to three. They actively forage for insects under the forest canopy by making aerial sallies, often returning to their favourite perches. They sometimes join mixed-species foraging flocks. They are very good in mimicking calls of many other bird species which is a trait shared with many Drongo species.

The breeding season is February to July. Three or four pinkish to brownish eggs are laid in a cup nest in a tree. The eggs are darker on the broad end and often have cloudy spots.

Information source: Wikipedia





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01/04/2023

Tickell's blue flycatcher (female)
Cyornis tickelliae
Chinnar WLS, Kerala
31/03/23

Tickell's blue flycatcher (Cyornis tickelliae) is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family. This is an insectivorous species which breeds in tropical Asia, from the Indian Subcontinent eastwards to Bangladesh and western Myanmar. They are blue on the upperparts and the throat and breast are rufous. They are found in dense scrub to forest habitats.

It is a forest-loving species which is found in thick cover and shade, and particularly haunts the banks of wooded streams.

They feed mainly by capturing insects in flight but their prey include other insects such as termites and earwigs that may be gleaned or picked from the ground. Now they are being observed inhabiting garbage places. During the breeding season, they may take larger prey including small vertebrates.

The breeding season is April to August (March to June in Sri Lanka). It nests in a hole in a tree or amongst rocks that is lined with fine grass and fibres and lay 3–5 eggs.

Information source: Wikipedia

14/01/2023

Indian Paradise Flycatcher
Terpsiphone paradisi
Coimbatore, Tamilnadu
13/01/23

The Indian paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi) is a medium-sized passerine bird native to Asia, where it is widely distributed. It is native to the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia and Myanmar.

The Indian paradise flycatcher is a migratory bird and spends the winter season in tropical Asia. In southern India and Sri Lanka, both locally breeding populations and visiting migrants occur in winter.

Indian paradise flycatcher's breeding season lasts from May to July. Being socially monogamous both male and female take part in nest-building, incubation, brooding and feeding of the young. The incubation period lasts 14 to 16 days and the nestling period 9 to 12 days. The nest is sometimes built in the vicinity of a breeding pair of drongos, which keep predators away.The female lays up to four eggs in a neat cup nest made with twigs and spider webs on the end of a low branch. Chicks hatch in about 21 to 23 days.

Information source: Wikipedia

31/12/2022

Good bye 2022!
Welcome 2023!

2022 was an unforgettable year with many memories. My favourite memory of this year was a trip to sight this beauty (Green Avadavat) in a remote corner of India.

06/12/2022

Golden Bush Robin (male)
Tarsiger chrysaeus
Mandal, Uttrakhand

The golden bush robin (Tarsiger chrysaeus) or golden bush-robin was first discovered in 1845 by Brian Houghton Hodgson, a British naturalist.

Their habitat is dispersed around the Himalayan mountain range and surrounding highlands of Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Tibet, and Thailand living mainly in open areas with temperate forests, bamboo forests, grassland, and shrubland.

Golden bush robins display rare cases of exploiting human disturbance in their primary temperate forest habitat. This behavior is likely a modification of pre-existing dietary habits as human disturbance continues to exploit natural resources in the area.

Golden bush robins are insectivorous and focus their hunts on insects closer to the ground.

The breeding season for golden bush robins is from May to June. The female birds tend to lay 3 or 4 eggs and their incubation period is 14 or 15 days. The nests consist of compacted moss and grass that is lined with hair, wool, and feathers. The lifespan of a golden bush robin is around 3.8 years.

Information source: Wikipedia

02/12/2022

Himalayan Monal (Male)
Lophophorus impejanus
Tungnath temple, Uttrakhand

The Himalayan monal (Lophophorus impejanus), also called Impeyan monal and Impeyan pheasant, is a pheasant native to Himalayan forests and shrublands at elevations of 2,100–4,500 m (6,900–14,800 ft). It is part of the family Phasianidae and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It is the national bird of Nepal, where it is known as the danphe or danfe, and state bird of Uttarakhand, India, where it is known as monal.

The Himalayan monal's native range extends from Afghanistan and Pakistan through the Himalayas in India, Nepal, southern Tibet and Bhutan.

It lives in upper temperate oak-conifer forests interspersed with open grassy slopes, cliffs and alpine meadows between 2,400 and 4,500 m (7,900 and 14,800 ft), where it is most common between 2,700 and 3,700 m (8,900 and 12,100 ft).

The diet of the Himalayan monal consists primarily of tubers, nuts, tender leaves, shoots, insects and other invertebrates. It digs in snow for shoots and invertebrates.

Information source: Wikipedia