Category Birds

            The Indian nightjar is a very common bird in India and also in Southeast Asia, Madagascar and the Aldabra Island.

            It is a small bird, as large as myna, with a short tail that has white corners. The collar and back of the neck are golden in colour. The cheeks are dark and the sides of the throat have white patches.

            One notable speciality of this bird is its ability to move very quickly and easily in the air. They fly silently as if wandering like a moth but, if a prey is spotted, can take turns and twists to avoid obstacles in chase of the prey. Insects are their major, if not only, prey.

            At other times, they are found crouching on the ground singly. They also roost on the ground.

            They produce a peculiar bird call, similar in sound to a ping-pong ball bouncing rapidly before coming to rest.

            These birds prefer living in dry, open lands without many trees. Sometimes, they are also spotted on roads.

            The jungle owlet is a small bird, with yellow eyes and brown rounded wings. It has such a rounded head that its face cannot be clearly distinguished from its body.

            These birds prefer forests and woodlands, especially the teak and sal forests. But these birds are not strictly nocturnal, but can also be found hunting after dawn or during cloudy days. They usually perch on wires and are also seen resting in mild sunlight for warmth.

            They roost in leaf cover or inside tree cavities. If they are discovered among leaves, they will fly away instantly. But if they’re found in cavities, they will freeze and appear like a tree stump. They hunt insects, rodents, reptiles and other small birds for food.

            The jungle owlets are found in many parts of India, especially in the south of the Himalayas, up to an altitude of 2000 m. They are also seen in Sri Lanka. 

            Rain quails are small birds seen across India, about half the size of a grey partridge. They are typically 15 to 17 cm in length and 65 to 71 gm in weight. They are also called black breasted quails. The male birds have a peculiar black patch on their breast and a black and white pattern on their head.

            Rain quails inhabit open grass lands and feed on grass, seeds, insects and other plant matter. The nest will be a shallow scrape on the ground in which the eggs are laid. This bird makes a call that is very different from the sounds made by other kinds of quails. This makes them a unique member of the family. Its call is regularly repeated in mornings and evenings.

            Outside India, the rain quails are seen in Cambodia, Nepal, Pakistan, and Thailand.

            They are so abundantly seen that they are nowhere near the threat of extinction. 

 

       

 

                The jungle bush quail is a common bird in India, found in deciduous forests and dry jungles of grass and shrubs. The males and females differ in appearance; the former is brown and the latter is very pinkish. But both of them possess some peculiar red and white streaks on the head. They are very fond of eating seeds, but aren’t reluctant to eat some insects too. They make grass-lined nests on ground. The jungle bush quails are known to be very shy in their behaviour. 

Continue reading “Why is it said that the jungle bush quail and the common quail are different in appearances?”

          Grey partridges are very common in India, except in the Northeastern states. They are greyish brown in colour and have a medium-sized body. 

          These partridges prefer living in dry areas, especially in grasslands and in the neighbourhood of villages. Seeds, berries and insects are in their favourite food.

          They make their nest in the outer edges of certain cereal fields like winter wheat. Although their nests are on the ground, they are fond of roosting in thorny trees. Male partridges have a more robust body. These birds can fly only for short distances on rounded wings.

          In some places, people tame young grey partridges. Though it is illegal like cockfighting sport, partridges are also used for fighting in some parts of our country. In these fights people around the birds are enthusiastic spectators. There will be prizes waiting for the winning bird.

          Grey partridges are still very common and hence they are considered to be “of Least Concern” in the IUCN Red List. 

            Black francolins are medium-sized birds, found mainly in northern states and in Assam.

            These birds prefer to live in areas where tall grasses and shrubs like sugar cane, reeds etc. grow. The normal clutch size between 10 and 14 eggs and only the hen incubates the eggs. They feed on insects, larvae, seeds, shoots, roots and leaves.

            The males are black with a white cheek patch and brown neck, while the females are much paler. The male francolins are larger than the females. The black francolin only flies when disturbed. It has a pheasant’s explosive flight, but prefers to creep away unseen.

            Outside India, the black francolins are seen in countries like Turkey, Iran and Turkmenistan.

            The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has categorized and evaluated them as a species of “Least Concern”.

            The black francolin is the state bird of Haryana. 

          The Himalayan monal is a showy large bird with brilliant colours. Its back is blue, and its neck is green, and its feathers have an attractive, metallic shine. When it flies, a beautiful orange tail is visible. A typical bird will be around 70 cm long. But the females are slightly smaller in size and are streaky brownish in appearance.

          As their name suggests, these birds are found in the Himalayas, especially in the open forests and meadows. They can be seen even in snowy high altitudes up to 4000 m. They are well equipped to dig into the ground through snow. They eat roots, seeds, berries, shoots and invertebrates.

          The people of Uttarakhand call the bird, ‘the monal’ and consider this bird to be their official state bird. The Himalayan monals are also seen in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh. 

               The most important thing about cheer pheasants is that they are a vulnerable species. Sometimes also known as the Wallach’s pheasant, the number of these birds in the world is declining fast. Due to habitat loss, small population size and human hunting, they are facing the serious threat of extinction and are evaluated as ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 

               The cheer pheasants are large birds with a very long tail. They are generally grey in colour, barred with brown or black. They are less ‘glamorous’ compared to the other members in the pheasant family which have bright and brilliant colours. Males and females look different. The male birds are larger in size, with a grey neck and longer tail. The females are more brownish and make a very sharp, loud call.

               Cheer pheasants are often seen in rocky areas. The Himalayan regions in the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh host these birds. They choose to make their nest in scrubby and grassy patches in these areas. Though they make their nest on the ground, at night, they roost on tree branches. They forage in groups or as pairs and are shy birds that flee quickly if there is any disturbance. 

          Kalij pheasants are distributed around the foothills of the Himalayas, in countries including India, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. In our country, these are concentrated in the North-eastern states.

          The Kalij is a close relative of the silver pheasant. They are neither too big nor too small in size.

          The males among them would typically weigh about one kilogramme and are around 60 to 75 cm long. They are mostly black in colour and have arched tail feathers. 

 

 

          The females, on the other hand are slightly brownish. But both the males and females have grey legs and red faces. They eat roots, seeds, insects, etc.

          Although they are generally shy, they emerge out from their habitat of evergreen and deciduous forests in the mornings and evenings.

          This pheasant consumes and then disperses, seeds of plants which grow and spread quickly in vast areas disturbing the balance of the ecosystem. Kalij pheasants are therefore, considered an invasive species in Hawaii.

          Grey jungle fowls are very common in states like Rajasthan, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh.

          This fowl is grey in colour. The feathers on its wings are black and its belly looks silver. Although they have a shape similar to red jungle fowls, they are slightly longer. These birds are very shy and timid by nature.

          Grey jungle fowls eat almost anything they can find, like berries, insects and termites. They have a special liking for bamboo seeds and you can see a lot of them gathering in areas where these seeds are available. These birds prefer to live in forests and abandoned plantations. During the mornings and evenings, they can be seen on roads. But at night, they roost on trees. They make a nest with dry leaves.

          These birds are declining in number because of habitat loss and hunting for food.