- I

Rain ( coromandelica) Resident, Not Uncommon

Lacks black markings of male

Prominent black markings on face Unbarred primaries (seen in flight) Black markings (variable) below

Adult male Adult female

Common Quail (Coturnix coturnix) Winter migrant, Rare

Barred primaries (seen in flight)

Lacks black markings of male Rain

Adult male Adult female

Remarks Rain Quails breed during monsoons and are less likely to be seen in this season. is a rare winter visitor. Identification of females requires careful examination.

Photos by Siddharth Damle, Sunil Singhal, Jugal Tiwari and Ritvik Singh Quails - II

Jungle Bush-Quail (Perdicula asiatica) Resident, Common Rufous and white supercilium Rufous & white Brown ear-coverts supercilium and Strongly marked brown ear-coverts above

Rock Bush-Quail (Perdicula argoondah) Resident, Not Uncommon

Plain head without Lacks brown ear-coverts markings Little or no streaks and spots above

Remarks Jungle is typically more common than Rock in Central .

Photos by Nikhil Devasar, Aseem Kumar Kothiala, Siddharth Damle and Savithri Singh Crested (Oriental) Honey Buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus) Resident, Common Adult plumages: male (left), female (right) 'Pigeon-headed', weak bill Weak bill Long neck

Long, slender Variable streaks and and weak markings below build

Adults in flight: dark morph male (left), female (right) Confusable with Less broad, rectangular Crested Hawk-

wings

Rectangular wings, Confusable with Crested Serpent not broad Eagle

Long neck

Juvenile plumages

Confusable with juvenile Bonelli's Eagle

No black facial markings

Note flight

profile

Confusable with juv. Rufous-bellied Eagle

Photos by Vijay Sethi, Rachit Shah, Mapalagama Premasiri, Avisek Banerjee, Rejaul Karim and Arijit Banerjee Vultures - I

White-rumped Vulture (Gyps bengalensis) - juvenile Resident, Common

White feathered or bare head (as per age) Streaked underparts; very dark plumage

Dark body separates from all but Himalayan Prominent white Griffon patagial band

Head not prominently Streaked white underparts Confusable with juv. Himalayan Griffon

Indian (Long-billed) Vulture (Gyps indicus) - juvenile Resident, Common

Prominent pale streaks on breast

Paler brown (vs. Much lighter whitish) central bar below

Lighter plumage

Confusable with Eurasian Griffon

Adult rather unmistakable Remarks White-rumped nests on trees while Long-billed typically nests on cliffs.

Both are smaller and less heavily built than the griffons.

Vultures show immense individual and Dark, bare head and neck age variation - much of it is beyond the scope of this guide.

Photos by Suman Paul, Tulsi Subedi, Kuldeep Kharade, Prasad Ganpule and Sunil Singhal. Vultures - II

Eurasian Griffon (Gyps fulvus) - juvenile Winter migrant, Rare Confusable with Long-billed Vulture

White central and patagial band

Minimal streaking (cf. Long-billed) Woolly head and neck

Lighter body with pale Large size, glides Rufous plumage streaks with wings raised upwards Confusable with Long-billed Vulture

Himalayan Griffon (Gyps himalayanensis) - juvenile Winter migrant, Rare

Longer finers (hard to notice) Prominent streaks give ruffled appearance

Woolly head and neck

Large and bulky

Generally more heavily streaked than White-rumped

Confusable with White-rumped Vulture

Remarks Adults of both these species are told apart from each other by extensively rufous upperparts in Eurasian. They are much larger than Long-billed and White-rumped Vultures; however the size difference is difficult to gauge without direct comparison.

Photos by Niraj Mistry, Kaajal Dasgupta and Manjula Mathur Miscellaneous raptors

Rufous-bellied Eagle (Lophotriorchis kienerii) - juvenile Resident, Not Uncommon

Medium size; Dark around rather short and eyes. Sooty- rounded wings when black above soaring

White below without much marking Confusable with juv. Crested Serpent Eagle and Oriental Honey Buzzard Crested Hawk-Eagle (Nisaetus cirrhatus) Resident, Common Juvenile

Short crest Large size; effortless glides with heavy wing beats Variable spots and streaks

Thick and strong Powerful legs bill

Jerdon's Baza (Aviceda jerdoni) Resident, Rare

Long crest Weaker bill Smallish; (like Honey Buzzard) Rather stout neck rounder wings in flight and tail when soaring

Faint or prominent streaks

Photos by See Tow Yew Wai, PV & Sarita Subramaniam, Atul Dhamankar, Niranjan Sant, Shantanu Prasad and Amir Sohail Choudhury Spotted Indian Spotted Eagle ( hastata) Resident, Rare Longer gape Adult Wings less broader Pale brown, than Greater Spotted wings darker

Coverts darker than flight feathers

Non-baggy trousers (cf. Steppe

Smarter profile, not bulky and Tawny) Adult Immature

Greater Spotted Eagle (Clanga clanga) Winter migrant, Rare Adult Broader wings Juvenile: Unmistakable plumage

Uniformly dark plumage Coverts relatively darker than flight feathers

Spots on dark wings

Less baggy trousers

Adult 7 fingers but dependent on moult and age Remarks: Greater Spotted also occurs in a rare tawny form called the 'fulvescens' morph. Both species are much smaller and less bulkier than Steppe and . Spotted Eagles have round nostrils (against oval of eagles). Photos by Niranjan Sant, Subhadeep Ghosh, Rohan Kamath, Shantilal Varu and Prasad Ganpule. Aquila Eagles Tawny Eagle (Aquila rapax) Resident, Rare Adult (pale morph) Oval nostrils (cf. Spotted eagles) Paler than Steppe Shorter gape More protruding neck up to middle of than Steppe eyes

Paler greater- coverts

Baggy trousers (cf. Spotted eagles) Adult/Sub-adult Adult/Sub-adult (Aquila nipalensis) Winter migrant, Rare Sub-adult

White greater Longer gape extends coverts to the end of the eye (fade with age)

Darker than Tawny

Characteristic white greater- coverts Barred flight feathers (not always prominent)

Adult Juvenile Remarks The ID features provided here are simplistic. Tawny and Steppe have numerous age-associated plumages. Tawny also occurs in a dark morph in which its colour matches that of an adult Steppe. In comparison to Spotted Eagles note large size, bulkiness and much heavier wing beats (in flight). Photos by Arijit Banerjee, Kaajal Dasgupta, Sunil Singhal, Sudhir Garg and Prasad Ganpule Harriers - females and juveniles Pallid Harrier (Circus macrourus) Winter migrant, Not Uncommon

Irregularly barred primaries

Pronounced white collar (not always) Pronounced rufous collar

Strongly barred breast

Lighter and unstreaked underparts Montagu's Harrier (Circus pygargus) Winter migrant, Rare

More prominent white Dark trailing eye-patches than in Pallid edge more prominent than in Pallid Lacks white collar

Rich rufous, faintly streaked Less strongly- below streaked breast

Pied Harrier (Circus melanoleucos) Winter migrant, Rare Confusable with Eastern Marsh Harrier Confusable with juv./female Most unstreaked wings Eurasian Marsh Harrier cf. Pallid and Montagu's

Paler face, no eye-patches or conspicuous collar Pale head without eye patch and collar

Finely-streaked breast

Neatly-streaked below, less strongly than Pallid and Montagu's

Remarks Harriers are often seen in eye-level flight while scanning grasslands, in which case also note extent of

white on uppertail-coverts. Photos by Vaibhav Deshmukh, Sumit Sengupta, Viral-Pankaj, GS Bhardwaj, Srijan Roy Choudhury and Choy Wai Mun Accipiters - I

Shikra (Accipiter badius) Resident, Common

Indistinct mesial Indistinct or no stripe mesial stripe

Strongly streaked but with thin streaks Adult female

Thin streaks; Mesial stripe palest among present all Accipiters

Adult male

Drop-like blotches, no bars on thighs

Juvenile

Breast appears Drop-like blotches, faintly blotched Thighs not no bars on thighs barred

Mesial stripe present

Adult female Juvenile

Photos by Siddharth Damle, Geet Maheria Patel, Vijay Sethi, Rajesh Kalra and Chuenchon Hansasuta Accipiters - II

Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) Winter migrant, Not Uncommon

White supercilum Deeper blue White supercilium than Shikra

Rufous cheeks, no mesial stripe

Strongly barred but with thin streaks

Adult male Adult female

White supercilium Flight feathers more prominently streaked than other Accipiters

Heavily barred with thin streaks Incospicuous streaks towards abdomen

Juvenile Adult in flight

Photos by Sudhir Garg, Manjula Mathur, Viral-Pankaj and PV & Sarita Subramaniam Accipiters - III Besra (Accpipiter virgatus) Resident, Rare

Mesial stripe

Variable rufous patch on breast

Thicker bars up to the thighs

Dark and pale bands of equal width

Adult male Adult female (?)

Barred thighs Rufous on breast Same as above

Barred thighs

Juvenile Adult Crested Goshawk (Accipiter trivirgatus) Resident, Rare Crest mostly Large and robust inconspicuous Well-developed mesial stripe

Prominent mesial stripe

Strongly-barred thighs

Strongly barred thighs; thicker streaks Flares white undertail-coverts during display

Photos by Mandar Bhagat, Amarjyoti Saikia, Tulsi Subedi, Michael Dooher and Chuenchom Hansasuta Cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) Summer migrant, Common

Clear blue-grey above

Fine barring

Tail generally lacks markings

Indian Cuckoo (Cuculus micropterus) Resident, Common

Contrast between Relatively greyish head and thicker brown back bands

Tail often with dark terminal band

Common Hawk-Cuckoo (Hierococcyx varius) Resident, Common

Rufous breast patch

Hawk-like bands on tail

Remarks: All cuckoos are best told apart by their calls.

Photos by Jainy Kuriakose, Raghavji Balar, Pranjal Saikia, Michelle & Peter Wong, Viral-Pankaj

Indian Large-tailed Nightjar ( asiaticus) (Caprimulgus macrurus) Resident, Common Resident, Rare

Marked crown Warm colouration, strongly Distinctive rufous-buff marked upperparts nuchal collar

Buff scapulars bordered black

Larger tail

Small size Larger than other nightjars

Savanna Nightjar Indian Jungle Nightjar (Caprimulgus affinis) (Caprimulgus indicus) Resident, Common Resident, Common

Mottled grey-brown; lacks strong markings Grey above, strongly marked with black

Rather small and stocky with shorter tail

Remarks overlaps between Indian and Savanna. Indian Jungle and Large-tailed inhabit forested areas. Large-tailed prefers wetter and denser forests than Indian Jungle. All nightjars are best identified by their calls at night (refer to recordings).

Photos by Tejinder Singh Rawal, Vijay Sethi, Nikhil Devasar and Rohit Chakravarty Swifts

Little Asian Palm Swift Alpine Swift ( affinis) ( balasiensis) (Apus melba) Resident, Common Resident, Common Resident, Not Uncommon

White rump Very thin, 'stick-figure' Large like build size

White throat Uniform grey Overall dark in colour body White belly diagnostic

White-rumped Needletail (Zoonavena sylvatica) Resident, Common

Dark colour (like ) White rump prominent Throat not white (as in Little Swift)

White belly

Squarish tail

Small size, looks smaller than Little Swift

Blyth's Swift (Fork-tailed Swift) (Apus leuconyx) Status unknown, Rare

Narrow white rump

Whitish throat Larger than Little Swift

Dark body with Incospicuously scaly underparts forked tail

Remarks Asian Palm is associated with palm trees. White-rumped is common in broadleaved forests. Alpine and Fork-tailed occur in hilly country.

Photos by Siddharth Damle, Uttam Mahatha, Vijay Lakshmi Rao, Subharanjan Sen, Fran Trabalon and Sujan Chatterjee Larks Singing Bushlark (Mirafra cantillans) Resident, Rare

Thick sparrow-like bill

Clean breast

Rufous wing panel Prominent white outer tail

Indian Bushlark (Mirafra erythroptera) Crested Lark (Galerida cristata) Resident, Common Resident, Rare Thick sparrow-like bill Prominent crest Long and fine bill Prominent rufous wing panel Grey above

Fine streaks Drop-like spots on breast on breast

Sykes's (Tawny) Lark (Galerida deva) Oriental Skylark (Alauda gulgula) Resident, Common Resident, Common

Long and prominent Short crest crest (often folded) Fine bill Thick bill Usually well-streaked above

Prominently streaked breast Faint streaks/spots on breast

Overall tawny Rufous wing panel colouration

For detailed information about larks refer to http://www.birdcount.in/tag/larks/

Photos by Ritvik Singh, Raghavji Balar, Shantilal Varu, Mulagala Srinivas and Pranav Desai - I

Barn ( rustica) Winter migrant, Common

Adult

Dull-blue above (glossy blue in adult) Throat fades to orange wash

Rufous Blue-black throat breast band

Blue-black breast band Forked tail with streamers Immature

Red-rumped Swallow ( daurica) Resident, Common

Rufous fades to brown Rufous neck

Rump fades to orange wash/white

Striated below Variable amount of streaking

Forked tail

Adult Immature

Remarks Juvenile/immature Red-rumped Swallows can be confused with juveniles of Barn, Wire-tailed and even when the rump colour and striations are faded.

Photos by Mark Chua, GS Bhardwaj and Siddharth Damle Swallows - II

Wire-tailed Swallow (Hirundo smithii) Resident, Common

Rufous cap Tail partly forked lacks streamers Glistening blue above Rufous cap fades to brown

Snow-white below Dull-white below

Common (Northern) House-Martin ( urbicum) Passage migrant, Rare

White rump diagnostic

Underparts similar Squarish tail to Wire-tailed

Streak-throated Swallow ( fluvicola) Resident, Not Uncommon

Dull rufous cap

Blue-brown above

Strongly streaked Streaks diffused throat with underparts

Immature

Remarks Wire-tailed and Streak-throated are partial to water bodies. Common House-Martin may mix with flocks of other swallows during passage.

Photos by Avinash Bhagat, Rajesh Kalra, Lo Chun Fai, Michelle & Peter Wong, Jitendra Bhatia and Jaysukh Suman Swallows - III

Dusky Crag-Martin (Ptyonoprogne concolor) Resident, Common

Uniform brown above

Uniform below with little contrast

Eurasian Crag-Martin (Ptyonoprogne rupestris) Passage migrant, Rare

Lesser-coverts distinctly darker than flight feathers

Distinctly pale below

Grey-throated Martin ( chinensis) Resident, Rare

Lighter brown (vs. Crag-martins and Streak-throated) White belly

Unstreaked throat, diffused grey

No contrast among wing feathers

Remarks Grey-throated juveniles are confusable with juvenile Streak-throated Swallows. Crag-martins inhabit crags and dry hills. Photos by Hasitha Perera, Sudhir Garg, Clement Francis, Avinash Bhagat, Kaajal Dasgupta and Rajesh Kalra WARBLERS - I

Tickell's Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus affinis) Passage migrant, Rare Supercilium and underparts Bright yellow of the same colour underparts Olive upperparts

Sulphur-bellied Warbler (Phylloscopus griseolus) Winter migrant, Common Bright yellow eyebrow

Grey above

Dirty yellow below

Behaves like a nuthatch

Remarks Tickell's Leaf is largely arboreal. Sulphur-bellied mostly feeds on the ground in rocky areas or like a nuthatch on vertical tree trunks

Photos by: Santanu Chatterjee, Garima Bhatia, Viral-Pankaj and Pranjal Saikia WARBLERS - II

Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) Winter migrant, Common Remarks Affects all Uniform grey-brown above and no wing-bar

Black bill and legs

Hume's Warbler (Phylloscopus humei) Winter migrant, Common

Two wing bars Olive wears to grey on 2nd broad and prominent crown and mantle Olive-green above Dark bill and legs

Overall compact appearance

Remarks Found in wooded areas. In comparison to Greenish Warbler, wing-bar is generally more prominent in Hume's. Call: Very vocal. Call is a soft, disyllabic 'chu-wip' (rather Tailorbird-like). Use recordings to distinguish from Greenish.

Photos by Sunil Singhal, Manjula Mathur and Pranjal Saikia WARBLERS - III Greenish Warbler (Phylloscopus trochiloides) Winter migrant, Common

Dull-green above with fine wing-bar (not broad) Dull-green wears to grey/brown with faint wing-bar

Bill dark or with pale lower mandible

Green Warbler (Phylloscopus nitidus) Winter migrant, Not Uncommon

Bright-green above with faint wing-bar Yellow wash to face and supercilium

Broken wing-bar due to moult

Western Crowned Warbler (Phylloscopus occipitalis) Passage migrant, Rare

Prominent Indistinct wing-bar crown-stripe due to moult Longer bill Bright orange lower mandible (not seen in Greenish, Green and Hume's)

Two fine wing-bars, 1 usually prominent

Remarks: Green and Greenish are best told apart by calls (refer to recordings). Western Crowned characteristically flicks its wings alternately. All three occur in wooded areas. Photos by Pranjal Saikia, Mohan Kemparaju, Sumit Sengupta, Ramit Singal and Avinash Bhagat Reed Warblers

Blyth's Reed Warbler Paddyfield Warbler (Acrocephalus dumetorum) (Acrocephalus agricola) Winter migrant, Not Uncommon Winter migrant, Not Uncommon

Prominent supercilium Rufous with dark centres with dark eye-stripe Supercilium fades in fresh plumage beyond eye

Short bill Fine, long bill

Rounded tail (all reed warblers) Confusable with Sykes's Warbler

Clamorous Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus stentoreus) Resident, Common

Large and robust

Remarks All reed warblers produce harsh 'chucks' (of differing intensities)while moving about. Clamorous Reed produces a series of raucous chucks and cackles. Paddyfield and Clamorous Reed are associated with reeds and tall grass meadows. Blyth's Reed occurs in a variety of habitats.

Photos by Arijit Banerjee, Kaajal Dasgupta, Suman Paul and Rajni Trivedi Iduna and Sylvia Warblers

Booted Warbler Sykes's Warbler (Iduna caligata) (Iduna rama) Winter migrant, Common Winter migrant, Common

Supercilium prominent Supercilium indistinct beyond eye beyond eye

Longer bill Light brown/grey above

Short bill

Squarish tail Squarish tail

Generally slimmer build

Lesser Whitethroat Hume's Whitethroat (Sylvia curruca) (Sylvia althaea) Winter migrant, Common Winter migrant, Rare

Contrasting ear-coverts, crown and mantle Usually concolours crown and mantle Usually darker back than mantle

Remarks Iduna and Sylvia warblers occur in dry and shrubby areas. Booted often feeds on the ground. Sykes's is generally more arboreal. Unambiguous identification between Lesser and Hume's is often difficult.

Photos by Nitin S., Vijay Sethi, Jugal Tiwari and Tarachand Wanwari Prinias Plain Prinia (Prinia inornata) Resident, Common

Prominent supercilium Supercilium distinct beyond eye

Long, jerky tail Pale back and flicked constantly white underparts

Breeding plumage Non-breeding plumage

Jungle Prinia (Prinia sylvatica) Resident, Not Uncommon

Indistinct or Diffuse supercilium no supercilium

Shorter tail Heavier bill Heavier bill Shorter tail

Breeding plumage Non-breeding plumage

Grey-breasted Prinia (Prinia hodgsonii) Resident, Common Supercilium diffuse beyond eye

Grey breast band Short tail

Short, less jerky tail Spots on undertail- coverts Breeding plumage Non-breeding plumage Remarks Habitats overlap. Calls are a reliable way to tell them apart.

Photos by Viral-Pankaj, Rejaul Karim, Mapalagama Premasiri, Kulashekhara CS, Manash Talukdar and Avinash Bhagat Flycatchers - I

Taiga Flycatcher ( albicilla) Winter migrant, Common

All-black bill

Rufous up to throat

Darker uppertail

Adult male Immature male/female

Red-breasted Flycatcher (Ficedula parva) Winter migrant, Common

Pale base to lower mandible Rufous extends up to breast

Immature male/female Adult male

Remarks Habitats overlap. Best told apart by calls (refer to recordings). Kashmir Flycatcher is also a rare passage migrant. However, ambiguous identification between Kashmir and Red-breasted (imm./female) is often not possible in the field. Please note behaviour and call of any odd Red-breasted.

Photos by Amarjyoti Saikia, Siddharth Damle, Kuldeep Kharade and Nilay Desai Flycatchers - II

Asian Brown Flycatcher (Muscicapa dauurica) Resident, Common

White eye ring and Light brown pale lores above Pale base to lower mandible

Tail not Dull-grey below cocked

Small size, upright stance

Blue-throated Blue-flycatcher (Cyornis rubeculoides) Passage migrant, Rare

Blue throat Brownish above Brownish throat, rufous breast

Male Female

Tickell's Blue-flycatcher (Cyornis tickelliae) Resident, Common

Dull-blue above

Rufous throat

Remarks Tickell's Blue and Blue-throated inhabit the understorey, while Asian Brown is found at higher strata. Photos by Sumit Sengupta, Rohit Chakravarty, Savithri Singh, Dr. R.B.Balar and Subhadeep Ghosh Pipits - I

Paddyfield Pipit Blyth's Pipit Richard's Pipit (Anthus rufulus) (Anthus godlewskii) (Anthus richardi) Resident, Common Winter migrant, Not Uncommon Winter migrant, Rare

Streaked mantle Lores appear pale Short bill Squarish Pale lores Pale lores median-coverts (if seen well)

Longer tail Streaked breast Streaked breast

Longer legs Relatively short Short tail legs Larger with mostly upright stance

Tawny Pipit Long-billed Pipit (Anthus campestris) (Anthus similis) Winter migrant, Common Winter migrant, Not Uncommon Remarks Dark lores Tawny and Long-billed are typically Dark lores species of dry grasslands. Grey above; little or Fine bill Flight calls are often the best way to no streaking Grey above; identify pipits. Little or no Lare, robust bill little/no streaking Colour of lores vary with angle of streaking lighting hence require careful observation.

Short tail; often wags

Short legs Large size and generally horizontal All plates compiled by Rohit Chakravarty stance Photos by Shrutidev Mishra, Ramit Singal, Ayawat J., Pranjal Saikia, Kavi Nanda