Godavari Birds Godavari Birds

Home , Blue whistling thrush, Darjeeling woodpecker, Great barbet, Grey treepie, Nepal fulvetta, Plumbeous water redstart

i Godavari Birds

From Godavari to Phulchowki peak, there are an estimated 270 bird species with 17 listed as endangered. Godavari proper has 100 species recorded. It is impossible to photograph all of them. A reference list is provided at the end of the booklet so that you can continue to locate birds that we have not been able to photograph. This fun booklet presents a few of the more common and eye catching birds that hopefully will catch your eye too.

Bird watching provides valuable information. Consistent records give indications of habitat loss, changes in climate, migration patterns and new or missing previous records. Years of data have been collected across Nepal to give a picture of birds in place and time. The oldest Nepal record is from 1793 when it was more common to catch and skin birds for museum collections.

Compiled by Karen Conniff, Ron Hess and Erling Valdemar Holmgren

ii Godavari Birds

Godavari Birds

This basic guide is organized by family and sub-family groupings. The purpose is to make it easier to identify the birds sighted at the ICIMOD Knowledge Park and surrounding areas in Godavari.

There are several bird watching tours and groups of regular bird watchers to join with and improve your knowledge of local birds.

If you have comments, want to add a new identification record or found errors in this booklet please contact: Karen Conniff – [email protected]

iii Godavari Birds

Blue-throated Barbet (Ron Hess) iv Godavari Birds

Family RHess Phasianidae or Kalij Pheasant (female) Partridges and Pheasants RHess Kalij Pheasant (male)

1 Godavari Birds

Family Accipitridae or Kites, Hawks, Eagles

2 Godavari Birds KConniff RHess Black Kite or Pariah Kite Black Eagle RHess KConniff Himalayan Buzzard Shikra (Male)

3 Godavari Birds

Family KConniff Oriental Turtle Doves – Pair Columbidae or Pigeons and Doves KConniff Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon

4 Godavari Birds KConniff KConniff Barred Cuckoo Dove Common Pigeon KConniff Spotted Dove

5 Godavari Birds

Family KConniff Cuculidae or Green-billed Malkoha Cuckoos and Malkohas KConniff Lesser Cuckoo

6 Family

Psittacidae or  Parakeets

Rose-ringed Parakeet (female)

Family  Ardeidae or Herons and Bitterns Cattle Egret

7 Godavari Birds Family

Strigidae or  Owls KConniff Asian Barred Owlet

Family  Alcedinidae or

KConniff Kingfishers White-throated Kingfisher

8 Godavari Birds

Family Ramphastidae or Barbets

9 Godavari Birds KConniff KConniff Blue-throated Barbet Golden-throated Barbet KConniff Great Barbet

10 Godavari Birds

Family Picidae or Piculets and Woodpeckers

11 Godavari Birds KConniff KConniff Grey-headed Woodpecker (male) Greater Yellow-nape Woodpecker KConniff KConniff Grey-headed Woodpecker (female) Speckled Piculet

12 Godavari Birds KConniff RHess Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker Darjeeling Woodpecker

13 Godavari Birds

Family RHess Campephagidae or Long-tailed Minivet (male) Cuckoo-shrikes, Minivets KConniff Long-tailed Minivet (female)

14 Godavari Birds

Family RHess Long-tailed Shrike Laniidae or Shrikes KConniff Grey-backed Shrike

15 Godavari Birds

Family RHess Ashy Drongo Dicruridae or Drongos KConniff Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo

16 Godavari Birds

Family Oriolidae or Orioles RHess Maroon Oriole

17 Godavari Birds

Family KConniff Yellow-bellied Fantail Rhipiduridae or Fantails RHess White-throated Fantail

18 Godavari Birds

Family KConniff Corvidae or Red-billed Blue Magpie Crows, Magpies, Jays KConniff Thick Billed Crow

19 Godavari Birds KConniff KConniff Common Green Magpie Grey Treepie KConniff House Crow

20 Godavari Birds

Family Paridae or Tits

21 Godavari Birds

Family RHess RHess Grey-crested Tit Rufous-vented Tit Aegithalidae or Long-tailed Tits RHess KConniff Green-backed Tit Black-lored Tit

22 Godavari Birds

Family Aegithalidae or Long-tailed Tits RHess Black-throated Tit

23 Godavari Birds

Family Pycnonotidae or Bulbuls

24 Godavari Birds KConniff RHess Red-vented Bulbul Himalayan Bulbul RHess RHess Black Bulbul Mountain Bulbul

25 Godavari Birds

Families Sylviidae or Wablers Cisticolidae or Tailorbirds and Prinias

26 Godavari Birds KConniff KConniff Humes Warbler Common Tailorbird RHess RHess Grey-hooded Warbler Grey-bellied Tesia

27 Godavari Birds

Family Timaliidae or

Babblers, RHess Grey-throated Babbler Scimitar Babblers, Laughingthrushes, Fulvettas, Yuhinas, Sibias RHess Spiny Babbler Endemic Rare

28 Godavari Birds KConniff KConniff Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler KConniff RHess White-crested Laughingthrush Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush

29 Godavari Birds RHess RHess White-throated Laughingthrush Spotted Laughingthrush RHess RHess Striated Laughingthrush Variegated Laughingthrush 30 Godavari Birds RHess RHess Red-billed Leiothrix Stripe-throated Yuhina RHess RHess Nepal Fulvetta Rufous-winged Fulvetta

31 Godavari Birds RHess RHess White–browed Fulvetta Rufous Sibia

Family  Zosteropidae or

White-eye RHess Oriental White-eye

32 Godavari Birds

Family KConniff Common Myna Sturnidae or Mynas, Starlings KConniff Jungle Myna

33 Godavari Birds Family

Sittidae or  Nuthatches RHess White-tailed Nuthatch

Family  Certhiidae or

RHess Treecreepers Rusty-flanked Treecreeper

34 Godavari Birds

Family Turdidae or Thrushes

35 Godavari Birds RHess RHess Blue Whistling Thrush Chesnut bellied Rock Thrush (male) RHess RHess White-collared Blackbird (female) Black-throated Thrush (female)

36 Godavari Birds KConniff RHess Grey-winged Blackbird (male) Blue-capped Rock-thrush (male) RHess Grey-winged Blackbird (female)

37 Godavari Birds

Family Muscicapidae or Old world Flycatchers and Chats

38 Godavari Birds KConniff RHess Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher Verditer Flycatcher RHess RHess Spotted Forktail Ultramarine Flycatcher

39 Godavari Birds KConniff RHess Plumbeous Water Redstart (male) Blue-fronted Redstart RHess KConniff Plumbeous Water Redstart (female) Magpie Robin

40 Godavari Birds RHess KConniff White-capped Water Redstart White-browed Bush Robin KConniff Himalayan Bluetail (male)

41 Godavari Birds

Family RHess Chloropseidae Orange-bellied Leafbird (male) or Leafbirds RHess Orange-bellied Leafbird (female)

42 Godavari Birds

Family Dicaeidae or KConniff Flowerpeckers Fire-breasted Flowerpecker

43 Godavari Birds

Family Nectariniidae or Sunbirds

44 Godavari Birds KConniff KConniff Crimson Sunbird (male) Purple Sunbird (male) RHess KConniff Crimson Sunbird (female) Purple Sunbird (female)

45 Godavari Birds RHess KConniff Green-tailed Sunbird (male) Black-throated Sunbird KConniff Green-tailed Sunbird (female)

46 Godavari Birds Family Emberizidae or  Sparrows RHess Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Family  Estriididae or

KConniff Munias White-rumped Munia

47 Godavari Birds Family

Motaciliidae or  Wagtails and Pipits RHess Grey Wagtail (female)

48 Reference Field Notes

Fleming, L Sr, L.Fleming, L.S. Singh Bangdel (1976) Birds of Nepal with reference to Kashmir and Sikkim. 1st Ed. Vakils House Printers Bombay, Inida.

Inskipp, Carol and Tim Inskipp (1991) A guide to the birds of Nepal. 2nd Edition. Christopher Helm, London.

Grimmett, R., C. Inskipp and T. Inskipp (2012) Birds of India: Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives (Second Edition). London.

Societies

Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN), PO Box 12465, Lazimpat, Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: +977-1-4417805, 4420213 www.birdlifenepal.org Authors biographies

Karen Conniff: Karen is a dragonfly specialist with extensive experience in organic agriculture and birding. During her PhD in agronomy she was drawn to classes on ornithology and entomology. After pursuing these interests further in Sri Lanka where half of dragonfly species are endemic, she has co-authored several books and articles on dragonflies, including the documentation of new species. She is a passionate photographer of birds, butterflies, and dragonflies.

Ron Hess: Ron Hess was born in the Himalayas and traces his fascination with birds and natural history to his biology teacher, Robert Fleming, Jr.. After working in film and completing a Master’s in Communication from Cornell University, Mr. Hess joined the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, where he has worked for 25 years with posts in Egypt, Uganda and Nepal. Birds have remained a life-long interest.

Erling Holmgren Valdemar: Valdemar started watching garden birds in Nairobi at age 9, which kicked off a life-long interest in birds that includes keen birding during spare time; ornithology studies at Lund University concerning bird ecology in agricultural landscapes of south Sweden; ringing of migrants and monitoring of visible bird migration at the south Swedish bird observatories; and leading birding tours in east Africa, Europe and Nepal. He still enjoys the intricacy of field identification of difficult species such as eagles, hawks, and leaf warblers. Bar-throated Minla - RHess Godavari Birds