Observed on Oct 11th to Oct 15th and Nov 15th to Nov 19th, 2017 Birds in and around Mugilu Homestay, Sakleshpur - A.Ajit This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Some Terminologies Used… •Is a flock of insect eating birds of different species which join together and feed. Mixed-species foraging Forests suddenly see a spurt of bird activity in a specific place where this happens •Key benefit is that, as a group, it decreases chances of being attacked and increases flock possibility of finding more food •Native or restricted to a certain place and not found naturally anywhere else Endemic •Endemic species have special importance as its locally restricted and hence needs extra sensitivity to ensure its protection •Gleaning Is a feeding strategy by birds in which they catch insects by plucking them Gleaning and Hawking from foliage or the ground, from crevices such as rock faces or from underneath leaves •Hawking is a feeding strategy where flying insects are caught mid air. •The action or process of procreating and nesting is called as breeding. Breeding and Roosting •Roosting is a process where birds congregate to rest at night. Roosting spots need not necessarily entail breeding/nesting. •Winter migrant Birds fly large distances, sometimes across continents to escape harsh Winter Migrant and winters to places which are less harsh weather wise. Resident •Resident birds are those that do not migrate and are locally found throughout the year Bird List Total 81 species of birds seen over an observation period of 6 days. Birds were predominantly seen during the morning time from 6:15 AM till 9:30 AM. 30 out of that 81 birds seen have been presented in this document. • Green Bee-eater • White-bellied Woodpecker • Bronzed Drongo • Red-wattled Lapwing • Lesser Yellownape • Greater Racket-tailed Drongo • Little Cormorant • Greater Flameback • Rufous Treepie • Indian Peafowl • Rufous Woodpecker • White-bellied Treepie • Red Spurfowl • Plum-headed Parakeet • Indian yellow Tit • Gray Junglefowl • Malabar Parakeet • Velvet-fronted Nuthatch • Cattle Egret • Vernal Hanging-Parrot • crow sp. • Spotted Dove • Common Iora • Gray-headed Bulbul • Greater Coucal • Orange Minivet • Red-whiskered Bulbul • swift sp. • Black-headed Cuckooshrike • Red-vented Bulbul • Malabar Trogon • Brown Shrike • Yellow-browed Bulbul • Malabar Gray Hornbill • Bar-winged Flycatcher Shrike • Green/Greenish Warbler • Malabar Barbet • Indian Golden Oriole • Greenish Warbler • White-cheeked Barbet • Ashy Drongo • Phylloscopus sp. Bird List Continued… • Western Crowned Warbler • Verditer Flycatcher • Black-throated Munia • Booted/Sykes's Warbler • Indian Blue Robin • Baya weaver • Blyth's Reed Warbler • Blue-capped Rock-thrush • Speckled piculet • Acrocephalus sp. • Orange -headed Thrush • Eurasian Kestrel • Oriental White-eye • Indian Blackbird • Lark sp • Dark-fronted Babbler • Chestnit-tailed starling • Indian Pond-Heron • Black-rumped Flameback • Southern Hill Myna • Nilgiri Flowerpecker • Indian Paradise-Flycatcher • White-browed wagtail • Little Spiderhunter • Indian Scimitar-Babbler • Eagle sp • Gray Wagtail • Rufous Babbler • Jungle Myna • Common Hawk-Cuckoo • Puff-throated Babbler • Jerdon's Leafbird • White-throated Kingfisher • Jungle Babbler • Crimson-backed Sunbird • Oriental Magpie-Robin • Long-billed Sunbird • Tickell's Blue Flycatcher • Purple Sunbird Common Name: Malabar Trogon Scientific Name: Harpactes fasciatus Interesting Fact: They perch motionless in upright positions for long periods in the middle or lower storey of forests, even more so when they sense danger • They are non-migratory resident birds. • Seen mostly in Western Ghats, hill forests of central India and some parts of Eastern Ghats. • The male has slaty black head and crimson on the underside. • The female has ochre color on its underside and olive brown on its back. • They are predominantly insectivorous. • They participate in mixed-species foraging flocks. Common Name: White-Bellied Treepie Scientific Name: Dendrocitta leucogastra Interesting Fact: They can mimic calls of Greater Racket Tailed Drongo who themselves have an ability to mimic call of other birds. • They are non-migratory resident birds. • Seen mostly in Western Ghats, Evergreen wet forests and undergrowth. • They are endemic to Southern India. • They belong to the Crow Family. A much more glamorous crow! • It has a loud and metallic call and has some similarity to the call of Rufous Treepie. • They participate in mixed-species foraging flocks. Common Name: Lesser Yellownape Scientific Name: Picus chlorolophus Interesting Fact: These birds have long tongue to capture insects, sometimes as long as the woodpecker itself. To accommodate the tongue, it curls it up around the skull! • Ever wondered how the woodpecker protect its brain from the severe impact of pounding on the wood? It has a thick skull with a spongy bone to cushion the impact. Some smart contractions in the mandibular muscle just before the hit helps to transmit the impact past the brain to the rest of the body. • They primarily feed on ants, termites and grubs and pupae of wood-boring beetles. • The loud rattle produced when pecking is also a kind of advertisement in defense of their territory. • It specially has yoked feet with two toes pointing forward and two backwards. This helps them get good grip on the bark of the tree while pounding and as well as to creep up Common Name: Indian Scimitar Babbler Scientific Name: Pomatorhinus horsfieldii Interesting Fact: They are more often heard than seen as they hide among thick foliage of trees. They can be clearly identified with their loud fluty ‘oop-pu-pu’ call. • They are non-migratory resident birds. • They are predominantly arboreal (living in trees) but can also be seen foraging on the ground. • They are mainly insectivorous and collect food from leaves, moss, lichen and bark. • They can also be seen rummaging among leaf litter and flicking leaf aside to check for any insect beneath it. Common Name: Rufous Babbler Scientific Name: Turdoides subrufa Interesting Fact: They can be easily identified by their loud high-pitched , shrill scolding squeaks which goes like ‘Treeenh-Treeenh’ • They are non-migratory resident birds. • They are endemic to Western ghats and seen only in South Western parts. • They are mainly found in grassy hill sides and amidst tall grass and bamboo. Common Name: Malabar Grey Hornbill Scientific Name: Ocyceros griseus Interesting Fact: It has an interesting old witch like maniacal call! Something hard to miss. Also the entire nesting process is one of a kind and very interesting. • They are non-migratory resident birds • They are endemic to Western Ghats and seen in well-wooded areas only • The female shuts herself within the cavity of her nest by sealing its entrance with a sealant made from her droppings. • The female then lays three or sometimes four white eggs and removes all its feather. • The entrance to the nest has a narrow opening through which the female expels excreta and receives food from the male. • Males tap the tree to tell the female that it has come. Berries are regurgitated one at a time and shifted to the tip of the bill before being passed to the female. Common Name: Malabar Parakeet Scientific Name: Psittacula columboides Interesting Fact: They reuse nests of other birds like woodpecker and barbet. • They are non-migratory resident birds • They are endemic to Western Ghats and seen in well-wooded areas only • The male and female can be differentiated only by their beak color. Males have red beak Common Name: Yellow-browed Bulbul Scientific Name: Acritillas indica Interesting Fact: The word bulbul is derived from Persian language which means Nightingale. This is because of the sweet call that bulbuls have. • They are non-migratory resident birds • They are endemic to Indian subcontinent and seen in well-wooded areas only • It’s a songbird and has a nice soft call which goes like ‘pruh-eeep, pruh-eeep’ Common Name: Orange Minivet Scientific Name: Pericrocotus flammeus Interesting Fact: They catch insects on trees during flight or while perched. It scares insects out of foliage by beating its wings hard and fast, which flushes out the prey • They are non-migratory resident birds. • Extremely pretty birds with brilliant but different plumage for both males and females. The male has scarlet color while the female has bright olive yellow. • They often join mixed-species foraging flocks. • They have a pleasant melodic whistling call. Common Name: Nilgiri Flowerpecker Scientific Name: Dicaeum concolor Interesting Fact: Mistletoe fruit has sticky property because of which it sticks to the beak of the bird. To remove the sticky fruit, it rubs the beak on the bark of a tree and in that process, deposits the seeds. The plant gets a new life from there! • They are non-migratory resident birds. • They are important pollinators of mistletoe plants in the forest. • They are found in woodland edges, cultivation and isolated stands of trees, often in hilly country. • The call of the Nilgiri Flowerpecker is a sharp ‘check’ or a rapid series of ‘ticks’, while the song is a high-pitched trill. Common Name: Vernal Hanging Parrot Scientific Name: Loriculus vernalis Interesting Fact: They habitually sleep upside down and hence they are known as Hanging parrots! • They are non-migratory resident birds • Found mostly in broadleaved evergreen and moist deciduous forests. • Their striking red rump and red beak stands out distinctly