Sep 21
by Admin in Dandeli, Karnataka 0 comments tags: Alwan, art, Avian, Bangalore, Bird, birds, Black throated munia, Dandeli, Digitalfrescos, Nikkor, Nikkor 500, Nikon, Nikon D500

Black throated munia, Dandeli

  The black-throated munia or Jerdon’s mannikin (Lonchura kelaarti) is a small passerine bird. This estrildid finch is a resident breeding bird in the hills of southwest India, the Eastern Ghats and Sri Lanka. The black-throated munia is 12 cm in length with a long black tail. The adult of the southwest Indian population, L. k. jerdoni, has a stubby grey bill, dark brown upperparts with pale shaft streaks; a blackish face and bib; and pinkish brown underparts with scaly marking towards the vent. The Eastern Ghats form vernayi has paler pinkish underparts. The nominate form L. k. kelaarti of Sri Lanka has scaly patterning on the underparts and vent with the pale almost whitish shaft streaks contrasting on the darker back. The sexes are similar in all populations, but immatures lack the darker face and have more uniform underparts. The black-throated munia is a small gregarious bird which feeds mainly on seeds. It frequents open hill woodland and cultivation. The nest is a large domed grass structure in a tree or creepers on a house into which 3-8 white eggs are laid in India, and usually five in Sri Lanka. Black-throated munia feeds on grass seeds, flowers and seedheads […]
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Sep 21
by Admin in Dandeli, Karnataka 0 comments tags: Alwan, art, Ashy Drongo, Avian, Bangalore, Bird, birds, Dandeli, Digitalfrescos, Nikkor, Nikkor 500, Nikon, Nikon D500

Ashy drongo looking back, Dandeli

  The adult ashy drongo is mainly dark grey, and the tail is long and deeply forked, There are a number of subspecies varying in the shade of the grey plumage. Some subspecies have white markings on the head. Young birds are dull brownish grey. Subspecies longicaudatus of India (which includes beavani of the Himalayas that winters on the peninsula, with one breeding population in central India that Vaurie separates as longicaudatus in the restricted sense) is very dark and almost like the black drongo although this bird is slimmer and has a somewhat longer and less-splayed tail. It is found in more tall forest habitat, has dark grey underside lacking the sheen of black drongo. The iris is crimson and there is no white rictal spot. Subspecies leucogenis and salangensis have a white eye-patch as do several of the island forms that breed further south. The calls are a little more nasal and twangy than that of the black drongo. The ashy drongo breeds in the hills of tropical southern Asia from eastern Afghanistan east to southern China, Ryukyu Islands in southern Japan (particularly Okinawa) and Indonesia. Many populations in the northern part of its range are migratory. The […]
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Sep 21
by Admin in Dandeli, Karnataka 0 comments tags: Alwan, art, Avian, Bangalore, Bird, birds, Brown cheeked fulvetta, Dandeli, Digitalfrescos, Nikkor, Nikkor 500, Nikon, Nikon D500

A pair of Brown Cheeked Fulvetta, Dandeli

  Brown-cheeked fulvetta measures 15 cm including its longish tail. It is brown above and buff, with no patterning on the body or wings. The crown is grey, and the cheeks are dark. Brown-cheeked fulvettas have short dark bills. Their food is mainly insects and nectar. They can be difficult to observe in the dense vegetation they prefer, but these are vocal birds, and their characteristic calls are often the best indication that these birds are present. The brown-cheeked fulvetta is a resident breeding bird in Bangladesh, India and Southeast Asia. Its habitat is undergrowth in moist forests and scrub jungle. This species, like most babblers, is not migratory, and has short rounded wings and a weak flight. This babbler builds its nest in a tree, concealed in dense masses of foliage. The normal clutch is two or three eggs. Not globally threatened and classified as least concern by IUCN. In India, common in West Mysore South to West Tamil Nadu; locally very common in hills of peninsular India; uncommon in Kaziranga and Nameri.
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Jul 13
by Admin in Bhutan 0 comments tags: Alwan, art, Avian, Bangalore, Bhutan, Bird, birds, Digitalfrescos, Mrs Goulds sunbird, Nikkor, Nikkor 500, Nikon, Nikon D500, sunbird

Mrs Goulds sunbird male, Bhutan

The Mrs. Gould’s sunbird (Aethopyga gouldiae) is a species of bird in the Nectariniidae family. Male 14–15 cm, 6·5–8 g; female 10 cm, 6·1 g. Relatively short-billed sunbird, male long-tailed. Male nominate race has metallic violet crown. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Hong Kong, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. Found in Various forest types, including oak forest, ridgetop forest and conifers, scrub. The Irish ornithologist Nicholas Vigors named the bird after Elizabeth Gould, a British artist and the wife of the naturalist John Gould. Diet is Nectar, spiders (Araneae) and insects. Forages at all levels, typically among lower branches and undergrowth; often at mistletoes. Resident; Seasonal altitudinal movements in higher parts of range; some post-breeding movement in NE India. Not globally threatened. Not globally threatened. Generally uncommon in India, but locally common in East; widespread but uncommon in Nepal; frequent in Bhutan; not uncommon in Myanmar.
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Jul 13
by Admin in Bhutan 0 comments tags: Alwan, art, Avian, Bangalore, Bhutan, Bird, birds, crimson sunbird, Digitalfrescos, Nikkor, Nikkor 500, Nikon, Nikon D500, sunbird

Crimson Sunbird male on a perch, Bhutan

The crimson sunbird is a species of bird in the sunbird family which feed largely on nectar, although they will also take insects, especially when feeding the young. Crimson sunbirds are tiny, only 11 cm long. Male 11·7–15 cm, 4·8–9 g; female 10 cm, 5–6·9 g. Male nominate race has forehead to centre of crown glossed purple-green. They have medium-length thin down-curved bills and brush-tipped tubular tongues, both adaptations to their nectar feeding. The adult male has a crimson breast and maroon back. The rump is yellow and the belly is olive. The female has an olive-green back, yellowish breast and white tips to the outer tail feathers. Most species can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird, but usually perch to feed most of the time. Diet is Insects, spiders (Araneae) and nectar. Forages in pairs and singly, also in family parties, usually low down but occasionally in canopy. Various forest types, including mangroves, heavily disturbed and regenerating secondary forests. Seasonal altitudinal movements in Himalayas. Sight record from Pakistan (Islamabad) in winter, Resident. Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Generally fairly common to common throughout wide range; uncommon to rare on Butung (off SE Sulawesi). Occurs in many protected areas.
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