Red Munia – Male, Mysore

  A cute sparrow sized bird that is found in the open fields and grass lands across Asia especially near water. The name of the Genus this bird belongs to is derived from the city of Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat state in India. The birds mainly feeds on grass seeds. You will easily observe a flock of these birds together and once in a while they do perch around and give you a split second opportunity frame them. The male bird wears the bright red plumage during the breeding time which is usually around the monsoon times. In areas around Bangalore it has been observed to have this plumage during October – November. Another interesting fact is that after the breeding time the beak of the bird changes colors and it becomes black when the summer arrives. These are popular cage birds because of the lovely colorful plumage the male bird has during the breeding season. The male also looks pretty much like the female when not in breeding season.

Red Munia – Female, Mysore

A cute sparrow sized bird that is found in the open fields and grass lands across Asia especially near water. The name of the Genus this bird belongs to is derived from the city of Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat state in India. The birds mainly feeds on grass seeds. You will easily observe a flock of these birds together and once in a while they do perch around and give you a split second opportunity frame them. The female bird lacks the bright red plumage of the male but still has the red beak and the white spots.

Red spurfowl

The red spurfowl (Galloperdix spadicea) is a member of the pheasant family and is endemic to India. It is a bird of forests, and is quite secretive despite its size. It has a distinctive call and is often hard to see except for a few seconds when it flushes from the undergrowth. It appears reddish and like a long-tailed partridge. The bare skin around the eye is reddish. The legs of both males and females have one or two spurs, which give them their name.The species is found in scrub, dry and moist-deciduous forests often in hilly country. They are found south of the Ganges across India. They prefer areas with good undergrowth. This is classified as least concern by IUCN. Forest hills at Masinagudi is a very good place to record this bird.