Sep 21
by Admin in Dandeli, Karnataka 0 comments tags: Alwan, art, Avian, Bangalore, Bird, birds, Blyth's reed warbler, Dandeli, Digitalfrescos, Nikkor, Nikkor 500, Nikon, Nikon D500

Blyth’s reed warbler on a stick, Dandeli

  Blyth’s reed warbler is named after the British zoologist Edward Blyth. The genus name Acrocephalus is from Ancient Greek akros, “highest”, and kephale, “head”. It is possible that Naumann and Naumann thought akros meant “sharp-pointed”. The specific dumetorum is from Latin dumetum, “thicket”. This small passerine bird is a species found in scrub or clearings, often near water, but it is not found in marshes. 4-6 eggs are laid in a nest in a bush. This is a medium-sized warbler, 12.5-14 cm in length. The adult has a plain brown back and pale underparts. It can easily be confused with reed warbler, marsh warbler and some of the Hippolais warblers. It is most like reed warbler but is greyer on the back, the forehead is less flattened and the bill is less strong and pointed. The sexes are identical, as with most warblers, but young birds are yellower below. Blyth’s reed warbler (Acrocephalus dumetorum) is an Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus. It breeds in temperate Asia and easternmost Europe. It is migratory, wintering in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. It is one of the most common winter warblers in those countries. It is a rare vagrant to […]
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Sep 21
by Admin in Dandeli, Karnataka 0 comments tags: Alwan, art, Avian, Bangalore, Bird, birds, Blue throated blue flycatcher, Dandeli, Digitalfrescos, Nikkor, Nikkor 500, Nikon, Nikon D500

Blue-throated Blue-flycatcher female, Dandeli

  The habitat of this species is a thicker forest than other species of flycatchers. The blue-throated flycatcher is found in much of the Indian Subcontinent, all through the Himalayas, the plains and Western Ghats of India in the winter. The blue-throated flycatcher is found in much of the Indian Subcontinent, all through the Himalayas, the plains and Western Ghats of India in the cold months, and also extends eastwards into Bangladesh, and to Arakan and the Tenasserim Hills in Myanmar. Diet includes small invertebrates, e.g. flies (Diptera), small cicadas (Cicadoidea) and larvae. Not globally threatend. This is classified as least concern by IUCN.
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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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