Paddy field Pipet:
This is a large pipit at 15 cm, but is otherwise an undistinguished looking bird, mainly streaked grey-brown above and pale below with breast streaking. It is long legged with a long tail and a long dark bill. Sexes are similar. Summer and winter plumages are similar. Young birds are more richly colored below than adults and have the pale edges to the feathers of the upper parts more conspicuous with more prominent spotting on the breast. The population waitei from north-western India and Pakistan is pale while the population malayensis from the Western Ghats is larger, darker and more heavily streaked with the nominate rufulus intermediate
A sparrow-sized, resident pipit with brown plumage that varies in tones in different parts of its range. All birds have a bi-colored bill with a curve to the tip of the upper bill. The breast is streaked and the upperparts have variable amounts of streaking.
Excited to see a few waterhen at DOBO, in Jharkhand, had seen them once before but they were too quick and lots of undergrowth for them to disappear into , this time I had better luck.
Medium-sized, fairly common chicken like marsh bird found in meadows, ditches, riversides, marshes, as well as parks and farmlands in close proximity to humans; often seen foraging in the open. Adults are dark salty above and white below, with a rusty patch under the tail. Juvenile similar but duller in color. Remarkably variable song is a series of hooting, grunting, or rasping notes or phrases, repeated monotonously, often from an exposed perch.
BARN SWALLOW
widely considered very challenging for photographers. Their extremely fast, erratic, and acrobatic flight patterns make them difficult to track and focus on, testing both the photographer's skills and the camera's equipment.
The barn swallow is a bird of open country that normally nests in man-made structures and consequently has spread with human expansion. It builds a cup nest from mud pellets in barns or similar structures and feeds on insects caught in flight.
Did you know that the highly forked tail and the ‘tail streamers’ of the swallow are due to sexual selection? Research has shown that female barn swallows prefer to mate with males with longer tails. Producing a tail longer than average is energetically costly and shows the swallow is of good quality-and likely will have good genes for their babies or be good providers!
Sailors And Swallows: Swallows have a special meaning in the eyes of the maritime community from hundreds of years ago, with a sighting of a swallow giving hope that land was just within reach. Within sailor culture, a swallow tattoo symbolises that the sailor has travelled over 5,000 miles at sea, which is no mean feat! However, a swallow in the presence of a dagger would suggest that a treasured friend died during a voyage.
The Indian Robin, recognized by its white shoulder patch and Brown undertail , posed on the branch for the camera today morning.
Robins, in particular, are also a little curious and friendly, so once you get on their good side, you can expect to enjoy their company regularly.
The Indian robin (Copsychus fulicatus) is a species of passerine bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is widespread in the Indian subcontinent and ranges across Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The males of the northern subspecies have brown backs whose extent gradually reduces southwards, with the males of the southern subspecies having all-black backs. They are commonly found in open scrub areas and often seen running along the ground or perching on low thorny shrubs and rocks. The long tail is usually held up and the chestnut undertail coverts and dark body make them easily distinguishable
They feed mostly on insects but are known to take frogs and lizards especially when feeding young at the nest
The breeding season is December to September, but varies according to region and usually begins with the first rains. Peak breeding in northern India is in June
