2013 | 300 | 27Oct13 | Kaigondarahalli Lake

Map/ Route/ Location

 

1. Spot-Billed Pelican

2. Juvenile Brahminy Kite 

3. Night Heron

4. Spit Bug

5. Pond Heron

6. Spot Billed Duck

   

7. Darter

Darter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
01	The darters or snakebirds are mainly tropical waterbirds
02	There are four living species, three of which are very common and widespread while the fourth is rarer and classified as near-threatened by the IUCN.
03	The term "snakebird" is usually refers to their long thin neck, which has a snake-like appearance when they swim with their bodies submerged, or when mated pairs twist it during their bonding displays.
04	It alludes to their manner of procuring food, as they impale fishes with their thin, pointed beak.
05	They measure about 80 to 100 cm (2.6 to 3.3 ft) in length, with a wingspan around 120 cm (3.9 ft), and weigh some 1,050 to 1,350 grams (37 to 48 oz).
06	The males have black and dark brown plumage, a short erectile crest on the nape and a larger bill than the female.
07	The females have a much paler plumage, especially on the neck and underparts, and are a bit larger overall.
08	Both have grey stippling on long scapulars and upper wing coverts.
09	The sharply pointed bill has serrated edges and no external nostrils.
10	The darters have completely webbed feet, and their legs are short and set far back on the body.
11	There is no eclipse plumage, but the bare parts vary in color around the year.
12	During breeding, however, their small gular sac changes from pink or yellow to black, and the bare facial skin, otherwise yellow or yellow-green, turns turquoise.
13	The iris changes in color between yellow, red or brown seasonally.
14	The young hatch naked, but soon grow white or tan down.
15	Darter vocalizations include a clicking or rattling when flying or perching.
16	In the nesting colonies, adults communicate with croaks, grunts or rattles.
17	During breeding, adults sometimes give a caw or sighing or hissing calls.
18	Nestlings communicate with sqealing or squawking calls.
19	Darters swim largely submerged.
20	The long neck is conspicuous, and the source of the name "snakebirds".
21	Darters are mostly tropical in distribution, ranging into subtropical and barely into warm temperate regions.
22	They typically inhabit fresh water lakes, rivers, marshes, swamps
23	Most are sedentary and do not migrate; the populations in the coolest parts of the range may migrate however.
24	Their preferred mode of flight is soaring and gliding; in flapping flight they are rather cumbersome.
25	On dry land, darters walk with a high-stepped gait, wings often spread for balance, just like pelicans do.
26	They tend to gather in flocks – sometimes up to about 100 birds – and frequently associate with storks, herons or ibises, but are highly territorial on the nest:
27	despite being a colonial nester, breeding pairs – especially males – will stab at any other bird that ventures within reach of their long neck and bill.
28	Darters feed mainly on mid-sized fish; far more rarely, they eat other aquatic vertebrates and large invertebrates of comparable size.
29	These birds are foot-propelled divers that quietly stalk and ambush their prey; then they use their sharply pointed bill to impale the food animal.
30	They do not dive deep but make use of their low buoyancy made possible by wettable plumage, small air sacs and denser bones.
31	On the underside of the cervical vertebrae 5-7 is a keel, which allows for muscles to attach to form a hinge-like mechanism that can project the neck, head and bill forward like a throwing spear.
32	After they have stabbed the prey, they return to the surface where they toss their food into the air and catch it again, so that they can swallow it head-first.
33	Like cormorants, they have a vestigial preen gland and their plumage gets wet during diving.
34	To dry their feathers after diving, darters move to a safe location and spread their wings.
35	Predators of darters are mainly large carnivorous birds, including House Crow, Marsh harriers, Pallas's Fish Eagle.
36	Predation by Crocodylus crocodiles has also been noted. But many would-be predators know better than to try to catch a darter.
37	The long neck and pointed bill in combination with the "darting" mechanism make the birds dangerous even to larger carnivorous mammals, and they will actually move towards an intruder to attack rather than defending passively or fleeing.
38	They usually breed in colonies, occasionally mixed with cormorants or herons.
39	The darters pair bond monogamously at least for a breeding season.
40	Males display to attract females by raising (but not stretching) their wings to wave them in an alternating fashion, bowing and snapping the bill, or giving twigs to potential mates.
41	To strengthen the pair bond, partners rub their bills or wave, point upwards or bow their necks in unison.
42	Breeding all year round.
43	The nests are made of twigs and lined with leaves; they are built in trees or reeds, usually near water.
44	Typically, the male gathers nesting material and brings it to the female, which does most of the actual construction work.
45	Nest construction takes only a few days (about 3 at most), and the pairs copulate at the nest site.
46	The clutch size is two to six eggs (usually about 4) which have a pale green color.
47	The eggs are laid within 24–48 hours and incubated for 25 to 30 days, starting after the first has been laid; they hatch asynchronously.
48	To provide warmth to the eggs, the parents will cover them with their large webbed feet, because like their relatives they lack a brood patch.
49	The last young to hatch will usually starve in years with little food available.
50	Bi-parental care is given and the young are considered altricial.
51	They are fed by regurgitation of partly digested food when young, switching to entire food items as they grow older.
52	After fledging, the young are fed for about two more weeks while they learn to hunt for themselves.
53	These birds reach sexual maturity by about 2 years, and generally live to around 9 years. (Max about 16 years).
54	Darter eggs are edible and considered delicious by some; they are locally collected by humans as food.

7. Darter

8. Cormorant

9. Purple Heron

10. Eurasian Coot

Eurasian Coot - நாமக்கோழி
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
01	Is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae.
02	The Coot breeds on freshwater lakes and ponds.
03	Breeds in Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa.
04	The species has recently expanded its range into New Zealand.
05	The Coot is 13–17 in long and weighs 585–1,100 g, and is largely black except for the white facial shield
06	As a swimming species, the Coot has partial webbing on its long strong toes.
07	The juvenile is paler than the adult, has a whitish breast, and lacks the facial shield;
08	The adult black plumage develops when about 3–4 months old, but the white shield is only fully developed at about one year old.
09	This is a noisy bird with a wide repertoire of crackling, explosive, or trumpeting calls, often given at night.
10	Can be seen swimming on open water or walking across waterside grasslands.
11	It is an aggressive species, and strongly territorial during the breeding season, and both parents are involved in territorial defence.
12	It is reluctant to fly and when taking off runs across the water surface with much splashing.
13	But on migration, usually at night, it can cover surprisingly large distances.
14	It bobs its head as it swims, and makes short dives from a little jump.
15	This species builds a nest of dead reeds or grasses, but also pieces of paper or plastic near the water's edge or on underwater obstacles protruding from the water, laying up to 10 eggs, sometimes 2 or 3 times per season.
16	Usually only a few young survive.
17	They are frequent prey for birds such as herons and gulls.
18	Coots can be very brutal to their own young under pressure such as the lack of food.
19	They will bite young that are begging for food and repeatedly do this until it stops begging and starves to death.
20	If the begging continues, they may bite so hard that the chick is killed.
21	The Coot is an omnivore, and will take a variety of small live prey including the eggs of other water birds, as well as algae, vegetation, seeds and fruit.

11. Bug

12. Gang of Cormorant

12. Purple Swamphen

13. Purple Heron

14. Hibiscus

15. Rock Agama

2013_289_16Oct13 | Chamundi Hills | Nimishamba Temple | Ranganthittu

             

1. Common Silverline
ID Contribution : http://www.indianaturewatch.net/displayimage.php?id=386458

2. ID ??

3. Lampides Boeticus

4. Tickell's Blue Flycatcher 

5. Emerald damselflies
ID contribute : http://www.natureconservationimaging.com/Pages/nature_conservation_imaging_wetlands_dragonflies.htm

6. Jungle Maina

7. Black headed Ibis

2013 | 287 | 14Oct13 | Jamunamarathur Forest

1. Grey Wagtail

2. Giant Wood Spider

3.Grasshopper

4. Baya Weaver

Baya Weaver

Baya Weaver

Baya Weaver

5. Common Kingfisher

6. Brown Shrike

7. Coppersmith Barbet

                         

8. Spotted Owlet

Bangalore Birds - Wikipedia Articles Compilation

This is a complete compilation of all articles on birds mentioned at Wikipedia - List of Birds of Bangalore.This compilation will be handy for those on offline/ in mid of forest, who prefer to check bird details. Compilation is in PDF format, so that you can carry it on your mobile/ tablet instead of carrying heavy books.

First three pages of this work is indexed with link to every chapter. Likewise, every chapter's heading will link you to every particular's topic on index sheet.

The work consists of 1077 A4 size paper. Keeping paper saving in mind, I blocked printing facility. Kindly use it only on electronic media. Size of total file is approx 76 MB.

All the contents are proprietary of Individual authors who authored the articles on Wikipedia. This compilation is just to help entry level bird watchers, to provide with basic details of birds. Hence, I do not take any responsibility of error or mistake or any other liability raised. Use it at your risk. One thing is sure, it doesn't contain any spam or malware or virus. To avoid no of pages, references and other notes are edited and removed from the original articles.

Samples can be downloaded from here.

Fill your name & mail id to get downloadlink form.

2013 | 279 | 06Oct13 | Hebbal Lake

Map/ Location/Track

1. Eurasian Coot

Eurasian Coot - நாமக்கோழி
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
01	Is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae.
02	The Coot breeds on freshwater lakes and ponds.
03	Breeds in Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa.
04	The species has recently expanded its range into New Zealand.
05	The Coot is 13–17 in long and weighs 585–1,100 g, and is largely black except for the white facial shield
06	As a swimming species, the Coot has partial webbing on its long strong toes.
07	The juvenile is paler than the adult, has a whitish breast, and lacks the facial shield;
08	The adult black plumage develops when about 3–4 months old, but the white shield is only fully developed at about one year old.
09	This is a noisy bird with a wide repertoire of crackling, explosive, or trumpeting calls, often given at night.
10	Can be seen swimming on open water or walking across waterside grasslands.
11	It is an aggressive species, and strongly territorial during the breeding season, and both parents are involved in territorial defence.
12	It is reluctant to fly and when taking off runs across the water surface with much splashing.
13	But on migration, usually at night, it can cover surprisingly large distances.
14	It bobs its head as it swims, and makes short dives from a little jump.
15	This species builds a nest of dead reeds or grasses, but also pieces of paper or plastic near the water's edge or on underwater obstacles protruding from the water, laying up to 10 eggs, sometimes 2 or 3 times per season.
16	Usually only a few young survive.
17	They are frequent prey for birds such as herons and gulls.
18	Coots can be very brutal to their own young under pressure such as the lack of food.
19	They will bite young that are begging for food and repeatedly do this until it stops begging and starves to death.
20	If the begging continues, they may bite so hard that the chick is killed.
21	The Coot is an omnivore, and will take a variety of small live prey including the eggs of other water birds, as well as algae, vegetation, seeds and fruit.

2. Cormorant

3. Eurasian Coot

4. Male Koel

5. Purple Rumped Sunbird

Audio Credit : Andrew Mascarenhas,

http://http://www.xeno-canto.org/recordist.php?id=YBXAQXNZZP

Purple-rumped Sunbird
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
01	Is endemic to the Indian Subcontinent.
02	Small in size, feeding mainly on nectar but sometimes take insects, particularly when feeding young.
03	Can hover for short durations but usually perch to feed.
04	They build a hanging pouch nest made up of cobwebs, lichens and plant material.
05	Males are brightly coloured but females are olive above and yellow to buff below.
06	Are tiny at less than 10 cm long.
07	They have medium-length thin down-curved bills and brush-tipped tubular tongues, both adaptations to their nectar feeding.
08	Purple-rumped Sunbirds are sexually dimorphic.
09	The males have a dark maroon upperside with a blue-green crown that glistens in some angles, bright green shoulder patch and violet/purple rump patch which is generally hidden.
10	The underparts are whitish with dark throat, maroon breast band and purple/violet patch in the throat which is visible in some angles.
11	The iris is generally reddish in color.
12	The female has a white throat followed by yellowish breast.
13	The upperside is olive or brownish.
14	The uppertail coverts are black and a weak supercilium is visible.
15	Their call is ptsiee ptsit, ptsiee ptsswit or a sharp twittering tityou, titou, trrrtit, tityou....
16	Is a common resident breeder in southern India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
17	Found in a variety of habitats with trees, including scrub and cultivation and is usually absent from dense forest.
18	Breed through the year and may have two broods, but mainly during the monsoons.
19	The nest is made up of fine plant fibres, cobwebs and is studded on the exterior with lichens, bark pieces, flying seeds and other materials.
20	The nest is constructed by the female alone although the male may fly alongside her.
21	The nest is lined with soft fibres
22	The nest is placed on the end of branch and the entrance usually faces a bush.
23	Nests may sometimes be built close to buildings or under open porches.
24	The female stays in the nest at night a couple of day before laying the eggs.
25	The clutch consists of two eggs which are generally oval, pale greenish and white with spots and streaks, becoming more dense at the broad end.
26	Sometimes, eggs may be plain grey without markings as well.
27	The eggs are laid mainly in the morning.
28	The eggs are incubated by both the male and female.
29	The incubation period varies from 14 to 16 days.
30	The chicks fledge in about 17 days and continue to be fed by the male for a few days.
31	Helpers, females or possibly juveniles from the previous brood may sometimes assist the parents in feeding the young.
32	Old nests are sometimes reused.
33	Cases of nests being parasitised by the Grey-bellied Cuckoo are known.
34	They pollinate the flowers of many plant.
35	They tend to perch while foraging for nectar
36	It has been noted that they maintain special scratching posts, where they get rid of pollen and nectar sticking to their head.
37	When the flowers are too deep to probe, they sometimes pierce the base of the flower and rob the nectar.
38	They sometimes visit open crop fields and take honeydew exuded by leafhoppers.
39	The may indulge in dew-bathing, or bathing by sliding in drops of rain collected on large leaves.

2013 | 275 | 02Oct13 | Hesarghatta

1. ID ??

2. Brawn Swallow

3. Black Headed Munia (Female)

4. Baya Weaver

5. Red Rumped Swallow

Google Map : 13.1439.77.4855