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.