Location: Karkardooma, Delhi
Date: 20.07.2016
Wednesday 20 July 2016
Ashy Prinia
Location: Karkardooma, Delhi
Date: 20.07.2016
A pair of birds visiting my garden as adjoining green land is being destroyed.
Tuesday 19 July 2016
House Sparrow -Juvenile
Location: Karkardooma, Delhi, India
Date: 18 July, 2016
Note:All three juvenile birds are in vicinity and have different plumage.
House Sparrow
Location: Karkardooma, Delhi, India
Date: 18 July, 2016
Note: This Juvenile Bird was observed for whole day in spurts.The bird is being fed exclusively by female adult.The feeding material is mostly seeds collected from nearby feeders.There is other juvenile bird too in vicinity which seems more mature and is not getting any attention /feeding from adult bird.
Wednesday 22 June 2016
Coppersmith Barbet- Juvenile
Date: 11 June,2016
Sunday 13 March 2016
Sunday 6 March 2016
Tuesday 1 March 2016
Annual Delhi Bird Race, 27th March, 2016
East Delhi Birders took part in the Annual Delhi Bird race conducted by the famous Indian Birds (fb group , started by Kanwar B Singh). At the crack of dawn we were at the banks of River Yamuna in Wazirabad area. we birded from Wazirabad to Jagatpur Khader around 3.5 km. Our decision to bird in Yamuna Khader area turned out to be wonderful, around 104 birds were spotted, including Long legged buzzard common kestrel. Next stop was at Sanjay Jheel, here interalia we spotted gray headed canary flycatcher, red breasted flycatcher and comb duck. We then headed to Okhla Bird Sanctuary, with Tapas Misra reporting short eared owl from there we were eagerly looking for it but could not find it. Next stop was at police lines behind surajpur bird sanctuary . plenty of waders awaited us there. Booted eagle made a kill before us, it was so fast that none of use take a snap of the action. On the way to Dhanuri, 2 brahminy kites appeared out of the blue , sudden breaks were applied and all of us jumped out of the cars to take snap of not so common bird in Delhi NCR, we reached Dhanuri around 5 pm when we realized that we have to have lunch too, after lunch we had around 1 hour of sunlight left Bonelli's eagle and northern lapwing were the highlights there. I personally thank all the team members for their co-operation and enthusiasm without which our target of 150 bird would not have been achieved. The list is given below;with Rajesh Kalra Nitin Tomer Hemant Kirola Sunil Kumar Meghna Joshi Himansh Pahwa Jaswinder Singh Waraich Ritesh Sharma and Rajouli Gosh
1. Greylag Goose, Anser anser
2. Bar-headed Goose, Anser indicu
3. Ruddy Shelduck, Tadorna ferruginea
4. Comb Duck, Sarkidiornis melanotos
5. Gadwall, Anas strepera
6. Eurasian Wigeon, Anas penelope, Widgeon
7. Spot-billed Duck, Anas poecilorhyncha
8. Common Teal, Anas crecca
9. Garganey, Anas querquedula
10. Northern Pintail, Anas acuta
11. Northern Shoveler, Anas clypeata
12. Common Pochard, Aythya ferina
13. Black Francolin, Francolinus francolinus
14. Grey Francolin, Francolinus pondicerianus,
15. Indian Peafowl, Pavo cristatus
16. Little Grebe, Tachybaptus ruficollis
17. Painted Stork, Mycteria leucocephala
18. Asian Openbill, Anastomus oscitans
19. Woolly-necked Stork, Ciconia episcopus
20. Black-necked Stork, Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus
21. Darter, Anhinga melanogaster
22. Little Cormorant, Phalacrocorax niger
23. Indian Cormorant, Phalacrocorax fuscicollis
24. Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo
25. Great White Pelican, Pelecanus onocrotalus
26. Great Egret, Casmerodius albus
27. Intermediate Egret, Mesophoyx intermedia
28. Cattle Egret, Bubulcus ibis
29. Little Egret, Egretta garzetta
30. Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea
31. Purple Heron, Ardea purpurea
32. Black-crowned Night Heron, Nycticorax nycticorax
33. Glossy Ibis, Plegadis falcinellus
34. Black-headed Ibis, Threskiornis melanocephalus,
35. Black Ibis, Pseudibis papillosa
36. Eurasian Spoonbill, Platalea leucorodia
37. Black-shouldered Kite, Elanus caeruleus
38. Black Kite, Milvus migrans
39. Brahminy Kite, Haliastur indus
40. Egyptian Vulture, Neophron percnopterus
41. Western Marsh Harrier, Circus aeruginosus
42. Shikra, Accipiter badius
43. Long-legged Buzzard, Buteo rufinus
44. Bonelli’s Eagle, Hieraaetus fasciatus
45. Booted Eagle, Hieraaetus pennatus
46. Common Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus
47. Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus
48. Brown Crake, Amaurornis akool
49. White-breasted Waterhen, Amaurornis phoenicurus
50. Purple Swamphen, Porphyrio porphyrio
51. Common Moorhen, Gallinula chloropus
52. Common Coot, Fulica atra
53. Sarus Crane, Grus antigone
54. Black-winged Stilt, Himantopus himantopus
55. Pied Avocet, Recurvirostra avosetta
56. Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Hydrophasianus chirurgus
57. Bronze-winged Jacana, Metopidius indicus
58. Northern Lapwing, Vanellus vanellus
59. River Lapwing, Vanellus duvaucelii
60. Red-wattled Lapwing, Vanellus indicus
61. White-tailed Lapwing, Vanellus leucurus
62. Common Snipe, Gallinago gallinago,
63. Jack Snipe, Lymnocryptes minimus
64. Black-tailed Godwit, Limosa limosa
65. Spotted Redshank, Tringa erythropus
66. Common Redshank, Tringa totanus
67. Marsh Sandpiper, Tringa stagnatilis
68. Common Greenshank, Tringa nebularia
69. Green Sandpiper, Tringa ochropus
70. Wood Sandpiper, Tringa glareola
71. Common Sandpiper, Actitis hypoleucos
72. Little Stint, Calidris minuta
73. Temminck’s Stint, Calidris temminckii
74. Ruff, Philomachus pugnax
75. Pallas’s Gull, Larus ichthyaetus
76. Brown-headed Gull, Larus brunnicephalus
77. Black-headed Gull, Larus ridibundus
78. River Tern, Sterna aurantia
79. Whiskered Tern, Chlidonias hybridus
80. Rock Pigeon, Columba livia
81. Laughing Dove, Streptopelia senegalensis
82. Eurasian Collared Dove, Streptopelia decaocto
83. Yellow-footed Green Pigeon, Treron phoenicoptera
84. Greater Coucal, Centropus sinensis
85. Spotted Owlet, Athene brama
86. Common Hoopoe, Upupa epops,
87. Indian Grey Hornbill, Ocyceros birostris
88. White-throated Kingfisher, Halcyon smyrnensis
89. Green Bee-eater, Merops orientalis
90. Indian Roller, Coracias benghalensis
91. Brown-headed Barbet, Megalaima zeylanica
92. Coppersmith Barbet, Megalaima haemacephala
93. Lesser Goldenback(Black-rumped Flameback),
94. Alexandrine Parakeet, Psittacula eupatria
95. Rose-ringed Parakeet, Psittacula krameri
96. Long-tailed Shrike, Lanius schach
97. Southern Grey Shrike, Lanius meridionalis
98. Black Drongo, Dicrurus macrocercus
99. Rufous Treepie, Dendrocitta vagabunda
100. House Crow, Corvus splendens
101. Large-billed Crow, Corvus macrorhynchos
102. Indian Bushlark, Mirafra erythroptera
103. Ashy-crowned Sparrow Lark, Eremopterix grisea
104. Crested Lark, Galerida cristata
105. Oriental Skylark, Alauda gulgula
106. Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica, Swallow
107. Wire-tailed Swallow, Hirundo smithii
108. Red-whiskered Bulbul, Pycnonotus jocosus
109. Red-vented Bulbul, Pycnonotus cafer
110. Common Chiffchaff, Phylloscopus collybita
111. Hume’s Warbler, Phylloscopus humei
112. Lesser Whitethroat, Sylvia curruca
113. Zitting Cisticola, Cisticola juncidis
114. Graceful Prinia, Prinia gracilis
115. Yellow-bellied Prinia, Prinia flaviventris
116. Ashy Prinia, Prinia socialis
117. Plain Prinia, Prinia inornata
118. Oriental White-eye, Zosterops palpebrosus
119. Common Tailorbird, Orthotomus sutorius
120. Yellow-eyed Babbler, Chrysomma sinense
121. Striated Babbler, Turdoides earlei
122. Large Grey Babbler, Turdoides malcolmi
123. Jungle Babbler, Turdoides striatus
124. Red-breasted Flycatcher, Ficedula parva
125. Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher, Culicicapa ceylonensis
126. Bluethroat, Luscinia svecica
127. Oriental Magpie Robin, Copsychus saularis
128. Indian Robin, Saxicoloides fulicata
129. Black Redstart, Phoenicurus ochruros
130. Siberian Stonechat, Saxicola maura
131. Pied Bushchat, Saxicola caprata
132. Brown Rock-chat, Cercomela fusca
133. Rosy Starling, Sturnus roseus
134. Common Starling, Sturnus vulgaris
135. Asian Pied Starling, Sturnus contra
136. Common Myna, Acridotheres tristis
137. Bank Myna, Acridotheres ginginianus
138. Purple Sunbird, Nectarinia asiatica
139. White Wagtail, Motacilla alba
140. White-browed Wagtail, Motacilla maderaspatensis
141. Citrine Wagtail, Motacilla citreola
142. Yellow Wagtail, Motacilla flava
143. Grey Wagtail, Motacilla cinerea
144. Paddyfield Pipit, Anthus rufulus
145. Tawny Pipit, Anthus campestris
146. Rosy Pipit, Anthus roseatus
147. House Sparrow, Passer domesticus
148. Black-breasted Weaver, Ploceus benghalensis
149. Baya Weaver, Ploceus philippinus
150. Indian Silverbill, Lonchura malabarica
151. Black Eared Kite
152 Indian Pond Heron
Subramaniam Venkatramani
Thursday 21 January 2016
Himalayan Forest Thrush Zoothera salimalii :A species of bird new to science from India and China
A species of bird new to science from India and China: Himalayan Forest Thrush Zoothera salimalii
A new species of bird has been described from northeastern India and adjacent parts of China by a team of scientists from Sweden, China, India, the US, and Russia. We have named this bird as Himalayan Forest Thrush Zoothera salimalii. The scientific name honours the great Indian ornithologist Dr Sálim Ali (1896–1987), in recognition of his huge contributions to the development of Indian ornithology and wildlife conservation. This is the first Indian bird species, which has been named after Dr. Salim Ali.
We (Dr. Per Alström and myself) first discovered the Himalayan Forest Thrush in May-June of 2009 while studying birds at high elevations of Western Arunachal Pradesh. What first caught our attention was the fact that the “Plain-backed Thrush” in the coniferous and mixed forest had a rather musical song, whereas individuals found in the same region, but on bare rocky habitats above the tree-line had a much harsher, scratchier, unmusical song.
After studying the museum specimens in 15 museums in 7 countries and some extensive fieldwork in China we realized consistent differences in plumage and structure between birds from these two populations within Indian limits. Finally we could confirm that the species breeding in the forests of the eastern Himalayas had no scientific name. Hence we named the new species as Himalayan Forest Thrush Zoothera salimalii. The high-elevation “Plain-backed Thrush” is now renamed as Alpine Thrush while it retains the scientific name of Zoothera mollissima.
Further analyses of plumage, structure, song, DNA and ecology from throughout the range of the “Plain-backed Thrush” revealed that a third species was present in central China. While this population was already known, it was treated as a subspecies of “Plain-backed Thrush”. We have named this bird as Sichuan Forest Thrush Zoothera griseiceps. The song of the Sichuan Forest Thrush is even more musical than the song of the Himalayan Forest Thrush.
DNA analyses suggested that these three species have been genetically separated for several million years. Genetic data from three old museum specimens indicated the presence of a fourth species from China that remains unnamed. Future field studies are required to confirm this.
The Himalayan Forest Thrush is locally common. It has been overlooked until now because of its close similarity in appearance to the Alpine Thrush.
New bird species are rarely discovered nowadays. Since 2000, an average of five new species per year have been discovered globally, most of which are from South America. The Himalayan Forest Thrush is only the fourth new bird species described from India since our independence in 1947.
I would like to congratulate and thank all my co-authors. Per Alstrom, Pamela Rasmussen, Chao Zhao, Jinzi Xu, Tianlong Cai, Yuyan Guan, Ruying Zhang, Mikhail Kalyakin, Fumin Lei and Urban Olsson for this exciting discovery.
Photo Credit: Craig Brelsford. Thanks for a such a beautiful photograph.
Saturday 2 January 2016
Indian Cormorant - Non-breeding adult in flight
Location: Yamuna Biodiversity Park,Delhi,India
Date: 28 December 2015,
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