White-breasted Waterhen

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The White-breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus) is a waterbird of the Rail and Crake family (Rallidae) and widely distributed across South Asia. During a previous season a couple of White-breasted Waterhens would daily visit my garden, which was my introduction to this bird, however since that time I haven’t personally spotted the White-breasted Waterhen in the Arunachala area.

Adult Waterhen [Photo: J.M. Garg]

This bird is a slaty grey stub-tailed long-legged marsh bird with white face and breast and bright rusty red under the tail. Immature birds are much duller versions of the adults. The adults are similar in size with the female being slightly smaller. The downy chicks are black, as with all Rails.

These birds are usually seen singly or in pairs as they forage slowly along the edge of a waterbody mainly on the ground but sometimes clambering up low vegetation. The tail is held up and jerked as they walk. They probe with their bill in mud or shallow water, also picking up food by sight. They mainly eat insects, small fish, invertebrates and seeds.

White-breasted Waterhen in flight

Although ordinarily a silent bird its very noisy during breeding season during the rains, when it makes loud, repetitive croaking calls. At that time it is heard chiefly on overcast days and often through the night.

The nesting season is mainly June to October but varies locally. They nest in a dry location on the ground in marsh vegetation, laying 6-7 eggs. Courtship involves bowing, billing and nibbling. The eggs hatch in about 19 days. Both sexes incubate the eggs and take care of the chicks. Chicks often dive underwater to escape predation. Adults are said to build a roost or brood nest where young chicks and the adults roost.

Mother White-breasted Waterhen with Chicks

Waterhen Chick

Juvenile Waterhen

Birds' Favourite Trees

The below is an extract from Salim Ali 'The Book of Indian Birds', chapter 'Bird Watching'. I was fascinated by his advice and decided to make a positive identification of the birds' favoured trees with their fruit and flowers.



Bird Watching by Salim Ali
Favoured Trees


"Banyan and Peepul trees when in ripe fruit attract a multitude of birds of many species from far and wide and offer excellent opportunities to the bird watcher. A lively scene presents itself as party after party arrive, all eager to gorge themselves on the abundance spread around.

Banyan Tree

Banyan Tree Figs

There is a great deal of noise and chatter as the visitors hop from branch to branch in their quest. Bickering and bullying are incessant, but no serious encounters develop since every individual is much too preoccupied with the main business in hand. Such gatherings are ideal for studying the natural dispositions and ‘table manners’ of the various species.

Peepul Tree

Peepul Tree Figs

Some of the most charming and enjoyable venues for bird watching are certainly afforded by the Silk Cotton, Coral Flower, or Flame-of-the-Forest (Butea) trees in bloom. Their particular attractiveness lies in the fact that the trees, or the branches bearing the gorgeous flowers, are bare and leafless at this season, allowing a clear and unobstructed view of the visitors.

Silk Cotton Tree

Silk Cotton Tree Flower

Almost every small bird of the surrounding countryside flocks to the blossoms for the sake of the sugary nectar which they produce in such abundance. Riot and revelry prevails throughout the day, but especially in the mornings, and there is constant bullying, hustling and mock fighting amongst the roisterers.

Coral Flower Tree

Asian Pied Starling Feeding on Nectar
of Coral Tree Flower

A pair of good binoculars multiplies the pleasures of bird watching many-fold, and is indeed an indispensable item of the watcher’s equipment."

Flame of the Forest Tree (Butea)

Flame of the Forest Tree Flower

Glossy Ibis

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The Glossy Ibis (Plegadis Falcinellus) is a wading bird and is the most widespread of the Ibis family.

For feeding, the Ibis probes in the mud and silt with its bill looking for prey like the fiddler crab, freshwater shrimp, insects and small snakes.

Painting by John James Audubon

The Glossy Ibis nests as part of a colony in trees, and often shares with other water birds such as Herons. In flight, the Ibis flies gracefully in a straight line or V-formation with its neck outstretched.

This bird is migratory and a colony of 40-50 are currently resident at Samudram Erie where they have been since the end of last year

Colony of Ibises at Samudram Erie

Video of Ibis Feeding

This bird lays 3-4 eggs in a nest of twigs and sticks usually built in trees or bushes but rarely on the ground. It builds its nests in colonies that includes other Ibises as well as the nests of different species such as Egrets and Herons. Occasionally, the Glossy Ibis will use an abandoned nest. The Ibis is very territorial during nesting.

The Ibis has a bleating call during breeding season but at other times is usually silent. Eggs take about three weeks to hatch. The female and male incubate the egg, but the female does most of the work. Both parents feed the chicks. The chicks fledge in about a month. They leave the nest and start to forage for food with their parents when they are two months old.







This bird is about 20 inches tall with a wingspan of about three feet. It has a long, dark gray bill that is curved down. Breeding adults have reddish-brown bodies and shiny bottle-green wings. Non-breeders and juveniles have duller bodies. This species has a brownish bill, dark facial skin bordered above and below in blue-gray (non-breeding) to cobalt blue (breeding), and red-brown legs.

Juvenile Bird

Adult Bird

To view more photographs and videos go to this link here.

Indian Spot-billed Duck

This season a flock of several adults and a number of ducklings of Indian Spot-billed Ducks (Anas Poecilorhyncha) are resident at the Samudram Erie. The Indian Spot-Billed is one of three subspecies of the Spot-billed which is also called Grey Duck.

2 Ducks Wading in the Samudram

Samudram Take-off

The wings of the Spot-billed Duck are whitish with black flight feathers, a white-bordered green speculum and white wing coverts. Juveniles are browner and duller than adults.






The Spot-billed which is the size of a domestic duck, is grey with a paler head and neck and scaly-patterned plummage. Its black bill is tipped bright yellow. The sexes are similar except that the male has a red spot on the base of the bill, which is absent or inconspicuous in the female The birds legs are bright orange.





The drake’s call is a hoarse and wheezy but the duck makes a loud quacking sound.






This bird is found in lakes and marshes in open country. It is a surface feeder getting its food by tipping or up-ending in shallow water.When reaching down for food, the tail end of the bird sticks out above the water surface






The nesting season is generally from July to September, depending upon the rains. And the bird’s nest is a pad of grass and weeds among herbage on marshy margins of tanks.

The Indian Spot-billed Duck lays 6 to 12 grey-buff or greenish-white eggs.





For more photos and videos go to this link here.

Explore the Tree of Life

The Tree of Life Web Project is a collaborative effort of biologists and nature enthusiasts from around the world. On more than 10,000 World Wide Web pages, the project provides information about biodiversity, the characteristics of different groups of organisms, and their evolutionary history.

The Project’s goals are:

• To present information about every species and significant group of organisms on Earth, living and extinct, authored by experts in each group.

• To present a modern scientific view of the evolutionary tree that unites all organisms on Earth.

• To aid learning about and appreciation of biological diversity and the evolutionary Tree of Life.

• To share information with other databases and analytical tools, and to phylogenetically link information from other databases.

The Tree of Life

Eurasian Collared Dove

The Eurasian Collared Dove (Streptopelia Decaocto), a species of dove native to Asia and Europe, is commonly found around Tiruvannamalai. This bird is known as ‘Sambal Pura’ in Tamil Nadu. It is the size of a pigeon and in colouration a pale grey and brown with a narrow black half-collar on the back of its neck

A Collared Dove on Samudram

The Collared Dove is not wary and often feeds close to human habitation, including visiting gardens, bird tables and verandahs.

Can be Easily Persuaded to Come
to Humans

The song is a coo-COO-coo, repeated many times.







The sexes look alike and the bird is almost always seen in pairs and, like many birds, remains loyal to their mate.







It nests practically all year typically in a twig platform located in a bush or small tree and prefers to breed close to human habitation where food resources are abundant and there are trees for nesting; almost all nests are within a kilometre of inhabited buildings.







The female lays two white eggs, which she incubates during the night and which the male incubates during the day. Incubation lasts between fourteen and eighteen days, with the young fledging leaving after fifteen to nineteen days. Both sexes share domestic duties.

Breeding occurs throughout the year when abundant food is available. Three to four broods per year is common, and up to six broods in a year has been recorded.











Its a gregarious species and if there are large food supplies, it congregates in sizable winter flocks.

To look at more videos and photographs of the Eurasian Collared Dove go to this link here.

Lesser Golden Back Woodpecker

I started to want to know more about this interesting looking bird, after I had seen the Woodpecker at various agricultural farms around Tiruvannamalai.

The Lesser Golden-backed Woodpecker or Black-rumped Flameback is a Woodpecker commonly found in Tiruvannamalai District and although mainly frequenting agricultural areas, it can also be seen in wooded urban areas.

Such a Long Way to Climb

This bird is large around 26–29 cm in length. Its rump is black with white underparts and dark chevron markings. The adult male Black-rumped Flameback has a red crown and crest. Females have a black forecrown spotted with white, with red only on the rear crest. Young birds are like the female, but duller.

Woodpecker Preening

Its call is like a loud, harsh, chattering laugh uttered mostly when flying. As is common with woodpeckers, this species dips in flight.

My Friend's Tiruvannamalai Farm

Playtime with Friends

This bird has a straight pointed bill, a stiff tail to provide support against tree trunks and four-toed feet for traction on trees, with two toes pointing forward, and two backwards. It has a long tongue which it darts forward to catch insects.

Catching Insects: Notice the Four-Toes

This Woodpecker flies from tree to tree, finding food, starting from the bottom of the tree to the top. The bird works up on the stems of old trees, tapping them to find rotten and hollow wood and then drilling holes to ferret out insects hiding within. This bird also feeds on ripe fruits and sometimes flower nectar. The species is normally seen in pairs or small parties and sometimes joins mixed-species foraging flocks.

Checking out a Nest

Breeding season is between March and August. A nest is usually excavated in a tree with a horizontal entrance descending into a cavity. Sometimes the Woodpecker takes over the nests of other birds. The normal number of a clutch is three glossy china-white eggs which hatch after about 11 days with both parents sharing domestic duties. The chicks generally leave their nest after about 20 days.

Safe and Resting

For more photos and videos go to this link here.

Tourism Boost for Six Bird Zones

An article of May 12th in the Tamil Nadu State Press, announced that six bird sanctuaries are to be developed across Tamil Nadu to promote eco-tourism.

“The State Tourism Department has sanctioned 191 Lakh to the Forest Department to develop six bird sanctuaries across the State to promote tourism.

“Bird watching is one of the most sought-after tourism activity and there has been an increasing preference among urbanites to take it up as a hobby to counter stress.

The Department has identified six bird sanctuaries to be developed to promote tourism in a big way,” a senior official said.

Every year a large number of migratory birds flock to Tamil Nadu to breed. Flamingos, Little Cormorants, Grey Herons, Large Egrets, Open-billed Storks, Spoonbills and Painted Storks are some of the State’s winged visitors.

According to sources, the Tourism Director has recommended the bird sanctuaries at Vedanthangal, Karikil, Pulicat, Koonthankulam, Mela Selvanoor and Keela Selvanoor and Chitrangudi for development.

Accordingly, about 191.02 Lakh has been sanctioned to the Forest Department. The six sanctuaries have been selected after a proposal was submitted to the Tourism Department by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Chief Wildlife Warden, seeking funds to develop 19 bird sanctuaries at an outlay of 979.91 Lakh.

This is on the of the eco-friendly ways to promote tourism, the official said.


*************

Its excellent news that the State Government is promoting eco-tourism and that officials are beginning to understand that conservation can go hand in hand with financial development.

In this respect lets hope that the new State Government will look benignly upon Tiruvannamalai as an ideal location in which to develop a bird sanctuary on the Samudram Erie, instead of allowing the ongoing degradation of the Erie which is being currently treated by developers using the area as a personal sand quarry resource.

White Browed Wagtail

The White-browed Wagtail also known as the Large Pied Wagtail is the largest member of the Wagtail family at around 20 cm in length. It has black and white plummage, a prominent white eyebrow, shoulder stripes and outer tail feathers. In the female the black portions are duller and browner. This slender bird has the characteristic wagging tale of its genus.

Illustration by John Gould

Whilst swimming in the Samudram Erie I noticed a very nice White-browed Wagtail perched on some branches protruding from the water. Although the Wagtail noticed me it was completely unconcerned as I swam around its perch to get a better look.

Its not a surprise that the bird should be at the Samudram, as its commonly found at water bodies, village tanks and irrigation reservoirs. It has also successfully adapted to urban environments and can often be found perched on water tanks at homes and buildings taking advantage of overflows.










It has loud, whistling pleasant calls particularly evident by the male during breeding season.







Breeding season is generally March to September which may be extended depending on river and water levels.

The nest of the Wagtail is a cup-shaped pad of grass, hair, wool, rootlets etc under such projections as rocks, girders or rafters but always located close to water. Normally a clutch is comprised of 3-4 blotched and streaked eggs with both sexes sharing domestic duties.

Chicks in Nest

Photo by Lip Kee

The Wagtail which is insectivorous, is an active bird that flies rapidly for long distances and has been recorded at a speed of around 40 km/h.

Bird in Flight