BIRDWALKERMONDAY

Sunday, 8 March 2020

5-3-2020 KANHA NAT PARK, INDIA - INDIAN JACKAL (Canis aureus ssp. indicus)

Friday, 6 March 2020

7-3-2020 THATTEKAD, INDIA - MALABAR WHISTLING THRUSH (Myophonus horsfieldii)

The Malabar whistling thrush (Myophonus horsfieldii) is a whistling thrush in the family Muscicapidae. The bird has been called whistling schoolboy for the whistling calls that they make at dawn that have a very human quality. The species is a resident in the Western Ghats and associated hills of peninsular India including central India and parts of the Eastern Ghats.

Malabar whistling thrushes are usually found in dark undergrowth in dense riverine forest. They typically forage in the margins, beds and adjacent ground of rocky hill streams and rivers in forest, secondary growth and plantations from foothills up to 2200 m above sea level but reach the plains in the rainy season. The species is found all along the Western Ghats south of the Surat Dangs. They are also found along the Satpura range to Chhattisgarh, northwestern Orissa (Surguja and Simlipal National Park), and locally in the Eastern Ghats. Populations are not migratory but are known to disperse widely in winter. An individual that was ringed in Mahabaleshwar in the summer of 1972 was recovered in the winter of 1976 in Sampaje, Coorg. Although historically recorded twice from Mount Abu, more recent surveys have not recorded the bird or suitable habitat in that location.

7-3-2020 THATTEKAD, INDIA - BROWN SHRIKE (Lanius cristatus)

The brown shrike (Lanius cristatus) is a bird in the shrike family that is found mainly in Asia. It is closely related to the red-backed shrike (L. collurio) and isabelline shrike (L. isabellinus). The genus name, Lanius, is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also known as "butcher birds" because of their feeding habits. The specific cristatus is Latin for "crested", used in a broader sense than in English. The common English name "shrike" is from Old English scríc, "shriek", referring to the shrill call.

Like most other shrikes, it has a distinctive black "bandit-mask" through the eye and is found mainly in open scrub habitats, where it perches on the tops of thorny bushes in search of prey. Several populations of this widespread species form distinctive subspecies which breed in temperate Asia and migrate to their winter quarters in tropical Asia. They are sometimes found as vagrants in Europe and North America.

Thursday, 5 March 2020

6-3-2020 RAIPUR , INDIA - ROSE COLOURED STARLING (Pastor roseus)

The rosy starling (Pastor roseus) is a passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae, also known as the rose-coloured starling or rose-coloured pastor. The species was recently placed in its own monotypic genus, Pastor, and split from Sturnus. This split is supported by recent studies, though other related species within its new genus are not yet known for certain.

The genus name Pastor, and the old English name come from the Latin pastor, "shepherd", and by extension a pastor. The specific roseus is Latin for "rose-coloured".

Formerly, some authorities also considered the maroon oriole to be a species within the genus Pastor.