Sunday 22 March 2020
9-3-2020 THATTEKAD BIRD SANCTUARY, INDIA - GREAT HORNBILL (Buceros bicornis)
The great hornbill is native to the forests of India, Bhutan, Nepal, mainland Southeast Asia and Sumatra. Its distribution is fragmented in the Western Ghats and in the foothills of the Himalayas. Deforestation has reduced its range in many parts of India such as in the Kolli hills where it was recorded in the 1860s.
It prefers dense old growth unlogged forests in hilly regions. It appears to be dependent on large stretches of rain forests.
In Thailand, the home range of males was found to be about 3.7 km (2.3 mi) during the breeding season and about 14.7 km (9.1 mi) during the non-breeding season. Molecular approaches to the study of its population diversity have been attempted.
Great hornbills are usually seen in small parties, with larger groups sometimes aggregating at fruit trees. A congregation of 150 to 200 birds has been recorded in southeastern Bhutan. In the wild, the great hornbill's diet consists mainly of fruit. Figs are particularly important as a food source. Vitex altissima has been noted as another important food source. Great hornbills also forage on lipid-rich fruits of the families Lauraceae and Myristicaceae such as Persea, Alseodaphne and Myristica. They obtain water entirely from their diet of fruits. They are important dispersers of many forest tree species. They will also eat small mammals, birds, small reptiles and insects. Lion-tailed macaques have been seen to forage alongside these hornbills.
They forage along branches, moving along by hopping, looking for insects, nestling birds and small lizards, tearing up bark and examining them. Prey are caught, tossed in the air and swallowed. A rare squirrel, the Travancore flying squirrel (Petinomys fuscocapillus) has been eaten, and Indian scops owl (Otus bakkamoena), jungle owlet (Glaucidium radiatum) and Sri Lanka green pigeon (Treron pompadora) have been taken as prey in the Western Ghats.
9-3-2020 PERIYAR RIVER LODGE, INDIA - ORIENTAL MAGPIE ROBIN (Copsychus saularis)
This species is 19 centimetres (7.5 in) long, including the long tail, which is usually held cocked upright when hopping on the ground. When they are singing a song the tail is normal like other birds. It is similar in shape to the smaller European robin, but is longer-tailed. The male has black upperparts, head and throat apart from a white shoulder patch. The underparts and the sides of the long tail are white. Females are greyish black above and greyish white under. Young birds have scaly brown upperparts and head.
The nominate race is found on the Indian subcontinent and the females of this race are the palest. The females of the Andaman Islands race andamanensis are darker, heavier-billed and shorter-tailed. The Sri Lankan race ceylonensis (formerly included with the peninsular Indian populations south of the Kaveri River) and southern nominate individuals have the females nearly identical to the males in shade. The eastern populations, the ones in Bangladesh and Bhutan, have more black on the tail and were formerly named erimelas. The populations in Myanmar (Burma) and further south are named as the race musicus. A number of other races have been named across the range, including prosthopellus (Hong Kong), nesiotes, zacnecus, nesiarchus, masculus, pagiensis, javensis, problematicus, amoenus, adamsi, pluto, deuteronymus and mindanensis. However, many of these are not well-marked and the status of some of them is disputed. Some, like mindanensis, have now been usually recognized as full species (the Philippine magpie-robin). There is more geographic variation in the plumage of females than in that of the males.
It is mostly seen close to the ground, hopping along branches or foraging in leaf-litter on the ground with a cocked tail. Males sing loudly from the top of trees or other high perches during the breeding season.
Saturday 21 March 2020
8-3-2020 PERIYAR RIVER LODGE, INDIA - ORIENTAL MAGPIE ROBIN (Copsychus saularis)
This magpie-robin is a resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and eastern Pakistan, eastern Indonesia, Thailand, south China, Malaysia, and Singapore.
The Oriental magpie-robin is found in open woodland and cultivated areas often close to human habitations.
Magpie-robins breed mainly from March to July in India and January to June in south-east Asia. Males sing from high perches during courtship. The display of the male involves puffing up the feathers, raising the bill, fanning the tail and strutting. They nest in tree hollows or niches in walls or building, often adopting nest boxes. They line the cavity with grass. The female is involved in most of the nest building, which happens about a week before the eggs are laid. Four or five eggs are laid at intervals of 24 hours and these are oval and usually pale blue green with brownish speckles that match the color of hay. The eggs are incubated by the female alone for 8 to 14 days. The nests are said to have a characteristic odour.
Females spend more effort on feeding the young than males. Males are quite aggressive in the breeding season and will defend their territory. They respond to the singing of intruders and even their reflections. Males spend more time on nest defense. Studies of the bird song show dialects with neighbours varying in their songs. The calls of many other species may be imitated as part of their song. This may indicate that birds disperse and are not philopatric. Females may sing briefly in the presence of a male. Apart from their song, they use a range of calls including territorial calls, emergence and roosting calls, threat calls, submissive calls, begging calls and distress calls. The typical mobbing calls is a harsh hissing krshhh.
8-3-2020 PERIYAR RIVER LODGE, INDIA - ASIAN HOUSE GECKO (Hemidactylus frenatus)
The common house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus) is a gecko native to South and Southeast Asia as well as Near Oceania. It is also known as the Asian house gecko, Pacific house gecko, wall gecko, house lizard, tiktiki, chipkal] or moon lizard.
Most geckos are nocturnal, hiding during the day and foraging for insects at night. They can be seen climbing walls of houses and other buildings in search of insects attracted to porch lights, and are immediately recognisable by their characteristic chirping.
They grow to a length of between 7.5–15 cm (3–6 in), and live for about 7 years. These small geckos are non-venomous and not harmful to humans. Most medium-sized to large geckos are docile, but may bite if distressed, which can pierce skin. The common house gecko is tropical, and thrives in warm, humid areas where it can crawl around on rotting wood in search of the insects it eats, as well as within urban landscapes in warm climates. The animal is very adaptable and may prey on insects and spiders, displacing other gecko species which are less robust or behaviourally aggressive. In parts of Australia and Papua New Guinea they are often confused with a similar native lizard, the dubious dtella.
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