Blue Rock Pigeon

Blue Rock Pigeon

Scientific Name: Columba livia

Local Name: Kabutar (Hindi), Gola pyara (Bengali), Mada pura (Tamil)

What does it look like?

Description: 

A familiar slaty grey bird with glistening metallic green, purple, magenta sheen on neck and upper breast. Two dark bars on wings and a band across end of tail.

Where does it live?

Distribution: 

Throughout India to about 4000 m in the Himalayas, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar.

Habitat: 

Pigeons are familiar birds of cities and towns. You'll also see them around farmland and fields, as well as in their archetypal habitat, rocky cliffs.

What does it do?

Feeding:

Although it is mainly a seed-eater, the Rock Pigeon will sample most scraps. In city streets and parks, birds are seen pecking at the ground in a never-ending search for food.

Breeding:

Nesting sites are situated along coastal cliff faces, as well as the artificial cliff faces created by apartment buildings with accessible ledges or roof spaces. Rock Doves nest in large colonies which quickly deface buildings with their droppings.

Common Myna

Common Myna

Scientific Name: Acridotheres tristis

Local Name: Desi myna (Hindi); Gulgul (Madhya Pradesh)

What does it look like?

Description: 

The Common Myna is brown with a black head. It has a yellow bill, legs and bare eye skin. In flight it shows large white wing patches. The Common Myna is a member of the starling family.

Where does it live?

Distribution: 

The Common Myna is found in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,  Myanmar.

Habitat: 

The Common Myna is closely associated with human habitation. In the evening, large groups of Common Mynas gather in communal roosts, mainly in the non-breeding season, in roof voids, bridges, and large trees, and numbers can reach up to several thousands.

What does it do?

Feeding: 

Common Mynas are accomplished scavengers, feeding on almost anything, including insects, fruits and vegetables, scraps, pets' food and even fledgling sparrows.

Breeding: 

Common Mynas mate for life. During the breeding season there is usually considerable competition for nesting sites. Favoured locations are in the walls and ceilings of buildings, making these birds a nuisance to humans. Nests are also placed in tree hollows, which are used by native birds. Nests are quite messy and consist of a variety of materials. Leaves, grasses, feathers and assorted items of rubbish are common materials.

Violent battles often erupt between occupants of nesting sites and the couple that wish to evict them. Each partner grapples with its opposite number and contestants drop to the ground secured in each other's claws. Bills are jabbed ruthlessly at the opponent. Finally, the defeated couple leaves to search for another site.

Black Kite

Black Kite

Scientific Name: Milvus migrans

Local Name: Cheel (Hindi and Bengali), Paria parandu (Tamil), Sirium (Sindh)

 What does it look like?

Description: 

The Black Kite is a medium-sized raptor (bird of prey). From a distance, it appears almost black, with a light brown bar on the shoulder. The plumage is actually dark brown, with scattered light brown and rufous markings, particularly on the head, neck and underparts. The tail is forked and barred with darker brown. This feature gives the bird its alternative name of Fork-tailed Kite. The eye is dark brown and the bill is black with a yellow cere (area of skin around the nostrils). Both sexes are similar. Young Black Kites are generally lighter in colour than the adults, and have a comparatively shallower forked tail.

Where does it live?

Distribution: 

The Black Kite's range covers India to about 2500 m in the Himalayas, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka,  Myanmar. The Black Kite is arguably the most numerous species of raptor in the world.

Habitat: 

The Black Kite is a confirmed commensal of man and usually found in the neighbourhood of human in-habitation, whether populated city or outlying hamlet.

What does it do?

Feeding: 

The Black Kite preys on lizards, earthworms, mice, disabled or young bird, and offal and garbage.

Breeding: 

Black Kites nest in isolated pairs or in small, scattered colonies. As with other raptors, a ritualized aerial courtship display is performed by both sexes. This involves loud calling, grappling of feet (talons), and tumbling or cartwheeling. The nest is a bulky cup of sticks, lined with softer material, and is placed in the fork of a tree branch (generally close to the trunk). The female incubates the eggs while the male provides food.

Black-Winged Stilt

Black-Winged Stilt

Scientific Name: Himantopus himantopus

Local Name: Gaz pao, Tinghur (Hindi); Sargain or Sargyn (Bihar); Lal gon, lal thengi (Bengal)

What does it look like?

Description: 

The Black-winged Stilt is a large black and white wader with long orange-red legs and a straight black bill. It has black on the back of the neck, a white collar and a red iris. Both sexes are similar, and the plumage does not change during the year. Black-winged Stilts give a repeated high-pitched barking call. Young Black-winged Stilts lack black on the back of the neck and have grey-brown wings and back, speckled with white. They have a smudged grey crown, which extends down the back of the neck as the birds get older.

Where does it live?

Distribution: 

The Black-winged Stilt has a wide range, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka,  Myanmar. Resident and locally migratory, also winter visitor.

Habitat: 

The Black-winged Stilt is a social species, and is usually found in small groups. Black-winged Stilts prefer freshwater and saltwater marshes, mudflats, and the shallow edges of jheels, lakes and rivers.

What does it do?

Feeding: 

Black-winged Stilts feed mainly on aquatic insects, but will also take worms, molluscs and crustaceans. They rarely swim for food (unlike the Banded Stilt), preferring instead to wade in shallow water, and seize prey on or near the surface. Occasionally, birds plunge their heads below the surface to catch sub-aquatic prey.

Breeding: 

As with other activities, Black-winged Stilts nest in small colonies; within these, the mated pairs strongly defend their individual territories. The nest may be anything from a simple shallow scrape on the ground to a mound of vegetation placed in or near the water. Both sexes incubate the eggs and look after the young.