My Science School

               The large-billed crow has a glossy black plumage and a steep forehead. It is a large bird with a large curved bill. It usually lives in rural areas, in the vicinity of human settlements. This is to make use of the dirty conditions created by humans, since this bird can find calories from almost anything, including dead bodies. This bold and adventurous bird is highly sociable and is fond of a large company. They are found to roost communally in thousands of numbers, often including other species of birds. Roosting in large groups is a night-time habit while, they build and look after nests in pairs during daytime.

               The large-billed crow has the ability to adapt to any living condition. This helps them colonize new places, often making them a nuisance in places like islands. They are very common in India and most parts of Asia. Johann Georg Wagler was the first person to describe these birds in 1827, based on a specimen he got from Java. 

            The Indian house crow is perhaps the most familiar and least-loved bird in our country. Not just here, they are seen in many parts of the world where they arrived with the assistance of shipping.

            This bird has a glossy black feather cover on its forehead, throat, upper breast and top of the head. The neck and breast has a lighter grey-brown shade. They prefer living in the vicinity of human habitation, like urban centres and cultivation. These are very bold and curious birds, leading a very social life. They roost in large numbers. They feed on almost anything, including garbage and decaying animal bodies. They are habitual robbers, often uninvited guests in people’s shops and other birds’ nests. They build nests with sticks on treetops or on artificial supports like telephone towers. Three to five eggs can be seen in a nest.

          Plum-headed parakeets are notable for the distinct contrast between their body and head. These are slim birds, with a green plumage over the body. The male birds have a purple-red coloured head and a blue collar, while the females have a dark lavender head and yellow collar. They can fly very fast, often making their peculiar calls.

          These birds are found in wooden areas like plantations, city parks and gardens. However, they avoid dry regions. They also raid crops for food, but the ‘raid team’ will not be very large in number. They nest on trees, often in holes carved out by the pairs, in tree trunks. The female lays four to six eggs and she will in sole charge of their incubation and nurturing. These birds roost communally.

          Plum-headed parakeets are very common in India and Pakistan. They are favourite pet birds for many, due to their ability to mimic beeps and whistles and to talk. 

            The Alexandrine parakeets were once considered special birds. Alexander the Great is known to have exported these birds from Punjab to various European and Mediterranean regions and this earned these birds their name. Important people like princes, noblemen and warlords considered these birds to be a luxurious possession.

            The Alexandrine parakeet is a large bird with a big bill. It is grass-green in colour. The male birds of the species have a maroon patch on the shoulders and a black-and-pink collar which distinguishes them from females. These birds are commonly seen in wooded areas and plantations, like city parks and gardens. They raid farms and orchards in large numbers, for fruits, vegetables and cereals, which constitute their favourite diet. These are shy birds and their young ones are frequently sold as pets in the bird markets.

            These birds are commonly seen throughout India, except in the extreme south. Apart from India, Afghanistan and Southeast Asian countries also host a good number of these birds.

          The rose-ringed parakeet which is also called the ring-necked parakeet is the most well known kind of parrots. It is a very intelligent bird. The male bird has some black stripes around the chin and a pinkish band around the collar. The female and young ones below three years, lack these features.

          These birds are highly adapted to living in rural, as well as urban areas. They are seen wherever there are trees and can be seen abundantly in city parks and gardens. They are herbivore in nature, preferring fruits, vegetables, grains etc. for food. These birds can be quite a nuisance sometimes. Thousands of these birds can gather around grain repositories or city places, causing damage to crops seriously.

          Both males and females have the ability to mimic human speech. First, the bird listens to its surroundings and then it copies the voice of the human speaker. 

             The white-spotted fantail flycatcher is a small bird. It is mostly smoke-brown in colour, with noticeably white eyebrows and a white abdomen.

            It gets its name from its showy tail, which is often spread out like a fan, with widened wings on both sides.

            These birds inhabit less dense forests as well as in noisy busy towns. They are very charming and vibrant, with a slight indifference towards humans. The nests can be seen in trees like mangoes and chickoos. It will be typically cup-like.

            A female lays up to three eggs, which are pinkish cream in colour. Like other flycatchers, these birds feed on mosquitoes, flies and other insects.

            Until recently, the white-spotted fantail was considered a subspecies of white-throated fantail. 

       

 

       The Nilgiri flycatcher is unique in the sense that it is native and restricted to the shola forests of the Western Ghats and the Nilgiris. It is a medium-sized bird, with a dark blue plumage. The male bird will be slightly greenish in colour. This bird is around 15 cm in length and has a long tail with white spots on it. They produce a peculiar chipping note call, at the same time flick their tail up and down. 

 

 

               These birds are found in ever-green forests, the edges of forests near flowing water bodies or well-grown plantations. They hunt in pairs for insects, from the upper leaf covers of trees, by attacking them in the air.

               They build nests in tree holes or under bridges. The nests are cup-shaped and covered by mosses and lichens. A female lays two to three eggs.

               The number of these birds is coming down on a global scale. Therefore, the IUCN has placed them in the ‘Near Threatened’ category of the Red list. 

 

          The Tickell’s blue flycatcher is named after Samuel Tickell a British ornithologist who worked among these birds in India and Burma. These are very common in many regions of India, like Gujarat and Uttarakhand.

          This bird is a small one, around 12 cm in length and covered with blue and orange plumage. They hunt flying insects for food. They may also go for various crawling insects if in need. These birds are very active and are used to humans. They are seen hunting even after dusk. Their hunting style may adapt to single hunting, pair hunting or even group hunting in mixed species. They build their nests in tree holes or in rocky voids lined with fine grass and fibres. Their preferred breeding locations are open forests, groves and gardens in the vicinity of water. Three to five eggs can be seen in a nest.

          These birds are seen in good numbers in many states of India. These are considered to be of ‘Least Concern’ by the IUCN.

 

          The grey-headed canary fly-catcher is a very small bird, typically around 15 cm long. This bird has a grey, green and yellow plumage. The head is completely grey and squarish in shape, while the bill is very flat.

          These birds are mainly seen in open forests, plantations, groves and gardens. They prefer broad-leaved forests and similar wooded areas to breed. The females are in charge of building nests. It is generally cup shaped and bound by spider webs that are covered by or attached to moss. There may be three to four eggs in a nest at a time. These are very smart and curious birds. Their primary diet consists of insects which they catch by attacking in groups like soldiers. Sometimes, they may also hunt in pairs, but they do not mix with other kind of birds for hunting. They can be found perching on open tree branches.

          The grey-headed canary flycatchers are very common in the Western Ghats, Nilgiri Hills, Central India and the Eastern Ghats. Outside India, they are also found in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and south China. They are very widely distributed around the globe, with several recognized subspecies. 

            The rufous woodpecker is a medium-sized bird mostly  found in the northern foothills of India. It has a short tuft of feathers on its head and a black-coloured short bill. The upper part of its body is covered with black bars. The male birds of the species can be identified by the small red patch at its eyes. These birds produce a high-pitched ke-ke kre-ke call which is very loud. They also have a peculiar way of drumming wood tree trunks with an irregular rhythm.

            These birds prefer living in large leaf forests. Rufous Woodpecker builds its nest inside the nest of acrobat ants. They don’t even mind being bitten by ants while poking their head into the active ant nests for food. They also eat fig fruits.

            Outside India, these birds are very commonly seen in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, south China and other regions of Asia. These are not a threatened bird species. 

          The heart-spotted woodpecker is often detected by its noisy habit of making frequent bird calls. It can be identified by the unusually short and thick body with a large wedge-shaped head. The under parts are pale grey in colour, while there is a noticeably white throat. There is a crown in front of its head, which is white for females and black for males.

          These birds are fond of bamboos and plantation shade trees. They make holes in tree branches and make nests in it. The nests can also be seen in fence posts. A female lays typically two to three eggs which are plain white in colour. They are seen creeping along tree branches and can perch from branch to branch. They search for insects in tree barks. Sometimes they show a habit of pecking certain seeds to eat the insect larvae found in them.

          In India, these birds are mainly seen in the Himalayan forests and the Western Ghats. They are also very common in other parts of Asia.

 

               The Indian spotted creeper is a tree creeper which is actually very difficult to spot! These are very small birds fond of eating insects and spiders from the barks of trees. For this, they choose trees which have dark and fissured barks in woodlands and groves, such as mangoes and babul. They always nest close to tree trunks. They possess specialized curved bills to pick out prey from inside the fissures in barks. Their feather cover is marbled with black and white, which is what makes them difficult to spot in tree barks.

               Unlike other kinds of tree-creeper birds, these birds do not use their tail as support while climbing. Their tail is not that stiff either. These vibrant birds climb up trees very fast and often flutter down to change position.

              These birds are regularly seen in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Outside India, Africa hosts a lot of these little birds. 

            The chestnut-bellied nuthatch is a small, beautifully   coloured bird with a grey plumage all over and a chestnut coloured belly, as its name suggests. This noisy bird has a short tail and is short and stout in appearance. Found in thick forests and groves, they may set out in search of food as singly, in pairs or in mixed hunting groups. They build nests in tree holes, the openings of which they customize to a suitable size, using mud plastering. Their diet is a mixed one, containing insects, seeds and nuts which can be found in trees. They are skilled in opening hard nuts and seeds. These small birds can cling efficiently to tree barks and can move up or down as they wish, by hopping step by step.

            The chestnut-bellied nuthatches are very common in India, mainly in the northern foothills, eastern peninsular hills and Western Ghats. Outside India, they are seen in Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal in plenty of numbers. 

          A nuthatch is what we call a small songbird with a stiffened tail and a special ability to climb up and down tree trunks. As their name suggests, the velvet-fronted nuthatch is a special kind of nuthatch with a big head and a short tail. It is a very small bird, typically around 13 cm in length. They have a powerful red bill and strong feet. There is a notable black patch on their forehead. Depending on the shade of their under parts and the extent of white on throat, these birds are considered to be of four different varieties.

          These birds prefer living in the tree holes of evergreen forests, but can also be found in almost all kinds of woods. They often hunt in groups, mostly for insects in the heights of tall trees. Fallen wood and moss-covered trunks and branches are spots they are also interested in exploring. This tiny bird is very active and is seen moving from tree to tree within short spans of time.

          In India, these nuthatches are commonly seen in the foot-hills of Northeastern states. The Western Ghats also host a good number of them. Outside India, they are found in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and China.