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Newsletter
Himalayan Bird Count
Calling birders from the Himalaya to join in Himalayan Bird Count -11 May 2024!
Endemic Bird Day
Join the 10th edition of Endemic Bird Day on 11 May 2024 to celebrate and document 235 endemics/ near-endemics of South Asia.
Demoiselle Crane
Demoiselle Crane (Anthropoides virgo) breeds eastwards from Central Asia to Mongolia and winters almost entirely in western India.
Great Backyard Bird Count 2024—Final Results
5,334 birders uploaded 58,276 checklists and recorded 1,036 species in GBBC 2024
Dark egrets can be white…
By Ramit Singal The previous article focussed on the 4 regularly occurring white egrets from India. In this follow-up post, the attention will shift to egrets that happen to be dimorphic, i.e., they have a dark morph as well as a white morph. The Reef-Egrets are...
Bird Atlases
A bird atlas is a citizen science project intended to map the distribution and abundance of a region’s birds. In an atlas project, the region of interest is typically divided into cells that are often subdivided into smaller cells, a design that can ensure uniform sampling in space by volunteer birdwatchers.
ID Articles
A series of articles to help with the identification of difficult birds.
फ्लाईकैचर की पहचान करना: रेड-ब्रेस्टेड, टैगा और कश्मीर फ्लाईकैचर
रेड-ब्रेस्टेड, टैगा और कश्मीर फ्लाईकैचर तीनो एक जैसे दिखने वाले फ्लाईकैचर हैं। लेकिन इन तीन प्रजातियों के बीच अंतर करना मुश्किल हो सकता है! हालाँकि नर की पहचान करना काफी आसान है परन्तु मादा और पहले शीतकालीन पक्षियों को अलग-अलग बता पाना बेहद मुश्किल है। हालांकि यह आलेख उन प्रमुख विशेषताओं का वर्णन करता है जिससे पहचान करने में मदद मिलती हैं, याद रखें कि पृथक्करण के लिए इनमें से कई विशेषताएँ अपर्याप्त हैं। इन तीन बहुत समान दिखने वाली फ्लाईकैचर को अलग करने के लिए आपको अक्सर कई विशेषताओं के संयोजन पर विचार करने की आवश्यकता होगी।
Identifying Flycatchers: Red-breasted, Taiga and Kashmir Flycatcher
By Tarun Menon and Ashwin Viswanathan This article is available in Hindi, Kannada, and Marathi Red-breasted, Taiga and Kashmir Flycatcher are three very similar looking flycatchers belonging to the Ficedula genus. Initially, all three were considered to be...
Cormorants Clarified
By Ramit Singal Ever seen a V-shaped flock of black birds flying purposefully in the sky near a water body? Or a black bird sitting still with its wings spread out in a small village pond? Or a bird's head sticking out of the water at a lake or pond? Did you notice...
Leafbirds – Golden-fronted, Jerdon’s and others
By Ramit Singal There are four species of leafbirds (also known as chloropsis) found in India and they never fail to enthral a birder. Each of them is largely green, slender in build, with a medium-length tail and the habit of dwelling in the top or mid-canopy....
Identifying Waders: Part 2
This article focusses on the two species of a group of very small shorebirds known as Stints (Calidris sp) - the Little Stint and the Temminck's Stint.
Identifying Waders: Part 1
In the first part of the series related to identifying waders, we try and tackle an often misidentified group consisting of the Tringa sandpipers.
The Jungle Babbler and its Six Sisters
The guide to identifying the 7 species of turdoides babblers found in India
Dark egrets can be white…
By Ramit Singal The previous article focussed on the 4 regularly occurring white egrets from India. In this follow-up post, the attention will shift to egrets that happen to be dimorphic, i.e., they have a dark morph as well as a white morph. The Reef-Egrets are...
Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker and Stripe-breasted Woodpecker: How can they be told apart?
By Pritam Baruah and Ashwin Viswanathan Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker (FBWO) and Stripe-breasted Woodpecker (SBWO) and are variable woodpeckers that form a species pair in the genus Dendrocopos. Both species can be distinguished from other similar co-occuring...
Identifying Swallows: Red-rumped, Barn, Streak-throated and Wire-tailed Swallow
By Kaushik Sarkar and Ashwin Viswanathan Presented here is an easy guide to help identify the four most common Swallow species in India. You can also download just the photographic guide to this article: PDF format (345 KB). In India, there are 15 species of...
Identifying Waders: Part 1
In the first part of the series related to identifying waders, we try and tackle an often misidentified group consisting of the Tringa sandpipers.
Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker and Stripe-breasted Woodpecker: How can they be told apart?
By Pritam Baruah and Ashwin Viswanathan Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker (FBWO) and Stripe-breasted Woodpecker (SBWO) and are variable woodpeckers that form a species pair in the genus Dendrocopos. Both species can be distinguished from other similar co-occuring...
The Jungle Babbler and its Six Sisters
The guide to identifying the 7 species of turdoides babblers found in India
फ्लाईकैचर की पहचान करना: रेड-ब्रेस्टेड, टैगा और कश्मीर फ्लाईकैचर
रेड-ब्रेस्टेड, टैगा और कश्मीर फ्लाईकैचर तीनो एक जैसे दिखने वाले फ्लाईकैचर हैं। लेकिन इन तीन प्रजातियों के बीच अंतर करना मुश्किल हो सकता है! हालाँकि नर की पहचान करना काफी आसान है परन्तु मादा और पहले शीतकालीन पक्षियों को अलग-अलग बता पाना बेहद मुश्किल है। हालांकि यह आलेख उन प्रमुख विशेषताओं का वर्णन करता है जिससे पहचान करने में मदद मिलती हैं, याद रखें कि पृथक्करण के लिए इनमें से कई विशेषताएँ अपर्याप्त हैं। इन तीन बहुत समान दिखने वाली फ्लाईकैचर को अलग करने के लिए आपको अक्सर कई विशेषताओं के संयोजन पर विचार करने की आवश्यकता होगी।
Leafbirds – Golden-fronted, Jerdon’s and others
By Ramit Singal There are four species of leafbirds (also known as chloropsis) found in India and they never fail to enthral a birder. Each of them is largely green, slender in build, with a medium-length tail and the habit of dwelling in the top or mid-canopy....
Field Identification of Green and Greenish Warblers
By Ramit Singal Green and Greenish Warblers have always been notoriously difficult to tell apart. Till recently, Green Warbler (P. nitidus) was considered to be a subspecies of the Greenish Warbler (P. trochiloides). Considering the difficulties involved in...
Some tips on vocal identification of Jungle and Rock Bush-Quails in Peninsular India
By Anand Krishnan and Sarthak Malusare Introduction Two Perdicula bush-quails—Jungle Bush-Quail (Perdicula asiatica) and Rock Bush-Quail (Perdicula argoondah), are widespread in Peninsular India in scrub-jungle and grassland habitats. Like many quails, they are...
Frequency Matters: Acoustic Identification of Barbets
By Anand Krishnan Barbets are some of the most ubiquitous of India’s fruit-eating birds, even occupying most major cities where fruiting trees remain. These sluggish, largely green birds are often heard before they are seen, their loud, repetitive calls betraying...
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