By Tarun Menon and Ashwin Viswanathan  Red-breasted, Taiga and Kashmir Flycatcher are three very similar looking flycatchers belonging to the Ficedula genus. Initially, all three were considered to be sub-species of Red-breasted Flycatcher and molecular data indicates that they form a sister group, i.e. they share a common recent ancestor. These three species can be distinguished from other superficially similar… read more »

Identifying Flycatchers: Red-breasted, Taiga and Kashmir Flycatcher

Species Information
August is an interesting time of the year for birds and birdwatchers. Migrants are on the move and are so are the birders! This year a long-distance trip to watch specific migrant species may not be possible, but it still gives us immense joy and excitement to spot the ‘first’ of the migrants in our nearby birding sites. Some of… read more »

August 2020 eBirding Challenge

Challenges
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With the monsoon reaching many parts of India in June, many birds are breeding — either building nests and incubating eggs, or busy feeding young and taking care of fledgelings. To mark this, the India eBirding challenge for June included looking for and reporting breeding activity. Here is the breakup of eBirding in the country in June 2020 (with previous… read more »

June 2020 eBirders of the Month

Challenges
With several states extending travel restrictions, and the monsoons ramping up as well, it will be difficult for birders to travel in July. However, for many of our breeding birds, July is an important time of the year as young birds and fledglings have begun to move about on their own, trying to be independent and making their own decisions. From… read more »

July 2020 eBirding Challenge

Challenges
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Please tell us a bit about yourself. What do you do and where do you live?  My name is Renju. I live in Alappuzha, Kerala, in a place called Ezhupunna and work in a private hospital in Kochi. When and how did you get interested in birding?  Since my childhood, I was interested in nature and wildlife. I seriously started bird… read more »

Birder Profile: Renju TR

Bird Count India
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The Lockdown Birding Challenge ran from 27 March to 16 May 2020. The idea was to try and turn a difficult time into a positive contribution towards understanding India’s birds. The basic idea was to watch birds every day, twice a day (morning and evening) in a standardised manner so that the information generated could be compared over time and… read more »

Lockdown Birding Challenge Results

Challenges
The usual onset of southwest monsoon starts in June bringing some respite from the heat. Be it finding a suitable nest site or incubating eggs, or carrying food to young chicks – the breeding of our resident birds continues in June. A flurry of movement- one minute it’s here and the next gone… keep an eye out for the many… read more »

June 2020 eBirding Challenge

Challenges
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The all-India lockdown began towards the end of March, but people had already begun restricting their movements some days before. Despite this, there was a lot of birding in March. It isn’t straightforward to compare birding with the previous months, though, because February has higher-than-average birding due to the Great Backyard Bird Count. Here is the breakup of eBirding in… read more »

March 2020 eBirders of the Month

Challenges
A Black Drongo swings to and fro mobbing a perched kite, a noisy Ashy Prinia visits a certain undergrowth repeatedly, a Purple Sunbird in his brilliant metallic blue plumage sings loudly from its favorite wire perch while turning its head side to side. All these, indicate that our birds have started breeding! From defending their nests by mobbing larger birds… read more »

May 2020 eBirding Challenge

Bird Count India
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Please tell us a bit about yourself. What do you do and where do you live? My name is Ezra Rynjah. I am currently a Research Affiliate with an NGO called Conservation Initiatives, wherein we work in different parts of Northeast India, collaborating with communities to implement evidence-based conservation. I am currently based in Shillong, where I also pursue projects in… read more »

Birder Profile: Ezra Rynjah

Bird Count India