Supporting listing and monitoring of birds across India

Species Information

Species identification, behaviour and analysis

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

8 August 2020 Species Information Mittal Gala

-Anand Krishnan Every new birdwatcher starts off identifying birds using illustrations of plumage in a field guide. Building field skills, we all eventually use a suite of traits to ID birds, of which plumage is just one. Behavioural traits, habitat and other features are also often helpful, as is vocalization. For birds that are difficult to see clearly and where… read more »

Keeping an ear out for prinias: A beginner’s guide to ...

25 July 2020 Species Information Mittal Gala

By Tarun Menon I have been visiting my grandparent’s home in Palakkad for the last 23 years. Until 2015, neither me nor my family had seen a peafowl except for one fleeting glance. But in the last five visits I have made since 2016, I have had to wake up to no less than five wailing peacocks at five in… read more »

Who let the birds out? | The expanding range of ...

19 December 2019 Patterns and Analysis / Species Information Bird Count India

On the annual Vulture Awareness Day, we take a look at our vultures' current distributions post the declines in the past 3 decades.

Distribution of Indian vultures

7 September 2019 Patterns and Analysis / Species Information Bird Count India

Blyth's and Richard's Pipits winter across the region and are easily confused with Paddyfield Pipits. Here's how to ID them.

Identifying Pipits: Blyth’s and Richard’s Pipits

18 September 2018 Species Information Bird Count India

The Paddyfield Pipit is resident across most parts of the country and this is an excellent time of the year to familiarise oneself with the most common pipit of the region.

Identifying Paddyfield Pipits

15 August 2018 Species Information Bird Count India

The diverse birdlife and habitats of North-India are tied together in intricate ways. This is a guest article by Pritam Baruah.

Bird Habitats of North East India

7 April 2018 Bird Count India / Species Information Bird Count India

A few species of birds evolved over time into life forms so different from their nearest relatives that evolutionary biologists place them alone in their own families. Here are the 7 monospecific families that are found in India. (Guest post by Pritam Baruah)

The Monospecific Bird Families of India

15 December 2017 Species Information Bird Count India

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 2

24 October 2017 Species Information Bird Count India

In the first part of the series related to identifying waders, we try and tackle an often misidentified group consisting of the Tringa sandpipers.

Identifying Waders: Part 1

22 September 2017 Species Information Bird Count India

The Pied Cuckoo is well known to birdwatchers and in folklore as the bird that heralds the beginning of the monsoon. Legend has it that the ‘chaatak’ arrives just in advance of the rains. When the first Pied Cuckoo of the season is spotted, the rains can’t be far behind. The story is a little more complicated. This species is… read more »

The Rain Bird and the Monsoon

18 September 2017 Patterns and Analysis / Species Information Bird Count India

The guide to identifying the 7 species of turdoides babblers found in India

The Jungle Babbler and its Six Sisters

26 May 2017 Species Information Bird Count India

The following article has been written by Chinmay Rahane. The classification of birds into different species, known as avian taxonomy, is a fluid subject. Bird species are being split quite frequently these days, often due to advances in molecular methods. These methods are similar to DNA testing in human beings, by which one can make inferences about the ancestry of… read more »

Any black on the wings, Mr. Jungle Babbler?

27 April 2017 Species Information Bird Count India

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 chiefly coastal, associated with beaches, estuaries, islands, etc. In India, the Pacific Reef-Egret is restricted to… read more »

Dark egrets can be white…

2 January 2017 Species Information Bird Count India

By Ramit Singal Egrets are beautiful and elegant birds to watch. You’ll often see them standing still over water and, in a flash, using their long, pointed bills to stab a fish or pick out an insect. No matter where you are in India, it is common to see one or many white birds looking for prey in wet fields and… read more »

What’s that White Egret sp?

8 December 2016 Species Information Bird Count India

Each year, the Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus undertakes a marathon journey from its breeding grounds in the trans-Himalayan region and further north in China and passes through the subcontinent enroute its wintering range in Africa. This route has been further elucidated by the Beijing Cuckoo Project, which has been tracking cuckoos satellite-tagged around Beijing earlier this year. This species, usually recorded… read more »

“Common” Cuckoo

30 November 2016 Patterns and Analysis / Species Information Bird Count India

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 any large colonies of black birds nesting on tall… read more »

Cormorants Clarified

14 October 2016 Species Information Bird Count India

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. They feed on fruits, insects and even nectar. The Orange-bellied Leafbird Chloropsis hardwickii… read more »

Leafbirds – Golden-fronted, Jerdon’s and others

26 August 2016 Species Information Bird Count India