Purple Swamphen

Purple Swamphen is known to be fairly common in the wetlands and marshes surrounding our city, although I have not had an opportunity of sighting one. This photograph was taken by my colleague Jaideep Jadhav, on his recent trip to Alleppy, Kerala. It was snapped from a river boat, while cruising in the backwaters.

As can be seen, it has bluish-purple feathers, red beak with a bare red extension covering the forehead and white underparts, visible when it flicks its tail upwards; it has long red legs convenient for movement through the reeds and undergrowth.

Name	Purple Swamphen
Alternate names	Purple Moorhen
Size	Small hen
Occurrence	Present in wetlands and marshes amidst reeds, foraging for food. Often seen in groups of four or more
Status	Fairly common
Distinct features	Bluish-purple body, a distinct red beak with a red extension on forehead
Male/female	Alike; female has a duller forehead extension

Painted Stork

I came across a few photographs from the Mysore trip while arranging my picture albums (see post Mysore Bird Sanctuary).

The sanctuary, as mentioned earlier, is well maintained and should not be missed by bird lovers visiting Mysore.

In these photographs, one can see:

Painted Stork with Black headed Ibis (picture 1)

Painted Stork in the company of Cattle Egret (in breeding plumage) and Pelican (picture 2)

Little Egret (pictures 3 & 4)

Great Egret (pictures 5 & 6)

Magpie Robin

This is one of the birds which I am sure most of us have seen; if  you have not seen it, you must have at least heard its pleasant lilting call, chwee, chweee….in the early mornings.

The male has a jet black upper body, with a white strip running along the side of its wings, white lower parts and black tail, often jerked in upright position. Female can be identified by its grayish-black color.

It feeds mainly on insects in the trees and on the ground.

All photographs were taken in the vicinity of my residence.

Name	Magpie Robin
Alternate names	Oriental Magpie Robin
Size	Bulbul
Occurrence	Seen near human habitation, singly or in pairs
Status	Common
Distinct features	Jet black head and chest parts, black wings and tail
Male/female	Different; female is duller than male

As seen in the above picture, female is grayish-black and duller when compared to the male. See pictures below for better clarity regarding the differences.

Rosy Starling

The Rosy Starling is also called Rosy Pastor (commonly termed as myna – see post on Pied Starling).

Common winter visitor, often found in large flocks near cultivated land and in lightly wooded regions. Younger birds and juveniles form part of the flock. Juveniles are dull brown in color (see picture 4).

It is termed as Rosy Starling due to the pink plumage of adult birds in breeding season. Adult birds in non-breeding season (winter) have black head, wings and tail with brownish-white body.

Name	Rosy Starling
Alternate names	Rosy Pastor
Size	Common myna
Occurrence	Can be seen in large flocks, near cultivated land and in lightly wooded regions. These photographs are from my visit to the Thane Creek.
Status	Common
Distinct features	Black head with a small crest, black wings and tail with yellow beak
Male/female	Alike

Thane creek

The New Year has brought in some good news for environmentalists and nature lovers. Hearing a PIL against the SEZ near Thane creek, the Bombay High Court has ordered the BMC to stop dumping waste into the creek and surrounding mangroves. See article in Mumbai Mirror dated Friday, January 06, 2012: HC raps BMC for dumping waste in Thane creek. At least, this marks a beginning of the fight for preserving the wetlands and mangroves and protecting them from destruction. However, more needs to be done.

To the North of the proposed SEZ where mangroves have been leveled out, lies a small patch of mangroves (in Thane East). Sometime time back, thanks to the local corporator, the small path leading to Swami Samarth math (religious prayer hall), was converted into a tarred road with street lights, making it convenient for the local residents to take their morning and evening walks. During our visit to this place today, we observed construction debris dumped on a large scale, along one side of the path. The undergrowth had been set afire all along the pathway. This is clearly being done with an objective of choking and ultimately destroying the mangroves, and occupying forest land illegally. One of the local residents came forward and informed us that the dumping started after the monsoons and is being done during the day time when there is hardly anyone around. She also mentioned that they can hear the anguished calls of the birds which are killed by the fires in the area.

It is hoped that the above activities are brought to the attention of concerned Forest officials and the municipal corporation, by the residents and by HT. Copy of this post is being forwarded to HT, since today’s visit (A bird watching vigil) was undertaken after I read about it in HT Live, and to TOI.

More about birds next week.

Pied Starling

The Asian Pied Starling is one of the group of starlings, the others being Rosy Starling, Chestnut-tailed Starling and Brahminy Starling. All of these species are also commonly termed as mynas.

See posts on Grey-headed Myna & Brahminy Myna. More about the Rosy Starling in one of  the future posts.

It is very common and is seen in the vicinity of human inhabitation, feeding mainly on insects and food near garbage dumps. I had the opportunity to photograph this bird in clear sunlight, as it perched on a tree opposite my window, probably basking the warmth of the morning sun.

Name	Asian Pied Starling
Alternate names	Pied Myna; Hindi: Ablak Myna
Occurrence	Can be seen in pairs or flocks of several birds, in thinly wooded or open land, prefers proximity to human inhabitation
Status	Common
Distinct features	Black and white bird with orange circular band around its eyes and dark orange and yellow beak
Male/female	Alike

On a different note, I wish you all a happy and prosperous new year. Hope that the new year brings good tidings for the animal world.