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The Small Blue Kingfisher is also known as the Common Kingfisher. It measures around 16 cm with a wingspan of 25 cm. Ali and Ripley write that the bird is “usually met singly or in pairs perched on some favourite stake or bund on the edge of water.” The hunting habits are described thus: “Suddenly nose-dives with a splash and disappears under, presently to emerge with a small fish held crosswise in the bill. Flies off with the quarry at top speed to another perch some distance away where the struggling victim is battered into submission and swallowed head foremost.”

The Darter is a water bird with a long neck and a pointed bill. According to eBird, “Breeding adults have a shiny black body with silvery-white streaks along the wings, a brownish crown and neck, and a white stripe running from the eye to the side of the neck. Nonbreeding and immature plumage is duller and browner.” The adult is black, with the back and wings having streaks of silver-grey, while the head and neck is “velvety chocolate-brown with white chin, throat, and a narrow white line from behind eye halfway down each side of neck.” (As described by Salim Ali and Dillon Ripley). The young…

The Darter is a water bird with a long neck and a pointed bill. According to eBird, “Breeding adults have a shiny black body with silvery-white streaks along the wings, a brownish crown and neck, and a white stripe running from the eye to the side of the neck. Nonbreeding and immature plumage is duller and browner.” The adult is black, with the back and wings having streaks of silver-grey, while the head and neck is “velvety chocolate-brown with white chin, throat, and a narrow white line from behind eye halfway down each side of neck.” (As described by Salim Ali and Dillon Ripley). The young…

The Darter is a water bird with a long neck and a pointed bill. According to eBird, “Breeding adults have a shiny black body with silvery-white streaks along the wings, a brownish crown and neck, and a white stripe running from the eye to the side of the neck. Nonbreeding and immature plumage is duller and browner.” The adult is black, with the back and wings having streaks of silver-grey, while the head and neck is “velvety chocolate-brown with white chin, throat, and a narrow white line from behind eye halfway down each side of neck.” (As described by Salim Ali and Dillon Ripley). The young…

The Indian Pitta is a colourful, small bird measuring around 18-20 cm. Interestingly, the word ‘pitta’ (meaning ‘small bird’), is derived from the Telugu language. According to Wikipedia, “It has long, strong legs, a very short tail and stout bill, with a buff coloured crown stripe, black coronal stripes, a thick black eye stripe and white throat and neck. The upperparts are green, with a blue tail, the underparts buff, with bright red on the lower belly and vent.” According to Prince Frederick’s article ‘Following the Indian Pitta from the Himalayan foothills to IIT Madras’ published in The…

The Indian Moorhen is also known as the Common Moorhen. It has a black/dark brown plumage and a white undertail. It has a red bill with a yellow tip. The legs are slightly long and toes are large. The toes are yellow in colour. The bird is found in marshy areas and feeds on plant matter such as algae, moss, shoots and so on. The Indian Moorhen is also known to feed on small fish, invertebrates, aquatic insects, and so on. According to Ali and Ripley the Indian Moorhen “spends most of its time on the water, paddling about amongst the lily pads and other floating vegetation.”

The Darter is a water bird with a long neck and a pointed bill. According to eBird, “Breeding adults have a shiny black body with silvery-white streaks along the wings, a brownish crown and neck, and a white stripe running from the eye to the side of the neck. Nonbreeding and immature plumage is duller and browner.” The adult is black, with the back and wings having streaks of silver-grey, while the head and neck is “velvety chocolate-brown with white chin, throat, and a narrow white line from behind eye halfway down each side of neck.” (As described by Salim Ali and Dillon Ripley). The young…

The Shikra is a small hawk which feeds on rodents, squirrels, small birds, snakes and reptiles such as lizards. According to Salim Ali and S. Dillon Ripley’s ‘Compact Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan’ (second edition), the bird uses surprise tactics in hunting by “pouncing on unsuspecting quarry from its ambush up in a leafy tree. Sometimes stampedes small birds out of a thicket, selecting one from the flock, chasing it with speed and determination till struck.” It feeds on a variety of food: “All living animals of manageable size recorded”.

Salim Ali and S. Dillon Ripley describe the Little Egret as “A lanky snow-white waterside bird.” They also say that the bird “still-hunts or stalks prey in the characteristic heron manner, lunging out with its flexible neck and dagger bill to seize the quarry.” According to Wikipedia, the bird stalks its prey in shallow water, “often running with raised wings or shuffling their feet to disturb small fish, or may stand still and wait to ambush prey.” Egrets are known to develop fine plumes on their nape (milky white) in the breeding season. The name ‘egret’ is derived from the French word…

The Darter is a water bird with a long neck and a pointed bill. According to eBird, “Breeding adults have a shiny black body with silvery-white streaks along the wings, a brownish crown and neck, and a white stripe running from the eye to the side of the neck. Nonbreeding and immature plumage is duller and browner.” The adult is black, with the back and wings having streaks of silver-grey, while the head and neck is “velvety chocolate-brown with white chin, throat, and a narrow white line from behind eye halfway down each side of neck.” (As described by Salim Ali and Dillon Ripley). The young…

Salim Ali and S. Dillon Ripley note that the female koel is (above) “dark brown, profusely white-spotted and barred. Tail-feathers and wing-quills barred with white”, and (below) “white; spotted on chin, throat and foreneck, barred on rest of underparts with blackish.” The male Koel is described by Ali and Ripley as “glistening metallic black all over, with yellowish green bill and crimson eyes.” The koel belongs to the cuckoo family (Cuculidae). Many cuckoos have a habit of laying their eggs in the nests of other species and not building any nests themselves.