Jungle Myna
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The Jungle Myna, Acridotheres fuscus, is a myna, a member of the starling family. This bird is a common resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from India and Myanmar east to Indonesia.
This common passerine is typically found in forest and cultivation. The Jungle Myna builds a nest in hole. The normal clutch is 3-6 eggs.
These 23cm long birds have grey plumage, darker on the head and wings. There are large white wing patches obvious in flight, and a white tail tip. The head has a forehead tuft. The bill and strong legs are bright yellow, and there is no bare skin around eye. The sexes are similar, but juveniles are browner.
They are usually found close to water or rice fields. The southern Indian race has a blue iris.
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Black-naped Monarch
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The Crested Goshawk (Accipiter trivirgatus) is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards and harriers.
Crested Goshawk breeds in southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka to south China, Indonesia and the Philippines. It is found in Kam Shan Country Park of Hong Kong. It is a forest bird which builds a stick nest in a tree and lays two or three eggs.
This raptor has short broad wings and a long tail, both adaptations to manoeuvring through trees. It is 30-46cm in length, with the female much larger than the male. The larger size and a short crest are the best distinctions from its relative, the Besra, Accipiter virgatus.
The male has a dark brown crown, grey head sides and black moustachial and throat stripes. The pale underparts are patterned with rufous streaks on the breast and bars on the belly.
The larger female has a browner head and brown underpart streaks and bars. The juvenile has pale fringes to its head feathers, and the underpart background colour is buff rather than white.
The flight is a characteristic "slow flap, slow flap, straight glide" similar to other Accipiter species such as Northern Goshawk. Like its relatives, this secretive forest bird hunts birds, mammals and reptiles in woodland, relying on surprise as it flies from a perch to catch its prey unaware.
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Red Turtle Dove
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The Black-naped Monarch (Hypothymis azurea), also known as the Black-naped Blue Monarch, is a small passerine bird. It was previously classified with the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, but the paradise flycatchers, monarch flycatchers and Australasian fantails are now normally grouped with the drongos in the family Dicruridae, which has most of its members in Australasia and tropical southern Asia.
The Black-naped Monarch breeds across tropical southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka east to Indonesia and the Philippines. This species is usually found in thick forests and other well-wooded habitats. Three eggs are laid in a small cup nest in a tree.
The adult male Black-naped Monarch is about 16 cm long, and is mainly pale blue apart from a whitish lower belly. It has a black nape and a neat black gorget. The female is duller and lacks the black markings. Her wings and back are grey-brown. Males of the Sri Lankan race H. a. ceylonensis lack the black nape and gorget.
The Black-naped Monarch has short legs and sits very upright whilst perched prominently, like a shrike. It is insectivorous, often hunting by flycatching.
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Crested Goshawk
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The Crested Goshawk (Accipiter trivirgatus) is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards and harriers.
Crested Goshawk breeds in southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka to south China, Indonesia and the Philippines. It is found in Kam Shan Country Park of Hong Kong. It is a forest bird which builds a stick nest in a tree and lays two or three eggs.
This raptor has short broad wings and a long tail, both adaptations to manoeuvring through trees. It is 30-46cm in length, with the female much larger than the male. The larger size and a short crest are the best distinctions from its relative, the Besra, Accipiter virgatus.
The male has a dark brown crown, grey head sides and black moustachial and throat stripes. The pale underparts are patterned with rufous streaks on the breast and bars on the belly.
The larger female has a browner head and brown underpart streaks and bars. The juvenile has pale fringes to its head feathers, and the underpart background colour is buff rather than white.
The flight is a characteristic "slow flap, slow flap, straight glide" similar to other Accipiter species such as Northern Goshawk. Like its relatives, this secretive forest bird hunts birds, mammals and reptiles in woodland, relying on surprise as it flies from a perch to catch its prey unaware.
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Tawny-flanked Prinia
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The Plain Prinia, Prinia inornata, is a small warbler. This prinia is a resident breeder in Africa south of the Sahara and Asia from Pakistan and India to south China and southeast Asia.
The African form, P. p. subflava is often considered a separate species, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Prinia subflava (Gmelin, 1789).
This skulking passerine bird is typically found in wet lowland grassland, open woodland, scrub and sometimes gardens. The Plain Prinia builds its nest in a shrub or tall grass and lays 3-6 eggs. The Tawny-flanked Prinia nests in herbage and lays 2-4 eggs.
These 13-14 cm long warblers have short rounded wings, a longish tail, strong legs and a short black bill. In breeding plumage, adults are grey-brown above, with a short white supercilium and rufous fringes on the closed wings. Underparts are whitish-buff. The sexes are identical.
In winter, the upperparts are a warmer brown, and the underparts more buff. The tail is longer than in summer. There are a number of races differing in plumage shade. The endemic race in Sri Lanka retains summer plumage, including the shorter tail, all year round.
Like most warblers, the Plain Prinia is insectivorous. The song is a repetitive tlee-tlee-tlee.
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Scaly-breasted Munia
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The Scaly-breasted Munia, Nutmeg Mannikin or Spice Finch (Lonchura punctulata) is a small passerine bird. This estrildid finch is a resident breeding bird in tropical southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka east to Indonesia and the Philippines.
The Scaly-breasted Munia is a small gregarious bird which feeds mainly on seeds. It frequents open woodland and cultivation. The nest is a large domed grass structure in a tree or under the eaves of a house into which 4-10 white eggs are laid.
The Scaly-breasted Munia is 11-12cm in length. The adult has a stubby dark bill, brown upperparts and darker brown head. The underparts are white with black scale markings. The sexes are similar, but immature birds have pale brown upperparts, lack the darker head and have uniform buff underparts.
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Eurasian Tree Sparrow
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The Tree Sparrow, Passer montanus, is spread over most of Europe and Siberia, and allied forms occur in other parts of Asia. It has been introduced to Australia. In the United States (where it is known as the Eurasian Tree Sparrow to differentiate it from the native, unrelated American Tree Sparrow), German immigrants introduced it to the area around St. Louis in the 1870s. From there, it has slowly expanded its range into Illinois and Missouri. Changes in farming methods have meant that species is declining in some parts of western Europe.
This 12.5–14 cm long bird is often confused with the larger House Sparrow, but its rich brown, almost coppery head, a black patch on its white cheeks, and a double white wing bar, together its slighter and more graceful build, are distinctive. The sexes are practically alike, an important specific character.
The crown and nape are rich chestnut, and on the white cheeks and ear-coverts there is a triangular black patch; the chin and throat are black. Two distinct though narrow white bars cross the brown wings. In summer the bill is lead-blue, in winter almost black. The legs are pale brown and the irides hazel.
Young, even in the nest, closely resemble their parents. They are said to be duller, and in the depicted young bird the face pattern is blurred. The breast and belly are browner.
The Tree Sparrow is rural in Europe, but replaces its relative as a town bird in parts of Asia. It used to be considered as the national bird of the Philippines, and locally called maya. In Australia, it is found in some rural and semi-rural districts, but not cities. The small American population is sometimes referred to as "German Sparrows", to distinguish it from the native species as well as the vast numbers of "English" House Sparrows.
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Common Kingfisher
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The European Kingfisher or Common Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis, is widely distributed in Europe, Africa, and Asia. It is resident except in northern areas where the rivers freeze. It will then move to milder regions. In most of its European range it is the only kingfisher.
The general colour of the upper parts of the adult bird is bright metallic blue, cobalt on the back, and showing greenish reflections on the head and wings. The ear coverts and under parts are warm chestnut, the chin and sides of neck white.
The bill is black and reddish orange at the base; the legs are bright red. In the young the bill is black. Length averages 19 cm (7.5 inches) and wings average 7.5 cm (2.95 inches).
The flight of the Kingfisher is rapid, the short rounded wings whirring until they appear a mere blur. It usually flies near the water, but during courtship the male chases the female through and over the trees with loud shrill whistles.
From February onwards the male has a trilling song, a modulated repetition of many whistles. He also signals with a whistle to the female when he is feeding her, this being his share of the nesting duties. This whistle is produced even when his bill is loaded with food, yet is clear and distinct. The female will reply and emerge from the nesting hole, and may fly to meet him, take the fish from him in the air, and return to the nest.
The bird has regular perches or stands from which it fishes. These may be a few inches or many feet above the water. It sits upright, its tail pointed downwards. It drops suddenly with a splash and usually returns at once with a struggling captive.
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Brown Shrike
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The Brown Shrike, Lanius cristatus, is a small passerine bird in the shrike family. It was formerly often considered conspecific with the closely-related Red-backed Shrike, L. collurio, and Isabelline Shrike, L. isabellinus.
This bird breeds across central and eastern Asia. It is migratory, wintering south to India, southeast Asia and Indonesia. A wide range of habitats is used for breeding, from taiga and deciduous forest to semi-desert. It builds its nest in a tree or bush, laying 2-6 eggs.
In winter, Brown Shrike is found in secondary forest, often close to human habitation. This species is a rare vagrant to Europe, and has been recorded in Nova Scotia, Canada.
The food is mainly insects and small birds and mammals, caught by a sally from a prominent perch. This is a typical shrike hunting technique.
Brown Shrike is a small shrike. Like its relatives, it is long-tailed, and perches quite upright. The adult male's upper parts and crown are darkish brown. The face is white with the typical shrike black "bandit-mask" through the eye. Underparts are yellowish buff, although the hues vary somewhat between the different races.
Females are less contrasted and have a greyer crown. Immature Brown Shrikes are scalloped on the underparts.
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Black Drongo
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The Black Drongo, Dicrurus macrocercus, is a small Asian bird. The drongos are passerines restricted to the Old World tropics. They were previously classed as the family Dicruridae, but that has been much enlarged to include a number of largely Australasian groups, such as the Australasian fantails and the monarchs and paradise flycatchers.
The Black Drongo is a common resident breeder in much of tropical southern Asia from southwest Iran through India and Sri Lanka east to southern China and Indonesia.
This species is usually found in open forests and similar lightly wooded habitats, including farmland and habitation. Three or four eggs are laid in a cup nest in a tree.
These are aggressive and fearless birds, 28 cm in length, and will attack much larger species if their nest or young are threatened. There are also some cases of Drongos preying on small birds.
The adult Black Drongo is mainly glossy blue-black, although the wings are duller. The tail is long and deeply forked, and there is a white spot in front of the eye. Young birds are dull dark brown.
The Black Drongo has short legs and sits very upright whilst perched prominently, like a shrike. It eats insects and other small animals.
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Oriental Turtle-Dove
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The Oriental Turtle Dove (Streptopelia orientalis) is a member of the bird family Columbidae, doves and pigeons.
It has two distinctive races, S. o. orientalis in the central Siberian taiga, and S. o. meena in open woodland in central Asia. Two white eggs, as for all pigeons and doves, are laid in a twig nest in a tree.
Southernmost populations are resident, but most other birds migrate south to winter in India, southeast Asia, and southern Japan. This species is a rare vagrant to northern and western Europe. S. o. orientalis occurs as a rarity in western Alaska and British Columbia.
This small species is very similar in plumage to its European counterpart, the Turtle Dove. It is a little larger than that species, particularly in the case of orientalis, about the same size as a Collared Dove. It shares the black and white striped patch on the side of its neck, but the breast is less pink, and the orange-brown wing feathers of Turtle Dove are replaced with a browner hue, and darker centres.
The tail is wedge shaped, again like the Turtle Dove, but S. o. orientalis has a grey tip to the tail. S. o. meena has a white tip to its tail like Turtle Dove. The flight is more relaxed and direct than that of its relative. The call is quite different from the purr of the Turtle Dove. It is a four-syllable her-her-oo-oo.
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Mallard
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The Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos; Greek for "flat billed duck"), also known in North America as the Wild Duck, is a common and widespread dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and sub-tropical areas of North America, Europe and Asia. It also frequents Central America and the Caribbean, and has been introduced into Australia and New Zealand. It is now the most common duck in New Zealand. It is probably the best-known of all ducks.
This dabbling duck is 56-65 cm length, with an 81–98 cm wingspan, and weighs 750–1000 g. It is strongly migratory in the northern parts of its breeding range, and winters farther south. It is highly gregarious outside of the breeding season and will form large flocks. They are exceptionally fast flyers for their size, reaching speeds of 65 km/h (40 mph).
The breeding male is unmistakable, with a green head, black rear end and a blue speculum edged with white, obvious in flight or at rest. Males also possess a yellow bill with a black tip, whereas females have a dark brown bill.
The female Mallard is light brown, with plumage much like most female dabbling ducks. It can be distinguished from other ducks, by the distinctive speculum. In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage, the drake looks more like the female.
It is a bird of most wetlands, including parks, small ponds and rivers, and usually feeds by dabbling for plant food or grazing. It nests usually on a river bank, but not always particularly near water.
This is a noisy species. The male has a nasal call, whereas the female has the very familiar "quack" always associated with ducks.
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Magpie
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The magpies are medium to large, often colorful and noisy passerine birds of the crow family, Corvidae. The names 'jay' and and 'magpie' are to a certain extent interchangeable, and do not accurately reflect the evolutionary relationship between these birds.
In Europe, "Magpie" is often used as a synonym for the European Magpie, as there are no other magpies in Europe outside Iberia.
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Greater Painted-snipe
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Painted snipe are two distinctive wader species placed together in their own family Rostratulidae. They are short-legged, long-billed birds similar in shape to the true snipes, but much more brightly coloured.
The female is brighter than the male and takes the lead in courtship. The male incubates the eggs, usually 4, in a nest on the ground or floating for about 20 days.
Both species live in reedy swamps, and their diet consists of annelid worms and other invertebrates, which they find with their long bills.
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Common Moorhen
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The Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) is a bird in the rail family with an almost worldwide distribution outside Antarctica and Australasia. In North America it was previously called the Common Gallinule.
This is a common breeding bird in marshy environments and well-vegetated lakes. It is often secretive, but can become tame in some areas. Populations in areas where the waters freeze, such as southern Canada, the northern USA and eastern Europe, will migrate to more temperate climes.
This is a distinctive species, with dark plumage apart from the white undertail, yellow legs and a red facial shield. The young are browner and lack the red shield. It has a wide range of gargling calls.
This species will consume a wide variety of vegetable material and small aquatic creatures. They forage while swimming, sometimes upending to feed, or walking through the marsh.
The nest is a roofed basket built on the ground in dense vegetation. 8-12 eggs are laid, which are incubated for about three weeks. Both parents incubate and feed the young. More than one brood may be raised in a year.
Despite loss of habitat in parts of its range, this bird remains common and widespread.
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White Wagtail
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The White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) is a small passerine in the wagtail family Motacillidae, which also includes the pipits and longclaws.
This species breeds in much of Europe and Asia and parts of north Africa. It is resident in the mildest parts of its range, but otherwise migrates to Africa. It has a toehold in Alaska as a scarce breeder.
This is an insectivorous bird of open country, often near habitation and water. It prefers bare areas for feeding, where it can see and pursue its prey.
It nests in crevices in stone walls and similar natural and man-made structures.
This is a slender bird, 16.5-19cm in length, with the characteristic long, constantly wagging tail of its genus. It is basically grey above and white below, with a white face, black cap and black throat.
The resident British subspecies, the Pied Wagtail, Motacilla alba yarrellii, is a generally blacker bird than the nominate race of western Europe, M. a. alba, but is otherwise identical in its behaviour.
It is likely that the differentiation of White Wagtail into two subspecies (or races) in western Europe has arisen because of the partial isolation of the mainly resident British form, although M. a. yarrellii now also breeds in adjacent areas of the neighbouring European mainland.
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Red-rumped Swallow
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The Red-rumped Swallow (Cecropis daurica, syn. Hirundo daurica) is a small passerine bird in the swallow family. It breeds in open hilly country of temperate southern Europe and Asia from Portugal and Spain to Japan, India and tropical Africa. The Indian and African birds are resident, but European and other Asian birds are migratory. They winter in Africa or India.
Red-rumped Swallows are somewhat similar in habits and appearance to the other aerial insectivores, such as the related swallows and the unrelated swifts (order Apodiformes). They have blue upperparts and dusky underparts.
They resemble Barn Swallows, but are darker below and have pale or reddish rumps, face and neck collar. They lack a breast band, but have black undertails. They are fast flyers and they swoop on insects while airborne. They have broad but pointed wings.
Red-rumped Swallows build quarter-sphere nests with a tunnel entrance lined with mud collected in their beaks, and lay 3-6 eggs. They normally nest under cliff overhangs in their mountain homes, but will readily adapt to buildings such as mosques and bridges.
They do not normally form large breeding colonies, but are gregarious outside the breeding season. Many hundreds can be seen at a time on the plains of India.
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Pacific Swallow
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The Pacific Swallow or Hill Swallow (Hirundo tahitica) is a small passerine bird in the swallow family.
It breeds in tropical southern Asia from southern India and Sri Lanka across to south east Asia and the islands of the south Pacific. It is resident apart from some local seasonal movements.
This bird is associated with coasts, but is increasingly spreading to forested uplands.
The neat cup-shaped nests are lined with mud collected in the swallows' beaks. They are placed under cliff ledges or on man-made structures such as buildings, bridges or tunnel. The clutch is two to three eggs, up to four in Sri Lanka.
Swallows are somewhat similar in habits and appearance to the other aerial insectivores, such as the related martins and the unrelated swifts (order Apodiformes). Pacific Swallows are fast flyers and they generally feed on insects, especially flies, while airborne.
This species is a small swallow at 13cm. It has a blue back with browner wings and tail, a red face and throat, and dusky underparts. It differs from Barn Swallow and the closely-related Welcome Swallow in its shorter and less forked tail.
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Intermediate Egret
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The Intermediate Egret (Ardea intermedia) is a medium-sized heron. It is a resident breeder from east Africa across tropical southern Asia to Australia. It often nests in colonies with other herons, usually on platforms of sticks in trees or shrubs. Two to five eggs are laid, the clutch size varying with region.
This species, as its name implies, it is intermediate in size between the Great Egret and smaller white egrets like the Little Egret and Cattle Egret, though nearer to the Little than the Great. It is about 90cm tall with all white plumage, generally dark legs and a thickish yellow bill. Breeding birds may have a reddish or black bill, greenish yellow gape skin, more loose filamentous plumes on their breast and back, and dull yellow or pink on their upper legs (regional variations). The sexes are similar.
The Intermediate Egret stalks its prey methodically in shallow coastal or fresh water, including flooded fields. It eats fish, crustaceans and insects.
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Little Egret
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The Little Egret, Egretta garzetta, is a small white heron. It is the Old World counterpart to the very similar New World Snowy Egret. The adult Little Egret is 55-65 cm long with an 88-106 cm wingspan. Its plumage is all white. It has long black legs with yellow feet and a slim black bill. In the breeding season, the adult has two long nape plumes and red or blue between the bill and eyes.
Its original breeding distribution was large inland wetlands and coastal wetlands in warm temperate parts of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.
In warmer locations, most birds are permanent residents; northern populations, including many European birds, migrate to Africa and southern Asia. They may also wander north after the breeding season, which presumably has led to this egret's range expansion.
The Little Egret has now started to colonise the New World, breeding at least in the Bahamas, and recorded in several Caribbean islands, including Trinidad, Tobago and St Lucia, and in Surinam.
In Great Britain it was rare until the late twentieth century and almost certainly did not breed. In contrast, it has for just over a decade now become a regular breeding species and is commonly sighted, often in large numbers at favoured coastal sites.
The Little Egret nests in colonies, often with other wading birds, usually on platforms of sticks in trees or shrubs. The three to five eggs are incubated by both adults for 21-25 days to hatching.
This egret stalks its prey in shallow water, often running or shuffling its feet. It may also stand still and wait to ambush prey. It eats fish, crustaceans, and insects.
At one time, the plumes of the Little Egret were in demand for decorating hats. Hunting for this purpose reduced the population of the species to dangerously low levels (in the process stimulating the establishment of Britain's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in 1889). Now conservation laws protect this species, and the population has rebounded strongly.
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Japanese White-eye
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The Japanese White-eye, or Mejiro (Zosterops japonicus) is a small passerine bird in the white-eye family. Its original native range includes much of east Asia, including Japan, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines. It has been intentionally introduced to other parts of the world as a pet and as pest control, with mixed results. As one of the native species of the Japanese islands, it has been depicted in Japanese art on numerous occasions, and historically was kept as a cage bird.
The Japanese White-eye is about 4 to 4.5 inches in size, with a yellow forehead, a greenish back, and dark brown wings and tail outlined in green. Like other white-eyes, this species exhibits the distinctive white eyering that gives it its name (mejiro also meaning "white eye" in Japanese). It is omnivorous, feeding primarily on insects and nectar.
Introduced to Hawaii in 1929 as a means of insect control, it has since become the most common bird on the Hawaiian Islands, and has become a vector for avian parasites that are now known to adversely affect populations of native birds such as Hawaiian honeycreepers, as welling as spreading invasive plant species through discarded seeds.
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Chinese Bulbul
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The Light-vented Bulbul (also Chinese Bulbul), Pycnonotus sinensis, is a bird and a member of the bulbul family.
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