Grey Heron

Common Name:  Grey Heron 

Scientific Name:Mycteria leucocephala

Local Name:- चित्रबालक,रंगीत करकोचा,चामढोक

Date Of Sighting:- 12-May-2012

Place of Sighting:-  Airoli-Mumbai/Thane, Maharashtra   

Type:-

Status:- Painted Stork:- Near Threatened.

The Oriental white Stork,Storm's Stork, and Greater adjutant are  endangered species.

Lesser adjutant and milky stork are listed as Vulnerable.

Description

The painted Stork is large wading bird in the stork family.It is found in the Wetlands of the plains of tropical asia south of the Himalays in south Asia and extended in to southeast asia.

Their Distinctive Pink tertial feathers give then their name.

They forage in flocks in shallow waters along rivers or lakes.They immerse their half open beaks in water and sweep them from side to side and snap up their prey of small fish that are sensed by touch.As they wade along they also stir the water with their feet to flush hiding fish.They nest colonially in trees, often along with other waterbirds.

They Only sounds they produce are weak moans or bill clattering at nest.They are not migratory and only manke short distance movements in some parts of their range in response to food and for breeding.Like other storks,They are often seen on thermals

Habitat, Region, and Climate:-

1.They found near fresh water body.
2.They are resident in most of the area.
3.Found in South reason

Feeding Habits ( food ):- 

1.Fish, Frogs and Crabs and Snake

2.The Wood Storks, which almost entirely by touching using open, sensitive bill, has been recorded as reacting in 25 milliseconds, the fastest recorded response of any vertebrate.

3.daily requirement of chicks has been estimated to be around 500 grams made upp of 9 fish fed in two sessions

Distinctive features:-

1.Male and female appears alike but male of pair are larger than female.

Bird House and Nesting

1.They nest colonially in tress and often along with other Water birds.

Genaral Size and Shape:- 

1.This large stork has a heavy yellow bill with Down -curved tip that gives it resemblance to an Ibis.

2.The head of adult is bare and orange or reddish in colour

3.The long tertials are tipped in bright and pink and at rest they extended over the black and rump.

4.There is distinctive black breast band with white scaly marking

5.The band continues in to underwing coverts and the white tips of black coverts give it the apperance of white strips running across the Under wing lining.

6.The rest of the body is whitish is adult and the primaries and secondaries are black with greenish gloss.The legs are yellowish to res but often appear white due their habit of urohidrosis or defecating on their legs especially when at nest

7.The Short tail is black with a green gloss.For a stork, it is medium -sized, standing about 93-102 cm (37-40 in ) tall,150-160 cm 9 59-63 in ) in wing span and weighing 2-3.5 kg ( 4.4-7.7 lbs )

Egg :-Giving 2 to 5 eggs 

Raptors Of India

Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily via flight, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as birds that primarily huntvertebrates, including other birds. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing flesh. In most cases, the females are considerably larger than the males. The term "raptor" is derived from the Latin word rapere (meaning to seize or take by force) and may refer informally to all birds of prey, or specifically to the diurnal group.^[1] Because of their predatory lifestyle, often at the top of the food chain, they facedistinct conservation concerns.

Many species of bird may be considered partly or exclusively predatory; however, in ornithology, the term "bird of prey" applies only to birds of thefamilies listed below.

Definition [edit]

Taken literally, the term "bird of prey" has a wide meaning that includes many birds that hunt and feed on animals and also birds that eat very small insects.^[2] In ornithology, and the definition used here, the term has a narrower meaning for birds that have very good eyesight for finding food, strong feet for holding food, and a strong curved beak for tearing flesh.^[3] Most birds of prey also have strong curved talons for catching or killing prey.^[3][4] Birds of prey generally prey on vertebrates, which are usually quite large relative to the size of the bird.^[2] Most also eat carrion at least occasionally and the vultures and condors eat carrion as their main food source.^[3] By way of an example, the narrower definition excludes storks and gulls, which can eat quite large fish, partly because these birds catch and kill prey entirely with their beaks,^[2] and similarly bird-eating skuas, fish-eating penguins, and vertebrate-eating kookaburras are excluded.

Using this cluster of anatomical and behavioural features, the species listed below are usually known to be birds of prey in ornithology. They can be divided into species that hunt during daylight, the raptors, and into species that hunt during the night, the owls. The raptors and the owls are distantly related and are classified in separate orders; however, their evolution has been convergent, both groups of birds adapting to a predatory lifestyle.^[2]

The common names for various birds of prey are based on structure, but many of the traditional names do not reflect the evolutionary relationships between the groups.

Variations in shape and size

• Eagles tend to be large birds with long, broad wings and massive feet. Booted eagles have legs and feet feathered to the toes and build very large stick nests.
• Ospreys, a single species found worldwide that specializes in catching fish and builds large stick nests.
• Kites have long wings and relatively weak legs. They spend much of their time soaring. They will take live vertebrate prey, but mostly feed on insects or even carrion.
• The true hawks are medium-sized birds of prey that usually belong to the genus Accipiter (see below). They are mainly woodland birds that hunt by sudden dashes from a concealed perch. They usually have long tails for tight steering.
• Buzzards are medium-large raptors with robust bodies and broad wings, or, alternatively, any bird of the genus Buteo (also commonly known as "hawks" in North America).
• Harriers are large, slender hawk-like birds with long tails and long thin legs. Most use a combination of keen eyesight and hearing to hunt small vertebrates, gliding on their long broad wings and circling low over grasslands and marshes.
• Vultures are carrion-eating raptors of two distinct biological families: the (Accipitridae), which only occurs in the Eastern Hemisphere; and the (Cathartidae), which only occurs in the Western Hemisphere. Members of both groups have heads either partly or fully devoid of feathers.
• Falcons are medium-size birds of prey with long pointed wings. Unlike most other raptors, they belong to the Falconidae, rather than the Accipitridae. Many are particularly swift flyers. Instead of building their own nests, falcons appropriate the old nests of other birds; but, sometimes, they lay their eggs on cliff ledges or in tree hollows. Caracaras are a distinct subgroup of the Falconidae unique to the New World, and most common in the Neotropics – their broad wings, naked faces and appetites of a generalist suggest some level of convergence with either the Buteos or the vulturine birds, or both.
• Owls are variable-sized, typically night-specialized hunting birds. They fly almost silently due to special feather structure to reduce turbulence. They have particularly acute hearing.

" Greater Flemingo. . "

Common Name:  Common KingFisher 

Scientific Name:Mycteria leucocephala

Local Name:- चित्रबालक,रंगीत करकोचा,चामढोक

Date Of Sighting:- 12-May-2012

Place of Sighting:-  Airoli-Mumbai/Thane, Maharashtra   

Type:-

Status:- Painted Stork:- Near Threatened.

The Oriental white Stork,Storm's Stork, and Greater adjutant are  endangered species.

Lesser adjutant and milky stork are listed as Vulnerable.

Description

The painted Stork is large wading bird in the stork family.It is found in the Wetlands of the plains of tropical asia south of the Himalays in south Asia and extended in to southeast asia.

Their Distinctive Pink tertial feathers give then their name.

They forage in flocks in shallow waters along rivers or lakes.They immerse their half open beaks in water and sweep them from side to side and snap up their prey of small fish that are sensed by touch.As they wade along they also stir the water with their feet to flush hiding fish.They nest colonially in trees, often along with other waterbirds.

They Only sounds they produce are weak moans or bill clattering at nest.They are not migratory and only manke short distance movements in some parts of their range in response to food and for breeding.Like other storks,They are often seen on thermals

Habitat, Region, and Climate:-

1.They found near fresh water body.
2.They are resident in most of the area.
3.Found in South reason

Feeding Habits ( food ):- 

1.Fish, Frogs and Crabs and Snake

2.The Wood Storks, which almost entirely by touching using open, sensitive bill, has been recorded as reacting in 25 milliseconds, the fastest recorded response of any vertebrate.

3.daily requirement of chicks has been estimated to be around 500 grams made upp of 9 fish fed in two sessions

Distinctive features:-

1.Male and female appears alike but male of pair are larger than female.

Bird House and Nesting

1.They nest colonially in tress and often along with other Water birds.

Genaral Size and Shape:- 

1.This large stork has a heavy yellow bill with Down -curved tip that gives it resemblance to an Ibis.

2.The head of adult is bare and orange or reddish in colour

3.The long tertials are tipped in bright and pink and at rest they extended over the black and rump.

4.There is distinctive black breast band with white scaly marking

5.The band continues in to underwing coverts and the white tips of black coverts give it the apperance of white strips running across the Under wing lining.

6.The rest of the body is whitish is adult and the primaries and secondaries are black with greenish gloss.The legs are yellowish to res but often appear white due their habit of urohidrosis or defecating on their legs especially when at nest

7.The Short tail is black with a green gloss.For a stork, it is medium -sized, standing about 93-102 cm (37-40 in ) tall,150-160 cm 9 59-63 in ) in wing span and weighing 2-3.5 kg ( 4.4-7.7 lbs )

Egg :-Giving 2 to 5 eggs 

Common Kingfisher

Common Name:  Common KingFisher 

Scientific Name:Mycteria leucocephala

Local Name:- चित्रबालक,रंगीत करकोचा,चामढोक

Date Of Sighting:- 12-May-2012

Place of Sighting:-  Airoli-Mumbai/Thane, Maharashtra   

Type:-

Status:- Painted Stork:- Near Threatened.

The Oriental white Stork,Storm's Stork, and Greater adjutant are  endangered species.

Lesser adjutant and milky stork are listed as Vulnerable.

Description

The painted Stork is large wading bird in the stork family.It is found in the Wetlands of the plains of tropical asia south of the Himalays in south Asia and extended in to southeast asia.

Their Distinctive Pink tertial feathers give then their name.

They forage in flocks in shallow waters along rivers or lakes.They immerse their half open beaks in water and sweep them from side to side and snap up their prey of small fish that are sensed by touch.As they wade along they also stir the water with their feet to flush hiding fish.They nest colonially in trees, often along with other waterbirds.

They Only sounds they produce are weak moans or bill clattering at nest.They are not migratory and only manke short distance movements in some parts of their range in response to food and for breeding.Like other storks,They are often seen on thermals

Habitat, Region, and Climate:-

1.They found near fresh water body.
2.They are resident in most of the area.
3.Found in South reason

Feeding Habits ( food ):- 

1.Fish, Frogs and Crabs and Snake

2.The Wood Storks, which almost entirely by touching using open, sensitive bill, has been recorded as reacting in 25 milliseconds, the fastest recorded response of any vertebrate.

3.daily requirement of chicks has been estimated to be around 500 grams made upp of 9 fish fed in two sessions

Distinctive features:-

1.Male and female appears alike but male of pair are larger than female.

Bird House and Nesting

1.They nest colonially in tress and often along with other Water birds.

Genaral Size and Shape:- 

1.This large stork has a heavy yellow bill with Down -curved tip that gives it resemblance to an Ibis.

2.The head of adult is bare and orange or reddish in colour

3.The long tertials are tipped in bright and pink and at rest they extended over the black and rump.

4.There is distinctive black breast band with white scaly marking

5.The band continues in to underwing coverts and the white tips of black coverts give it the apperance of white strips running across the Under wing lining.

6.The rest of the body is whitish is adult and the primaries and secondaries are black with greenish gloss.The legs are yellowish to res but often appear white due their habit of urohidrosis or defecating on their legs especially when at nest

7.The Short tail is black with a green gloss.For a stork, it is medium -sized, standing about 93-102 cm (37-40 in ) tall,150-160 cm 9 59-63 in ) in wing span and weighing 2-3.5 kg ( 4.4-7.7 lbs )

Egg :-Giving 2 to 5 eggs