Birds Around Me 0125 - White-breasted Waterhen (जलमुर्गी, डौक) - Amaurornis phoenicurus

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There is a small pond in front of our home in Jabalpur called Shahi Talab, all year round. In our garden we see all sort of common garden birds but one day we caught thief who was eating all the feed for little aves. It was White-breasted Waterhen (जलमुर्गी, डौक) - Amaurornis phoenicurus that frequented our garden every morning snacking on the feed before anyone got up.

White-breasted Waterhen (जलमुर्गी, डौक) - Amaurornis phoenicurus is a bird of the Rails (Rallidae) family, skulking marsh-haunting birds of small size, with stubby tails, rounded winds, and longish bare legs and toes. It is a common slaty grey stub-tailed, bare-legged marsh bird, with a prominent white face and breast, and bright rusty red under the cocked-up tail. 

The White-breasted Waterhen (जलमुर्गी, डौक) is inseparable from the neighborhood of water and usually met with singly or in pairs in or near reed beds and thickets on the edge of lakes and village ponds. 

White-breasted Waterhen (जलमुर्गी, डौक) - Amaurornis phoenicurus
White-breasted Waterhen (जलमुर्गी, डौक) - Amaurornis phoenicurus
Sanjivini Nagar, Jabalpur, India

In the monsoon, when ditches fill and rain puddles form, it strays further afield and is commonly seen along roadside hedges and on the grassy shoulders of country roads. It is usually a shy bird and silent except during breeding season when male recovery pugnacious and noisy, clambering up into the top of a leafy bush and giving vent to loud unbirdlike calls - metallic krr-kwwaak-kwaak.

Hindi name of White-breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus): जलमुर्गी, डौक



White-breasted Waterhen (जलमुर्गी, डौक) - Amaurornis phoenicurus Devtal, Jabalpur, MP, India October 2023
White-breasted Waterhen (जलमुर्गी, डौक) - Amaurornis phoenicurus 
Devtal, Jabalpur, MP, India
October 2023

White-breasted Waterhen (जलमुर्गी, डौक) - Amaurornis phoenicurus
White-breasted Waterhen (जलमुर्गी, डौक) - Amaurornis phoenicurus
Sanjivini Nagar, Jabalpur, India

White-breasted Waterhen (जलमुर्गी, डौक) - Amaurornis phoenicurus
White-breasted Waterhen (जलमुर्गी, डौक) - Amaurornis phoenicurus
Sanjivini Nagar, Jabalpur, India

White-breasted Waterhen (जलमुर्गी, डौक) - Amaurornis phoenicurus
White-breasted Waterhen (जलमुर्गी, डौक) - Amaurornis phoenicurus
Sanjivini Nagar, Jabalpur, India

White-breasted Waterhen (जलमुर्गी, डौक) - Amaurornis phoenicurus
White-breasted Waterhen (जलमुर्गी, डौक) - Amaurornis phoenicurus
Sanjivini Nagar, Jabalpur, India

White-breasted Waterhen (जलमुर्गी, डौक) - Amaurornis phoenicurus
White-breasted Waterhen (जलमुर्गी, डौक) - Amaurornis phoenicurus
Sanjivini Nagar, Jabalpur, India






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