The king of urban skies - "Pariah or Black Kite ( काली चील) - Milvus migrans", you can find these birds soaring above urban landscape all over India. In the middle of New Delhi, you could actually see 100s of Black Kites. Every time I go to India, the population of these birds catches my attention, it's growing along with other birds like Wood Pigeon and Crows. Black Kite काली चील (Milvus migrans) October 2023 Jabalpur, M.P., India The Pariah or Black Kite ( काली चील) - Milvus migrans live in the neighbourhood of human habitations and depend for their livelihood chiefly on the artificial conditions created by the man. It is a large brown hawk easily distinguished from all other similar birds by its forked tail, a feature particularly noticeable in flight. Numbers are always present near slaughter houses, fish and meat markets, refuse dumps and docks for any bits that they can pick up. The ease and grace with which a kite will make its lightning swoop to carry off a d...
In 2014, it was the first time I saw and photographed Common Kingfisher छोटा किलकिला, राम चिरैया, शरीफन, निता मछराला (Alcedo atthis) in Jabalpur, India. It was an experience on its own. I was sitting with my dad by the side of a small lake literally in front of our home talking about rubbish being dumped in the water bodies all over Jabalpur. Once renowned for its water bodies, the only name of those remain postal addresses. I had my camera with me because my dad wanted me to click a photo of him with his friend. All of a sudden we saw a bird diving in, a colorful one. It was Common Kingfisher and it flew and perched literally 5 meters from me. And it wasn't just the Common Kingfisher that we saw that day, but also a couple more White-throated Kingfisher ( किलकिला , श्वेतकण्ठ कौड़िल्ला ) / Halcyon Smyrnensis and Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) . Common Kingfisher छोटा किलकिला, राम चिरैया, शरीफन, निता मछराला (Alcedo atthis...
I have been photographing, watching and observing Common Kingfisher छोटा किलकिला, राम चिरैया, शरीफन, निता मछराला (Alcedo atthis) for almost 8 years now. Over this time I have learned a few facts, observed some interesting behavior, and read a lot. Sharing some of these here: Common Kingfisher छोटा किलकिला, राम चिरैया, शरीफन, निता मछराला (Alcedo atthis) 1. How to differentiate between Male & Female? Both sexes of Common Kingfisher look very similar, females are slightly smaller than males. But the magic is in the mandible (bill or beak), males have all-black upper and lower mandibles while females have conspicuous orange lower mandibles. Obviously, females love to put lipstick on. It is hard to differentiate sexes in juveniles, they develop color in mandible only after a year or so. Male & Female Common Kingfishers with fish for the chicks 2. How to differentiate juveniles from Adults? There are two ways to differentiate between Common Kingfis...
Comments
Post a Comment