Balaji PB Photography

White-crested laughingthrush
Garrulax leucolophus
Bhimtal, Uttrakhand

The white-crested laughingthrush (Garrulax leucolophus) is a member of the family Leiothrichidae.It is a highly social and vocal bird found in forest and scrub from the Himalayan foothills to Southeast Asia.

G. leucolophus is commonly found in foothill forests, up to elevations of 1600m. It favours dense, moist and shady thickets and scrubs, and the edge and understory of broadleaved secondary forests, where it can hide from predators and take shelter from the subtropical sun.

Similarly to other laughingthrushes, G. leucolophus is omnivorous and opportunistic. It subsists mostly on invertebrates such as beetles, spiders, flies, mealworms and caterpillars, snails and leeches. However, it also eats fruits, seeds, nectar, and even small reptiles and amphibians (snakes, lizards and frogs).

Information source: Wikipedia

Indian Scimitar Babbler
Pomatorhinus horsfieldii
Munnar, Kerala
05/04/2023

The Indian scimitar babbler (Pomatorhinus horsfieldii) is an Old World babbler. It is found in peninsular India in a range of forest habitats. They are most often detected by their distinctive calls which include an antiphonal duet by a pair of birds. They are often hard to see as they forage through dense vegetation. The long curved yellow, scimitar-shaped bills give them their name.

The Indian scimitar babbler is a resident breeder (non-migratory) bird. Its habitat is forest and secondary growth mainly in the hilly regions. They feed on insects on the ground or on vegetation. Hopping on the ground, they may turn over leaves or probe in leaf litter for prey. They may sometimes join mixed-species foraging flocks.

They breed from December to May. The nest is a large and loose globular mass of foliage concealed in a bush on the ground or low down. They usually lay three eggs (but varies from two to four) which are pure white in colour.

Information source: Wikipedia

Woolly-necked Stork
Ciconia episcopus
Walayar reservoir, Tamilnadu

The Asian woolly-necked stork or Asian woollyneck (Ciconia episcopus) is a species of large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It breeds singly, or in small loose colonies. It is distributed in a wide variety of habitats including marshes in forests, agricultural areas, and freshwater wetlands across Asia.

The Asian woolly-necked stork walks slowly and steadily on the ground seeking its prey, which like that of most of its relatives, consists of amphibians, reptiles and insects.

Typically, a large stick nest is built on a tree, and clutch size is two to six eggs, with five and six eggs being less common. Birds use both forest trees and scattered trees in agricultural areas to build nests.

Information source: Wikipedia