Most birds in this series are either migrant visitors to the IIT-B campus or shy, relatively un-noticed residents. About five years back, both resident and migrant birds were found in larger numbers on our campus. Of late, due to excessive concrete constructions, especially on the lakeside, a large section of the migrants have given IIT-B the miss.
Black Naped Monarch: Winter visitor, easily missed out due to its small size.
Blue Tailed Bee Eater: Pre-winter visitor, active in late mornings.
Indian Pitta: Summer visitor. Not seen in the last three years.
Orange Headed Ground Thrush: Extremely shy resident, used to be a migrant earlier.
Puff Throated Babbler: Summer visitor, active throughout mornings.
Rufous Woodpecker: Resident, active in early mornings. Once used to be a migrant with very infrequent sightings.
Tailorbird: Largely un-noticed resident. Named for its fame in making awesome nests.
Hoopoe: A one-off-visitor; famous for having a cyclone named after it (hud-hud). Used to be a regular visitor to the campus and would frequent Gymkhana grounds during the period 1977-1995.
White Breasted Waterhen: Shy, resident, scampers on sight.
Osprey: Once a resident, this bird is now a monsoon visitor; 99% of its diet is fish.
Yellow Footed Green Pigeon: Winter visitor, is the state-bird of Maharashtra. Used to be a rare sighting.
Orange Headed Ground Thrush: Extremely shy resident, used to be a migrant earlier.
Yellow Eyed Babbler : Winter visitor, has not been sighted in about three years. Once used to be very common, especially in Kol Dongri.
Puff Throated Babbler: Summer visitor, active throughout mornings.
Black Crowned Night Heron: Resident, active in crepuscular and nocturnal hours.
Glossy Ibis: Winter visitor. Seen in the picture in breeding plumage.
Shikra: Winter visitor. Shy and ever vigilant.
1 comment
Kudos to you for writing and sharing beautiful photographs of the “winged denizens” of campus. Looks like you have been painstakingly photographing and documenting the natives and visitors for a long time. This is very important for those studying the patterns of bird migration and how that is affected by climate change and surrounding environment such as the growth of “concrete jungle” on the campus, and certainly if Powai lake is getting polluted, it will influence their coming in the winter also. As a member of the first batch of IITB, I have seen the campus to grow from very wide open to now heavily congested but still with lot of greenery. We did see lot of wild life on campus from snakes to scorpions, often visiting our hostels but did not carefully observe the birds which I am sure there were many!
Hope to see more articles with photos on the subject or on any other wild life – such as leopards anyone! LOL..