This month Science trail takes you to to visit a popular location to spot birds with a bird enthusiast KarthikSai giving you tips on capturing them on camera
A great location for spotting bids is “divyaramam” a place near kapilatheertham temple in Andhrapradesh close to Tirupathi. It is popular with morning walkers as well as the birds that visit because of the vegetation and a cool climate
Birds like jungle babbler, rofoustreepie, asian paradise fly cathcher and many others can be spotted here.
What you need to do to photograph birds –
- Select places where there is greenery and lot of trees and water sources.
- Always carry a first aid kit.
- Use camouflage dress to gel with the surroundings as birds can take flight if they feel threatened
Carry a hand book with information along to help identify the birds – One can always use the internet for more information
“ASAIN PARADISE FLYCATCHER ROFOUS COLOUR”
“This is a memorable shot” Karthik says, “I risked my life to take this picture.Just missed a cobra bite. The cobra was about 7 feet long ,but I’m happy I tried and captured this image”
The brown fish owl
The brown fish owl (Bubo zeylonensis or Ketupazeylonensis).
This species is a part of the family known as typical owls, Strigidae.It inhabits the warm subtropical and humid tropical parts of continental Asia and some offshore islands.Of the four living species of fish owl, it is the most widely distributed, most common and best-studied
The brown-headed barbet
The brown-headed barbet or large green barbet
This is an Asian barbet. The barbets get their name from the bristles which fringe their heavy bills. The brown-headed barbet is a resident breeder in the Indian subcontinent, widespread in India and also seen in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. It nests in a tree hole, laying 2-4 eggs.It is an arboreal species of gardens and wooded country which eats fruit and insects
The white-rumpedshama
The white-rumpedshama(Copsychusmalabaricus) is a small passerine bird of the family Muscicapidae. Native to densely vegetated habitats in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, its popularity as a cage-bird and songster has led to it being introduced elsewhere.
It was formerly classified as a member of the thrush family, Turdidae, causing it to be commonly known as the white-rumpedshama thrush or simply shama thrush.
The nominate race is found in the Western Ghats and parts of southern India while leggei is found in Sri Lanka
They typically weigh between 28 and 34 g (1.0 and 1.2 oz) and are around 23ñ28 cm (9ñ11 in) in length. Males are glossy black with a chestnut belly and white feathers on the rump and outer tail
The white-rumpedshama is shy but very territorial
They feed on insects in the wild but in captivity they may be fed on a diet of boiled, dried legumes with egg yolk and raw meat.
Tickell’s blue flycatcher
Tickell’s blue flycatcher (Cyornistickelliae) is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family. This is an insectivorous species which breeds in tropical Asia, from the Indian Subcontinent eastwards to Southeast Asia. Its range stretches across all the countries from India to Indonesia
Tickell’s blue flycatcher breeds in dry forest, scrub, bamboo and gardens.
They feed mainly by capturing insects in flight but their prey include other insects such as termites and earwigs that may be gleaned or picked from the ground
The breeding season is April to August (March to June in Sri Lanka). It nests in a hole in a tree or amongst rocks that is lined with fine grass and fibres and lay 3-5 eggs
Tickell’s blue flycatcher is about 11-12 cm long
Some of the write ups of KarthikSai’s work in the print media
