CoimbatoreTaxi News

LITTLE CORMORANT

LOCAL NAME : Kakkattaravu
SIZE : Somewhat larger than the Jungle Crow, with longer neck and tail. 
Field Characters : A glistening black duck-like water bird with a longer stiff tail and slender compressed bill sharply hooked at the tip. A small white patch on throat, and suggestion of a nuchal crest. Sexes alike. Singly or in flocks, on or near water.Cormorants are almost exclusively fish-eaters. They chase and capture their quarry under water, being expert divers and submarine swimmers. Flocks sometimes hunt in concert in the manner of pelicans. They also hunt individually. When satiated, the birds may be seen sitting on a rock or sandbank, or on stakes or trees in or near the water, drying themselves with outstretched wings.
Eggs- 4 or 5, long narrow ovals, bluish white in color with a chalky texture. Average SIZE 44.8x29.0mm

INDIAN DARTER or SNAKE –BIRD

LOCAL NAME : Chera-Kozhi 
SIZE : About that of the Kite 
Field Characters : A black, cormorant-like water bird with a long and very slender S-shaped neck, narrow head and pointed dagger bill. Back heavily streaked with silver-grey; head and neck velvety brown; chin and throat whitish. Tail long, stiff and wedge-shaped(almost rounded). Sexes alike. Singly or in loose parties on tanks&c Resident. Fairly common, but not abundant. Affects open placid streams, village tanks, and dammed reservoirs. On the last the exposed tops of the submerged dead tress provide favorite lookout and wing-drying posts. This is also found in Ceylon , all India , burma , Malaysia ,,Indochinese countries to the Phluppines. Other races occur in America , Africa and Australia . Eggs 3 or 4, very elongated,
pale greenish blue with whitish chalky coating. Average SIZE 52.9x33.5mm

EASTERN GREY HERON

LOCAL NAME : Charamunti 
SIZE : About the same as the Purple Heron 
Field Characters: Like the Purple Heron but ashy grey above with white crown and neck; grayish white below. Long black occipitai crest. Elongated white feathers on the breast with some black streaks. A conspicuous black dotted line down the middle of the fore neck. In the female the crest and pectoral plumes are less developed. Solitary, on reedy marshes. Distribution outside kerala is in Ceylon , all India , Burma , Malaysia . This race ranges from Iraq eastward to the Philippines.The species overall is found throughout the Old World . Eggs – almost indistinguishable from those of the Purple Heron. Average SIZE 58.6X43.5 mm.

INDIAN LITTILE GREEN BITTERN

LOCAL NAME : Chinna-kokku. 
SIZE : About the same as, or slightly smaller than, the Pond Heron.
Field Charaters : Like the Pond Heron in general effect but largely blackish grey, glossy dark green and bronze-green above; ashy grey below. Top of head and long occipital crest black, glossed with dark green. Chin and throat white. Sexes alike. Solitary, in screwpine thickets and brushwood near water.Resident. Not common. Low country, and to at least 2000 ft. (c. 600 m). Keeps to brushwood in and on the banks of rocky streams. Distribution outside kerala is in Ceylon , India , Burma , Thailand , South China , Malaysia.The species in numerous races is practically cosmopolitan. Eggs – 3 to 5, very like the Pond Heron's. Average SIZE 39.5X29.7 mm

INDIAN POND HERON, or PADDY BIRD

LOCAL NAME : Kulamunti, Kulakokku. 
SIZE : Slightly smaller than the Cattle Egret. About that of a village hen. 
Field Characters : An egret-like marsh bird, largely snow-white but effectively obliterated while at rest by a camouflaging earthy-brown mantle. In the breeding season a bunch of filamentous maroon hair-like plumes covers the back, and a long white occipital crest adorns the head. Sexes alike. Singly or in loose parties, at streams, tanks and puddles. The food of the Pond Heron consists mainly of frogs, fish, crabs and insects. Resident. Common. Low country, and up to at least 3000 ft., c. 900 m. ( Periyar Lake and environs). Affects streams, tanks, inundated paddy fields, flooded ditches, &c., by the coastal backwaters as well as inland.Distribution Outside Kerala is in all India , Burma , Thailand , Malaysia , &c. West to the Persian Gulf . A different race (phillipsi) in the Maldive Islands . Eggs- 3 to 5, pale greenish blue. Average SIZE 38.0X28.5 mm.

CATTLE EGRET

LOCAL NAME : Kalimunti 
SIZE : Same as the Little Egret. About that of the domestic hen; lankier and more leggy. 
Field Characters : Snow-white overall, very similar to the Little Egret, with which it may sometimes be confused. But the colour of its bill-yellow (instead of black) – is always diagnostic. In the breeding season the head, neck and back turn a distinctive golden, orange-buff. Sexes alike. Flocks, attending on grazing cattle. Resident (presumably). Apparently much more abundant in Ferguson 's day than at present, but still the commonest of all the egrets. Frequents paddy fields along the backwaters, cultivated and fallow land, chiefly in attendance on grazing cattle.Distribution Outside Kerala is in Ceylon, all India, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia to the Philippines and Eastern China.The nominate race occurs in Africa, S.Europe and W.Asia. Its food consists very largely of bluebottle flies picked off the grass or weeds. The bird poises its bill, sways its neck comically from side to side to get a correct aim, as it were, and jabs at the quarry. Grasshoppers and other insects, as well as frogs and lizards, are also eaten.Eggs – 3 to 5, pale skim-milk blue in colour, unmarked. Average SIZE 44.1X33.6 mm.

EASTERN LARGE EGRET

LOCAL NAME: Perumunti
SIZE: About the same as, or slightly smaller than, the Grey Heron. 
Field Characters: A large, lanky, snow-white, heron-like marsh bird with bare blackish legs, long slender neck and head, and pointed black or yellow bill. In the breeding season a bunch of ornamental filamentous plumes (‘aigrettes') develops on the back, falling over beyond the tail. No crest or breast plumes. Sexes alike. Solitary, on marshes and tanks &c.Resident. Uncommon. Frequents waterlogged paddy stubbles, reedy islets and mud-banks in the coastal backwaters &c. Distribution outside kerala is in Ceylon, all India, Burma, Malaysia, Indochinese countries to Japan and Australia Its food – insects, frogs, fish, small reptiles, &c. – is procured in shallow water or from the squelchy mud. Eggs – 3 to 4 , very like those of the Grey and Purple Herons, but somewhat smaller. Average SIZE 54.0X38.6 mm.

INDIAN SMALLER EGRET

LOCAL NAME: Cherumunti 
SIZE: Slightly smaller than the Large Egret. 
Field Characters: Somewhat smaller, but otherwise very like the Large Egret and easily confused with it. Differentiation more satisfactory in breeding plumage, when it has decomposed ornamental plumes on both back and breast. No crest. Sexes alike. Solitary, or in small parties at marshes. Resident. Fairly common but not abundant. Frequents the coastal backwaters, as well as tanks and inundated paddy cultivation inland. Much persecuted by local shikaris and as a rule inordinately wary everywhere. Distribution outside kerala is in Ceylon , all India , Burma , Malaysia , Indochinese countries to Japan and the Philippines . Average SIZE of eggs 47.6x35.8mm.

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LITTLE EGRET

LOCAL NAME: Chinnamunti. 
SIZE: Smaller than the last. About that of a domestic hen,with longer legs and neck. 
Field Characters: A lanky snow-white marsh bird- a smaller edition of the Large Egret. In the breeding season it develops a long drooping crest of two narrow plumes, in addition to filamentous ornamental feathers(airgrettes) on both breast and back. Bill black at all seasons. Feet particoloured yellow and black. Sexes alike. Flocks, on marsh land. Resident,Commoner that the lat two, but not abundant. Frequents the backwaters,inundated and waterlogged cultivation, tanks,streams, &c. Distribution outside kerala is in Ceylon , all India , Burma , Malaysia to China and Japan . Also Europe , Africa and W. Asia . Eggs – 3 to 5, of the usual blue-green colour. Average SIZE 44.4X31.7 mm.

INDIAN REEF HERON

LOCAL NAME: Tiramunti 
SIZE: About that of the Little Egret.
Field Characters: General effect as of the Little Egret, also with particoloured feet, but found in two colour phases: 1) pure white, 2) bluish slate with a white patch on throat. Occasional examples are intermediate, being partly white and partly slaty. A backwardly drooping crest of two narrow plumes is acquired in the breeding season.The white phase is easily confused with the Little Egret, but its more solitary habit and seacost habitat usually distinguish it. Sexes alike. Resident. Not common. Frequents the coastal backwaters, keeping to the waterline on mud-banks &c., or perched on stones or fishing stakes in shallow water. Rarely inland; once near Coimbatore (Pillai, 1959, JBNHS 57 (1): 222). Distribution outside kerala is in Ceylon and up along the western coast of India to the Persian Gulf . Also the Laccadive Islands . Fish, particularly the mud-crawler (Periopthalmus), crustaceans and molluscs are the principal food items.
Eggs – 3 or 4, pale sea-green or blue-green, unmarked. Average SIZE 44.9X34.3 mm.

CoimbatoreTaxi News