Birds around IITK, Uttar Pradesh Photo Journal
Our feathered friends ask little from us, except to leave their natural homes undisturbed.
IIT, on the outskirts of Kanpur is a great place for sighting birds. Kanpur is on the banks of River Ganga in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. The birds seen here are a common sample of the fauna of the Gangetic plains.
Crows, mynas, sparrows, babblers, warblers, barbets, bee eaters, drongos, cuckoos, parrots, tree pies, owls, kingfishers, red wattled lapwings, pink flecked doves, ghughoo, munias, sunbirds, kites, bahmini mynas, robins, orioles, sarus cranes and peacocks are some of the familiar birds in Uttar Pradesh.
A cool canal just outside IIT Kanpur
A cool canal just outside IIT Kanpur provides the perfect setting for feathered friends to thrive in. The photos here are from webshots.com user Rhohit.
Songbirds
An Asian Magpie Robin is easy to spot early in the morning as it sings from its perch on an electricity wire or a tree.
Asian Magpie Robin: Celebrating Dawn
Koel (Indian cuckoo)
The cuckoos are generally heard in summer, but hearing them call in January is not unheard of.
Cuckoos find a prominent place in the lyrics of folk songs and the semi-classical Chaiti songs, explained Girija Devi, opening a concert on Chaiti. She is a renowned singer of Poorvang gharana (Varanasi).
Peacock
Peacocks are heard more often in the rainy season, but on occasion they are heard in other times of the year too.
Chattering delights! Mynas, Babblers and Parrots
Mynas, babblers and parrots are experts at chattering! Even when a flock of parrots flies home to roost, their chattering amongst themselves makes me long to understand, what it is they talk about, so energetically, and almost all together!
Parrot
Birds of prey
Owls, black kites and shikras are not so difficult to sight. Vultures, once a common sight in UP are prominent by their absence. The Jahanagiri Mahal in Orchha (Madhya Pradesh), is home to many vultures, There nests rest atop palace chhatris.
Shikra with prey
In the fields
Sarus cranes (the state bird of Uttar Pradesh), egrets and munias stalk the fields. Sarus cranes are easy to spot during a train journey through rural Uttar Pradesh. The tall, majestic birds are celebrated for their loyalty for their mate.
Cattle egret
Scaly breasted munia
Munias are small birds that thrive on grass seeds.
Hoopoe
At home in tree tops
The golden oriole can be located by listening for its call. Or even by its bright yellow plumage. The grey hornbill is fond of tall eucalyptus trees and is sometimes seen in crowded cities as well, as long as there are tall trees for it.
Tree pie
A group of tree pies at play - prancing on electric wires or tree tops makes for a lovely sight!
By the water
Black cormorants, a variety of ducks (most of them migratory), red wattled lapwing, white breasted kingfishers, and Indian pond herons are seen around water bodies here.
Black Cormorant
Black cormorants take a break from swimming to dry themselves on tree tops or boulders.
Red wattled lapwing
Kingfisher
Evidently, our feathered friends ask little from us, except to leave their natural homes undisturbed. The other option remains to nurture greenery and take to organic farming, as chemical farming destroys their natural food cycle and leaves them poisoned to death – much like the decimated vultures who fell victim to use of diclofenac drug in cattle.
