The pond heron is almost always present when there is water in the reservoir. It can also be found in Bithur. It is a brownish bird, showing mostly white (wing and tail feathers) in flight. The next picture shows a bird that suddenly alighted barely a few meters from us. It stood there for a while before flying down to the water's edge where it sat still for a long time, not catching anything that I could see. In photo 2681, you see two pond herons flying across the reservoir, while a brood of night herons can be seen in the tree at the back.
When there's water in the reservoir, you can usually see a flock of
night herons, sitting on one
of the trees overhanging the water. They don't seem to be very active in the
daytime, but they will fly off if you approach.
Most of the day, this large owl can be seen dozing under the AC on the Maths Dept
office (?) on the 5th floor. Take a right out of the elevator, and see it from
the first opening on the right. The owl is quite large and can be seen with
the naked eye as it dozes for most of the day. (But it is seen a bit less
regularly in the summer, it appears).
What used to be called the Great Horned Owl (Bubo Bubo Bengalensis) in Salim
Ali, is now sometimes merged with
The Eurasian Eagle-Owl (Bubo Bubo) (Grimmett). However, some others
(Grewal) maintain the
subspecies distinction between and
bengalensis and hemachalana, calling the first Eurasian Eagle
owl (this is the Himalayan race), and the latter the Rock Eagle Owl. One
characteristic is that the Rock Eagle Owl has streaks on the neck
going down to the belly - which this bird seems to have.
This is a big bird; with a wing span of nearly 2 meters, it is one of the largest birds on campus.
These two images of the Eagle Owl in flight is from the reservoir, where
three or four eagle owls can often be seen roosting.
Now you won't be surprised to learn that
it is called the Leopard on wings!
This last V-shaped flock may be Large Cormorants (Ramit Sangal).
Sarus mate for life. Here Mr. and Mrs. are out for a stroll near the hostel areaa.
Sighted near hall 8 on the morning of Mar 19, 2009. Ashy-crowned sparrow Lark
An ashy-crowned sparrow lark sitting on a mound near hall 8
Crested Lark
This pair was sighted near hall 8 in Mar 09.
The Grey-headed Myna or the Chestnut-tailed Starling may be somewhat uncommon at IIT, it is not mentioned in the checklist, so this ID, though it looks fine, must be assessed carefully.
I saw these birds on my lawn, on two days - October 14 and 16, 2006. They would come in a flock of about a dozen, spread themselves all over the flowering bottlebrush tree, and feast on the flowers for at least half an hour, before flying off at some unspoken signal. I didn't know what they were until I put up this website and Sainath Vellal ID'd them.
It seems the species is normally resident somewhat more to the south and to the east of Kanpur. The Handbook lists them as being south of a "line drawn from Mount Abu to Dehradun", and Kanpur would certainly be in this zone. Other texts (Grewal) note that they are normally resident in two bands in the Northeast and the Southeast, and that they may move in other parts in between. It seems they are somewhat patchy in their movements and it is possible that it is only in winter that they would be visiting Kanpur. Of course, it is possible that this is some other bird, though this seems unlikely - the ID is due to Sainath, and I find the colour, shape and behaviour matching rather well. The next picture shows two birds foraging actively.
This repetitive calling is why he is called "brainfever bird". The three-note song sounds like chokh-gelo - which is its Bengali name - meaning "Lost my eyes". It can get on one's nerves if repeated endlessly (hear it on YouTube). It's plumage (and also flight characteristics) are deliberately like a hawk, which gives it some protection perhaps.
This Indian roller dropped in to peep through the windows of the CSE building offices. Dana Ballard, who was visiting from U. Rochester at the time, took this picture from the corner window in CSE building room 205, circa February 2005.
In flight, the Indian roller is a brilliant mosaic of colour. Sometimes it
is called "Blue Jay", but Indian roller is the more accepted name.
Sometimes you can see an Indian roller near the entrance to the academic
area.
Below on the left is a wagtail that was hopping about the tourist
boats, occasionally plucking a disreputable insect (here it has something
white in its beak).
in Dec 2009. White-browed Wagtail
The black and white wagtail can be seen at the hall 8 reservoir, and is quite a common sight in Bithoor, scrambling after food near the
ghats and the boats. The black "bib" may reduce or disappears in winter
(non-breeding plumage).
White-browed wagtail, or Pied wagtail. from Bithoor, May 5 2007.
Left image: on boat at Bithoor. Other two are from the oxidation tanks near Hall 8 in
March and Dec 2009.
White Wagtail
Sighted at the hall 8 reservoir in Dec 2009.
There are several kinds of yellow wagtail. This one was seen on two occasions near the ganga canal; these images from late March.
ID help from TV Prabhakar and then Ramit Sangal.
Yellow-orange belly, brown wings edged with
white, white streak above the eye (a bit marginal), sparrow like in
shape and appearance, seen on two occasions, in Nov and in March.
Chestnut-shouldered Petronia
Identified as the Chestnut-shouldered Petronia with help from Ramit Singal. This is the bird, earlier
known as the Yellow-throated Sparrow, which excited the curiosity of a young
boy, who was to become Salim Ali.
This bird is very small - about the size of a sunbird. Straight short white-ish bill. March 2007. I had initially ID'd it as a Pale-Billed (Tickel's) Flowerpecker; but Ramit Singal pointed out that it was the Lesser Whitethroat... look out also for their "check - check" calls which includes a little bit of trilling as well. . Indeed, the bill is less light than a pale-billed.
Here are two images of these birds (by JM Garg, from wiki-commons);
Whitethroat on the left, and Pale-billed on the right. Note the ccntinuous
throat-breast colour on the pale-billed.
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_preening_in_Hyderabad,_AP_W_IMG_7326.jpg)
On 11 November 2005 around 8 AM, I was walking near the airstrip when a flock of these - about 40 - descended on the abundantly blooming kAsh flower stalks beside the road. The reeds often bent dramatically under their weight. They kept pecking at the bases of the flowers, presumably that's where the seeds are.
How do they know where to find the seed, I wondered later. Are they born
with this knowledge? If so, do they know also know each type of plant?
Probably not. But then, if they learn it as babies, then different groups of
munias should exhibit somewhat different behaviours (or cultures). But then,
probably the seeding patterns are rather similar across the plants they
prefer...
The Ashy Prinia (Prinia socialis) is also called the Ashy Wren-Warbler.
Seen on a flowering neem tree in April 2007. ID by Ramit Singal. 
Orphean Warbler
This bird is a winter migrant, visible between September to March. It may come onto your lawn quite readily, "shivering" its orange tail while listening, head bent, for insects in the grass. (ID: Barun/Sushmita Banerjee).
Both genders have an orange underbelly ("start" is the region under the tail). The male is black to grey above, while the females, (as in all animals!) are duller and greyer.
Photographed on my lawn and garden in early October 2006.
These photographs are for a single individual seen end-October 2006 in my
garden. (ID: Dipanwita Bera)
White Bellied Drongo
Black head, black beak, black wings, fading into
white belly. It has a long
deeply forked tail - not visible except vaguely
in the flying picture. (ID: Sainath Vellal/ Dipanwita Bera)
