~~Birds of Goa~~

One of the things I have been wanting to learn more about is ornithology. We have spent a lot of time bird watching here in India, and the rewards have been great.

I have been keeping lists of the birds we learned to identify in each state. A little late, I know, but, here is a list of birds that we saw in Goa which we had never seen before. We have since seen many of these in other states as well, but these ones have become really familiar friends.

But they were all new and amazing to us in those first few weeks. We didn’t end up hiring any birding guides while we were there, and for that reason there are a lot of birds that we saw but never identified (no bird book either). The ones are just ones that I was able to identify by trying to memorize them until I had internet access, and then typing in their field marks and some other keywords into Google. Please tel me about any corrections in the comments!

**These are not photos that I took, but rather photos from Google images, where I chose photos that showed the bird in the position that I had seen it. If you see your photo on here and want it removed, please contact me and I will take it down immediately.**

1.1.    Brahminy Kite / haliastur Indus / sanka-cheel – hindi . These guys are everywhere around Goa, esp in the trees around the beaches and rivers. Huge flocks of them at times.

1.2.    Crow-pheasant / entropus sthensis / Mahoka –hindi . Some of my favourites here, really big with huge tails. Very clumsy moving around in the trees.

1.3.    Red-whiskered Bulbul  We first noticed this guy because of his song. At first we couldn’t make out what his head looked like; in fact, I thought it had its beak open wide like a wren before realizing that it actually has this really tall, forward-pointing crest!

1.4.    White-Bellied Woodpecker – First saw one of these punks while walking in forest near Agonda, then saw another one on a palm outside the German/Nepali restaurant where Rabi works.

1.5.    Asian Paradise Flycatchers –These are not only beautiful, but have the strange trait of the males having two different appearances, or morphs – brown and white.

1.5.1.  Rufous-morph Asian Paradise Flycatcher / terpsiphone paradisi / We got a glimpse of this guy’s tail (but not body) from behind one day when we first got to Goa.

1.5.2.  White-morph male Asian Paradise Flycatcher/ terpsiphone paradisi /

I saw one of these white males in a tree, it moved downward and out of sight in a strange way that made me think maybe it had been some kind of albino squirrel. Then I saw those amazing white feathers… Heart-stopping.

1.6.    Malibar Whistling Thrush (Whistling Schoolboy) – heard twice, not seen. sound clip at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malabar_Whistling_Thrush. I’ve read so many references to the eerie sound of a person whistling next to you in the woods that I was so excited to hear it myself!

1.7.    Magpie Robin – These birds have such a nice voice and they love to use it.

1.8.    Hoopoe / upupa epops When we were staying at Rory and Estella’s place in Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary, we went for a walk in the fallow farmers’ fields at their suggestion. Saw a Hoopoe in a tree and mistook it for some kind of a woodpecker. Then we went to the same place again the next morning at dawn and saw it again, this time hopping around on the ground and pecking for bugs. These guys rock my world.

1.9.    Redwattled Lapwing / vandios indicus  These guys have such sharp colours, and yet they are almost invisible when they stand in the fields with the cows and the egrets. You only notice them when they move.

1.10.Black Drongo – Everywhere. Very aerobatic flyers too.

1.11.Greater Racket-Tailed  Drongo – Saw one fly from a perch in Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary, trailing that long feather behind him.

1.12.Kingfishers –  We’ve seen hundreds of them in Goa.

1.12.1.    Small Blue Kingfisher

1.12.2.    White-throated Kingfsher–  Halcyon smyrnensis

1.13.Little Green Bee-eater – These were the first birds that really grabbed our attention in India – I’m sure you can see why! – and they are really numerous throughout Goa. They love sitting on powerlines, and they have beautiful flight with apricot underwings when they fly to catch dragon flies. Then they bash the dragon flies against the wire to kill them before gulping them down.

1.14.Plum-Headed Parakeet – Psittacula cyanocephala – First spotted 3 on a cliff face when walking on foot trails just inland of Agonda Beach. Later saw them flying in various places.

1.15.Little Egrets –

1.16.Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker (Dendrocopos nanus) –

1.17. Black-hooded Oriole (Oriolus xanthornus)  –  Saw a few in Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary, and then again when exploring the abandoned hotel near Agonda, and fairly frequently after that.

1.18.Malabar Grey Hormbill (ocyceros griseus) – I saw one fly by when walking alone near abandoned hotel site near Agonda Beach.

1.19.Black-headed Cuckooshrike – Coracina melanoptera  Always on the ground in the field beside the Nepali bakery where Rabi works. Look rather plain (grey and black) until they take flight and you see the lovely white bars on the wings and tailfeathers.

1.20.Ashy Woodswallows –  Very shy; we see them retreating into the bush sometimes as we arrive. So fluffy.

1.21.White-bellied Sea-eagle – Coasting over the beach area at Agonda. Huge.

1.22.Black-Headed Ibis  Threskiornis melanocephalus Saw a group like this in a field just south of Palolem.

1.23.Indian Roller Coracias benghalensis . We observed this bird seated several times, wondering what it was. It is beautiful when seated, with its blueish body and apricot head, but I didn’t make a positive ID until finally, one day, we saw it take off in flight, leaving us absolutely breathless. Scroll down to see the surprise this bird carries in its wings!

^Seated….

And then…

KAZZAM !

1.23.1.    Sunbirds

1.23.2.    Crimson Sunbird – Aethopyga siparaja.  First seen from raised verandah at Savoi Plantation.

1.23.3.    Purple Sunbird. Seen at Savoi Plantation and then again from balcony of Champaneer Hotel room in Gujarat. Also frequently observed in Rajasthan. These guys look completely black until the sun hits them and reveals their shiny blue and purple hues.

1.24.Coppersmith Barbet. Watched one sitting on a pole along the road between Arpora and Baga. So named because of their metronomic call that sounds like a coppersmith hammering metal.

1.25.Red-collared Dove, Streptopelia tranquebarica tranquebarica – Also very common in cities and in the countryside.