Birds around us - 2nd set

The interesting thing about bird watching is that once you start taking an interest, all of a sudden, you see and hear them everywhere. So I make it a point to carry my camera, Sony DSC H2 (point and shoot with 12x zoom and 8 MPix resolution) everywhere and it has paid off on many occasions.

Some more birds that I could "shoot" in the last few years.

These are a pair of Indian Silverbills and the shot was just lucky, as are most of my photographs of birds. Birds are probably the most difficult of subjects as they never stay still spare a thought for the poor photographer. They are called Jinuvayi in telugu.

This is a Green Bee-eater and is quite common around the outskirts of cities near farms. It is a very brightly colored bird and has a cousin which has a orangish shade on the head. It is called Chinna Pasirika in telugu.

 A Myna which can be found all around as you can see from the electric cable that it is perched on. It is also a pretty popular bird for poets and there are a few songs in telugu on this Gorinka.

This bird is called the Greater Coucal and this is the best shot I could get despite many attempts. It is called Pedda Jamudu Kaki, probably as it looks similar to the common Crow. I could finally shoot it right in front of my house.

This colorful bird is the Indian Robin. They come in different shades from blue to grey, but they all have a distinctive patch of red under their tail. Another easily identifiable sign is the tail which they keep flicking up and down. They are quite common around our cities and it is easy to spot them. Their local name is Nallanchi

Rashmila (my younger daughter) and I used to call this bird "bobbed hair" due to the crest of hair on it's head. It is actually the Red Vented Bulbul. It has a cousin which has a patch of red around it's ears and is called the Red Whiskered Bulbul. The Bulbul is a commonly referred in our literature, especially Hindi. In telugu it is called the Pigili Pitta.

Another example of my ignorance when I thought this was a woodpecker. It is actually a Hoopoe which I am still not sure how to pronounce. It is called as Kukudu Pitta locally.

This is the Asian Koel which is famous for it's beautiful song. It is probably the most mentioned bird in India literature, especially poems and songs. The sound it make early in the morning and evening is very distinctive Kuoo and carries for long distances. This is the male and looks like a larger version of the common crow, but has a red eyes and is also not as active. It prefers to sit peacefully near the top branches of tress and sing it's melancholy songs. In telugu it is called Kovila and a similar Koel in Hindi.

This bird is the White Throated Kingfisher and is one of the most colorful in my collection. The large red beak is very distinctive and also very shy. It is called the Tellaguntu Buchigadu locally.

A Scaly Breasted Muniya is quite common in the city if you observe carefully. There a few other muniyas with different colors and patterns and they can be recognized by their short strong looking beak. It is called Chukkala Jinuvayi in telugu.


This blog is just to share my experience and fun that I have had over the past 5 years on this hobby. I would certainly welcome any comments.


For the rest of my bird photographs, please visit Birds Around Hyderabad.
The telugu names of some of these birds are from the excellent Universities Press/WWF published "The common Birds and Mammals of Andhra Pradesh".
A great site for many other photographs of Indian Birds is Indian Birds