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This is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. It is found in Africa, on the Indian subcontinent, in the Middle East, and in southern Europe. This is the largest species of flamingo, averaging 110–150 cm (43–59 in) tall and weighing 2–4 kg
At Uchali Lake, Soon Valley
The Ural owl (Strix uralensis) is a fairly large nocturnal owl. It is a member of the true owl family, Strigidae. Both its common name and scientific name refer to the Ural Mountains of Russia where the type specimen was collected. However, this species has an extremely broad distribution that extends as far west as much of Scandinavia, montane eastern Europe, and, sporadically, central Europe across the Palearctic broadly through Russia to as far east as Sakhalin and throughout Japan. The Ural owl may include up to 15 subspecies, but most likely the number may be slightly fewer if accounting for clinal variations.
This forest owl is typical associated with the vast taiga forest in Eurosiberia, although it ranges to other forest types, including mixed forests and temperate deciduous forest. Ural owls tend to vigorously protect a set territory on which they have historically nested on a variety of natural nest sites, including tree cavities and stumps and nests originally built by other birds but now, in many parts of the range are adapted to nest boxes made by biologists and conservationists.
S. u. hondoensis (Clark 1907)- This race may include S. u. japonica. If it includes japonica, this race is found throughout Hokkaido down through northern and central Honshu. Quite to the contrary of Bergmann's rule, northern owls in Hokkaido are the smallest ones, and indeed the smallest known in the entire Ural owl species, while southerly owls are slightly larger. Otherwise birds from the different islands are similar in appearance.
The dancing tanchōzuru:
With wings slightly raised and heads held high, a pair of red-crowned cranes begin to march, their broad, three-toed feet puncturing the snow as they trumpet loudly and steam rises from their beaks. The male calls first, followed closely by the female—several notes in quick succession, strengthening their bond. But this vocal parade is just the prelude.
Now the pair begin to dance, bowing heads, flapping wings, leaping up and down and spinning around, sometimes picking up sticks and leaves and tossing them in the air. Their momentum triggers other couples to do the same, then the juveniles join in, until the whole flock is in motion—mesmerising flashes of red, black and white, flickering across the snowfields. It’s a sight worth going a long way to see.
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Long-tailed Shrike
The long-tailed shrike or rufous-backed shrike (Lanius schach) is a member of the bird family Laniidae, the shrikes. They are found widely distributed across Asia and there are variations in plumage across the range. The species ranges across much of Asia, both on the mainland and the eastern archipelagos. The eastern or Himalayan subspecies, L. s. tricolor, is sometimes called the black-headed shrike. Although there are considerable differences in plumage among the subspecies, they all have a long and narrow black tail, have a black mask and forehead, rufous rump and flanks and a small white patch on the shoulder. It is considered to form a superspecies with the grey-backed shrike (Lanius tephronotus) which breeds on the Tibetan Plateau.
The long-tailed shrike is a typical shrike, favouring dry open habitats and found perched prominently atop a bush or on a wire. The dark mask through the eye is broad and covers the forehead in most subspecies and the whole head is black in subspecies tricolor and nasutus. The tail is narrow and graduated with pale rufous on the outer feathers. Subspecies erythronotus has the grey of the mantle and upper back suffused with rufous while the southern Indian caniceps has pure grey. A small amount of white is present at the base of the primaries. The bay-backed shrike is smaller and more contrastingly patterned and has a more prominent white patch on the wing. The sexes are alike in plumage.
The species is found across Asia from Kazakhstan to New Guinea. It is found mainly in scrub and open habitats. Many of the temperate zone populations are migratory, moving south in winter while those in the tropics tend to be sedentary although they may make short distance movements. Subspecies caniceps of southern India is found in winter in the dry coastal zone of southern India. Subspecies tricolor migrates south to Bengal in India. They are found in scrub, grassland and open land under cultivation. A survey in southern India found them to be among the commonest wintering shrikes and found at a linear density along roadsides at about 0.58 per kilometer, often choosing wires to perch.
This species is a rare vagrant to western Europe on the strength of two accepted records in Great Britain on South Uist in November 2000 and the Netherlands near Den Helder in October 2011. A bird matching the features of caniceps was seen on the island of Maldives. It has also occurred as a vagrant to Jordan, Israel, Turkey, Hungary, Japan and Sweden.
Whooper Swan
The whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus), also known as the common swan, pronounced hooper swan, is a large northern hemisphere swan. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan, and the type species for the genus Cygnus. Francis Willughby and John Ray's Ornithology of 1676 referred to this swan as "the Elk, Hooper, or wild Swan". The scientific name is from cygnus, the Latin for "swan".
Whooper swans require large areas of water to live in, especially when they are still growing, because their body weight cannot be supported by their legs for extended periods of time. The whooper swan spends much of its time swimming, straining the water for food, or eating plants that grow on the bottom.
Whooper swans pair for life, and their cygnets stay with them all winter; they are sometimes joined by offspring from previous years. Their preferred breeding habitat is wetland, but semi-domesticated birds will build a nest anywhere close to water. Both the male and female help build the nest, and the male will stand guard over the nest while the female incubates. The female will usually lay 4–7 eggs (exceptionally 12). The cygnets hatch after about 36 days and have a grey or brown plumage. The cygnets can fly at an age of 120 to 150 days.
When whooper swans prepare to go on a flight as a flock, they use a variety of signaling movements to communicate with each other. These movements include head bobs, head shakes, and wing flaps and influence whether the flock will take flight and if so, which individual will take the lead.
They are very noisy; the calls are strident, similar to those of Bewick's swan but more resonant and lower-pitched on average: kloo-kloo-kloo in groups of three or four.
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Golden-throated Barbet
The golden-throated barbet (Psilopogon franklinii) is an Asian barbet native to Southeast Asia, where it inhabits foremost forests between 900 and 2,700 m (3,000 and 8,900 ft) altitude. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List because of its wide distribution and stable population.
The golden-throated barbet is vivid green above with paler yellowish-green plumage below, deep blue wings and verditer underneath the tail. Its bill is dusky black, and it is black around the eyes. Its forehead is crimson and its throat orange. Its legs are greenish.
The golden-throated barbet is resident in Nepal, India, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam and mainland China. Its presence in Bangladesh is uncertain. It inhabits tropical and subtropical moist forests at elevations of 900 to 2,700 m (3,000 to 8,900 ft). The male's territorial call is a very loud pukwowk.
Plumbeous Water Redstart (Female)
The plumbeous water redstart (Phoenicurus fuliginosus) is a passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is found in South Asia, Southeast Asia and China. Males are slate blue in colour, while females are grey. The bird's common name refers to its colour which resembles lead. They tend to live near fast-moving streams and rivers.
The plumbeous water redstart is typically 14 centimetres (5.5 in) long in total, with an average weight of 22 grams (0.78 oz) for males and 18.8 grams (0.66 oz) for females. The male birds are slate blue in colour with a tail that is rusty red. On the other hand, female birds are pale grey and feature a white rump.
The bird is found in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Their preferred habitats are streams, nullahs and rivers with boulders that are shaded, as well as vegetation near riverbanks. Streams with higher populations of insects such as mayflies appear to be preferred.
They are typically found at relatively high elevations, with the ones living in the Himalayas seen between 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) and 4,100 metres (13,500 ft). However, they tend to descend to lower altitudes during the winter.
The plumbeous water redstart has been placed on the Least Concern category of the IUCN Red List, as the population has remained stable throughout the last ten years. The size of its distribution range is over 5,100,000 square kilometres (2,000,000 sq mi).
The plumbeous water redstart is very protective of its habitat and will be extremely confrontational to any trespasser on its territory. In order to catch flies in rivers, it flies vertically until it is at least 20 feet (6.1 m) above the water, before gliding down in a spiral back to the same place.
Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker
The Japanese pygmy woodpecker or pygmy woodpecker (Yungipicus kizuki) is a species of woodpecker. It is found in coniferous and deciduous forests in Russia, China, North Korea, South Korea and Japan. This species has also been placed in the genus Dendrocopos or Picoides. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as a least-concern species.
This woodpecker is found in Korea, northeastern China, southeastern Siberia, Sakhalin, Japan and the Ryukyu Islands. It occurs up to 2,100 m (6,900 ft) in elevation, and its habitat consists of many types of coniferous and deciduous forests, including lowland, upland and riverine forests, and also parks and gardens.
The Japanese pygmy woodpecker occurs in pairs and mixed-species foraging flocks, eating invertebrates and berries. Its calls are khit and kzz notes, and it drums weakly in short bursts. Breeding starts in March in southern Japan and in late May in northern Japan. A nest hole is excavated in a dead branch. The eggs are white, measuring about 19 mm (0.75 in) by 15 mm (0.59 in). Five to seven white eggs are laid and then incubated for 12 to 14 days. Fledgling occurs after three weeks.
The dancing tanchōzuru:
With wings slightly raised and heads held high, a pair of red-crowned cranes begin to march, their broad, three-toed feet puncturing the snow as they trumpet loudly and steam rises from their beaks. The male calls first, followed closely by the female—several notes in quick succession, strengthening their bond. But this vocal parade is just the prelude.
Now the pair begin to dance, bowing heads, flapping wings, leaping up and down and spinning around, sometimes picking up sticks and leaves and tossing them in the air. Their momentum triggers other couples to do the same, then the juveniles join in, until the whole flock is in motion—mesmerising flashes of red, black and white, flickering across the snowfields. It’s a sight worth going a long way to see.
Swan Lake
Like much of Japan, Hokkaido is seismically active. Consequently, hot springs and volcanic vents can be found all across the island. Lake Kussharo, an inland lake in the western region of Hokkaido, is a caldera lake, a remnant of a long-ago erupted volcano. It is the largest of three caldera lakes that make up Akan National Park. And as with most geographic names in Hokkaido, the lake derives its name from the Ainu and the Ainu word “Kuccharo,” means “The place where a lake becomes a river.”
Its violent, seismic past is evident even today, with natural hot springs bubbling up along its shoreline, heating both the water and gravelly shores. It is here where the Whooper Swans gather to find refuge from Hokkaido’s brutally cold winters.
Read the full blog and watch the video on:
https://wildart.works/behindthelens/swan-lake
View the entire Gallery on
https://wildart.works/swan-lake-gallery
Brown fronted woodpecker female
A medium-sized, pied woodpecker with yellow in crown. White-barred (rather than spotted) black. Underparts, prominent black moustache extending to breast and black-streaked white underparts. Vent deep pink. In male forecrown brown, centre yellow, rear red with black rear neck. In female whole crown yellow.
25 May, 2022
Nainital, Uttarakhand
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Pied Bushchat Male
EM1X 300f4
1/1600, f4, ISO400, 0ev
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Plumbeous Redstart Female
6March2021
Solan
EM1X 100-400IS
1/1600, f6.3, 400mm, 0.3ev, ISO6400
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Indian Silverbill
16 February, 2022
Kapurthala, Punjab
OMD EM1X 300f4
1/1600, f4, ISO200
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Rose ringed Parakeet couple in flight
11 February, 2022
Gujral Nagar, Jalandhar, Punjab
EM1markIII, 100-400IS, 123mm, 1/5000, f5.4, ISO1250
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Tancho Crane/ Red-crowned Crane
The red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis), also called the Manchurian crane or Japanese crane (Japanese: 丹頂鶴 or タンチョウヅル; rōmaji: tanchōzuru), is a large East Asian crane among the rarest cranes in the world. In some parts of its range, it is known as a symbol of luck, longevity, and fidelity.
Adult red-crowned cranes are named for a patch of red bare skin on the crown, which becomes brighter during mating season. Overall, they are snow white in color with black on the wing secondaries, which can appear almost like a black tail when the birds are standing, but the real tail feathers are actually white. Males are black on the cheeks, throat, and neck, while females are pearly gray in these spots. The bill is olive green to greenish horn, the legs are slate to grayish black, and the iris is dark brown.
This species is among the largest cranes, typically measuring about 150 to 158 cm (4 ft 11 in to 5 ft 2 in) tall and 101.2–150 cm (3 ft 4 in–4 ft 11 in) in length (from bill to tail tip). Across the large wingspan, the red-crowned crane measures 220–250 cm (7 ft 3 in–8 ft 2 in). Typical body weight can range from 4.8 to 10.5 kg (11 to 23 lb), with males being slightly larger and heavier than females and weight ranging higher just prior to migration. On average, it is the heaviest crane species, although both the sarus and wattled crane can grow taller and exceed this species in linear measurements. On average, adult males from Hokkaidō weighed around 8.2 kg (18 lb) and adult females there averaged around 7.3 kg (16 lb), while a Russian study found males averaged 10 kg (22 lb) and females averaged 8.6 kg (19 lb); in some cases, females could outweigh their mates despite the males' slightly larger average body weight. Another study found the average weight of the species to be 8.9 kg (20 lb).
In the spring and summer, the migratory populations of the red-crowned crane breed in Siberia (eastern Russia), north-eastern China and occasionally in north-eastern Mongolia (i.e., Mongol Daguur Strictly Protected Area). The breeding range centers in Lake Khanka, on the border of China and Russia. Normally, the crane lays two eggs, with only one surviving. Later, in the fall, they migrate in flocks to the Korean Peninsula and east-central China to spend the winter. Vagrants have also been recorded in Taiwan. In addition to the migratory populations, a resident population is found in eastern Hokkaidō in Japan. This species nests in wetlands and rivers. In the wintering range, their habitat is comprised mainly by paddy fields, grassy tidal flats, and mudflats. In the flats, the birds feed on aquatic invertebrates and, in cold, snowy conditions, the birds switch to mainly living on rice gleanings from the paddy fields.
The population of red-crowned cranes in Japan is mostly non-migratory, with the race in Hokkaidō moving only 150 km (93 mi) to its wintering grounds. Only the mainland population experiences a long-distance migration. They leave their wintering grounds in spring by February and are established on territories by April. In fall, they leave their breeding territories in October and November, with the migration fully over by mid-December.
A red-crowned crane pair duets in various situations, helping to establish formation and maintenance of the pair bond, as well as territorial advertisement and agonistic signaling. The pair moves rhythmically until they are standing close, throwing their heads back and letting out a fluting call in unison, often triggering other pairs to start duetting, as well. As it is occurs year around, the social implications of dancing are complex in meaning. However, dancing behavior is generally thought to show excitement in the species. To strengthen the bond, red-crowned cranes engage in dual honking rituals before performing a dance.
The estimated total population of the species is only 2,750 in the wild, including about 1,000 birds in the resident Japanese population. Of the migratory populations, about 1,000 winter in China (mainly at the Yellow River delta and Yancheng Coastal Wetlands), and the remaining winter in Korea. It received endangered status on June 2, 1970.
In Japan, this crane is known as the tanchōzuru and is said to live for 1,000 years. A pair of red-crowned cranes was used in the design for the Series D 1000-yen note (reverse side). In the Ainu language, the red-crowned crane is known as sarurun kamuy or "marsh-kamuy". At Tsurui, they are one of the 100 Soundscapes of Japan. Cranes are said to grant favours in return for acts of sacrifice, as in Tsuru no Ongaeshi ("crane's return of a favor").
Status: Endangered