Red-billed Blue Magpie - Pangot, Uttarakhand, India - December 2015
Kalij Pheasant (female) - Sattal, Uttarakhand, India - December 2015
The kalij pheasant (Lophura leucomelanos) is a pheasant found in forests and thickets, especially in the Himalayan foothills, from Pakistan to westernThailand. Males are rather variable depending on the subspecies involved, but all have an at least partially glossy bluish-black plumage, while females are overall brownish. Both sexes have a bare red face and greyish legs
Black Francolin - Sattal, Uttarakhand, India - December 2015
The male black francolin is black with white patch on the cheek, a chestnut collar and white spots on the flanks. The back and wings are scalloped with shades of golden brown with sub-terminal tawny-buff bands and pale edges. Tail is black with narrow white or greyish bars. Legs are reddish-brown to red.
Blue-throated Barbet - Sattal, Uttarakhand, India - December 2015
The barbets get their name from the bristles which fringe their heavy bills; this species eats fruits and insects. They frequent evergreen forests, deciduous forests, gardens, orchards, teak forests and cities with fruiting trees.
Greater Yellow-nape Woodpecker - Sattal, Uttarakhand, India - December 2015
Large, olive green woodpecker with prominent yellow-crested nape and throat. Dark olive green with grey underparts. Crown brownish and flight feathers chestnut barred with black. Bill often looks whitish.
Rusty cheeked Scimitar Babbler - Pangot, Uttarakhand, India - December 2015
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.Sexes alike. Olive brown above; orangish - rufous(rusty) sides of face, head,thighs,flanks; remainder of under body mostly pure white; long, curved 'scimitar' beak. Small bands in forest; a bird of under growth, hopping on jungle floor, turns over leaves or digs with beak; sometimes hops in to leafy branches, but more at ease on ground. FOOD:insects,grubs, seeds. VOICE: noisy; mellow,fluty whistle, two-noted CUE..PE...CUE..pe followed by single note replay by mate; guttural alarm call and a liquid contact note. RANGE:the Himalaya foothills to at least 2200m and possibly to 2600m. HABITAT:forest undergrowth, ravines, bamboo.
A pair of Steppe Eagles - Pangot, Uttarakhand, India - December 2015
Great Barbet - Sattal, Uttarakhand, India - December 2015
The great barbet (Psilopogon virens) is an Asian barbet. Barbets are a group of near passerine birds with a worldwide tropical distribution. They get their name from the bristles which fringe their heavy bills.
Bronzed Drongo - Sattal, Uttarakhand, India - December 2015
The bronzed drongo (Dicrurus aeneus) is a small Indomalayan bird belonging to the drongo group. They are resident in the forests of the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. They capture insects flying in the shade of the forest canopy by making aerial sallies from their perches. They are very similar to the other drongos of the region but are somewhat smaller and compact with differences in the fork depth and the patterns of gloss on their feathers.
Orange flanked Bush Robin - Sattal, Uttarakhand, India - December 2015
The most distinctive feature of the orange-flanked bush-robin (Tarsiger cyanurus) is the vibrant plumage of the male. In addition to orange flanks, which give the bird its common name, the male has deep blue upperparts, with a bright blue head, shoulder, rump and tail. The duller female has olive-brown upperparts, but is similar to the male in its orange flanks and blue rump and tail. In both sexes, the throat is white and the bill and legs are black.
Striated Laughingthrush - Pangot, Uttarakhand, India - December 2015
It is found in the northern temperate regions of the Indian subcontinent and ranges across Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Tibet and Nepal. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
