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Chintamani Kar Bird Sanctuary
Chintamoni Kar Bird Sanctuary (CKBS), also known as Kayal-r Bagan, is a bird sanctuary located in West Bengal, India, south of Kolkata. This garden is famous for its wide variety of birds, butterflies, ferns and orchids. History It was given sanctuary status in 1982. Before then, it was originally a large mango garden with huge mango trees. The government of West Bengal took the initiative to make it open to the public and acquired it from private owners in October 2005. On 8 September 2004 it was named Narendrapur Wildlife Sanctuary, and on 21 October 2005 it was renamed Chintamoni Kar Bird Sanctuary, in honour of celebrated sculptor Chintamoni Kar, who had for many years fought relentlessly to give the "kayaler bagan" status for the sanctuary. Transport The nearest populated place, Narendrapur, is 15 km from Sealdah on the SealdahSonarpur line and is part of the Kolkata Suburban Railway system. It is connected by road to Garia and the EM Bypass. It is 20 k ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourth-most populous and thirteenth-largest state by area in India, as well as the eighth-most populous country subdivision of the world. As a part of the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent, it borders Bangladesh in the east, and Nepal and Bhutan in the north. It also borders the Indian states of Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata, the third-largest metropolis, and seventh largest city by population in India. West Bengal includes the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region, the coastal Sundarbans and the Bay of Bengal. The state's main ethnic group are the Bengalis, with the Bengali Hindus forming the demographic majority. The area's early history featured a succession ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shikra
The shikra (''Accipiter badius'') is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae found widely distributed in Asia and Africa where it is also called the little banded goshawk. The African forms may represent a separate species but have usually been considered as subspecies of the shikra. The shikra is very similar in appearance to other sparrowhawk species including the Chinese goshawk and Eurasian sparrowhawk. They have a sharp two note call and have the typical flap and glide flight. Their calls are imitated by drongos and the common hawk-cuckoo resembles it in plumage. Taxonomy The shikra was formally described in 1788/1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's ''Systema Naturae''. He placed it with the eagles, hawks and relatives in the genus '' Falco'' and coined the binomial name ''Falco badius''. Gmelin description was based on the "brown hawk" from Ceylon that had been described and illustrated in 177 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stork-billed Kingfisher
The stork-billed kingfisher (''Pelargopsis capensis''), is a tree kingfisher which is widely but sparsely distributed in the tropical Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India to Indonesia. This kingfisher is resident throughout its range. It is a very large kingfisher, measuring in length. The adult has a green back, blue wings and tail, and olive-brown head. Its underparts and neck are buff. The very large bill and legs are bright red. The flight of the stork-billed kingfisher is laboured and flapping, but direct. Sexes are similar. There are 13 races or subspecies, differing mostly in plumage detail, but ''P. c. gigantea'' of the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines has a white head, neck and underparts. The call of this noisy kingfisher is a low and far reaching ''peer-por-por'' repeated about every 5 seconds, as well cackling ''ke-ke-ke-ke-ke-ke''. The stork-billed kingfisher lives in a variety of well-wooded habitats near lakes, rivers, or coasts. It perches quiet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White-throated Kingfisher
The white-throated kingfisher (''Halcyon smyrnensis'') also known as the white-breasted kingfisher is a tree kingfisher, widely distributed in Asia from the Sinai east through the Indian subcontinent to China and Indonesia. This kingfisher is a resident over much of its range, although some populations may make short distance movements. It can often be found well away from water where it feeds on a wide range of prey that includes small reptiles, amphibians, crabs, small rodents and even birds. During the breeding season they call loudly in the mornings from prominent perches including the tops of buildings in urban areas or on wires. Taxonomy The white-throated kingfisher is one of the many birds that were first formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. He coined the binomial name ''Alcedo smyrnensis''. Linnaeus cited Eleazar Albin's ''Natural History of Birds'' published in 1738 that included a descript ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rufous Treepie
The rufous treepie (''Dendrocitta vagabunda'') is a treepie, native to the Indian Subcontinent and adjoining parts of Southeast Asia. It is a member of the crow family, Corvidae. It is long tailed and has loud musical calls making it very conspicuous. It is found commonly in open scrub, agricultural areas, forests as well as urban gardens. Like other corvids it is very adaptable, omnivorous and opportunistic in feeding. Description The sexes are alike and the main colour of the body is cinnamon with a black head and the long graduated tail is bluish grey and is tipped in black. The wing has a white patch. The only confusable species is the grey treepie which however lacks the bright rufous mantle. The bill is stout with a hooked tip. The underparts and lower back are a warm tawny-brown to orange-brown in colour with white wing coverts and black primaries. The bill, legs and feet are black. The widespread populations show variations and several subspecies are recognized. The nom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Large-billed Crow
The large-billed crow (''Corvus macrorhynchos''), formerly referred to widely as the jungle crow, is a widespread Asian species of crow. It is very adaptable and is able to survive on a wide range of food sources, making it capable of colonizing new areas, due to which it is often considered a nuisance, especially on islands. It has a large bill, which is the source of its scientific name ''macrorhynchos'' (Ancient Greek for "large beak") and it is sometimes known by the common name thick-billed crow. It can also be mistaken for a common raven. Johann Georg Wagler first described the species from a holotype obtained from Java in the year 1827. The eastern jungle crow and Indian jungle crow were once considered conspecific and together called the jungle crow. Subspecies It has nine subspecies, and some of them are distinctive vocally, Morphology (biology), morphologically and Genetics, genetically, leading to treatments that raise some of them into species status.Madge, S. C. (200 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Crow
The house crow (''Corvus splendens''), also known as the Indian, greynecked, Ceylon or Colombo crow, is a common bird of the crow family that is of Asian origin but now found in many parts of the world, where they arrived assisted by shipping. It is between the jackdaw and the carrion crow in size ( in length) but is slimmer than either. The forehead, crown, throat and upper breast are a richly glossed black, whilst the neck and breast are a lighter grey-brown in colour. The wings, tail and legs are black. There are regional variations in the thickness of the bill and the depth of colour in areas of the plumage. Taxonomy The nominate race ''C. s. splendens'' is found in Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh and has a grey neck collar. The subspecies ''C. s. zugmayeri'' is found in the dry parts of South Asia and Iran and has a very pale neck collar. The subspecies ''C. s. protegatus'' is found in southern India, the Maldives (sometimes separated as ''maledivicus'') and Sri Lanka ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asian Green Bee-eater
The Asian green bee-eater (''Merops orientalis''), also known as little green bee-eater, and green bee-eater in Sri Lanka, is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family. It is resident but prone to seasonal movements and is found widely distributed across Asia from coastal southern Iran east through the Indian subcontinent to Vietnam. Populations in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula that were formerly assigned to this species (under the name Green Bee-eater) are now considered distinct species. They are mainly insect eaters and they are found in grassland, thin scrub and forest often quite far from water. Several regional plumage variations are known and several subspecies have been named. Taxonomy and systematics The Asian green bee-eater was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 using its current binomial name. Several populations have been designated as subspecies: * ''M. o. beludschicus'' (=''M. o. biludschicus'') Iran to Pakistan (paler colours ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White Wagtail
The white wagtail (''Motacilla alba'') is a small passerine bird in the family Motacillidae, which also includes pipits and longclaws. The species breeds in much of Europe and the Asian Palearctic and parts of North Africa. It has a toehold in Alaska as a scarce breeder. It is resident in the mildest parts of its range, but otherwise migrates to Africa. In Ireland and Great Britain, the darker subspecies, the pied wagtail or water wagtail (''M. a. yarrellii'') predominates; this is also called in Ireland willie wagtail, not to be confused with the Australian species ''Rhipidura leucophrys'' which bears the same common name. In total, there are between 9 and 11 subspecies of ''M. alba''. The white wagtail is an insectivorous bird of open country, often near habitation and water. It prefers bare areas for feeding, where it can see and pursue its prey. In urban areas it has adapted to foraging on paved areas such as car parks. It nests in crevices in stone walls and similar natura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Cormorant
The little cormorant (''Microcarbo niger'') is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. Slightly smaller than the Indian cormorant it lacks a peaked head and has a shorter beak. It is widely distributed across the Indian Subcontinent and extends east to Java, where it is sometimes called the Javanese cormorant. It forages singly or sometimes in loose groups in lowland freshwater bodies, including small ponds, large lakes, streams and sometimes coastal estuaries. Like other cormorants, it is often found perched on a waterside rock with its wings spread out after coming out of the water. The entire body is black in the breeding season but the plumage is brownish, and the throat has a small whitish patch in the non-breeding season. These birds breed gregariously in trees, often joining other waterbirds at heronries. Description The little cormorant is about long and only slightly smaller than the Indian cormorant (''Phalacrocorax fuscicollis''). The Indian cormorant has a n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scaly-breasted Munia
The scaly-breasted munia or spotted munia (''Lonchura punctulata''), known in the pet trade as nutmeg mannikin or spice finch, is a sparrow-sized estrildid finch native to tropical Asia. A species of the genus ''Lonchura'', it was formally described and named by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Its name is based on the distinct scale-like feather markings on the breast and belly. The adult is brown above and has a dark conical bill. The species has 11 subspecies across its range, which differ slightly in size and color. This munia eats mainly grass seeds apart from berries and small insects. They forage in flocks and communicate with soft calls and whistles. The species is highly social and may sometimes roost with other species of munias. This species is found in tropical plains and grasslands. Breeding pairs construct dome-shaped nests using grass or bamboo leaves. The species is endemic to Asia and occurs from India and Sri Lanka east to Indonesia and the Philippines (where it is cal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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