Author: birdinfo

Painted Sandgrouse (Pterocles indicus)

Sandgrouse is the common name for Pteroclididae, a family of sixteen species of bird, members of the order Pteroclidiformes. They are traditionally placed in two genera. The two central Asian species are classified as Syrrhaptes and the other fourteen species, from Africa and Asia, are placed in the genus Pterocles. They are ground dwelling birds restricted to treeless, open country, such as plains, savannahs and semi-deserts. They are distributed across northern, southern and eastern Africa, Madagascar, the Middle East and India through to central Asia. The ranges of the Black-bellied Sandgrouse and the Pin-tailed Sandgrouse extend into the Iberian Peninsula and France, and Pallas’s Sandgrouse occasionally breaks out in large numbers from its normal range in Asia.

Rufous Sibia (Heterophasia capistrata)

The Rufous Sibia (Heterophasia capistrata) is a species of bird in the Leiothrichidae family. It feeds on berries and insects.[2] It is found in the northern parts of the Indian Subcontinent, ranging across India, Nepal and Bhutan. Its natural habitat is the temperate forests of the Lower to Middle Himalayas. The species has an unmistakable appearance with its rufous-dominated colouration and black head, and is often seen with its crest raised. It is a vigorous, melodious singer.

Malabar Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros coronatus)

The Malabar Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros coronatus) also known as lesser Pied Hornbill, is a hornbill.[2] Hornbills are a family of tropical near-passerine birds found in the Old World. The Malabar Pied Hornbill is a common resident breeder in tropical and subtropical Asia from India east to Borneo. Its habitat is evergreen and moist deciduous forests, often near human settlements.

Painted Spurfowl (Galloperdix lunulata)

The Painted Spurfowl (Galloperdix lunulata) is a bird of the pheasant family found in rocky hill and scrub forests mainly in peninsular India. Males are more brightly coloured and spotted boldly in white. Males have two to four spurs while females can have one or two of the spurs on their tarsus. The species is found mainly in rocky and scrub forest habitats unlike the Red Spurfowl. They are found in the undergrowth in pairs or small groups, escaping by running and rarely taking to the wing when flushed.

Pine Grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator)

The Pine Grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator) is a large member of the true finch family, Fringillidae. It is found in coniferous woods across Alaska, the western mountains of the United States, Canada, and in subarctic Fennoscandia and Siberia. During winter, pine grosbeaks in parts of North America move southward, bringing them as far south as the upper Midwest and New England in the United States, but sometimes even further south, especially during an irruption. This species is a very rare vagrant to temperate Europe; in all of Germany for example, not more than 4 individuals and often none at all have been recorded each year since 1980.

Northern Crested Caracara (Caracara cheriway)

The Northern Crested Caracara (Caracara cheriway), also called the Northern Caracara and Crested Caracara,[3] is a bird of prey in the family Falconidae. It was formerly considered conspecific with the Southern Caracara (C. plancus) and the extinct Guadalupe Caracara (C. lutosa) as the “Crested Caracara”. It has also been known as the Audubon’s Caracara. As with its relatives, the Northern Caracara was formerly placed in the genus Polyborus. Unlike the Falco falcons in the same family, the caracaras are not fast-flying aerial hunters, but are rather sluggish and often scavengers.

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

The Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is a North American bird in the genus Cardinalis; it is also known colloquially as the redbird or common cardinal. It can be found in southern Canada, through the eastern United States from Maine to Texas and south through Mexico. It is found in woodlands, gardens, shrublands, and swamps.
The Northern Cardinal is a mid-sized songbird with a body length of 21 cm (8.3 in). It has a distinctive crest on the head and a mask on the face which is black in the male and gray in the female. The male is a vibrant red, while the female is a dull red-brown shade. The Northern Cardinal is mainly granivorous, but also feeds on insects and fruit. The male behaves territorially, marking out his territory with song. During courtship, the male feeds seed to the female beak-to-beak. A clutch of three to four eggs is laid, and two to four clutches are produced each year. It was once prized as a pet, but its sale as a cage bird is now banned in the United States by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.