Me Sahyadri Feb 2017

As the economic development has taken the center stage, the balance between the environmental sustenance and socio economic development will be under the scanner. As most experts with balanced views have proclaimed, Indian wildlife and ecological system sustenance will be under threat, unless precautions are taken with the help of appropriate research and long term national interests. As we encounter the economic development, many habitats which indirectly or directly help sustainable development will be damaged. The awareness to gauge the success by sustainable development and not by year to year growth is a distant dream any environmentalist will assume in current scenario.
Western ghats, or Sahyadri as we all call it as, is a treasure trove of spectacular landscapes, biodiversity, flora, fauna, some amazing geological wonders and man made monuments. With the increasing pressure from human encroachment, all these elements are under stress and in turn are under depletion. Western ghats should be left untouched by human beings, to protect their future generations from getting short of resources, such as water, energy and clean air. The important elements of western ghats, which need protection are highlighted in the new version of Photo journal, Me Sahyadri Magazine. The current issue has few of the flora from the north Western Ghats.

North western ghats can be divided in to four zones. The western most zone is the Konkan region just below the western ghat ridge. The region has mix of evergreen and semidecidous forests. The second region is along the ridge at higher elevation and at the edge of Deccan plateau, called as ghatmatha, which has evergreen forest. The third region is on and around the hills on Deccan platau east of the ridge. This region mainly has semidecidoius forest. The fourth region is rain shadow region hills further east which has dry and arid habitat with grasslands. In this photoessay some of the birds from the first three forest regions are described. The evergreen forests atop the edge on Deccan plateau are rich in its biodiversity. The narrow band of this habitat all along the Western Ghats has some amazing forest birds. About 400+ species are seen in and around the four zones described above. The forest birds in particular are restricted to very narrow band of the region. Out of about 200+ birds seen in evergreen and semidecidous forests, in Western Ghats, there are about 20 endemic species. In northen section of Western Ghats some of these endemic species can be seen.

The forest birds in western ghats can be classified as resident, local migrants and migratory. Many forest birds migrate from forests around Himalaya to forests in western ghats and rest of India. The birds can also be classified as endemic and non endemic. The endemic birds are the ones which can be found only in region, western ghats in this case. The non endemic birds are the ones which are the ones which are seen not exclusively only in western ghats. Though the variety of birds seen in western ghats is not as high as in tropical forests in south America and elsewhere in south east Asia, western ghats has wide range of forest bird species.

Scientific name of Blue-capped rock thrush is Monticola cinclorhynchus. It is also called as blue headed rock thrush. This is a small Himalayan thrush bird. It has cobalt blue and orange plumage. Its size is close to that of bulbul. The bird is about 17 cm in size (length from its beak to tail). The sexual dimorphism can be seen in this bird species. Sexual dimorphism is the difference in appearance between males and females of the same species, such as in colour, shape, size, and structure. The female bird is olive brown. The female has olive brown upperparts which are barred with dark brown and whitish underparts which are scaledamd barred with brown.The female has buff baring on uppertail coverts Juvenile birds resemble female. Male juvenile bird has white wing bars.

The male bird has cobalt blue crown, chin, nape and throat. The upper parts are cobalt blue and black. rump, upper tail-coverts, whole lower surface, axillaries and under wing-coverts are orange.Lesser wing coverts are bright cobalt blue. The upper tail coverts are orange in color. Lores, cheeks, ear-coverts, sides of neck, back and scapulars are black in color. The greater wing-coverts are black edged with blue. The primaries are black, all except the first two edged with blue. The secondaries are black, all except the innermost with a broad white band on the base of the outer webs . This white patch on the wing that is visible during flight. The tail is blackish edged narrowly with blue .Iris is dark brown. The gape is yellow and In the non-breeding season the base o£ the lower mandible is also yellowish . There is are no further subspecies of blue capped rock thrush, Monticola cinclorhynchus. This bird breeds in the foothills of the Himalayas (1000 meter to 3000 meter altitude). In winter it is found in Pakistan, some parts of Myanmar and India. In India the bird is seen in winter in western ghat, Asam hills and central east forests from October to April.

These birds nest on the ground in tree root crevice or in the rock crevice. These birds are mainly arboreal. They feed on insects in bark and on branches. They also sometimes forage among leaves in the forest floor.

The sulphur bellied warbler is a small bird from phyloscopus warbler family. It is about 11 cm in size. The bird breeds in summer in Himalaya and in winter it migrates to central and north India. The bird is normally seen searching for the food on forest floor and tree barks and roots.

One of the important endemic birds of western ghats, Nilgiri wood pigeon is categorized as Threatened bird species as per IUCN list. It is a large sized bird (30 cm). The large trees in evergreen forest and its canopy is its habitat. These birds are good indicators of dense evergreen forest.

The Indian black bulbul is seen in evergreen forest canopies in western ghats. The birds are seen in groups and seldom come down the canopy.

The western crowned warbler is a small bird from phyloscopus warbler family. It is about 11 cm in size. The bird breeds in summer in Himalaya and in winter it migrates to central and north India.

Tytler’s warbler is a small bird from phyloscopus warbler family. It is about 11 cm in size. The bird breeds in summer in Himalaya and migrates to western ghats in winter.

Orange headed ground thrush is resident bird common in Indian forests. It has uniform grey upperparts, and an orange head and underparts. The female and young birds have olive colored upperparts. The species seen in the image here is Z.C. cynotus. It has white throat and face sides. It has two stripes below the eyes. These birds are shy and secretive. Often this bird is seen alone in the forest. It feeds on insects, worms and fruits. It is often seen in leaf litter.

Nightjars are the nocturnal birds. They are active in the night and take rest in the day time. These birds feed on moths and insects in the night or during early morning. They are very well camouflaged. The camouflage is like dried leaves or tree bark. This helps these birds to remain undetected during the day time when these birds take rest. These birds are seen roosting on the rocks or on the ground during night. There are about 80 species of nightjars on our planet. They vary in their shape, size, plumage and habitat. There are nine species of nightjars seen in India. These include, Indian nightjar, Large-tailed nightjar, Grey nightjar, Syke’s nightjar, Savana nightjar, Jerdon’s nightjar, Great eared nightjar, Eurasian nightjar, Egyptian nightjar. Out of these nine species, about 5 species, namely Indian nightjar, Savana nightjar, Grey nightjar, Jerdon’s nightjar, Great eared nightjar are seen in western ghats. Though none of these birds are endemic, they play a vital nocturnal role in the forest clearings and open country habitats in western ghats. Indian nightjar (Caprimulgus asiaticus) is a widespread resident nightjar, It is a small but brightly streaked and dotted with brown patterns. It is seen in open country and at the foothills. Nightjars are often heard in the night than they are seen. Due to nocturnal nature of these birds many superstitions are associated with the bird all across the world.

Grey nightjar or Indian jungle nightjar (Caprimulgus indicus) is widespread resident bird. It is grey in color with light brown and heavy black markings. Its song is loud with Chuk-chuk-chuk-chuk call. It is about 28 to 32 cm in size. These birds do not build the nest. They lay the eggs on the ground.

Indian pitta is seen in broad leaved forest. It is 19 cm in size. The bird breeds in Himalaya and north east India and winters in South India, Konkan and Srilanka. The bird is seen at the base of western ghats, Konkan in Maharashtra.

The Malabar crested lark is a bird seen in hilly region of western India. As the name suggests, it has a crest on its head. It feeds on seeds and insects. It breeds in the post monsoon season and build its nest on the ground.

Scientific name of Indian blue robin is Luscinia brunnea. The bird is also known as Indian blue chat. This is a small Himalayan bird from thrush family (Turdidae). It has blue and orange plumage. It is slightly larger than the common house sparrow. The bird seems to have no name in Marathi. The bird is about 13 to 15 cm in size (length from its beak to tail). The sexual dimorphism can be seen in this bird species. Sexual dimorphism is the difference in appearance between males and females of the same species, such as in colour, shape, size, and structure.The male bird has blue upperparts. The underbody of male bird is orange rufous. The bird has long broad white supercilium. The lore of the male bird is bluish black. The eye strip is blusih black which coverts ear coverts up to neck. Point of chin and narrow line under the black cheeks is white. The under tail and lower belly are white. The legs and feet are pale pinkish white. Iris of the eyes is dark brown.

The adult female is olive-brown with whitish under-parts except for the Rufus breast. The young male is like the female but has the back darker and much suffused with blue.There are two subspecies of Indian blue robin, Luscinia brunnea. The two subspecies are Larvivora brunnea brunnea and Larvivora brunnea wickhami. Out of these 2 subspecies, Larvivora brunnea brunnea is prominently recorded in India. Larvivora brunnea brunnea breeds in north east Afghanistan east through Himalaya to north eastern India and central china. The bird migrates in winter to India and Srilanka. The other subspecies Larvivora brunnea wickhami is recorded in Chin hills of Myanmar and is not migratory.

The Indian blue robin is insectivorous bird. These birds are found in dense evergreen forest undergrowth. It feeds mainly on the ground. It moves around in undergrowth in forested region.It uses its tail fanning for these small hops and manoeuvres on the ground. It turns the leaves on the forest floor to search the insects, particularly around the moist streams and under the trees with fruits fallen on the ground. It breeds from May to July in Himalaya. It nests on the ground. The female is believed to incubate but both sexes take part Indian blue robin sings and calla in their winter grounds. The song consists of sudden and sharp series of whistles ending in a rapid series of notes. They also utter a sharp and low clicking alarm note.