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This “Brahminy” eats many different things, including some smaller birds…maybe, even the occasional Brahminy starling!
Haliastur Indus – the Brahminy kite – is mostly seen near wetlands, lakes, rivers and ocean shores.
Its regal appearance notwithstanding, the Brahminy kite is primarily a scavenger; its weak feet make it unable to “deal with” large prey.
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You are looking at Sturnia pagodarum – so named for its alleged habit of perching on temple pagodas in south India.
One of the oft-seen, more handsome starlings/mynahs, it is commonly known as the Brahminy starling.
The pictured individual was delivering a full-on vocal performance at 7.46 am on 05 March 2023 in Nagarhole Tiger Reserve, Karnataka.
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South India’s large terrestrial mammals hog the limelight, but its insects, amphibians, birds and reptiles are equally worthy of appreciative human attention.
The non-mammals offer an enormously higher number of individuals and species, with a mind-bogglingly diverse array of shapes and colours.
Butterflies abound.
The pictured individual is a member of this region’s (probably) most oft-sighted butterfly species.
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On our recent travels in south India we saw wild Asian/Asiatic elephants many times.
As you can see, such encounters with Elephas maximus do not only occur inside national parks and other “reserves”!
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The Indian boar, Sus scrofa cristatus, gets its subspecies name from the feature which sets it apart from all other wild boars.
When the bristles of an adult male’s dorsal crest are erect – and most of them are in this post’s image – he has the pig kingdom’s most spectacular mane.
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Spotted deer – aka “axis deer” or “chital” – are India’s emblematic deer; Axis axis is also India’s most widespread, most commonly-encountered deer species.
The local common name’s resemblance to “cheetah” is no coincidence; both names refer to the animal’s spotted coat.
Cheetahs were hunted to extinction in India; if current attempts to reintroduce them prove successful, cheetahs will resume their former place in the chital’s long list of predators.
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With the possible exception of fellow humans, Grey Langurs (aka “Hanuman Langurs” or “Hanuman monkeys”) are the primates you will encounter most often when in or near to any wooded terrain in south India.
Primarily herbivorous, but not exclusively so, Grey Langurs are highly social, very agile – equally so on the ground, and high above it – and are almost always “up to something”.
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Circa 200 species of dragonfly and damselfly have been recorded in and around south India’s wetlands.
Some of them are permanently resident, but one dragonfly species is very probably the insect world’s greatest traveller.
Pantala flavescens – commonly/appropriately known as “the globe skimmer”, or “wandering glider” – undertakes nonstop, ocean-crossing flights to-from India and Africa.
Evidence is mounting that this species’ population (which exists on every continent, bar Antarctica) ought be considered as not merely “widespread”, but as a single, “global” population.
Discover its amazing, still-evolving story here.
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On any day in well-wooded parts of southern India you can reasonably expect to see kingfishers, more than once.
They do not only eat fish.
Accordingly, trees overlooking ponds, lakes and rivers are not their only favoured places.
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Today’s post is the first of several to feature a species that any wildlife-seeking visitor to south India’s Western Ghats can reasonably expect to see, easily – probably, often.
Bonnet macacques are endemic to this region.
Until last year these very sociable forest-dwellers enjoyed a “least concern” conservation status.
Their numbers are currently declining, and in 2022 the IUCN reclassified their status as “vulnerable”.
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