About Me

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Temminck's Stint

Temminck's StintCalidris or Erolia temminckii, is a small wader.
This stint's breeding habitat is bogs and marshes in the taiga of Arctic northern Europe and Asia. It will breed in southernScandinavia and occasionally Scotland. It has a distinctive hovering display flight. It nests in a scrape on the ground, laying 3–4 eggs. Temminck's Stint is strongly migratory, wintering at freshwater sites in tropical Africa, the Indian Subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Plain Martin

A pair of Plain Martins at Dhauj

Eurasian Wryneck

This species breeds in temperate regions of Europe and Asia. It is migratory, wintering in tropical Africa and southern Asia. It is a bird of open woodland and orchards. On migration it is frequently seen in sandy areas, where it forages for ants

This species measure 16–18 cm (6.3–7.1 in) in length and weighs 26–50 g (0.92–1.8 oz).[1] Their bills are shorter and less dagger-like than in the other woodpeckers, but their chief prey is ants and other insects, which they find in decaying wood or almost bare soil. They re-use woodpecker holes for nesting, rather than making their own holes. The eggs are white, as with many hole nesters.
These birds get their English name from their ability to turn their heads almost 180 degrees. When disturbed at the nest, they use this snake-like head twisting and hissing as a threat display. This odd behaviour led to their use in witchcraft, hence to put a "jinx" on someone.