Hill Myna

The Hill Myna is a member of the starling family, resident in hill regions of South Asia. This myna is almost entirely arboreal, moving in large noisy groups of half a dozen or so, in tree-tops at the edge of the forest.

This is a stocky jet-black starling or myna, with bright orange-yellow patches of naked skin and fleshy wattles on the side of its head and nape. At about 29 cm length. There are large white wing patches which are obvious in flight. The bill and strong legs are bright yellow, and there are yellow wattles on the nape and under the eye, which are distinct in their pattern from the Common Myna or the Bank Myna.

The Hill Myna is often detected by its loud shrill descending whistles followed by other calls. Both sexes make an extraordinarily wide range of loud calls - whistles, wails, screeches, and gurgles, sometimes melodious and often very human-like in quality. Each individual has a repertoire between 3 and 13 such call types. The Hill Myna is a renowned mimic, learning to reproduce many everyday sounds, particularly the human voice, and even whistled tunes, with astonishing accuracy and clarity. The Hill Myna is fairly omnivorous, eating fruit, nectar, insects. And builds a nest in hole. The normal clutch is 2-3 eggs.

Golden-fronted Leafbird

Golden-fronted Leafbird is a species of leafbird. It is a common resident breeder in India, Sri Lanka, and parts of Southeast Asia.

Its habitat is forest and scrub. It builds its nest in a tree, laying 2-3 eggs with red and purple lines and speckles.The nests are open cups; of the few known, most include spiderwebs. Some hang from thin horizontal shoots of trees; in others the rim is attached to a pair of vertical twigs.

This species eats insects and berries.The adult is green-bodied with a black face and throat bordered with yellow. It has an orange forehead and blue moustachial line,but lacks the blue flight feathers and tail sides of Blue-winged Leafbird. Young birds have a plain green head.The southern Indian race, C. a. frontalis, has a narrower yellow border to black face. The throat is black and it has a blue sub-moustachial stripe and duller orange forehead.

Indian white cheeked barbets

The Indian white cheeked barbets are plump birds, with short necks and large heads. They get their name from the bristles which fringe their heavy bills. Most species are brightly colored and live in tropical forest.

They are mostly arboreal birds which nest in tree holes dug by breeding pairs, laying 2-4 eggs. They eat fruit and insects. These birds do not migrate.Most are restricted to habitats containing trees with dead wood, which are used for nesting.

The diet of barbets is mixed, with fruit being the dominant part of the diet. Small prey items are also taken, especially when nesting. Barbets are capable of shifting their diet quickly in the face of changes in food availability: Numerous species of fruiting tree and bush are visited; an individual barbet may feed on as many as 60 different species in its range.

They will also visit plantations and take cultivated fruit and vegetables. Fruit is eaten whole and indigestible material such as seed pits regurgitated later (often before singing). Regurgitation does not usually happen in the nest (as happens with toucans). Like their relatives, barbets are thought to be important agents in seed dispersal in tropical forests.

Malabar Parakeet

The Malabar Parakeet also known as the Blue-winged Parakeet, is endemic to the Western Ghats in Southern India. The range of this species is less than 50,000 square kilometres.Like all species of parrots found in the Indian subcontinent.

It undergoes local movements, driven mainly by the availability of the fruit, seeds, buds and blossoms that make up its diet. It nests in holes in large trees, laying 3-4 white eggs.

This species too is neglected for conservation efforts by the Indian Government and the conservation fraternity. The chief threat to this species is poaching for the illegal pet trade.

Common Myna

The Common Myna is a member of the starling family. It is also known as the Indian Myna or Talking Myna for its ability to mimic human speech.

The Common Myna is readily identified by the brown body, black hooded head and the bare yellow patch behind the eye. The bill and legs are bright yellow. There is a white patch on the outer primaries and the wing lining on the underside is white. The sexes are similar and birds are usually seen in pairs.

Local names for the bird in India include Desi myna in Hindi, Lalri gutar shark in Punjabi, Salik in Bengali, Xalika sorai in Assamese, Kathayi Kabari in Gujarati, Shale or Salonki in Marathi, Narthan Kuruvi in Tamil, Goranka in Telugu, Kavalamkili in Malayalam, Goravanka in Kannada and Gon kawadiya in Sinhalese

The calls includes croaks, squawks, chirps, clicks and whistles, and the bird often fluffs its feathers and bobs its head in singing. The Common Myna screeches warnings to its mate or other birds in cases of predators in proximity.

They breed through much of the year depending on the location, building their nest in a hole in a tree or wall. The normal clutch is 4–6 eggs.It feeds on insects and fruits and discarded waste from human habitation.

Common Tailorbird

The Common Tailorbird is an Old World warbler. This tailorbird is a resident breeder in tropical south Asia from Pakistan and India to south China, and Indonesia. It has also been spotted in Great Britain.
 
This passerine bird is typically found in open woodland, scrub and gardens. Tailorbirds get their name from the way their nest is constructed. The edges of a large leaf are pierced and sewn together with plant fibre or spider's web to make a cradle in which the actual grass nest is built. The Common Tailorbird builds its nest in a shrub and lays 3–5 eggs.

These 13-cm-long warblers are brightly coloured, with bright green upperparts and whitish underparts. The crown of the head is chestnut. They have short rounded wings, a short tail, strong legs and a long decurved bill. The tail is typically held upright, like a wren's.

The sexes are identical, except that the male has long central tail feathers in the breeding season. Young birds are duller.There are two endemic races in Sri Lanka which retain the male's long tail feathers all year.Like most warblers, the Common Tailorbird is insectivorous. The song is a loud cheeup-cheeup-cheeup.

Yellow-browed Bulbul

The Yellow-browed Bulbul is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is a resident breeder in the hills of Sri Lanka and the Western Ghats of India and in small pockets of the Eastern Ghats of India.

This is a bird of moist secondary growth. Despite its restricted range, it is quite readily found at sites such as Kitulgala and Sinharaja in Sri Lanka and the Western Ghats. It builds its platform nest low in a tree; two or three eggs is a typical clutch.

The Yellow-browed Bulbul is about 20cm (7 inches) in length, with a long tail. It has olive upperparts and bright yellow underparts. The dark bill and eye contrast with the yellow around the eye.

Sexes are similar in plumage, but young birds are duller than adults, especially on the face and flanks. The flight is bouncing and woodpecker-like. Yellow-browed Bulbuls feed on fruit and insects.