I list here with pictures of some birds that I saw today near/at the lake away from Mysore. I had never been there before. I'd be pleased if I'm helped with names of these birds from the so-so pictures. Hope that is not much of a hindrance. Some clues too would do.
Another, hovered over the lake - lucky shot.
#3
Hi Dinu,
#1 - the small brown ones are ducks of some sort, probably Teal (Anas crecca); the bluish bird towards the top left is a Purple Swamp-hen (Porphyrio porphyrio); the rest I can't tell.
#2 is a young Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica).
#3 is a Shoveler (Anas clypeata), male, still partly in eclipse (non-breeding) plumage.
Resin
Thanks Resin. You are right about all you have mentioned. Your clues took me to the right pages in my book. The book says it is the Purple Moorhen. But it is all the same. The bird with wings open in that picture could also be the same.
You say it is a young swallow [2]. Does that develop the tail and pointed wings as it grows older?
Is this the adult swallow - this is a severely cropped picture, sorry.
There was this black drongo also perching on a powerline as I returned home. Stopped by to take this shot.
Aah, this is another sitting on the same powerline some distance from the drongo. Can this give any clues?
Hi Dinu,
Yep, only adult Barn Swallows have the long tail streamers, they're short on young birds. I'd say your second swallow is also a young one, as it also has a short tail.
Last pic is a shrike, probably a juvenile Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach)
Resin
Dinu, the second one is not a young swallow, it is an Ashy Woodswallow or Ashy Swallow-shrike (Artamus fuscus): http://www.kolkatabirds.com/page31.htm
http://www.orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?action=searchresult&Bird_ID=2197
Ken
Hi Ken,
Sorry, definitely not Artamus fuscus - look at its hefty bill, compared with Dinu's pic! It also doesn't have the white spots in the tail.
It might perhaps be some other species of Hirundo other than H. rustica, but it's definitely in that genus.
Resin
Resin,
You are quite right. The pose of the bird in Dinu's picture is very like a Wood-swallows and I jumped to the wrong conclusion. I have seen Artamus fuscus at Kandy in Sri Lanka (when it wa sknown as Ceylon) many years ago and am very familiar with a couple of Artamus species here in Australia.
Ken
Will check #3 in my other pictures.
It looks like the Shrike alright.
Thanks so far, Ken and Resin.
