Birds

From Wild India

Table of contents

1 Introduction 2 Recent Birds 3 Links 3.1 WildIndia Pages 3.2 External Links 3.3 Bird Photographs

Introduction

Birds are bipedal, warm blooded, egg-laying vertebrates characterized primarily by feathers, forelimbs modified as wings, and hollow bones.

Birds in India range in size from the tiny flowerpecker to the huge Sarus crane. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are about 8,800-10,200 living bird species (plus about 120-130 that have become extinct in the span of human history) in the world. In India there have been 1,224 bird species reliably recorded, out of which, 42 are endemic, 3 are extinct and 2 are introduced.

Indian bird sighting archive (http://www.wildindia.org/birds)

Birds are a very differentiated class, with some feeding on nectar, plants, seeds, insects, rodents, fish, or other birds. Most birds are diurnal, or active during the day. Some birds, such as the owls and nightjars, are nocturnal. Many birds migrate long distances to utilise optimum habitats.

Common characteristics of birds include a bony beak with no teeth, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, high metabolic rate, and a light but strong skeleton. Most birds are characterised by flight, though the ratites are flightless, and several other species, particularly on islands, have also lost this ability.

Recent Birds

• Coucal
• Oriental bay owl
• Forest Owlet
• Sarus crane
• Black and Orange Flycatcher
• Malabar trogan
• Crimson backed sunbird
• House Sparrow

Links

WildIndia Pages

• Bird hotspots
• Bird lists

External Links

• Threatened Birds of India (http://www.rdb.or.id/country.php?op=find&id=3)
• Scientific bird names that originate from the India region by Aasheesh Pittie (http://www.geocities.com/ashpittie/BucerosPaperDictionary.pdf)

Bird Photographs

• Oriental bird images (http://www.orientalbirdimages.org/)
• India Birds (http://www.indiabirds.com)