India bird close-ups

This White-throated Kingfisher put on a display right next to our car. It was a juvenile, and we watched this display several times as its parent was approaching it with food.





Common Kestrel, hunting on the same mountainside as the kingfisher.




Jungle Owlet. We actually saw two of them, both in Periyar National Park.


Purple Sunbird:


Grey Junglefowl - the progenitor of our domesticated chickens. Or at least, as the studies show, it contributed 10% to its genes.




This woodpecker is known as Lesser Goldenback.


Red-whiskered Bulbul:


These bulbuls are so common that after a few hours, we all but stopped paying any attention to them.


Chestnut-headed Bee-eater.




Indian Roller:


Indian Game Fowl - not a wild bird, but some sort of a supersize breed of domestic chicken. And yes, it was originally bred to be hunted on hunting preserves:


Common Rosefinch:


Ashy Prinia:


Long-tailed Shrike:


Lesser Hill Myna:


Malabar Parakeet:


Intermediate Egret - this was one of the last birds that we saw on the trip: