Summer Birding & Tiger Safari at Kanha

Ideal time for birding is summers in Kanha National Park. Ironically it is neglected season for the avian whereas the tiger chase is on.  As the heat increases and canopy slims down the visibility of birds becomes higher but by this time the migrants have departed but any way few migrants species do not a summer make. 

The season picks up with nesting of Sun Birds followed by courtship of paradise flycatchers. These are striking in their breeding plumage. Another target species is the Indian Pitta which can be seen lazing along a little bit of shade in the ground which the Orange Headed Thrush roams. Early summer is the time to find the blue capped rock thrush. This is a passage migrant to the North. Painted francolin, white bellied drongo, white browed flycatcher, white eyed buzzard, crested hawk and serpent eagles, grey headed fishing eagle, brown fish owl, streak throated woodpecker, rufous woodpecker, white naped woodpecker, brown fish owl, yellow crowned woodpecker, brown headed pygmy woodpecker, spot bellied eagle owl.....

Malabar Pied Hornbill anytime anywhere takes the cake a sighting comparable to that of a big cat. This is also the breeding time for white rumped shama the magical songstar and the common Iora another lovely singer. Tickell's flower pecker can be photographed with greater ease during this season.So can be the Indian scimitar babbler, black naped flycatcher, scarlet minivet, white bellied minivet, white rumped minivet and scaly bellied minivet. Tickell's flower pecker's pink nest is a wonder to see. The orioles also become active in this season and breed. 

The shrunk water bodies become niche habitats for unseen or rarely seen birds since water is essential ...a patient watch would fetch a sight of bay banded cuckoo, grey bellied cuckoo, oriental scops owl, some crakes and rails.....this is like waiting at water for the tiger which often surfaces during the summer months.... 

The list of birds seen at Kanha National Park is endless. Birding should be combined with tiger safaris which I believe most people do. This write up highlights bird watching at Kanha since it get subdued under the glare of the mega fauna. 

Juv. White Backed Vulture

Coucal

Crested Serpent Eagle

Sirkeer Malkoha

Wooly Necked Stork

Adjutant Stork

White Rumped Shama

Indian Scops Owl

Black Stork

Indian Scimitar Babbler

Jungle Owlet

Alexandrine Parakeet

Isabelline Shrike

Malabar Pied Hornbill

Uday is naturalist at Kanha

Contact : pateluday90@hotmail.com

Birding At Tadoba Tiger Reserve

The birds abound but the search is for the tiger. This is a mistake most of the wildlife lovers make whence they visit a tiger reserve in Central India. This happens everywhere even at Tadoba which has recently become most popular destination for tourism.    

The tiger is enchanting and everybody wishes to see one. But if you are solely concentrating on one animal you miss many other species especially the birds at Tadoba. The place abounds with avian species and they are everywhere. They can be found in the forests, amidst bamboo clumps, grasslands, rivers, ponds and lakes and also in the surroundings outside the National Park.  

Albeit in the tiger reserves most of the species found are those that dwell amidst the trees and grasslands. But if there are sufficient water bodies, rivers and other wetlands the chances of migratory shore and deep diving species being sighted is very high.  Hence for birders the mix of habitats results in checklisting a vast number of species during a safari or a nature walks in the precincts of the reserve. 

Hence this is the way a bird tour is organised at Tadoba. A few rounds of tiger safari in the park is mixed with nature walks in the forest periphery, village fields and a drive to a large wetland. This way the trip is sure to result in high number of sightings of avian species. If you have a good birding guide your trip is going to be big success.    

Some of the species seen while touring this reserve are shown in the photographs below: 

Black Shouldered Kite 

Blue Bearded Beeeater

Brown Fish Owl 

Spotted Owlet 

Serpent Eagle

Lesser Whistling Teal 

Red Jungle Fowl 

Racket Tailed Drongo

Ashy Sparrow Finch Lark 

Ashy Prinia

Yellow Eyed Babbler

Banded Bay Cuckoo

Coppersmith Barbet

Bar Headed Geese

Baya

Black Francolin  

Black Headed Bunting  

Bhamani Myna

Black Ibis

Black Headed Oriole 

Black Lored Tit 

Black Naped Flycatcher 

Black Stork 

Black Rumped Flameback 

Female Redstart 

Indian Vulture

The best season for birding at Tadoba is the winter time. This is the period whence most of the migratory species arrive here. But in summer with the canopy reducing down it becomes the place to find the resident species in open. Hence for resident bird photography early summer is the best time. Bird photographers should take note of this. 

For excursions in the core zone a permit is required which can be arranged by the hotel you are staying at. 

Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve is near Chandrapur which is about one hundred fifty km from Nagpur Airport in the State of Maharashtra in India. 

Summer Birding at Kanha

Birding and Winters go hand in hand in most part of India. I have realized that summer birding at Central Indian Tiger Reserves is as fruitful. The reason is simply you see more birds with less eye strain because of the canopy that has thinned down. Another reason is that most of the passerine birds nest during the months of April May June and July.  

The lure of the tiger is best satiated during the summer months. 

Recently I was at Kanha National Park with clients from UK both avid birders and tiger lovers.  The land of the tiger Kanha National Park is situated in the State of Madhya Pradesh in India. The park is known precisely as just that.  But the tiger reserve is a fantastic birding paradise with more than

Me With Guest at Courtyard House Kanha

two hundred fifty avian species to checklist. Hence we set on a three day safari with eyes on the winged wonders. We could not indulge in roadside birding as my guests came seperately from Nagpur.

In the course of birding we also saw a huge male tiger named as Munna the loved one.

Our checklist is as follows:

Shama
Indian Scimitar Babbler
Scaly Breasted Munia
Black Headed Munia
Indian Silverbill
Painted Francolin
Grey Francolin
Magpie Robin
Indian Robin
Whitebreasted Waterhen
Red Jungle Fowl
Red Spurfowl
Black Naped Monarch
Chestnut Tailed Starling
Brahminy Starling
Pied Starling
Common Myna
Brown Cheeked Fulvetta
Tawny Babbler
Red Wattled Lapwing
Jungle Owlet
Spotted Owlet
Iora
Plum Headed Parakeet
Rose Ringed Parakeet
Alexandrine Parakeet
White Bellied Drongo
Black Drongo
Racket Tailed Drongo
Orange Headed Ground Thrush
Paddy Field Pipit
Oriental Honey Buzzard
Gray Headed Fishing Eagle
Crested Hawk Eagle
Crested Serpent Eagle
Peacock
Chestnut Shouldered Petronia
Black Rumped Flameback
Shikra
Little Green Beeater
Large Billed Crow
House Sparrow
Rufus Treepie
White Eye
Black Lored Tit
Chestnut Bellied Nuthatch
Little Cormorant
Cattle Egret
Large Egret
Open Billed Stork
Whitebreasted Kingfisher
Common Kingfisher
Lesser Whistling Teal
Cotton Pygmy Goose
Wooly Necked Stork
Great Tit
Greater Coucal
Indian Cuckoo
Hawk Cuckoo
Red Rumped Swallows
Pond Heron
Black Headed Oriole
Golden Oriole
Coppersmith Barbet
Brown Headed Barbet
Yellow Legged Green Pigeon
Puff Throated Babbler
Rain Quail (Calls)
Plain Prinia
Ashy Prinia
Gray Breasted Prinia
Common Tailorbird
Zitting Sisticola
Jungle Babbler
Large Gray Babbler
Large Cuckoo Shrike
Indian Pitta (Calls)
Yellow Crowned Woodpecker
Common Gray Hornbill
Common Hoopoe
Indian Roller
Pied Bushchat
Common Bushchat
Asian Koel
Crested Treeswifts
Indian Nightjar
Savanna Nightjar
Spotted Dove
Oriental Turtle Dove
Laughing Dove
Red Collared Dove
Eurasian Thicknee
Black Shouldered Kite
White Backed Vulture
White Eyed Buzzard
Little Grebe
Black Headed Ibis
Long Tailed Shrike
Small Minivet
Long Tailed Minivet
Tickell's Blue Flycatcher
Red Vented Bulbul
Yellow Eyed Babbler
Purple Sunbird

We visited the buffer zone besides the core area for bird watching. The six jeep safaris were quite rewarding as well.

The mammals we saw  

Tiger
Sambar
Barking Deer
Spotted Deer
Black Naped Hare
Jackal
Swamp Deer
Wild Boar
Langur
Bison

The jeep driver Santosh of Courtyard House Kanha had a sharp eyesight and added avian species to our tally.  The tour was well organized by the Coutryard House a wonderful accommodation at Kanha periphery.