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

Kanha National Park - Winter & Summer Birding

Birding at Kanha

Kanha National Park along with other tiger reserves in Central India are a heaven for bird watchers. Albeit degree of difficulty is very high in winters whence the migrants arrive. The thick canopy makes visibility a challenge and greater efforts have to be made to identify avian by interpreting their calls.   

Indian SCops Owl - Monu Dubey

Brown Hawk Owl - Prayut Mandal 

Cinnamon Bittern - Prayut Mandal 

Black Rumped Flameback - Sanjeev Patel  

Northern Taxa like the Pallas Fish Eagle, Grey Headed Fish Eagle, Grey Bushchat, Osprey, Gray Lag Geese, Siberian Ruby Throat, Verditor Flycatcher, bar winged flycatcher shrike can be seen along with wintering pipits, warblers and some teals.   

Winters accord excellent opportunity to enhance skills in identifying the warblers and wintering pipits. In this region the latter are scarce but nevertheless there.  But by all means this is a strenuous and stressful exercise. Anyway better birding starts from December on words whence water begins to recede and canopy begins to thin down. 

The ever exciting tiger chases will always be there to interfere merrily. Some serious birders tell me not to indulge in the tiger chase. I am happy with that because the run for avian accords me to sharpen my birding skills especially after a gap of three months whence the park is closed. 

Painted Stork - Shreyas

For birders going into the park the Khatia Zone in the buffer with lot of mix canopy and bamboo provides ideal opportunity for birding in an open jeep. The expeditions are more challenging on the jeep safaris since getting down is not allowed.  For a bird watching apart from Khatia Zone moving in the buffers is a good experience hence all zones and buffer zone areas should be explored. 

Keeping in mind the degree of difficulty winter tours should be of longer duration especially if the mega fauna is on the  menu. Summer birding could be shorter due to increased visibility of birds and mammals. 

Overseas visitors arriving from cold climes should acclimatise themselves with warm weather mid March onward. 

Summer Birding at Kanha

In the summers migrants leave but thinning canopy offers wonderful opportunity to watch the resident birds like the painted francolin, Indian Pitta, Orange headed ground thrush, Malabar Pied Horn Bill, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Black Naped Flycatcher to name a few. 

The tiger reserve is home of forest birds and those expecting wetland species will be disappointed due to the absence of large water bodies.  Under most circumstances good quality binoculars are more than enough with little use of spotting scope.   

Birding can spring few surprises like my discovery of blue capped rock thrush earlier, rufus bellied eagle, pale footed bush warbler and spot bellied eagle owl. Sighting vagrants, passage migrants  and some undiscovered species will make your trip exciting. Hire a good birding guide from among the naturalists in Kanha during the trip.      

           

New Bird Observations at Kanha

It was the glimpse of forest wagtail that made me stop and observe while on tiger safari at Kanha. This avian has recently been observed at Jabalpur City Nearby. Earlier we saw orange breasted green pigeon in this tiger reserve which I have mentioned before. 

The sight of Besra was thrilling event. The bird was perched on a tree at height of about ten feet off the Kanha Ghat main road. Some of the birds like Osprey are late visitors here and arrive post February. 

Another interesting find which I mentioned earlier was Oriental Scops Owl in the garden of Courtyard House Resort at Kanha. I am still waiting for Rufus Bellied Eagle to appear again here like it did last year.

Observing a gathering of lesser adjutant stork was interesting. They are usually solitary. Another encouraging sight was that of large number of juveniles of White Back Vulture in the tiger reserve. 

I am excited that during my future tours I would be able to make new observations.    

Changeable Hawk Eagle

Indian Pitta

Lesser Adjutant Stork

Wooly Necked Stork

Photo Credits John Matthai

Birding at Courtyard House Kanha - With Tiger Roaring

For three consecutive days the tiger was roaring throughout the night near the Courtyard House at Kanha. Forests and water body surround the resort all around and this is where the wild animals find shelter. Situated in the buffer zone the property stands isolated from the hustle and bustle of near by villages fast getting urbanized.   

The guests Tina & Bob from UK could not hear the tiger roaring placed as they were in secured rooms. Full of modern amenities the insulated accommodation does not allow outside sound to budge in.   

Courtyard House - Kanha National Park

I would ask them every day if they manged to hear the cat calling. No was their usual reply. Anyway then one day we were scheduled to go birding early morning nearby. I did not hear the roar the night before but as soon as I came out of my room I froze in my tracks. The tiger was calling from near by patch of forest. I rushed to the Coutyard House and called my guests. 

"Yes we can hear," they affirmed excited. As we were proceeding towards the Manegaon Village Road the animal moved into the deep recess as we could make out from the diminishing roars. Well a good beginning leads to good results as we saw: 

Oriental Scops Owl
Yellow Footed Green Pigeon
Barn Swallows
Plum Headed Parakeets
Brown Shrike
Great Tit
Barred Jungle Owlet
Black Headed Oriole
Large Grey Cuckoo Shrike
Purple Sunbird
Scaly Breasted Munia
Indian Silver Bill
Racket Tailed Drongo
White Bellied Drongo
Black Drongo
Black Redstart
Black Naped Monarch
Tickell's Blue Flycatcher (Calls)
Greenish Warbler (Calls)
Coucal
Black Shouldered Kite
Magpie Robin
Shikra
Green Sandpiper
Green Bee Eater
Large Billed Crow
Alexandrine Parakeet
Rose Ringed Parakeet
Gold Mantled Leaf Bird
Red Rumped Swallow
Rufous Treepie
White Eye
Gray Breasted Prinia
Plain Prinia
Ashy Prinia

The tiger had moved deep into the forests of Kanha by the time we finished our bird watching trip. We visited the village as part of our activity that day.

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.

Kanha Birding

There is a Silk Cotton Tree near the Hotel Krishan at Mocha in Kanha National Park Buffer. Last time I visited Kanha around this time of the year and found the Gold Mantled Chloropsis a regular visitor. Other birds that I found were Coppersmith Barbet, Spangled Drongo, Chestnut Tailed Starling and Black Drongo.

Down by the riverside we came across temminck's stint, green sandpiper, white browed wagtail, little green bee-eater, black headed oriole, white, eye, black naped monarch, common tailorbird, black redstart, shikra, honey buzzard, common myna, Hume's warbler, greenish warbler, common chiff chaff, racket tailed dromgo, white bellied drongo, greater coucal, common grey hornbill, black rumped flameback, Tickell's Blue flycatcher, ashy prinia, plain prinia, barred jungle owlet and large billed crow.

This was a short trip as my guests from UK were more involved in tiger safari and wildlife photography.

Birding at Kanha is underplayed due to the magnificent beast that enthralls one all all here - The Tiger. The pure Sal forest may not harbor many species but the mixed forest zones and bamboo belts offer exciting birding opportunity and these are in plenty. The altitude variation also provides excellent bird habitat. Most exciting feature is confirmation of fire capped tit and Siberian Ruby Throat at Kanha (Nakti Ghati). Other Northern India visitors include grey bushchat, ultramarine flycatcher, grey headed fish eagle, Pallas's Fish Eagle seen by me. There may other such catch with birders frequented this park.  

All the tiger reserves are good for bird watching tours in MP but less known. There are many birding destination in the State of Madhya Pradesh which are less known.    

Core Zone at Kanha is excellent for forest birds and grassland birds. For birding at open fields, and scrub one needs to score the area outside the park. See earlier Kanha Birding Trip Report.