| . |
| 
|
Gulls & Terns
Gulls are essentially
birds of the sea. They have fairly stoutly built bodies with long wings, which project beyond
the tail when closed. The feet are large, with the front toes fully webbed. They feed mostly
on dead fishes, floating garbage, etc. There are marked seasonal changes in the color of the
plumage in these birds during their growth.
Terns are more slenderly built than the
gulls. Their wings are very long and narrow and acutely pointed, enabling them to fly swiftly
and constantly with grace and ease. Terns are also distinguished from the gulls in having both
the mandibles of equal length, instead of the upper one being longer than the lower. The tail
is more or less deeply forked and the legs and feet are short and weak, and although webbed,
are seldom used for swimming.
|
|
Scissor - bills (The Indian Skimmer)
The Indian skimmer (Rhyncops
albicollis) occurs on the larger rivers of India and Burma, but is rare in South India. They
do not frequent the seacoast very much, but are found mostly on all the larger rivers. They
sometimes congregate in large flocks, numbering about fifty individuals, but they also occur
in pairs sometimes. On account of the extraordinary shape of their bill, they are also known
as the Scissor-bills. They fly up and down close to the surface of the water and feed on the
tiny shrimps and fish fry on the surface as they skim along the surface of the water with the
aid of their knife-shaped lower bill. |
|
| 
|
Avocet
The avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta) is a graceful marsh bird with a characteristic black
and white plumage and is easily recognized by its slender, strongly upcurved, black
beak. It is a widely distributed bird, breeding in summer in Europe and migrating south to
India and Sri Lanka in winter. They are generally found in pairs or in small flocks on marshy
ground, feeding on small crustaceans, aquatic insects and worms which it captures from the mud
of the marshes by a characteristic churning or rotatory motion of its bill which is well
adapted for its peculiar method of feeding in the soft, marshy ground. |
|
|
|
Next Gallery
Bird Gallery