Mohammed

Painted stork feeding its young || Bharatpur || Feb 2023 With their bright and contrasting colours and large breeding colonies, Painted Storks are arguably the most popular birds in sanctuaries. After a month of incubation, young ones hatch and are on the nest for the next couple of months, when the juveniles leave the nest, their plumage is dull brown in colour. It takes 2-3 years for them to attain the bright colours. Young Painted Storks make a harsh grating sound and kneel down with their beaks open while pleading for food from their parents, like in this photo.

Mohammed

Open-air cafeteria for the Demoiselle Cranes || Khichan || Jan 2023 During the winters the tiny village of Khichan in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan is visited by Demoiselle cranes that escape the harsh winters of Russia, Mongolia and Europe and migrate almost 5000Km to countries like India, that have much pleasant winters. With their arrival the village is converted into a crane country with their honking. Every year, during their stay between September and March, the residents’ cooperative gathers grain or lends money to stock grain at a designated warehouse. A large enclosure locally created, known as Pakshi Chugga Ghar, is the open-air cafeteria for the cranes.

Mohammed

Elephant Tease || Kabini || Jan 2022 The Kabini backwaters, a part of the larger Nagarhole tiger reserve is known to host the largest congregation of the asiatic elephants. The backwaters are also a source of fish for the villages near by. In this picture one can see a fisherman trying to get the elephants attention.

Mohammed

Leucistic crow || Bhigwan grasslands, Pune district || Dec 2022 Leucism is a complete lack of melanin in all or part of the plumage, but not necessarily the soft tissues. Leusistic birds can have one or multiple white feathers, as is the case with this crow, or be completely white but with regularly coloured eyes. Their feet and bills may or may not appear pink like that of an albino bird’s.