Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. Richard Grimmett, Carol Inskipp, Tim Inskipp

530 Pages·2011·141.506 MB·English

by  Richard Grimmett

H E L M F I E L D G U I D E S
Birds of the
Indian
Subcontinent
Richard Grimmett • Carol Inskipp • Tim Inskipp
02/10/2014 10:07

Birds of the
indian suBcontinent
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Helm field guides
This book is dedicated to our respective parents,
Frank and Molly Grimmett, John and Francesca Inskipp, and Tom and Joyce Robinson,
for their wonderful support and understanding.
Birds of the
indian suBcontinent
Richard grimmett, Carol inskipp and Tim inskipp
Illustrated by
Richard Allen, Adam Bowley, Clive Byers, Daniel Cole, John Cox, Gerald Driessens,
Carl d’Silva, Martin Elliott, Kim Franklin, John Gale, Alan Harris, Peter Hayman,
Dave Nurney, Craig Robson, Christopher Schmidt, Brian Small, Jan Wilczur,
Tim Worfolk and Martin Woodcock
000 India intro and prelims.indd 2 14/9/11 16:12:44
Helm field guides
This book is dedicated to our respective parents,
Frank and Molly Grimmett, John and Francesca Inskipp, and Tom and Joyce Robinson,
for their wonderful support and understanding.
Birds of the
indian suBcontinent
Richard grimmett, Carol inskipp and Tim inskipp
Illustrated by
Richard Allen, Adam Bowley, Clive Byers, Daniel Cole, John Cox, Gerald Driessens,
Carl d’Silva, Martin Elliott, Kim Franklin, John Gale, Alan Harris, Peter Hayman,
Dave Nurney, Craig Robson, Christopher Schmidt, Brian Small, Jan Wilczur,
Tim Worfolk and Martin Woodcock
CHRisTopHeR Helm
london
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This electronic edition published in 2016 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Published 2011 by Christopher Helm, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc,
50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP
Copyright © 2011 text by Richard Grimmett, Carol Inskipp, and Tim Inskipp
Copyright © 2011 illustrations by Richard Allen, Adam Bowley, Clive Byers, Daniel Cole, John Cox, Gerald Driessens,
Carl d’Silva, Martin Elliott, Kim Franklin, John Gale, Alan Harris, Peter Hayman, Dave Nurney, Craig Robson, Christopher
Schmidt, Brian Small, Jan Wilczur, Tim Worfolk and Martin Woodcock
The right of Richard Grimmett, Carol Inskipp and Tim Inskipp to be identified as the authors of this work has been
asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
ISBN (print): 978-1-4081-2763-6
ISBN (ePub): 978-1-4081-6264-4
ISBN (ePDF): 978-1-4081-6265-1
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means – photographic,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or information storage or retrieval systems –
without permission of the publishers. This book is produced using paper that is made from wood grown in managed
sustainable forests. It is natural, renewable and recyclable. The logging and manufacturing processes conform to the
environmental regulations of the country of origin.
Commissioning Editor: Nigel Redman
Project Editor: Jim Martin
Front cover: Indian Pitta Pitta brachyura by John Cox
Back cover (top to bottom): Indian Courser Cursorius coromandelicus (Peter Hayman); Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher Cyornis
tickelliae (Alan Harris); Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon Treron sphenurus (John Cox); Red-necked Falcon Falco chicquera
(Alan Harris)
To find out more about our authors and books visit www.bloomsbury.com. Here you will find extracts, author
interviews, details of forthcoming events and the option to sign up for our newsletters.
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Page

map of THe Region 6
CONTENTS
inTRoduCTion 7
aCknowledgemenTs 7
How To use THis Book 8
Species included 8
Taxonomy and nomenclature 8
Species accounts 12
plumage TeRminologY 13
glossaRY 14
THe indian suBConTinenT 16
Climate 16
Main habitats and bird species 16
Importance for birds 18
ConseRVaTion 20
Religious attitudes and traditional protection 20
Current threats 20
familY summaRies 24
speCies aCCounTs and plaTes 40
appendiX 1 – Vagrants 492
appendiX 2 – doubtful species 503
naTional and inTeRnaTional oRganisaTions 504
RefeRenCes 505
indeX 506
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Map not to scale
Chandigarh
maY
u
an
una
m
GangeasJ
Kolkata
(Calcutta)
Dadra & NDaugiar HDaavmelain HHATTISGAROHDISHA (ORISSA)
C
ANDAMAN
ISLANDS
Puducherry (INDIA)
LAKSHADWEEP
(INDIA)
NICOBAR
ISLANDS
(INDIA)
Sri Jayawardenapura
(Colombo)
This map is not an authority on international borders
Map of the Indian Subcontinent
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This field guide is a compact version of the handbook, Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (1998). It is the second
edition of the Pocket Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (1999), subsequently referred to as the
‘pocket guide’, and is a major revision of the much-reprinted first edition. For the first time, all the text and
iNTrOduCTiON
maps are placed opposite the plates, and there are now 226 colour plates, 73 more than in the first edition.
Almost all of the plates have been re-composed, so that there are now no more than six or seven species
per plate, and many species and even a few families or groups have been repainted for this edition. Species
texts have been significantly increased for almost all species, and the maps have been completely revised.
The guide provides the most essential information for identification, in a volume that is easy to carry in
the field. It should help observers identify all of the bird species recorded in the subcontinent, and it is hoped
that, once basic identification skills have been acquired, birdwatchers will record their observations and use
them to expand what is known about the distribution of the birds of the region, to further the conservation
of threatened species and to learn more about birds and the environment in which they live.
The whole of the region is covered, comprising the countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka,
Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives. The classic Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan by Salim Ali and S.
Dillon Ripley, which also covers the entire subcontinent and was first published in 1968–1975, listed about
1,200 species. In recent years a number of additional species have been recorded in the region, producing a
current total of 1,313 species for the subcontinent. A number of potential splits have been treated separately
in the guide, so that the total number of forms described in the book is 1,375.
Future fieldwork will certainly lead to major advances on this work, and existing published or unpublished
material will undoubtedly have been missed or given insufficient attention. The authors (c/o Christopher
Helm Publishers) would be very grateful to receive, for use in future editions, any information which corrects
or updates what is presented in this book.
Borders depicted in the maps in this book do not in any way imply an expression of opinion on the part
of the authors as to the location of international or internal boundaries.
Numerous people generously provided assistance to Richard Grimmett in the preparation of the identification
texts, which are based on our book Birds of the Indian Subcontinent, and these people are acknowledged in
that work. We are also most grateful to the many people who helped with the preparation of this second
ACkNOwlEdgEmENTS
edition.
Richard would like to thank Helen and their two children, George and Ella, for being so supportive of this
long-running venture.
Special thanks go to the artists whose work illustrates this book, including the artists who have painted
plates for this new edition: Richard Allen, Adam Bowley, Clive Byers, Daniel Cole, John Cox, Gerald
Driessens, Carl d’Silva, Martin Elliott, Kim Franklin, John Gale, Alan Harris, Peter Hayman, Dave Nurney, Craig
Robson, Christopher Schmidt, Brian Small, Jan Wilczur, Tim Worfolk and Martin Woodcock. We also thank
Krys Kazmierczak and Deepal Warakagoda for allowing the use of their maps as a basis for the preparation of
the final maps.
We are grateful to Nigel Redman, who commissioned this second edition, and Jim Martin, who has
overseen the editorial and production processes. Finally, we thank Julie Dando for her expert design and
layout of the guide, including the production of more than 1,000 distribution maps.
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All species that are known to have been reliably recorded in the subcontinent up to the end of 2010 have
HOw TO uSE THiS BOOk
been included. Descriptions of vagrants and a list of doubtfully recorded species are given in the Appendices
at the end of the book.
SpECiES iNCludEd
Taxonomy and nomenclature largely follow Inskipp et al. (1996). However, many proposals for taxonomic
change have been made since that date, particularly in Rasmussen & Anderton (2005).
TSoAmxeO of NtheOsem pryop AosNalsd fo rN elOevamtioEnN toC spleAciTesu stratuEs are adopted here, where they are supported by what
are considered to be adequate published justifications in other sources.
Eastern Spot-billed Duck Anas zonorhyncha split from Spot-billed Duck A. poecilorhyncha
Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus split from Greater Flamingo P. ruber (now American Flamingo)
Great Nicobar Serpent Eagle Spilornis klossi split from Nicobar Serpent Eagle S. minimus
Brown-cheeked Rail Rallus indicus split from Water Rail R. aquaticus
Eastern Grass Owl Tyto longimembris split from Grass Owl T. capensis
Andaman Nightjar Caprimulgus andamanicus split from Large-tailed Nightjar C. macrurus
Malabar Barbet Megalaima malabarica split from Crimson-fronted Barbet M. rubricapillus
Red-tailed Shrike Lanius phoenicuroides split from Rufous-tailed Shrike L. isabellinus
Manchurian Bush Warbler Cettia canturians split from Japanese Bush Warbler C. diphone
Hume’s Bush Warbler Cettia brunnescens split from Yellowish-bellied Bush Warbler C. acanthizoides
West Himalayan Bush Warbler Bradypterus kashmirensis split from Spotted Bush Warbler B. thoracicus
Sykes’s Warbler Iduna rama split from Booted Warbler I. (Hippolais) caligata
Two-barred Warbler Phylloscopus plumbeitarsus split from Greenish Warbler P. trochiloides
Claudia’s Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus claudiae split from Blyth’s Leaf Warbler P. reguloides
Hume’s Whitethroat Sylvia althaea split from Lesser Whitethroat S. curruca
Grey-bellied Wren Babbler Spelaeornis reptatus and Chin Hills Wren Babbler Spelaeornis oatesi split from
Long-tailed Wren Babbler S. chocolatinus
Manipur Wedge-billed Babbler Sphenocichla roberti split from Wedge-billed Wren Babbler S. humei
Sri Lanka Scimitar Babbler Pomatorhinus melanurus split from Indian Scimitar Babbler P. horsfieldii
Kerala Laughingthrush Garrulax fairbanki (with Nilgiri Laughingthrush G. cachinnans as a subspecies) split
from Grey-breasted Laughingthrush G. jerdoni
Bhutan Laughingthrush Garrulax imbricatus split from Streaked Laughingthrush G. lineatus
Assam Laughingthrush Garrulax chrysopterus split from Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush G. erythrocephalus
Manipur Fulvetta Fulvetta manipurensis split from Streak-throated Fulvetta F. (Alcippe) cinereiceps
Hodgson’s Treecreeper Certhia hodgsoni split from Eurasian Treecreeper C. familiaris
Hume’s Treecreeper Certhia manipurensis split from Brown-throated Treecreeper C. discolor
Great Myna Acridotheres grandis split from White-vented Myna A. cinereus
Sri Lanka Thrush Zoothera imbricata split from Scaly Thrush Z. dauma
Black-throated Thrush Turdus atrogularis split from Dark-throated Thrush T. ruficollis
Dusky Thrush Turdus eunomus split from Naumann’s Thrush T. naumanni
White-bellied Blue Robin Myiomela albiventris split from White-bellied Shortwing Brachypteryx major
(now Nilgiri Blue Robin Myiomela major)
Red-tailed Wheatear Oenanthe chrysopygia split from Rufous-tailed Wheatear O. xanthoprymna
Nicobar Jungle Flycatcher Rhinomyias nicobarica split from Brown-chested Jungle Flycatcher R. brunneatus
Taiga Flycatcher Ficedula albicilla split from Red-breasted Flycatcher F. parva
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