wildlife

Andean cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola peruvianus) is an iconic bird found in the subtropical and cloud forests of the Andes spanning a wide range across South America from Venezuela to Bolivia. The male cock-of-the-rock stands out with its brilliant red-orange plumage, black-and-white wings, and a large fan-like crest, with its bill sitting under the crest and completely hidden. Known as tunki in Quechua, the region’s indigenous language, this bird is considered the national bird of Peru and is related to other distinctive tropical fruit-eaters such as the Banded Cotinga, Long-wattled Umbrellabird and Bearded Bellbird....

Hummingbirds are a highly diverse, brilliantly coloured and mesmerizing group of birds native to the Americas. There are known to be around 360 different species of hummingbirds across the North and South Americas, however, the density of these birds is quite high in the tropics around the equator. They are known as hummingbirds owing to the humming sound created by their beating wings which flap at high frequencies. They hover in mid-air at rapid wing-flapping rates, which vary from around 12 beats per second in the largest species to around 80 per second in small hummingbirds....

Red necked falcon (Falco chicquera) is a relatively small but a powerful bird of prey in the falcon family. This bird quite stands out with its chestnut, red coloured crown and nape. The moustachial stripe and the bright yellow ring around its eye are very distinct too. There are known to be two disconnected populations of Red necked falcons, one in India and the other in Africa. The Indian subspecies (Falco chicquera chicquera) is found across the plains of the Indian Subcontinent....

Bandipur was the destination of choice for a quick family getaway on one of the recent long weekends. Few reasons for the choice. a) Was yearning for a wilderness experience b) Had never been on a proper safari in Bandipur before. The only thing I remember was the 30min long Forest department safari which kind of finished in a blink. Only thing we saw was an Indian Grey mongoose which just so happened to come onto the jeep track....

Praying mantis is a ruthless and powerful predator of the natural world. It has the aptitude, the attitude and all the implements needed to be very successful at that. For a highly driven Praying mantis, no prey is out of bounds. It is quite capable of bringing down prey much bigger in size than itself. Mantises have been known to hunt reptiles like lizards, geckos and also some small birds. I have so much admiration for this creature....