Birds of Malabar ( Perambikulam, Ooty)

In May, 2010 we visited the picturesque Ooty and the Perambikulam Tiger reserve.  Ooty had a beautiful view of Tea gardens and clouds in the adjacent hills.

At Ooty we saw common birds like the bushcat, common Mayna, Bulbul and sunbird

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

Perambikulam was an amazing experience. This tiger reserve is 3 hours from Coimbatore and has perhaps the most evolved Forest department facilities and staff. We spent some time at the Forest information centre which was very well equipped. The forest is around 3 lakes and has a variety of birds and wildlife. The tiger was however elusive.....

Water birds like cormorants, Herons, Egrets, Darters and kingfisher are common around the waterbodies.

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

 The wildlife consisted mostly of Chital, Indian bison, langoor and Nilgai.. We were lucky to see a herd of elephant. But the beautiful Malabar giant squirrel with its shining color was a treat to watch

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

The typical birds of this area are the Malabar whistling thrush :

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and the endangered Malabar white breasted Treepie  

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

The other birds that were visible were the Malabar parakeet, Indian serpent eagle, Indian roller, Flamebacks, barbets besides peafowl, jungle fowl and lapwigs. The Racket tailed Drongo is also unique to the Malabar area.

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

Finally the variety of butterflies and the view at the lake was breathtaking. 

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

From Flora and Fauna of Nilgiris

This place definitely deserves another visit to see the Malabar Trogan, the Emerald dove and many other elusive birds that we could not cover in our short trip. Also would love to spend a couple of days at the Salim Ali bird observatory inside the forest. You can visit Perambikulam forest reserve's website for more info.

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