Oriental Pratincole

Common name : Oriental Pratincole, large Indian Pratincole
Scientific Name: Glareola maldivarum

The Oriental Pratincole is a beautiful looking  tern-like shorebird with long, pointed wings  and a forked tail.It is a medium-sized bird measuring 25 cm and weighs approximately 75 g. The sexes are alike, with seasonal variation, and juveniles are easily identifed.During breeding season adults have a dark olive-brown crown and nape, paler olive buff on the neck, dark olive-brown back and upper rump The ear coverts are pale creamy buff, and are separated from the chin and throat by a black  line which runs down from below the eye to encircle the throat and separate it from the upper breast,  the underpart is white.The bill is black with a red gape and base of  lower mandible, the eyes are dark brown, and the legs and feet are brownish black.
The species is generally gregarious, occurring in small to large flocks.Oriental Pratincoles eat insects, including dragonflies, cicadas, beetles, moths, ants, termites, locusts, grasshoppers,  flies, bees and wasps, they also eat flying insects.The species usually feeds aerially. The above photograph s taken at the Mahanadi Reservoir in Sambalpur, Odisha, India.

Purple Sunbird

Image via Wikipedia

Purple Sunbird
Species : Nectarinia asiatica
Family : Nectarinidae
Size : Smaller than sparrow

This is another species of Sunbird commonly found in Asiatic region.The only difference here is the color of the male. The breeding male is metallic black with a smooth shiny surface which ranges from green to purple . An orange patch is found on the armpit.Female are same are olive above and yellowish below. In both the species i.e purple sunbird and purple rumped sunbird the females look similar.For more information please read my post " The Purple Rumped Sunbird".