Friday, 4 April 2014

Musa laterita (Bronze Banana) - Sikkim Flora

Musa laterita (Bronze Banana)
Place : Dalapchand, East Sikkim
Date: November 23, 2011
Pic: Shital Pradhan

Musa laterita (Bronze Banana)
Place :Ranipool, East Sikkim
Date: May 24, 2011
Pic: Shital Pradhan
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Musaceae
Genus: Musa
Species: M. laterita

Thursday, 3 April 2014

Monticola solitarius (Blue Rock Thrush) - Sikkim Bird

Monticola solitarius (Blue Rock Thrush - female)
Place : Sirwani, East Sikkim
Date: February 16,  2010
Pic: Krishna Dahal





Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Genus: Monticola
Species: M. solitarius

Binomial name: Monticola solitaries (Linnaeus, 1758)

Other Names: 

Special feature:  The blue rock thrush is Malta's national bird and is shown on the Lm 1 coin that was part of the previous currency of the country.(Wikipedia)

Hirundo rustica (Barn Swallow) - Sikkim Bird

Hirundo rustica (Barn Swallow)
Place : Dentam, West Sikkim
Date: May 24, 2014
Pic: Shital Pradhan
Hirundo rustica (Barn Swallow)
Place : Rongli, East Sikkim
Date: April 10,  2010
Pic: Shital Pradhan


Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Hirundinidae
Genus: Hirundo
Species: H. rustica

Wednesday, 2 April 2014

Troides aeacus (Golden Birdwing) - Sikkim Butterfly

Troides aeacus (Golden Birdwing) 
Place : Rangpo, East Sikkim
Date: March 26,  2014
Pic: Santosh Sharma
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Papilionidae
Genus: Troides
Species: T. aeacus

Tuesday, 1 April 2014

Ficedula sapphira (Sapphire Flycatcher) - Sikkim Bird

  Ficedula sapphira (Sapphire Flycatcher)
Place : Singtam, East Sikkim
Date: January 23,  2014
Pic: Shital Pradhan
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Genus: Ficedula
Species: F. sapphira

Monday, 31 March 2014

5th instar caterpillar of Great Mormon (Papilio memnon agenor)

5th instar caterpillar of Great Mormon (Papilio memnon agenor)
Place : Chisopani, Singtam, East Sikkim 
Date: March 31, 2014
Pic: Shital Pradhan

Buceros bicornis (Great Pied Hornbill- Male and female) - Sikkim Bird

Buceros bicornis (Great Pied Hornbill - Female)

Other name: Great Hornbill, Great Indian Hornbill

Venue: Sawney, Singtam, East Sikkim

Date: March 31, 2014

Pic: Pritam Shilal





Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Bucerotidae
Subfamily: Bucerotinae
Genus: Buceros
Species: B. bicornis

Thursday, 27 March 2014

Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus (Great Black-headed Gull) - Sikkim Bird

  Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus (Great Black-headed Gull)
Place : Singtam, East Sikkim 

Other name:
Fish Gull, Great Black-headed Gull, Pallas's Gull

Date: Marh 21, 2014
Pic: Santosh Sharma
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Laridae
Genus: Ichthyaetus
Species: I. ichthyaetus               Source : Wikipedia:

Tuesday, 25 March 2014

Ficedula strophiata (Rufous gorgeted flycatcher) - Sikkim Bird

Ficedula strophiata (Rufous gorgeted flycatcher)
Place : Shantinagar, Singtam, East Sikkim 

Other name:
Orange-gorgetted Flycatcher, Orange-gorgeted Flycatcher, Orange-breasted Flycatcher, Red-throated Flycatcher

Local Name:  
Lepcha : Phatttagrakpho, 
Nepali: Siphya 

Date: Marh 2, 2014
Pic: Shital Pradhan 

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Genus: Ficedula
Species: F. strophiata                          Source : Wikipedia

Saturday, 22 March 2014

Two birds; two stories

I am new to bird watching and I am glad to say I am enjoying it. In the last two months I have come across more than 40 species of avian diversity. From the smallest of humming birds to the biggest, the Cormorants; the avian world is beautiful and beyond any comparisons. In recent times, I am very fond to two birds; sparrows as a whole and a common mynah particularly the one I had recently discovered that had a deformed upper mandible and I named him “Machindra”.
Couple of days back, we observed World Sparrow Day at Chisopani JHS, where I am a primary school teacher. The programme was a successful one and we saw large numbers of students participating at the event. From a bird hunter to surrendering their catapults was itself an achievement of the event. There were students who had been hunting birds in the wild for more than three years. To hear those students saying that they were wrong in doing so and they will in near future protect those harmless birds tell us the success of our programme. We might have been late in introducing such kinds of programme but it is for sure our intention and motive has hit the right cord. It was only during the awareness interaction between the resource persons and the students I came to know most of the beautiful birds and beautifully singing birds belong to male category.
Little did I have thought that the concrete jungles we human are creating are one of the reasons for the downfall of the House Sparrow locally called “Bhangerra” (Nepali language). That small creature likes wooden houses and live in the cavities of old houses which are now very hard to find. Due to lack of house factors, the house sparrow’s eggs gets destroy and their population is in a decrease. Today’s highly qualified civilization do not prefer to catch hold on nestling materials being dropped at their houses or gardens, is the other reason that people have left appreciating these small birds  Feeding sparrows are limited to lesser people compared to few decades back. There are various other reasons for the downfall of sparrow population but I am sure we all need to come together and save this small creature for the survival of our environment, for the balancing of the nature. Why not support these birds by having a bird nest and bird feeders at your house?
Few days back I came across a strange looking Common Mynah (“rupp-pee” as we call it in Nepali) at the verandah of my home, surprisingly its upper mandible had scrolled towards sky. I found it very strange and close to her was another rupp-pee walking side by side. I could not believe that the other bird was feeding grains to the malformed one. Amazingly I came to learn from source that male Common Mynahs are larger in size compared to the female. I found that normal looking Common Mynah’s bill was shorter than the deformed bird. To my notice, the deformed bird was larger than the other bird when together. So, does that mean a female bird was feeding the male one!!
The deformed bird visited me yesterday and since then I had given him (though still confused with its gender) a name “Machindra” that means mysterious. Several questions of how (!) raised within my small mind and believe me the bird seems so healthy despite its abnormality. I saw no sign of abnormality affecting him. I saw him walking perfectly, scratching his dorsal part as any other bird does and even recorded its high-pitched scream. Being a nature lover Machindra has caught my fancy and everyday in the morning I try to look for him, expecting something different to watch! Bird watching is fun and it is a pleasurable experience, do try it….!!