Saturday, May 10, 2014

Indian River Tern, Chilka Lake

Chilka Lake which is around 55 kms from Puri is home for many birds. One can get to see many birds in this place during the winter months. One of the birds we could see here is Indian River Tern.



They are mostly found in freshwater, rarely venture near tidal creeks. This is a medium-sized tern with dark grey upper parts, white under parts, a forked tail with long flexible streamers, and long pointed wings. The bill is yellow and the legs red. It has a black cap in breeding plumage.



During breeding season, this species are seen in colonies in less accessible areas such as sandbanks in rivers.  They feed on fish, crustaceans, tadpoles and aquatic insects in rivers, lakes, and tanks. 



Their numbers are decreasing fast due to the pollution of their habitat.

24 comments:

Unknown said...

Beautiful birds. I'm sorry to hear that their numbers are declining.

Snap said...

Lovely shots. Too bad about the decreasing numbers. Man needs to learn to take care of those who came before us. I enjoy watching water birds -- they are very entertaining! Happy critter day.

Jeevan said...

Excellent shots! Nice details on the bird

TexWisGirl said...

lovely shorebirds!

Julie said...

Great shots, I love water birds.

Karen said...

Nice shorebirds! I afraid the pollution problem is happening all around the world, and we will see a decline in many species.

R Niranjan Das said...

Such beautiful birds.

Anni said...

I love that you described them so well...so we can compare these to others around the globe!

thanks for sharing your link this weekend.

theconstantwalker said...

Fantastic images of your beautiful little Terns

Kenneth Cole Schneider said...

Nice bird shots! Our Least Terns are also suffering from loss of shoreline habitat.

sunshine said...

Beautiful birds, looks like an interesting place.

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

Sorry to hear about the pollution. great shots.

Anonymous said...

What lovely shorebirds. It's a shame their numbers are dwindling.

Nima Das said...

Lovely captures

Unknown said...

Great series!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River.

George said...

This is a beautiful bird. Thank you for the photos and for the information.

Ileana said...

Beautiful views!

betty-NZ said...

There's something about terns that I find quite gorgeous. Maybe it's their coloring.

Unknown said...

There are hundreds of endangered species of animals and birds around the world. It is really unfortunate and sad to see what's happening to our environment. If there is a method to protect them we should definitely utilize it.

Sreedhar Bhattaram said...

A Great Lake! I was a visitor to this famous lake area in the year 1959... When I was 9 yrs old!

Lancelot Quadras said...

Beautiful birds, beautiful pictures. It's a shame they are decreasing in number.

Gowthama Rajavelu said...

Aha! Chilika! I was there last week, enjoying the beauty of nature around. Ideal place for birders. I enjoyed watching ruddy shelduck, seagul and grey heron at a close distance.

indu chhibber said...

Your posts about birds and the details interest me a lot-thanks.

Ravish Mani said...

Wonderful clicks :)