- Myophonus horsfieldii
River Savitri, Mahabaleshwar, Altitude 4710 feet, Western Ghats, District Satara, Maharashtra, India, 30 December 2024
Identification
25cm long, dark blue with a black head and back. Bright blue patches on shoulders and forehead. The juvenile has browner plumage and lack the blue forehead.
Distribution
Peninsular India.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
Habitat
Dark undergrowth and dense riverine forest.
Behaviour
Diet
Diet includes insects, frogs, earthworms and berries.
Breeding
The nest is a cup made of moss, bamboo roots and grass, with a broad base and tapering towards the top, pasted on to the rock with mud. 2-4 3ggs are laid.
Vocalisation
True whistlers, giving a whistle that is called eerily human like, so deliberate sounding in character and timber.
They give sharp, brief and sonorous calls, while communicating and moving through the forest undergrowth. One such call is heard in the recording below:
Recording by Alok Tewari
Savitri River, Mahabaleshwar, Western Ghats, altitude 4710, District Satara, Maharashtra, India, 30 December 2024 ... 8.29 am.
References
- Clements, James F. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2007. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1