Common Kingfisher

Bengali: ছোট মাছরাঙা

Scientific Name: Alcedo atthis

IUCN: Least Concern

Description: This sparrow-sized bird has the typical short-tailed, large-headed kingfisher profile. It has bright metallic-blue upperparts including head, back is cobalt color and one can see greenish reflections on the head and wings. Orange ear-coverts and underparts, the chin and sides of neck are white. A long blackish bill and reddish orange at the base. Legs are bright red.

Food: The Common kingfisher is carnivore and mainly eats fish and small crustaceans, such as prawns and crabs. It also catches insects in flight.

Habitat: In temperate regions, this kingfisher inhabits clear, slow-flowing streams and rivers, and lakes with well-vegetated banks.

Distribution:  Widely distributed over Europe, Asia, and North Africa, mainly south of 60°N. 

Stork-Billed Kingfisher

 Bengali: মেঘহও মাছরাঙা / গুরিয়াল

Scientific Name: Pelargopsis capensis

IUCN: Least Concern

Description: It has huge red bill. have a greenish-blue back, blue wings and tail, and a grey to brown crown and head. The neck and underparts are orange-yellow coloured and coral red small legs.

Food: mostly marine and freshwater fish

Habitat: Stork-billed Kingfisher is a species of a variety of well-wooded habitats near lakes, rivers or coasts and mangroves.

Distribution: widely but sparsely distributed in the tropical Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India to Indonesia. 

White-Throated Kingfisher or White-Breasted Kingfisher

Bengali: সাদা বুক মাছরাঙা / ধলাগলা মাছরাঙা

Scientific Name: Halcyon smyrnensis

IUCN: Least Concern

Description: Thick, reddish-orange bills, red legs, and its head, shoulders, flanks and lower belly are chestnut. A brilliant white patch can be found on the throat and sometimes at the breast. The wings and the tail are bright blue with white patches on the primaries and black distal tips. In flight, large white patches are visible on the blue and black wings.

Food: This species are carnivorous, mainly hunts large crustaceans, insects, earthworms, rodents, snakes, fish and frogs. Predation of small birds such as the Oriental White-eye, chick of a sparrows and munias have been reported.

Habitat: They are common in agricultural areas, swamps, marshes, near ponds, lakes, in parklands and in mangrove swamps.

Distribution:  Widely distributed in Asia from the Sinai east through the Indian subcontinent to the Philippines.

 

Red-Crested Pochard

Bengali: লালঝুঁটি ভুতিহাঁস

Scientific Name: Netta rufina

IUCN: Least Concern

Description: Large, square orange head, red bill and black breast. The flanks are white, the back brown, and the tail black. The female is mainly a pale brown, with a darker back and crown and a whitish face. Eclipse males are like females but with red iris and bills.

Food: They are omnivores, and they take aquatic vegetation supplemented by aquatic invertebrates, amphibians, small fishes.

Habitat: Breeding habitat is lowland marshes and lakes. They also inhabit deep fresh or brackish water bodies. They occur in reed-fringed lakes, rivers, lagoons, estuaries, rivers, streams and sheltered coastal habitats.

Distribution:  Scattered across North Africa, Europe, and Asia.

Ruff

Bengali: গেওয়ালা বাটান

Scientific Name: Calidris pugnax

IUCN: Least Concern

Description: It is a medium sized wading bird with long neck, lack prominent supercilium, small head, short and slightly downcurved bill, strongly patterned back, white sides to upper tail coverts, white lower back absent. Long yellowish and orange legs.

Food: They are omnivores, and they feed on both invertebrates and seeds or berries. They eat flies, frogs, small fish, beetles, snails, spiders, worms, and more.

Habitat: During the breeding season they utilize marshes and flooded grasslands or meadows. They also inhabit scrubland, wetlands, and estuaries or deltas. These birds also live in flooded pastures and farms, and one of their favorite habitats are rice paddies.

Distribution:  It breeds in marshes and wet meadows across northern Eurasia. This highly gregarious sandpiper is migratory and sometimes forms huge flocks in its winter grounds, which include southern and western Europe, Africa, southern Asia and Australia.

White Wagtail

  

Bengali: সাদা খঞ্জনা  

Scientific Name: Motacilla alba

IUCN: Least Concern

Description: It is a medium sized wagtail with pied plumage, black-backed races, white foreheads, and different wing patterns. As many as six subspecies may be present in the wintering ground in India or Southeast Asia and here they can be difficult to distinguish. breeding plumaged males can be identified to subspecies as follows:

Black-Backed Races:

(a) alboides: black-ear coverts.

(b) lucopsis: white-ear coverts.

Grey-Backed Races:

(a) dukhunensis: white-ear coverts, black chin and black throat.

(b) baicalensis: white-ear coverts, black chin and black throat.

(c) personata: black-ear coverts.

(d) ocularis: black eye-stripe.

Food: Terrestrial and aquatic insects and other small invertebrates form the major part of their diet.

Habitat: In winters near water in open country and breeds by running waters in open country in hills and mountains.

Distribution: Distributed in Europe, Asia, Africa continent. It also breeds in the mountains of Morocco and western Alaska.

Osprey

 

Bengali: মাছমুরাল 

Scientific Name: Pandion haliaetus

IUCN: Least Concern

Description: Also known as Fish Hawk, Sea Hawk or River Hawk. Long wings, short tail, upperparts are a deep, glossy brown, while the breast is white and sometimes streaked with brown, and the underparts are pure white. The head is white with a dark mask across the eyes, black bill

Food: They eats almost exclusively live fish.  Occasionally, the osprey may feed on rodents, frogs and other birds.

Habitat: Rivers, lakes, coast. Found near water, either fresh or salt, where large numbers of fish are present. May be most common around major coastal estuaries and salt marshes, but also regular around large lakes, reservoirs, rivers.

Distribution: It is found in temperate and tropical regions of all continents, except Antarctica.

Little Ringed Plover

 

  

Bengali: ছোট নথজিরিয়া

Scientific Name: Charadrius dubius

IUCN: Least Concern

Description: It is a small plover with  grey-brown back and wings, a white belly and a white breast with one black neckband. They have a brown cap, a white forehead, a black mask around the eyes with striking yellow eye-ring and a short dark bill. Legs are dull pink-yellow. Does not show wing bar in flight.

Food: They eat insects and worms.

Habitat: Breeds on stony substrates around lakes, gravel pits, and along rivers; migrants occur in wide variety of fresh and brackish wetland habitats, but rarely out on open tidal areas.

Distribution: Distributed in Europe, central Asia, Middle East, central Africa, Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia. 

Greater Painted Snipe and Ruddy-Breasted Crake

Purple Rumped Sunbird

 

Purple Rumped Sunbird (Male)

Purple Rumped Sunbird (Female)

Bengali: মৌটুসী পাখি

Scientific Name: Leptocoma zeylonica

IUCN: Least Concern

Description: The males have a dark maroon upper-side with a blue-green crown that glistens at some angles, bright green shoulder patch and violet/purple rump patch which is generally hidden under the wings. The underparts are whitish with dark throat, maroon breast band and purple/violet patch in the throat which is visible in some angles. The iris is generally reddish in color. The female has a white throat followed by yellowish breast. The upper-side is olive or brownish. The upper-tail coverts are black and a weak supercilium may be visible. 

Food: Mainly feed on nectar; however, they will also take insects, especially when feeding young.

Habitat: They are found in various habitats with trees, including scrub and cultivated land. However, they typically avoid dense forests.

Distribution: It is occur naturally in southern India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.