Musafir Wildebeest

 

Dear friends, hope you all are doing well, hope upcoming festivals will bring a bunch of blessings and happiness in our life. Do celebrate and follow your tradition but also ensure to take precautions while doing the same, a small mistake may turn into an invitation to an unwanted guest. Along with precaution, another important thing is to secure yourself with insurance to ensure your family is financially protected in case of an uncertain event.  

After a piece of advice let us start the journey of wilderness, today I am introducing the animal which is common in the African region but it is absolutely uncommon or says unmatched with any other animal in the World. The lifecycle of this animal is such that it can go into pages still it is difficult to cover everything. I am very sure even with limited details you will enjoy this the most.

So now let me disclose the name, it is Wildebeest, some of you may not know about this animal as it is not found in India but after reading you will remember it forever. So to start with I will brief you about this animal and then we will explore the migration cycle, let us move to the next section to start the journey. 

What's in a name

While the common name for this animal is the Wildebeest, its scientific name is Connochaetes taurinus. It is also referred to as a gnu (pronounced ‘g-new’)

In African countries, the animal known as gnu was given the nickname of Wildebeest. In English, this translates to Wild Beast. In England in 1823, a naturalist named William John Burchell was the world’s first to give a description of the Blue Wildebeest. The wildebeest’s scientific name was formed using two Greek words that help describe the animal’s physical appearance

Appearance & Behavior

The Wildebeest is not properly proportioned. The animal has a heavy front end but its hindquarters and legs are skinny. The wildebeest has a head shaped like a rectangle and broad shoulders

Not every wildebeest is the same color. Some have a light gray brush while others are a color closer to blue-gray. The darkest wildebeests are a gray-brown color. On their shoulders are dark brown stripes that cross their body vertically. Wildebeest have a black mane, which is thick and long. They have a long beard on their neck, which can be dark or pale

Wildebeests are animals that also have horns that curl away from their head. A male wildebeest has horns that are twice the size of a female wildebeest

Approximately 50% of a wildebeest’s life is spent resting. 33% of their life is dedicated to grazing and 12% of it is spent interacting with other wildebeest

Though wildebeest normally live with each other, they are also known to temporarily live with the zebras they encounter in the plains. This is because zebras will eat away the top layer of grass so that the wildebeest can get to what is underneath

The Diet

Due to their diet, wildebeests are always traveling. They constantly look for water (which they drink twice per day) and grass. When the weather is dry they graze on fresh grass and then travel back home before the rainy season begins

At the end of the rainy season, they return to the area and graze again. Because the wildebeest has a wide mouth they are able to eat a lot of grass very quickly. When grass isn’t freely growing, they search for shrubs and trees to eat

Fantastic facts

Wildebeest are animals that can run as fast as 50mph

The two main species are blue wildebeest and black wildebeest

The larger a wildebeest is the more vulnerable it is to its prey. To protect themselves, a group of wildebeest will come together and begin stomping the ground. They also let out loud calls to make sure the herd knows they are in danger

To attract a female they secrete and expel feces into their territory. If a male tries to enter their territory the wildebeest will fight for it. If a female enters, he will try to mate with her

Baby wildebeest are referred to as calves. Once baby wildebeest are born it only takes a few minutes before they can stand up and run

When they reach 10 days old they can begin eating grass. As soon as a male wildebeest is one year old they are able to go off on their own

As many as 500,000 wildebeest are born between February and March each year. This is when the rainy season begins in its natural habitat

The Great Migration

To understand the migration cycle better it is important that we know some details about this lovely animal hence I kept this section at the end. So let us start the migration with this Musafir

The funniest way to define migration is मैं अकेला ही चला था जानिब-ए-मंज़िल मगर लोग साथ आते गए और कारवाँ बनता गया. To some extent, Wildebeest migrates in a similar manner. They travel in millions together hence the title of this blog is “Musafir” because they keep migrating all through the year to different places

The Great Migration is the largest herd movement of animals on the planet. In fact, with up to 1,000 animals per km², the great columns of wildebeest can be seen from space

The numbers are astonishing: Over 1.2 million Wildebeest and 300,000 Zebra along with Topi and other Gazelle move in a constant cycle through the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem in search of nutritious grass and water

Guided by survival instinct, each wildebeest will cover 800 to 1,000km on its individual journey along age-old migration routes

Hungry predators including Lion, Leopard, Cheetah, Hyena, Wild dog and Crocs make sure only the strongest survive in this natural spectacle also known as ‘The Greatest show on Earth.’

The circuit takes the animals from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in the south of the Serengeti in Tanzania, up through the Serengeti and across into the Masai Mara in Kenya and back again

The journey is beset with danger: predators snatch young calves, the slow is brought down by a pride of lions, brave beasts break legs on steep river slopes, crocodiles take their share of the stragglers and the weak and exhausted drown

It is generally believed that their journey is dictated primarily by their response to the weather; they follow the rains and the growth of new grass

Some experts believe that the animals react to lightning and thunderstorms in the distance. It has even been suggested that wildebeest can locate rain more than 50km away

These are the reason why it is called “The Great Migration”, nothing in this world can beat this. Natural instinct and intelligence guide them to travel and go back to the original place which happens every year in the same manner, I would advise at least once in a lifetime you should witness this historical event 

While ending the story leaving you with a snap shot that will help you to understand and connect the story in the best way

I hope you enjoyed every bit of it, please shower your blessing and keep motivating me to deliver unique stuff, and in the end, do not forget to share feedback on btwildart@gmail.com

Learning of the day 

State Bird of Meghalaya

Hill Myna– 

This is a stocky jet-black myna, with bright orange-yellow patches of naked skin and fleshy wattles on the side of its head and nape

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Short-toed Eagle - The Snake Master

 

Hello everyone, before we get into the subject let me update you that I am done with the vaccination and request you all to complete the vaccination at the earliest, this will help us to get freedom from this deadly virus.

I am very much hopeful of a fantastic season of wildlife and waiting to explore new places but till the time old trip will help us know about unique species. Today I am bringing you a lovely bird which I found at Bhigwan. The place is best suited to this bird and hence it is a kind of home ground to it. You should take out some time to explore such places; it helps to gain knowledge about the quality of nature we have. Now without taking more time let me update you on the story and facts of this bird. 

I love snake

As you know we start with a short story and then we get into more details, so I will continue the tradition and hence I am starting with the story followed by facts of this bird.

You must be thinking it must be a side effect of the vaccine, since when I started loving snakes 😜. The tile is not for me, it is for this bird who loves snakes like anything. I love Snacks and bird loves Snakes, repeat both words 20 times and let me know you are able to repeat them properly or not 😝😝😝

After a little bit of fun let me brief you on my experience, last year in the month of October after travel relaxation we planned a trip to Bhigwan.  We wanted a place that can be reached within 5/6 hours (self-drive types) because this was our first visit in the COVID period hence we opted for Bhigwan. 

The place is famous for boat safari as well as grassland birding, we decided to go for grassland because we had experienced boat safari in past. Grassland is a different world altogether; it is nothing less than heaven because of greenery and countless unique birds and Short toed is one of them. 

We got this bird sitting on top of the tree monitoring the grassland for food, Drongo tried to disturb this bird many times but it hardly bothered short-toed. The aggressive eyes and light grey body make this bird very attractive; apart from this, there is a lot more to learn, and hence let us visit the next section to know more. 

Fantastic facts

The Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus Gallicus) is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, buzzards, and harriers

This bird love snakes; the area rich with snakes becomes the habitat of this eagle. They are famous to battle larger snakes on the ground and eat them swiftly; it swallows snakes with ease (as if people eat noodles 😜)

The Short-toed Eagle is found in open cultivated plains, arid stony deciduous scrub areas, foothills, and semi-desert areas. It requires trees for nesting

They can be recognized in the field by their predominantly white underside, the upper parts being grayish brown. The chin, throat, and upper breast are a pale, earthy brown. The tail has 3 or 4 bars. Additional indications are an owl-like rounded head, brightly yellow eyes, and lightly barred underwing

Its prey is mostly reptiles, mainly snakes, but also some lizards. Occasionally small mammals to the size of a rabbit; rarely birds and large insects

This eagle is generally very silent. On occasions, it emits a variety of musical whistling notes. When breeding it lays only one egg, but can live up to 17 years

Please visit the DSLR section to connect story with this lovely bird

I hope you enjoyed every bit of it, please shower your blessing and keep motivating me to deliver unique stuff, and in the end, do not forget to share feedback on btwildart@gmail.com

Learning of the day

State Bird of Manipur

Mrs. Hume's pheasant –

This rare and little-known pheasant is found throughout forested habitats of the Mizoram, Patkai Range, Yunnan, and northern parts of Myanmar and Thailand. The diet consists mainly of vegetation matters.

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Lucky The Bharadwaj

 

Hi everyone, hope at least one shot of vaccination is done with all of you, if not then please without taking more time complete the same at the earliest.

I will not give more “Gyan” on COVID because many social media experts are doing this job 😜 So let us focus on our expert job, which helps generate positive energy. Though traveling is still a challenge, old trips are helping me to provide you unique topics regularly. 

While searching today's topic, the picture of this bird made my job easy and immediately I decided to publish details of this lovely creature. Let us meet this not so handsome but lucky bird in the next section. 

Down the memory lane

Before we get into the facts let me take you to memory lane, the time when I was a kid in this field and was completely unaware about birds. In one of my early forest visits, I saw this bird and shouted “Crow with brown color” this was my innocence at that time, the beauty of nature is that such lack of knowledge is acknowledged as innocent 😝😝 Later on, I understood that this is not a crow but this is a “Crow Pheasant.” 

With every trip when I started getting into depth, I learned that the bird is associated with some superstitions and beliefs. One of the superstitions connected with wildlife is that the bird is very lucky; Tiger sighting is assured if you sight this bird in the forest. Therefore, this means when you visit the forest you should look for Crow Pheasant and not a tiger because this bird will bring the tiger luck anyways. Just kidding, never believe in any such superstition just visit the forest and enjoy every bit of it without bothering about the specific sighting, trust me it will be more rewarding. So with this thought let us move to see some wonderful facts about this bird.

Fantastic facts

This bird is popularly known as Greater Coucal, Crow pheasant, or Coucal

Bharadwaj Bird is an amazing terrestrial bird, which resembles a mixture of crow and a pheasant. The scientific name of this species is Centropus sinensis. It belongs to the family Cuculidae but it comes under the order Cuculiformes

Though the name is Crow Pheasant they does not belong to the crow family, they belong to the Cuckoo family (Cuculidae) but they are not a part of brood parasite species. (Brood Parasite means the birds who lay eggs in the nests of other birds Cuckoo i.e. Koyal is known for this) 

They are large, crow-like with a long tail and coppery brown wings and found in a wide range of habitats from jungle to cultivation and urban gardens. One of the most captivating features of this bird is its bright blood-red eyes 

Before their breeding season between June and September, the courtship display of these monogamous birds involves the male trying to woo a female by chasing after her on the ground and bringing her gifts of food. If she accepts, with a droop of wings, they bond and go into the nesting process

Bharadwaj Bird is one of the members of the genus Centropus. The genus has nearly 30 species of birds from the cuckoo family. This species has divided into several subspecies and some of them were separated as individual species

Some subspecies of Bharadwaj Bird are - Race parroti, Race intermedius, Race bubutus, Race anonymous, and Race kangeangensis

The large bird Bharadwaj mostly eats a wide variety of insects, caterpillars, and small vertebrates. Along with this occasion, they also eat bird eggs, nestlings, fruits, and seeds

I hope you enjoyed every bit of it, please shower your blessing and keep motivating me to deliver unique stuff, and in the end, do not forget to share feedback on btwildart@gmail.com

Learning of the day

State Bird of Maharashtra

Yellow-footed green pigeon (Hariyal) –

Yellow-footed green pigeons are herbivores. They feed on various fruits, berries, and crops. They also feed on buds, shoots, and various grains 

Click to know more - 

https://btwildart.blogspot.com/2019/10/high-five-hariyal.html

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Barasingha The Bhoorsingh

 

Hello my blog family, hope you are keeping safe from this 2^nd wave. please take the vaccination as soon as possible this will help us to get rid of the virus to some extent. 

Thank you so much for liking the Trogon bird story. This is now becoming a challenge because of no new trips until things back to normal to some extent and both round of vaccination is done at my end. 

I started searching for a new topic and realized that since January 2021 we have not yet met any animals and hence today I decided to present the story of animals, this is an outcome of the last trip of Kanha. Trust me this story you will like the most because the journey is interesting and inspiring as well, let us meet Mr. Bhoorsingh I mean "The Barasingha"

My Deer Barasingha  

I know it should be Dear and not Deer, the purpose of writing “Deer” because Barasingha is nothing but part of the “Deer” family so I termed it as Deer. Let me first explain the story of my experience with it and then I will update you on facts. I was not aware of Barasingha until Jogi updated us about this lovely creature. He explained why Barasingha (Hard-ground Barasingha) should be the main attraction over the tiger here. Reason no. 1, this reserve is the only place in the world where you can see the Hard Ground Barasingha in the wild. Reason no. 2, Barasingha is a magnificent creature when you see them standing tall in a meadow, with the golden sunlight lighting up their coats. 

Considering expert opinion we spent a good amount of time without thinking about the tiger, we missed the tiger very closely because we took more time with Barasingha but it was worth giving more time to it. You can find a tiger in all tiger reserves but you can find Barasingha only at Kanha hence it makes more sense to shower more love on this special animal. You can see the result in the DSLR section, meanwhile, let us see some exciting facts in the next section.

Fantastic facts

The Barasingha hard-ground swamp deer (Branderi Barasingha) is the state animal of Madhya Pradesh

A LARGE DEER WITH A woolly golden-hued coat, the Barasingha swamp deer gets its name from the many tines on an adult male’s antlers; “Barasingha” means “12-tined” in Hindi 

Stags can actually have up to 20 tines, which gives them a very regal look indeed, for those lucky enough to see these beautiful, elusive animals

Barasinghas generally stick to herbivorous diet, composed of leaves and grass. The Wetland Barasinghas are known to supplement this diet with aquatic vegetation

Barasinghas have a polygynous mating system, where the dominant male mates with a group of females known as a harem. Each male defends his mating rights, engaging in harsh competition and fights with other males

Males of this species are commonly known as 'bucks'. Meanwhile, large males are called 'stags'. Female Barasinghas are known as 'does' and offspring are called 'fawns'

Antlers of these animals are an extension of their bones. When antlers of a young deer emerge, they are usually covered in a layer of 'felt', which has blood vessels in it. When this felt dries, young males remove it and expose their antlers. They get rid of the felt by rubbing against tree bark

There are 3 sub-species of Barasingha: Wetland Barasinghas, occurring in India and Nepal; Hard-ground Barasinghas, having only one population in Madhya Pradesh (India); and finally, Eastern Barasinghas, which form a single population in Assam, north-eastern India

So many qualities are there with this lovely creature, facts are endless but one ugly fact is that once it was on verge of extinction but now it has reached the status of vulnerable. Let me explain the story of extinction to the vulnerable in the next section. 

The Inspiration 

After knowing the interesting part, it is time to know the inspirational part

It was very close to extinction when a successful breeding program and conservation practices at Kanha National Park brought the animals back from the brink

There were only about 60 individuals left in the national park when the conservation program started in the early 1970s

Various conservation methods were used, including habitat improvement and captive breeding, and today there’s an estimated 800 Barasingha in Kanha

The Barasingha is a Kanha success story, which the park celebrated in 2017 by becoming the first tiger reserve in India to officially introduce a mascot: Bhoorsingh the Barasingha

From 60 to 800 and counting is the true inspiration for all other conservation programs, well managed and proper execution has paid off and results are amazing. Kudos to Kanha for setting up an example of intent, the message to everyone is that with the right intent, you can achieve next to impossible task as well

I hope you enjoyed every bit of it, please shower your blessing and keep motivating me to deliver unique stuff, and in the end, do not forget to share feedback on btwildart@gmail.com

Learning of the day

Common difference between Barasingha and Sambhar Deer 

The confusion between Sambhar deer and Barasingha is common throughout India. Though they both are from the same family of ‘even-toed ungulates’, they differ from each other

1.  The antlers of Barasingha are wide-open, whereas those of Sambhar deer are more curved

2. The fully-grown Sambhar deer have 4 to 8 branches on antlers. However, Barasingha has 12 or more branches on their antlers. In both species, only males have antlers

DSLR Section 

Tufani Trogon

 

Hi friends, my heartiest thanks to each one for appreciation and motivation, with your blessing “BT Wild Art” has reached millstones like 32K clicks on blog post and around 47 lacs views on Google map. Many thanks to the social media platforms like FB, Twitter, Insta, Google Map for providing such platform, this helped me to spread awareness about wilderness.

Please note how to utilize social platform is purely our own responsibility, it is a platform where you can express your views, but at the same time, we should be mindful towards content, we opt to post, so please spread positivity and stay away from fake and negativity. 

Before I start let me apologize for the delay in posting blogs, due to the current situation it is becoming difficult to post a blog every week, and hence it is taking a bit long. But it is a constant endeavor to provide uniqueness regularly. Therefore, with the promise of uniqueness, I am presenting today’s topic "Tufani Trogon" from the first trip of 2021, so let me introduce the tiger of Dandeli

Mind-blowing memory

Dandeli what a trip it was! Birding heaven full of birds and full of memories, one of the most memorable events came from this Tufani bird and hence I am quoting this as Mind-Blowing memory. The main attraction of Dandeli is Trogon similar to what Tiger is to any tiger reserve hence the same was on top of our mind. On the way to OMH (Old Magazine House), we were discussing and planning to find this lovely bird to make this trip successful. We all were aware of the fact that it is not easy to find birds because it is not possible to track them. You can track Tiger or leopard with footmarks/other animal calls etc but with birds, it is not that easy but still, we always keep hope and believe in mother nature and our luck as well.

With a combination of nature's blessing and hope, we reached Dandeli, upon reaching, the Trogon welcomed us without even giving us the opportunity to get out of the car. The situation was such that we do not know how to react because we had to finish check-in formalities. The staff of OMH was kind enough to help us quickly so as we can meet this lovely creature.

The quick help turned into to fantastic sighting of Trogon, it was sitting on an open perch, and colors were shining brightly due to morning time. This was just a beginning because a memorable event was yet to happen. On 2nd-day Trogon again came in front of us but this time it came with a lizard, this was the best moment of the trip, never expected that such sighting will come in such a beautiful way. We were like whether to believe our luck or not, it was a true gift of nature to bird-lover and nothing else. I know you are keen to know more about this lovely creature, so why wait for more, let’s go to the next section to know some fantastic details. 

Fantastic facts

A name to chew on: The word “Trogon” comes from the Greek term for “gnawing” or “nibbling.” This might have been inspired by the gnawing technique the birds use to excavate their nest cavities.

Pluck fruits with wings: Trogons are mostly frugivorous, which means they eat fruits. But they can’t pluck fruits while perched, so instead, they hover in front of the fruit and pluck it in flight!

Unique toes: Trogons are the only type of animal that has heterodactyl toes. This means that their first and second toes point backward, while their other toes point forward!

Their legs and feet are weak and short, and trogons are essentially unable to walk beyond a very occasional shuffle along a branch. The ratio of leg muscle to body weight in trogons is only 3%, the lowest known ratio of any bird. They are even incapable of turning around on a branch without using their wings. 

They feed on insects and fruits, and their broad bills and weak legs reflect their diet and arboreal habits. Trogons feed principally on insects, other arthropods, and fruit; to a lesser extent, some small vertebrates such as lizards are taken. Among the insect prey taken one of the more important types is caterpillars; along with cuckoos, trogons are one of the few bird groups to regularly prey upon them. 

Trogons are generally not migratory, although some species undertake partial local movements; they nest in holes dug into trees or termite nests, laying 2–4 white or pastel-colored eggs.

The wings are short but strong, with the wing muscle ratio being around 22% of the body weight. In spite of the strength of their flight, trogons do not fly often or for great distances, generally flying no more than a few hundred meters at a time.

The position of the trogons within the class Aves has been a long-standing mystery. A variety of relations have been suggested, including the parrots, cuckoos, toucans, jacamars and puff birds, rollers, owls, and nightjars. More recent morphological and molecular evidence has suggested a relationship with the Coliiformes.

The unique arrangement of the toes on the foot has led many to consider the trogons to have no close relatives, and to place them in their own order, possibly with the similarly typical mousebirds as their closest relatives.

I hope you enjoyed every bit of it, please shower your blessing and keep motivating me to deliver unique stuff, and in the end, do not forget to share feedback on btwildart@gmail.com

Learning of the day

State Bird of Madhya Pradesh

Indian paradise flycatcher (Doodh Raj) – 

They make short aerial sallies after insects, usually returning to the same perch. Occasionally descends to the ground to pull apart insects. Chiefly found in wooded habitats.  

Click to know more

https://btwildart.blogspot.com/2018/06/fantastic-flycatcher.html

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