Captain Cape Buffalo

Hello everyone, I hope you all are doing fine. Thanks for reading and asking questions on Eagle, I know some of you have requested to provide a comparison of Kites and Eagle, I have noted the request and will get back with some research work in some time.

While thinking about today’s topic I noticed that we have seen many birds and hence today the animal deserves to get space on the blog so after thinking of some options I decided to present the largest animal which is part of African Big 5 "Cape Buffalo" so let's move to the next section to meet Cape Buffalo directly from the land of Africa. 

The Big Five Group

The Cape buffalo is part of the Big Five animals of African Game Reserve; the others are lion, leopard, rhinoceros, and elephant. The term was coined by big-game hunters and refers to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot. Buffalo deserves to be part of Big five as it is one the most dangerous and largest animal. You may feel that its buffalo so it may be as calm as domestic one but let me tell you don’t dare to misunderstand this heavyweight as a calm animal. Like Asian Buffalo, it cannot be domesticated because of its unpredictable temperament. Cape Buffalos reported killing more hunters in Africa than any other animal. They are known to ambush hunters that have wounded or injured them. This is why it well deserves to be the main attraction of Africa Game Reserve, there are many more qualities which many of us are not aware of hence let's move to the next section to see unique facts. 

The Facts of the Warrior

The African buffalo or Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is a large Sub-Saharan African bovine. Cape Buffalo have 4 times the strength of an Ox. The Cape buffalo is not very tall—it stands only 130–150 cm (51–59 inches) tall and has relatively short legs—but it is massive, weighing 425–870 kg (935–1,910 pounds) 

The hide on a bull buffalo's neck is as thick as 2 inches in places, which protects it during battles with other bulls for dominance

Cape buffalo have exceptional memories. The adage an elephant never forgets would be matched by a buffalo never forgives. They have been known to attack people that have harmed them even years after the event

The adult buffalo's horns are its characteristic feature: they have fused bases, forming a continuous bone shield across the top of the head referred to as a "boss"

They are widely regarded as among the most dangerous animals on the African continent, and according to some estimates they gore, trample and kill over 200 people every year

They are capable swimmers and often cross deep water in search of better grazing

When chased by predators, a herd sticks close together and make it hard for the predators to pick off one member. They have been recorded killing a lion and chasing lions up trees and keeping them there for two hours, after the lions have killed a member of their group

Cape Buffalo is of the main attraction of Game Reserve, make sure to capture them when you visit any of the forests in African land, hope you liked the content, do reply with your comments and feedback it will help me to improve and serve you better

Learning of the day

State Animal of Andhra Pradesh

Blackbuck –

The blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra), also known as the Indian antelope, their lifespan is around 10-15 years.

You may refer content on https://btwildart.blogspot.com/2018/07/blockbuster-blackbuck.html

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Crested Serpent Eagle

Thanks, everyone for the overwhelming response to the “Diwali for All” blog. The thought of uplifting the villagers received a huge round of applaud and many of you have shown the positive response for helping them in the future as well. On behalf of the villagers and our wildlife group big thanks to each one of you. 

Let me start today by wishing you A very happy and prosperous new year. After the festival, I am opting to start with a bird we all know by name but in reality, many don't know them correctly so I will brief you on Eagle, in particular, I will be talking about Crested Serpent Eagle because there are around 19 popular species of eagles out of 60 various types hence picking up one of them here.

The Common Mistake

As I said we all know this bird by name but we do not know this bird in reality, the most common mistake we do is we consider all raptors as an eagle. Commonly found Kites are always known as an eagle, (we teach our kids the same) until I started wildlife I used to do the same mistake. Buzzards, Kites, Shikra, etc are always treated as “Eagle” so I decided to pick up Eagle as a topic to clarify the common mistake we do. Crested Serpent Eagle was my first sighting on entering my first wildlife safari at Nagzira, so it is closed to my heart. During this trip itself, Jogi educated me that Eagle is different from Kite and updated some facts of this bird, which I will update you in the next section. 

Facts File

The crested serpent eagle also is known as Spilornis cheela is a medium-sized bird of prey that is found in forested habitats across tropical Asia

There are considerable variations and some authorities prefer to treat several of its subspecies as completely separate species. In the past, several species including the Philippine serpent eagle (S. holospila), Andaman serpent eagle (S. Elgini) and South Nicobar serpent eagle (S. klossi) were treated as subspecies of the Crested serpent eagle

The crested serpent eagle, as its English name suggests, is a reptile eater which hunts over forests, often close to wet grassland for snakes and lizards,  It has also been observed to prey on birds, amphibians, mammals and fishes

A radio-telemetric study of the species in Taiwan found that the birds spend 98% of the day perched and usually finding food in the morning hours. They appear to use a sit and wait for foraging strategy

Crested serpent eagles are medium-sized raptors. They range in length from 55 to 76 cm, and their wingspan ranges from 109 to 169 cm

They can weigh anywhere from 420 to 1800 g. When perched, an adult appears overall dark brown with an almost black 'hood' on the head and neck. The breast and belly are brown with white mottling. The crest is black with some white flecks is very prominent when raised

Crested serpent eagles mate in monogamous pairs and remain in pairs throughout the year. Courtship displays consist of pairs soaring and calling together. These courtship flights may include rolling and wing vibrating

Crested serpent eagles communicate with one another using vocal cues and aerial displays. Their courtship display is complex involving multiple diving runs and mutual soaring with the head and tail feathers raised

Crested serpent eagles eat a significant amount of snakes, including species harmful to humans. They also eat small rodents that can have adverse effects on crop production

I hope now you will easily distinguish between an eagle and other raptors, for easy reference, you can check out DSLR section as well

Learning of the day

State Animal of Maharashtra

Indian Giant Squirrel –

The Indian giant squirrel, or Malabar giant squirrel, (Ratufa indica) is a large tree squirrel species in the genus Ratufa native to India

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Diwali For All

Happy Diwali to all of you and your family, may this festival bring lots of smile and prosperity in your life. I hope you all are enjoying the festival season to the fullest.

You must be thinking about what am I doing here on the blog on Diwali day instead of enjoying the festival with family. Exactly the topic of the day is the way we as a group celebrated  Diwali with some unique thoughts to make this Diwali a rocking one not only for us but for people who actually need it the most. 

Now let me update the thought behind this and then will update you on details of celebration in the next section. 

Significance of Deepavali

To start with, let me tell you what Diwali/Deepavali symbolizes and the essence of this great festival is. The biggest essence is "victory of light over darkness”, this means we need to spread lights wherever there is darkness, not only putting lights but in a way, we can bring a smile on the face of poor people who don’t afford to celebrate this great festival. Here the motive is to light up the happiness among these tribal people by offering a small hand of help in their Life.

With this noble thought under the leadership of Mumbai Travelers we had Diwali celebration with people of a small village “Kuwaripada” at Tansa. Now let me tell you that Tansa is a place from where our own Mumbai City gets water.

I know not many of us are aware of Tansa hence we decided to reach out to the place where managing necessity like water is a challenge and celebration or lighting etc remains just a dream. Yesterday we reached the place and had one of the best Diwali till date, let's move the next section to see how we were successful to bring smile and lights in life of our own people who are now part of our family. 

DIWALI FOR ALL

Diwali for All is a unique initiative brought by Mumbai Travelers where one can donate and visit the Tribal village to celebrate Diwali with villagers and make their Diwali a special one. So let start with the celebration of Diwali in true sense with villagers in a style.

The activity was initiated well in advance so as we can have sufficient quantity for around 20 families (120 people) of this lovely village. We had a very good count of donation but just handing over material is not sufficient. They may feel ignorant and distance from city people typical gap between city & village, to feel up the gap of city and village and to give them comfort that even city people care for them and we don’t shy to be with them we reached the place personally. We thought that celebrating personally and light up Diya at their home as we do at our home would make them feel special instead of ignorant. 

We around 20-25 people under the leadership of Saurabh reached the place by 4 pm, trust me the moment we reached there the smile and happiness of villagers were on top, they were happy to see that people do care for them and willing to support and uplift them. The village is far away from the city at around 30 KM but still, they manage cold drinks for all of us and welcome us with showering flowers, this was a great gesture of humanity and heart touching. 

Till last month there was no electricity in the village so you can understand the kind of challenges they have. The overwhelming response on donation helped us to make their Diwali a special one. Donation count was too good so out of all things, which I could remember, it is like books, stationery, games such as Cricket bats, carom, football, skip ropes, chess, Kambal, mats for small children, grocery, etc.

Grocery and basic necessity was packed for each family so all of them can have equal distribution, stationary and books were handed over to school so as it can be optimally utilized and common stuff such as games were handed over to the leader of the village so as he can keep control over better utilization. This is how the combination of the city and villagers came together and celebrated the festival of lights to bring happiness for each other. 

The best is yet to come

At the last before we leave the best part comes in, creation of rangoli near Tulsi Kunj with flowers and light up Diya and lanterns outside each house. The best part of Diwali is to bring a smile and overcome darkness and if you do it for people who cannot afford then it is Diwali in true sense. 

The purpose of the blog is not to publicize ourselves but to promote the true essence of this great festival so as in future many more such initiatives can be undertaken by more groups to uplift the poor families so as they can also contribute to the development of our country. 

Wish you all a very happy Diwali and prosperous new year

High Five Hariyal

Friends hope you had a fantastic Navratri, wish you all the best for upcoming vacation time, ensure you plan an outing with your loved at least for a couple of days and if possible connect them with natural/wilderness places. We need to nurture our new generation from a young age itself so as they value Mother Nature when they grow up, it will certainly, help us to protect our wildlife and Mother Nature in the long run. 

Now let us talk about today’s flavor, the first time it was an easy decision for me to finalize the topic because I picked up this topic from the list I shared with you last week about State Birds. Since I belong to Mumbai (Maharashtra), I opted to start with State Bird of Maharashtra “Yellow-footed Green Pigeon” or you can say Hariyal, let us take our learning to the next level.

The Hariyal

With this section I will explain the structure of the bird so that you can identify when you see it and in the next section I will provide you details of habits and other similar facts of the bird. 

They have a yellowish olive-green body, duller above with a blue-grey crown. Forehead and lores often suffused pale olive-green. They have lilac patch on the shoulders and a conspicuous yellow bar in the blackish wings

Neck dark golden olive-yellow tinged greenish, mauve shoulder patch, bright yellow fringes to the wing coverts

Female is slightly duller than male. The adult female is very similar to the male but tends to be duller and with a more restricted mauve shoulder patch. Juvenile are paler and duller than the female, lacking or almost lacking the mauve shoulder patch

The flight is noisy, swift, strong, and direct, and the call is a series of about ten beautiful, mellow, musical whistles, which usually give the first indication of their presence in a locality

Fantastic Facts

The yellow-footed green pigeon (Treron phoenicoptera), also known as yellow-legged green pigeon, is a common species of green pigeon found in the Indian subcontinent. It is the state bird of Maharashtra; in Marathi, it is called Hariyal

They prefer semi-evergreen forests, deciduous forests, wooded habitats, and secondary forests up to 800 meters. They commonly found in roadside trees particularly Banyan and Peepal trees. Also visits gardens even inside towns

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

The breeding season is between March to June. During the courtship, the male puffs out his throat and breast, lowers his wings, ruffles out his feathers, then prances solemnly up and down the branch, continually bowing his head and whistling softly as he makes his way backward and forwards to and from the female. Sometimes the female responds with a similar but less intense version of this display

Nest is a relatively slight platform of twigs in a tree or shrub. Eggs 1 to 2, white, glossy in color. The incubated period is between 13 to 15 days. Both sexes share domestic duties

There was a debate and discussion on changing the State Bird of Maharashtra somewhere around in the year 2011. The point of discussion was to make critically endangered bird as a State Bird so as awareness is created to save such endangered species. The proposition was to make “Forest Owlet” a State Bird of Maharashtra but the other side of the coin was that overexposing the Forest Owlets will go against it and will be difficult to protect and hence finally State Wildlife Board decided to continue with “Yellow Footed Green Pigeon as a State Bird

Learning of the day  

State Flower of Maharashtra

Jarul Flower (Lagerstroemia Speciosa): PRIDE OF INDIA

Lagerstroemia speciosa or giant crape myrtle is also called Pride of India. This ornamental plant is native to tropical parts and subtropical of southern Asia, India, and The Philippines.  The leaves of the plants are used in tea preparation and the plant is also one of the herbal plants widely promoted by the Philippine government for its medicinal value.  In Theravada Buddhism, the plant represents the enlightenment

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Gorgeous Grey Francolin

Lovely followers many thanks for your blessings, I hope you liked Jhalana Trip report, I hope you will plan a visit to Jaipur as well as Jhalana to accomplish mission Bharat Dekho Forest Dekho.

Today’s topic is the outcome of Jhalana forest, I was so impressed with the kind of birding this small forest offers and hence I was going through each and every photo very closely and see I managed to find a bird for you. Today we are meeting a bird that we know from childhood but when it comes to visualization, we don’t know this bird hence let me bring back old memories through this blog.

Bolo Kitne Teetar?

The well-known name is “Teetar” I am sure you remember the famous question “Teetar k agge Teetar, Teetar k Piche Teerat, toh bolo kitne Teetar? Now tell me how many know the looks of Teetar, not many for sure, now let me help you with details of our friendly bird. 

In English, it is known as Grey Francolin or Grey Partridge (old name). In Hindi, it is famous as Teetar because of their loud repeated Ka-tee-tar-tee-tar call that may be produced by more than one bird at a time.

Let’s learn habits and descriptions before we get into the fantastic facts. The grey francolin (Francolinus pondicerianus) is a species of francolin found in the plains and drier parts of the Indian subcontinent. 

The Grey Partridge inhabits dry open grass and thorny-scrub country interspersed with cultivation and avoids heavy forest and humid tracts. 

Gray Francolins are grayish-brown game birds with a short stubbed tail. They have has buff-colored spear-shaped streaks, irregular mottles, and bars of reddish-brown and black above. Grey francolin is barred throughout and the face is pale with a thin black border to the pale throat.

The grey francolin is normally found foraging on the bare or low grass-covered ground in scrub and open country.

Fantastic Facts

They are usually seen in small groups. Males have an anchor-shaped black mark on the throat that is absent in females. 

The breeding season is between April to September and the nest is a hidden scrape on the ground. The nest is a simple grass-lined scrape in the ground, in grassland, plowed fields, standing crops, or scrub jungle.

Gray Francolins are fast runners and prefer to run when approached or disturbed. They take to wing only when surprised in the bushes or when persistently chased. The flight is swift and direct, attained by rapid vibrating wing strokes.

They are weak fliers and fly short distances, escaping into the undergrowth. The bird drops into the grass again after flying a couple of hundred meters.

They feed on seeds, grains, as well as insects, particularly termites and beetles. They also eat maggots, white ants and other insects.

They roost at night up in thorny trees and bushes, and will often take shelter into these when harried in the daytime.

I am sure now you will be able to identify Teetar when you see it near you, please visit DSLR section and share your feedback with me on this blog or you can connect to me on btwildart@gmail.com

Learning of the day 

Do you know each state and union territories of our Country have their own seals and symbols which include animals, birds, trees, flowers, etc, today providing you the list of state birds of respective states for your learning, do share this information with your kids this will help them to gain GK about States as well as wildlife. 

SN	State	State Bird
1	Andhra Pradesh	Rose-ringed parakeet
2	Arunachal Pradesh	Great hornbill
3	Assam	White-winged duck
4	Bihar	House sparrow
5	Chhattisgarh	Hill myna
6	Goa	Flame-throated Bulbul
7	Gujarat	Greater flamingo
8	Haryana	Black Francolin
9	Himachal Pradesh	Western Tragopan
10	Jammu and Kashmir	Black-necked Crane
11	Jharkhand	Asian koel (Koel)
12	Karnataka	Indian roller (Neelkanth)
13	Kerala	Great hornbill
14	Madhya Pradesh	Asian paradise flycatcher
15	Maharashtra	Yellow-footed Green Pigeon
16	Manipur	Mrs. Hume’s Pheasant
17	Meghalaya	Hill myna
18	Mizoram	Mrs. Hume’s Pheasant
19	Nagaland	Blyth’s Tragopan
20	Odisha	Indian roller (Neelkanth)
21	Punjab	Northern Goshawk
22	Rajasthan	Great Indian Bustard
23	Sikkim	Blood pheasant
24	Tamil Nadu	Emerald dove
25	Telangana	Indian roller (Neelkanth)
26	Tripura	Green imperial pigeon
27	Uttar Pradesh	Sarus crane
28	Uttarakhand	Himalayan monal
29	West Bengal	White-breasted kingfisher
30	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	Andaman Woodpigeon
31	Chandigarh	Indian Grey Hornbill
32	Dadar and Nagar Haveli	NA
33	Daman and Diu	NA
34	Delhi	House sparrow
35	Lakshadweep	Sooty tern
36	Puducherry	Asian koel

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