Godavari Birds
Godavari Birds
i
Godavari Birds
From Godavari to Phulchowki peak, there are an estimated
270 bird species with 17 listed as endangered. Godavari
proper has 100 species recorded. It is impossible to
photograph all of them. A reference list is provided at the
end of the booklet so that you can continue to locate birds
that we have not been able to photograph. This fun booklet
presents a few of the more common and eye catching birds
that hopefully will catch your eye too.
Bird watching provides valuable information. Consistent
records give indications of habitat loss, changes in climate,
migration patterns and new or missing previous records.
Years of data have been collected across Nepal to give a
picture of birds in place and time. The oldest Nepal record
is from 1793 when it was more common to catch and skin
birds for museum collections.
Compiled by Karen Conniff, Ron Hess and
Erling Valdemar Holmgren
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Godavari Birds
Godavari Birds
This basic guide is organized by family and sub-family groupings. The purpose is to make it
easier to identify the birds sighted at the ICIMOD Knowledge Park and surrounding areas in
Godavari.
There are several bird watching tours and groups of regular bird watchers to join with and
improve your knowledge of local birds.
If you have comments, want to add a new identification record or found errors in this booklet please contact:
Karen Conniff – [email protected]
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Godavari Birds
Blue-throated Barbet
(Ron Hess)
iv
Godavari Birds
Kalij Pheasant (female)
RHess
Phasianidae or
Partridges and
Pheasants
RHess
Family
Kalij Pheasant (male)
1
Godavari Birds
Family
Accipitridae or
Kites, Hawks, Eagles
2
RHess
KConniff
Godavari Birds
Himalayan Buzzard
KConniff
Black Eagle
RHess
Black Kite or Pariah Kite
Shikra (Male)
3
Family
KConniff
Godavari Birds
Oriental Turtle Doves – Pair
KConniff
Columbidae or
Pigeons and Doves
Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon
4
Barred Cuckoo Dove
KConniff
KConniff
Godavari Birds
KConniff
Common Pigeon
Spotted Dove
5
Family
Green-billed Malkoha
KConniff
Cuculidae or
Cuckoos and
Malkohas
KConniff
Godavari Birds
Lesser Cuckoo
6
Family
Psittacidae or
Parakeets

Rose-ringed Parakeet (female)
Family

Cattle Egret
Ardeidae or
Herons and Bitterns
7
Godavari Birds
Family
Strigidae or
Owls
KConniff

Asian Barred Owlet
Family
KConniff

White-throated Kingfisher
8
Alcedinidae or
Kingfishers
Godavari Birds
Family
Ramphastidae or
Barbets
9
Golden-throated Barbet
KConniff
Blue-throated Barbet
Great Barbet
10
KConniff
KConniff
Godavari Birds
Godavari Birds
Family
Picidae or
Piculets and Woodpeckers
11
KConniff
KConniff
Godavari Birds
Grey-headed Woodpecker (male)
Grey-headed Woodpecker (female)
12
KConniff
KConniff
Greater Yellow-nape Woodpecker
Speckled Piculet
Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker
RHess
KConniff
Godavari Birds
Darjeeling Woodpecker
13
Godavari Birds
Long-tailed Minivet (male)
KConniff
Campephagidae or
Cuckoo-shrikes,
Minivets
RHess
Family
Long-tailed Minivet (female)
14
Family
RHess
Godavari Birds
Long-tailed Shrike
KConniff
Laniidae or
Shrikes
Grey-backed Shrike
15
Family
RHess
Godavari Birds
Ashy Drongo
KConniff
Dicruridae or
Drongos
Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo
16
Godavari Birds
Oriolidae or
Orioles
RHess
Family
Maroon Oriole
17
Family
KConniff
Godavari Birds
Yellow-bellied Fantail
RHess
Rhipiduridae or
Fantails
White-throated Fantail
18
Corvidae or
Crows, Magpies,
Jays
Red-billed Blue Magpie
KConniff
Family
KConniff
Godavari Birds
Thick Billed Crow
19
Grey Treepie
KConniff
Common Green Magpie
House Crow
20
KConniff
KConniff
Godavari Birds
Godavari Birds
Family
Paridae or
Tits
21
RHess
RHess
Godavari Birds
Rufous-vented Tit
Green-backed Tit
22
KConniff
RHess
Grey-crested Tit
Black-lored Tit
Godavari Birds
Aegithalidae or
Long-tailed Tits
RHess
Family
Black-throated Tit
23
Godavari Birds
Family
Pycnonotidae or
Bulbuls
24
RHess
KConniff
Godavari Birds
Black Bulbul
RHess
Himalayan Bulbul
RHess
Red-vented Bulbul
Mountain Bulbul
25
Godavari Birds
Families
Sylviidae or Wablers
Cisticolidae or Tailorbirds and Prinias
26
KConniff
KConniff
Godavari Birds
Common Tailorbird
Grey-hooded Warbler
RHess
RHess
Humes Warbler
Grey-bellied Tesia
27
Godavari Birds
Grey-throated Babbler
RHess
Timaliidae or
Babblers,
Scimitar Babblers,
Laughingthrushes,
Fulvettas,
Yuhinas, Sibias
RHess
Family
Spiny Babbler Endemic Rare
28
KConniff
KConniff
Godavari Birds
Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler
White-crested Laughingthrush
RHess
KConniff
Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler
Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush
29
RHess
RHess
Godavari Birds
Spotted Laughingthrush
Striated Laughingthrush
30
RHess
RHess
White-throated Laughingthrush
Variegated Laughingthrush
RHess
RHess
RHess
RHess
Godavari Birds
Stripe-throated Yuhina
Red-billed Leiothrix
Nepal Fulvetta
Rufous-winged Fulvetta
31
RHess
RHess
Godavari Birds
Rufous Sibia
White–browed Fulvetta
Family
32
RHess
Zosteropidae or
White-eye

Oriental White-eye
Family
KConniff
Godavari Birds
Common Myna
KConniff
Sturnidae or
Mynas, Starlings
Jungle Myna
33
Godavari Birds
Family
Sittidae or
Nuthatches
RHess

White-tailed Nuthatch
Family
RHess

Rusty-flanked Treecreeper
34
Certhiidae or
Treecreepers
Godavari Birds
Family
Turdidae or
Thrushes
35
RHess
RHess
Godavari Birds
Chesnut bellied Rock Thrush (male)
White-collared Blackbird (female)
36
RHess
RHess
Blue Whistling Thrush
Black-throated Thrush (female)
Grey-winged Blackbird (female)
Blue-capped Rock-thrush (male)
RHess
Grey-winged Blackbird (male)
RHess
KConniff
Godavari Birds
37
Godavari Birds
Family
Muscicapidae or
Old world Flycatchers and Chats
38
RHess
KConniff
Godavari Birds
Verditer Flycatcher
Spotted Forktail
RHess
RHess
Rufous-gorgeted Flycatcher
Ultramarine Flycatcher
39
RHess
KConniff
Godavari Birds
Plumbeous Water Redstart (male)
Plumbeous Water Redstart (female)
40
KConniff
RHess
Blue-fronted Redstart
Magpie Robin
White-capped Water Redstart
RHess
KConniff
Godavari Birds
KConniff
White-browed Bush Robin
Himalayan Bluetail (male)
41
Godavari Birds
Orange-bellied Leafbird (male)
RHess
Chloropseidae
or
Leafbirds
RHess
Family
Orange-bellied Leafbird (female)
42
Godavari Birds
Dicaeidae or
Flowerpeckers
KConniff
Family
Fire-breasted Flowerpecker
43
Godavari Birds
Family
Nectariniidae or
Sunbirds
44
KConniff
KConniff
Godavari Birds
Crimson Sunbird (female)
KConniff
Purple Sunbird (male)
RHess
Crimson Sunbird (male)
Purple Sunbird (female)
45
Black-throated Sunbird
KConniff
Green-tailed Sunbird (male)
Green-tailed Sunbird (female)
46
KConniff
RHess
Godavari Birds
Godavari Birds
Family
Emberizidae or
Sparrows
RHess

Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Family
KConniff

White-rumped Munia
Estriididae or
Munias
47
Godavari Birds
Family

RHess
Motaciliidae or
Wagtails and Pipits
Grey Wagtail (female)
48
Reference
Fleming, L Sr, L.Fleming, L.S. Singh Bangdel (1976)
Birds of Nepal with reference to Kashmir and Sikkim.
1st Ed. Vakils House Printers Bombay, Inida.
Inskipp, Carol and Tim Inskipp (1991) A guide to the
birds of Nepal. 2nd Edition. Christopher Helm, London.
Grimmett, R., C. Inskipp and T. Inskipp (2012) Birds
of India: Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri
Lanka, and the Maldives (Second Edition). London.
Societies
Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN), PO Box 12465,
Lazimpat, Kathmandu, Nepal
Tel: +977-1-4417805, 4420213
www.birdlifenepal.org
Field Notes
Authors biographies
Karen Conniff: Karen is a dragonfly specialist with extensive experience in organic agriculture and birding.
During her PhD in agronomy she was drawn to classes on ornithology and entomology. After pursuing these
interests further in Sri Lanka where half of dragonfly species are endemic, she has co-authored several books
and articles on dragonflies, including the documentation of new species. She is a passionate photographer of
birds, butterflies, and dragonflies.
Ron Hess: Ron Hess was born in the Himalayas and traces his fascination with birds and natural history to
his biology teacher, Robert Fleming, Jr.. After working in film and completing a Master’s in Communication
from Cornell University, Mr. Hess joined the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, where he has
worked for 25 years with posts in Egypt, Uganda and Nepal. Birds have remained a life-long interest.
Erling Holmgren Valdemar: Valdemar started watching garden birds in Nairobi at age 9, which kicked
off a life-long interest in birds that includes keen birding during spare time; ornithology studies at Lund
University concerning bird ecology in agricultural landscapes of south Sweden; ringing of migrants and
monitoring of visible bird migration at the south Swedish bird observatories; and leading birding tours in east
Africa, Europe and Nepal. He still enjoys the intricacy of field identification of difficult species such as eagles,
hawks, and leaf warblers.
Bar-throated Minla - RHess
Godavari Birds
© ICIMOD 2015
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development
GPO Box 3226, Kathmandu, Nepal
Tel +977 1 5003222
52
Fax +977 1 5003299
Email [email protected] Web www.icimod.org