Photos: 10 Rare And Colourful Birds Of India

Look out! There are some brilliant coloured birds about to land on your screen!

Mangrove Pitta IUCN Red List species status – Near Threatened

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The pitta is a colorful little bird that can be easily spotted from a distance because of its distinguishing orange-yellow breast, green and blue wings and a red tail. The marshland bird is becoming very rare though as its habitat vanishes.

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IUCN Red List species status – Least ConcernRed Jungle Fowl

Image via cc/Flickr by shankar s.
Image via cc/Flickr by shankar s.

They are the wild ancestors of the domestic poultry and commonly seen in many Indian jungles, especially in the Western Ghats. Brilliant to watch, the roosters have long, golden-orange to deep-red crown and neck feathers, and a dark metallic-green tail with a white tuft at the base.

5 Spectacular Crabs Discovered In Western Ghats

Yellow WeaverIUCN Red List species status – Vulnerable

Image via cc/Flickr by John Magnus
Image via cc/Flickr by John Magnus

This bird found in marshy grasslands has a rapidly declining population as more and more of its terai habitat is converted to agricultural land. Found in small pockets of north-east India, the brightly coloured bird is becoming very rare.

 

IUCN Red List species status – Least ConcernAlexandrine Parakeet

Image via cc/Flickr by Stefan Petras
Image via cc/Flickr by Stefan Petras

A magnificently vibrant green, red and pink bird, the Alexandrine parakeet (Psittacula eupatria) is native to south and south-east Asia, but is becoming a common sight in many European cities too, because of exotic pet trade. Although not rare, the colorful birds are constantly being captured from the wild to be sold as pets.

29 Parakeets Rescued From Smugglers

Nilgiri FlycatcherIUCN Red List species status – Near Threatened

Image via cc/Flickr by Srikant Rao
Image via cc/Flickr by Srikant Rao

Found in a very limited range in the Western Ghats of India, this beautiful blue coloured flycatcher is hard to miss. Endemic to India, the bird is totally dependent on the Western Ghats for its survival.

Eco Travel: Silent Valley National Park, Kerala

Temminck’s Tragopan IUCN Red List species status – Least Concern

Image via cc/Flickr by Tony Hisgett
Image via cc/Flickr by Tony Hisgett

Considered the most beautiful pheasants in the world, the male birds have bright orange-crimson body with pearl-grey dots below and black-bordered white dots above. Perhaps even more striking is the vivid pale-blue skin of the face! The bird is found in the Himalayan regions of east India.

New Himalayan Singing Bird Discovered

Yellow Throated Bulbul IUCN Red List species status – Vulnerable

Image via cc/Flickr by Srikant Rao
Image via cc/Flickr by Srikant Rao

Rocky hills and steep rocks are home to this captivating bird. It has a bright yellow head that seems like it has been just splashed with Holi colours! The bird is losing its home to granite mining.

Iron Ore Mining Stripping Wild Animal Homes In Goa

Ruddy Kingfisher

Image via cc/Flickr by Jason Thompson
Image via cc/Flickr by Jason Thompson

This distinctive looking kingfisher is found in a wide range across South east Asia, including India. It prefers coastal mangrove areas.

Blyth’s TragopanIUCN Red List species status – Vulnerable

Image via cc/Flickr by Jean
Image via cc/Flickr by Jean

It is the largest of all tragopans in the world and as bright as it can be! The face is yellow, head is rusty red, and the body is mostly smokey grey. The upper part of the body is what makes the bird so colorful to look at. It is brownish red, densely spotted with small white dots. A distinctive black band extends from the base of the bill to the crown and another black band extends behind the eye. It is found in North-east India and is a rare bird.

Western Tragopan: Vulnerable State Bird Of Himachal Pradesh

Pink headed DuckIUCN Red List species status – Critically Endangered

pink headed duck

 

 

 

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Atula Gupta is the Founder and Editor of indiasendangered.com. Her work has appeared in a number of international websites, dailies and magazines including The Wire, Deccan Herald, New Indian Express, Down to Earth and Heritage India on issues related to environment and its conservation. She is also the author of Environment Science Essentials, a set of books for school children. She hopes this website provides a platform for people to be aware about species in the verge of extinction and heighten their conservation efforts.
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7 thoughts on “Photos: 10 Rare And Colourful Birds Of India

    1. Thank you for visiting the site. The photograph is of a jungle fowl which as we mentioned is a wild variety of the domestic poultry and I have seen it a number of times in the Indian jungles. As the post is about colorful birds, it’s just another example of that and therefore, we’ve displayed the photo. Don’t you think it’s nice to acknowledge the wild varieties of the domesticated species too? Gives us a reason to appreciate those birds and animals that we think we so commonly see. 🙂

  1. I SUGGEST YOU PUT UP THE PICTURE OF THE PLUM HEADED PARAKEET INSTEAD OF THE ALEXANDRINE PARAKEET.THE ALEXANDRINE PARAKEET IS FOUND IN MUMBAI TOO–HENCE YOU CANNOT CALL IT A RARE BIRD.
    YOUR SITE IS WONDERFUL.KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK

  2. I went on a mountain Hike in Anapadesh India on a mountain range above Visakhapatnam and saw a orange colored bird with a very long body and tail it was about the size of a pigeon only much longer could you tell me what the birds name is. it was bright orange in color. Very beautiful.

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