Birds of Nagarahole

Bird Survey,2023

Nagarahole Tiger Reserve is a popular forest in Karnataka. It was previously known as Rajiv Gandhi (Nagarahole) National Park. The name Nagarahole is named after the river ‘Nagarahole’ which means ‘Serpent River’ (Nagara=Serpent; Hole=River) in the Kannada language. Nagarahole tiger reserve forms a vital connecting habitat for tigers and elephants to other areas of Western Ghats through Brahmagiri wildlife sanctuary and to the Eastern Ghats through Bandipur Tiger reserve. Nagarahole, spread over Mysore and Kodagu is covering an area of 847.981 Sq km. I always wanted to see the birds of Nagarahole, in this winter I got a chance to visit there.

Nagarahole is a significant Tiger Reserve in Karnataka and is a main junction of conservation under Project Tiger and Project Elephant. The Protected Area supports large groups of carnivores and herbivores: Tiger, Leopard, Asiatic wild dog and Sloth bear, Asiatic Elephant, Gaur, Sambar, Chital, Muntjac, Four-horned antelope, Wild pig, Mouse deer, and South-western langur.
Nagarahole is adjacent to Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (Kerala) to its south and Bandipur Tiger Reserve to its southeastern parts. The park has a good number of rivulets. The Kabini and Taraka reservoirs are large water bodies located towards the west and southeastern parts of the park respectively. Nagarahole has a good number of birds. This is an ideal place for birdwatchers. In this article, I will share the details and my experience of Nagarahole national park bird survey,2023. I will tell you what birds you can expect there and how a nature lover can be spellbound by the beauty of the forest.

You may also like to read about the Tigers of Sundarban

Day 1 of the Bird Survey – Inauguration

Usually, bird surveys are conducted a minimum of three days duration in national parks. Being enough generous Nagarahole forest department arranged it for four days which will help the birdwatchers to explore more patiently. The registration fee was only Rs.1000. The first day was mostly devoted to the inauguration in the forest check-post Veeranhosahally. I came​​ from Kolkata to Mysuru on 8th Feb 2023.

I took the help of Northeasttravels and booked my stay for the night in Maya’s King Kourt. The next day morning, I had my first south Indian breakfast in the southern part of the country.

I took an auto to the Mysuru Suburban Bus-stop and got my bus to Hunsur bus stop. It took 1.5 hours to reach Hunsur from where we caught our forest department canter vehicle.

That KSRTC bus took us to the forest check post Veeranhosahally. We had to submit our Aadhar card photocopy, two passport-sized photographs and an indemnity bond issued by the Karnataka government to complete our registration process. After that, we got a kit bag with a pen and cap.

The main inauguration function started soon. Forest officials delivered their valuable speeches about the biodiversity of Nagarahole National Park and the importance of birds, birdwatching, and bird surveys.

They guided us on how to watch birds and how to put the bird sightings in the ebird app to use that data in conservation in a more scientific way. After the inauguration, we were offered delicious south Indian lunch.

I traveled from Kolkata to Nagarahole to attend the bird survey, I was pretty excited about the forest and the overall sighting. This southern part of the country is completely new to me.

In this survey, we had around 120 participants and several zones. Hunsur, Veeranhosahally, Metikuppe, Antharsanthe, D B Kuppe. these ranges belong to Mysore District. Anechowkur, Kalhalla, and Nagarahole ranges are in the Kodagu district. Participants are distributed on a team basis in those respective ranges. I was in the Nagarahole range along with Seventeen more female participants.

We were transferred to the forest dormitory by a forest department bus. It took one hour to complete that journey. We spotted Racket-tailed Drongo, Common Hoppoe, etc. from the bus itself. The accommodation for us is in the heart of the forest. The rooms and washrooms are quite a few in number and spacious. It has all the basic facilities.

When we reached there a beautiful sunset was happening spreading vibrant colors in the sky. A deep mysterious night was about to fall on a more beautiful forest that has stored far more mystery in her womb.

I was put in Kunthur beat along with two other female participants. We completed our dinner early and went to sleep. Tomorrow will be a challenge for us. We have to walk and watch birds for the almost whole day.

Day 2 of the Bird Survey – Bird Counting

Karnataka has a late sunrise than West Bengal obviously because of its southern position. When we woke up and got ready to start the day it was fully dark and the time was 5.30 am. We waited for some clear visibility. We had our packed breakfast for that day. It was lemon rice. Even the food items were new to me. All those are lifers because we generally got Dhosa, Idly, bada, etc. in our area as South Indian food, but South India has plenty of diversified cuisines. I was accompanied by Renu Priyadarshini Mallikarjunaiah, Praveen Baddi and Shreya Ravi. Super enthusiast Renu madam is a botanist herself and enriched us with her knowledge. Shreya is a designer by profession and very energetic. She was the one who put the sighted birds on the lists. Praveen Baddi was a forest officer in other region of Karnataka. Our forest guards were Ravi and Kencha.

The first day was a bit cloudy at the beginning. We started our journey at 7 am. Kunthur beat started just after crossing the national highway that connects both the state of Kerala and Karnataka. The first bird I saw is a Malabar Trogon female who was very shy as usual. There was a popular saying ‘Morning shows the day’ it was exactly proved true for us. We could spot many birds and watch a single elephant from a distance. We got Sambars and spotted deer also.

On this day we have to make ebird checklists each for one hour walk. After 8 am. Sunlight was about to kiss the whole jungle and we had witnessed the forest rising along with the sun. Birds became super active and their chirping made our day beautiful instantly.
Walking through a forest trail was an awesome experience in itself. We could touch those barks of ancient trees around. After 10.30 am. the sun started producing scorching heat. We decided to stop for a few hours near a water body. There was a watch tower. We would have our lunch here. A sambar deer was curiously looking at us, then when we were trying to sit there, it ran away.

A nice canopy was made over our heads and it gave us shadow. It is a dry deciduous forest. Though the trees are mixed but predominantly there were teak trees. This was the time when most of the trees shed their old yellowish leaves. We sat on the ground on the leafy cushions. It was an awesome experience.

A bunch of common ioras was calling despite the heat of the afternoon sun. They call like a faint melodious flute. A big brown fish owl flew away over our heads. Suddenly we could hear a harsh alarm call of sambar deer. We had been conscious and a bit scared. After some moments everything became normal. After taking a rest and finishing our lunch we again started to walk.

We covered almost near about 18 km. that day by walk. After returning to the camp I went with Irfana and Shabana in their car. Irfana drove us 10 km. around on the national highway just after getting the light dimmed partially.

We spotted a big bear mother with two cubs near the road. The mother was so cautious as she had two cubs following her. After some time we spotted two gaurs also just near the road. This road was closed after 6.30 pm. to ensure the safety of the wild animals and humans as well.

You may also like to read Kanger Valley Bird Survey 2022

Day 3 of the Bird Survey – line transect method

We started at 6.45 am. on this day because the weather was pretty clear today and we could already hear the bird chirping. Today we three were accompanied by Dy. RFO sir of Nagarahole range. On this day we have to make ebird checklists of 400 meters each. On this day, we walked in different habitats like a grave forest, grasslands, transact lines, swaps, etc. We had our shoes covered with sticky mud, we crossed scats of wild dogs, porcupines, and elephants. We identified so many birds on that day.

We went for a canter safari in the afternoon and watched more than 200+ Lesser whistling ducks in a pond. Two sambar males were fighting for a female. One peacock was displaying his beautiful vibrant tail to two females. A Gray Heron was trying to catch fish. Cormorants were busy drying their wings. Everything was happening around a single pond. It was a soothing and satisfactory sight. Though we missed the tiger but got fresh pug marks and could hear lots of alarm calls by langurs and deers.

In the night we assumed a leopard came near our camp to catch its prey. A large number of spotted deer used to stay near our camp to ensure their safety from predators, because of human presence. We could hear a shrill alarm call and some team members could spot burning eyes also in the forest. Overall it was a thrilling yet lifetime experience for a forest lover.

Day 4 of the Bird Survey – Closing Ceremony

This was the last day of our camp, we managed to go out birding for a few hours, though fog covered the sight and it wouldn’t be considered as an ideal day for birding. Visibility was so poor. Forest was looking magical though because of the mystic magical look.

I got mostly common birds and only a Malabar Grey Hornbill. That bird was very calm. I couldn’t hear its wing flapping. It was moving its body like a slow-mo video. We wrapped up within 9 am. after breakfast and reached to Veeranahosalli forest checkpost by the same bus that brought us here on the very first day.

After the experience-sharing and knowledge-transfer session we had our lunch and the survey ended officially.

Some of the Birds We Came Across

Lesser Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna javanica)

Common Hawk-Cuckoo (Hierococcyx varius)

Gray Heron (Ardea cinerea)

Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)

Streak-throated Woodpecker (Picus xanthopygaeus)

White-bellied Drongo (Dicrurus caerulescens)

Intermediate Egret (Ardea intermedia)

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)

Crested Serpent-Eagle (Spilornis cheela)

Cinereous Tit (Parus cinereus)

Brown-cheeked Fulvetta (Alcippe poioicephala)

Oriental Turtle-Dove (Streptopelia orientalis)

Spotted Dove (Eastern) (Spilopelia chinensis chinensis/tigrina)

Yellow-footed Green-Pigeon (Treron phoenicopterus)

Green Imperial-Pigeon (Ducula aenea)

Common Hawk-Cuckoo (Hierococcyx varius)

Asian Palm Swift (Cypsiurus balasiensis)

Indian Pond-Heron (Ardeola grayii)

Brown Fish-Owl (Ketupa zeylonensis)

Malabar Barbet (Psilopogon malabaricus)

White-cheeked Barbet (Psilopogon viridis)

Heart-spotted Woodpecker (Hemicircus canente)

Greater Flameback (Chrysocolaptes guttacristatus)

Plum-headed Parakeet (Psittacula cyanocephala)

Orange Minivet (Pericrocotus flammeus)

Black-hooded Oriole (Oriolus xanthornus)

Ashy Woodswallow (Artamus fuscus)

Common Iora (Aegithina tiphia)

Bronzed Drongo (Dicrurus aeneus)

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus)

Black-naped Monarch (Hypothymis azurea)

Indian Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi)

Cinereous Tit (Parus cinereus)

Flame-throated Bulbul (Rubigula gularis)

Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer)

Red-whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus)

Yellow-browed Bulbul (Iole indica)

Tickell’s Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus affinis)

Greenish Warbler (Phylloscopus trochiloides)

Puff-throated Babbler (Pellorneum ruficeps)

Brown-cheeked Fulvetta (Alcippe poioicephala)

Indian Nuthatch (Sitta castanea)

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch (Sitta frontalis)

Malabar Starling (Sturnia blythii)

Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis)

Asian Brown Flycatcher (Muscicapa dauurica)

Common Hawk-Cuckoo (Hierococcyx varius)

Booted Eagle (Hieraaetus pennatus)

Asian Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis)

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch (Sitta frontalis)

Malabar Starling (Sturnia blythii)

Jungle Myna (Acridotheres fuscus)

Purple Sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus)

Gray Junglefowl (Gallus sonneratii)

Blue-faced Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus viridirostris)

White-cheeked Barbet (Psilopogon viridis)

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus)

Malabar Starling (Sturnia blythii)

Jerdon’s Leafbird (Chloropsis jerdoni)

Puff-throated Babbler (Pellorneum ruficeps)

Brown-cheeked Fulvetta (Alcippe poioicephala)

Asian Brown Flycatcher (Muscicapa dauurica)

My In-Hand from Nagarahole Bird Survey

Any bird survey is pure bliss and leaves a long impact on nature lovers. The Nagarahole Tiger Reserve bird survey is not an exception. It helps us to learn our mother nature and gives us some insightful thoughts about the intricate delicacy of nature.
We learned how forest guards and range officers work in an adverse situations. They need a salute from the core of our hearts. Birds of Nagarahole are really a treat to the eyes. The entire survey team spotted around 300 birds and I have some lifers too which are added to my list.

1. Malabar Trogon
2. Blyth’s Sterling
3. Vernal Hanging Parrot
4. Yellow-browed Bulbul
5. Heart-spotted Woodpecker
6. Blue-faced Malkoha
7. Southern Hill-myna
8. Malabar Parakeet
9. Malabar Barbet
10. White-cheecked Barbet
11. Rufous Babbler
12. Malabar Gray Hornbill
13. Orange Minivet
14. Malabar Woodshrike

The most important collection from the trip is my friends. We got to know many bird lovers and nature enthusiasts from the different states of India. We stayed together, eat together, and soon became friends with each other. Friendship is priceless.

For more information regarding booking, safari etc. please visit – https://www.nagaraholetigerreserve.com/