Stork Pelican Egret Heron

These are large birds and can easily be spotted around wetlands of India and mostly the habitat is similar for each one of them.

Stork : Out of 6 types Storks, Oriental and White Storks are rare.
Flamingo : They are mostly same in appearance but are categorized as Lesser and Greater Flamingos with difference in size and colour of beak
Egret : 6 variety with difference in size, Cattle Egret is smallest and Great Egret is biggest among them. Western and Pacific Reef Egrets are slightly different in colour during breeding season and are found in coastal lines.
Pelican : There are 3 variety of Pelicans found [ Great white, Dalmation and Spot-Billed ]. Great White Pelicans are found Gujrat, Rajasthan, Haryana and other staggered parts of India and is most common of Pelicans. Dalmation pelican often are found with the group of Great White but Spot-Billed are difficult to spot.
Heron / Bittern: Similar to Egrets but their 11 variety can be separated in two categories where few are large in size [Grey and Purple Heron] are most common and can easily be spotted and rest are smaller in size [Little, Pond and Night Herons are the common ones]  Bitterns are similar to these small herons and are rather not so common, but are always found with the group of smaller herons.
Ibis : 2 varieties out of 3 are mostly similar [ Black and Glossy Ibis ]  whereas Black headed Ibis has got white body except for the neck and head.
Openbill : Very similar to White Stork and the unique gap between its upper and lower beak separates them from other storks.
Spoonbill : Spoonbills, as the name suggests, they have a spoon like beak.
Adjutant : Their broad long beak separates them from other Storks and also the Greater Adjutants have gular pouch and are absent in Lessers.

SlNoBird NamePreviewFamily NameRecord Location and Status
235Great Egret EgretEntire North India
236Intermediate Egret EgretBharatpur
237Little Egret EgretEntire North India
271Greater Flamingo FlamingoSultanpur Fields
400Black crowned Night Heron HeronSrinagar, Tamilnadu
405Indian Pond Heron HeronEntire North India
406Straited (Little) Heron HeronEntire North India
408Purple Heron HeronEntire North India
427Black headed Ibis IbisBharatpur, Tamilnadu
428Black Ibis IbisBharatpur, Haryana
429Glossy Ibis IbisBharatpur
457Stork Billed Kingfisher Kingfisher
687Dalmatian Pelican Pelican
688Great White Pelican PelicanBharatpur
945Eurasian Spoonbill SpoonbillBharatpur, Sultanpur
967Black necked Stork StorkBharatpur, Sultanpur
968Black Stork StorkRanthombhor
970Painted Stork StorkEntire North India
971White Stork StorkKabini, Nagarhole
972Wooly necked Stork StorkSultanpur Fields, Nagarhole

ALBUM (Click on anyone of them to view)

Duck Swan Goose

Duck as commonly called is a family of several species in their family including swans, teal, pochards, geese etc. Ducks are medium sized aquatic birds, except swans and geese who are relatively bigger in size. All may be found in fresh water and sometimes in sea water as well.

Names in this category as a family [ Duck, Gadwall, Garganey, Goldeneye, Goose, Grebe, Mallard, Merganser, Pintail, Pochard, Shoveler, Swan, Teal and Wigeon ]

Ducks feed on variety of food sources such as aquatic plants, fish, water insects, small frogs, small amphibians etc. Their feet is designed to swim and feathers to resist wetting, their flat beaks helps them in mud probing and weeding jobs. All can fly long distances and infact bar headed Goose are among high altitude flyers.

Most are migratory except for few such as Spot billed Duck and Whistling Duck; they migrate in both seasons and travel long distances.

SlNoBird NamePreviewFamily NameRecord Location and Status
202Lesser whistling Duck DuckBharatpur
207Spot billed Duck DuckEntire North India
349Bar headed Goose GooseBharatpur, Sultanpur
351Cotton Pygmy Goose GooseBharatpur
353Greylag Goose GooseBharatpur, Sultanpur
356Snow Goose GooseAs pet in Bharatpur
365Great Crested Grebe GrebeSultanpur Fields
367Little Grebe GrebeBharatpur
539Mallard MallardEntire North India
732Northern Pintail PintailBharatpur, Okhla
765Common Pochard PochardSultanpur Fields
766Ferruginous Pochard PochardSultanpur Fields
767Red crested Pochard PochardBharatpur
880Ruddy Shelduck ShelduckRanthombhor
999Mute Swan SwanSwiss
1019Common Teal TealBharatpur, Okhla, Sultanpur
1230Eurasian Wigeon WigeonSultanpur Wetlands

ALBUM (Click on any to view the ambum)

Other Wading Birds

Wading Birds
Wading birds are found both in fresh and saltwater throughout the world on every continent except Antarctica. They are even found in urban and suburban areas such as along ponds, man-made swamps etc because most wader species prefer wet habitats

Wading birds can be distinguished by their physical characteristics and their eating behaviors.

Most waders in this category have thin bills and defined shape depending on the types of food they consume.

In addition to physical characteristics, wading birds share a variety of behavioral traits that help identify the bird family.





	SlNoBird NamePreviewFamily NameRecord Location and Status






	3Pied Avocet AvocetSultanpur Fields, Haryana




	117Common Coot CootBharatpur, Okhla, South India




	118Great Cormorant CormorantAlmost Entire India




	119Indian Cormorant CormorantAlmost Entire India




	120Little Cormorant CormorantAlmost Entire India




	173Darter DarterAlmost Entire India




	345Black tailed Godwit GodwitSultanpur Fields




	433Bronze winged Jacana JacanaBharatpur




	434Pheasant tailed Jacana JacanaBharatpur




	796Common Redshank RedshankSultanpur Fields




	797Spotted Redshank RedshankOkhla




	844Ruff RuffBharatpur, Sultanpur




	857Common Sandpiper SandpiperAll India




	859Marsh Sandpiper SandpiperBharatpur, West Central and South India




	864Green Sandpiper SandpiperEntire India




	866Wood Sandpiper SandpiperEntire North India




	914Common Snipe SnipeSultanpur




	960Black winged Stilt StiltEntire North India




	998Purple Swamphen SwamphenEntire North India







ALBUM (Click any to view album)