Puff-throated Babbler

When we went to Shoolpaneshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, we first time saw this small species of passerine bird. It was foraging on the forest floor beside water stream by turning over dried leaves to taking various insects. We saw it again at the very same place when we visited that place again. It was doing same thing like our previous visit. It has great camouflage. It merges too much with dry leaves. It is difficult to locate them. Even when I tried to click the image, its moved so fast and camouflage that we lose its location in few seconds.

They are found in scrub and moist forest mainly in hilly regions. They forage in small groups on the forest floor, turning around leaf litter to find their prey and usually staying low in the undergrowth where they can be hard to spot. The throat is white, and is sometimes puffed out giving it the English name. Puff-throated babblers have strong legs, and spend a lot of time on the forest floor. They can often be seen creeping through undergrowth in search of their insect food, looking at first glance like a song thrush.

8^th April 2016

Shoolpaneshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, Narmada district, Gujarat, India

Nikon D7100

AF-S Nikkor 300mm F/4D IF-ED + AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E

f/8, 1/200, iso-400

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One of the features of a civilized man is that he has hobbies, serious hobbies. From time immemorial man has invented and developed various hobbies ranging from stamp collection to feather collection. Though man has been a social animal for a long time, the primeval instinct in his has not died. We yearn and long to be close to nature. There are a few hobbies that give us an opportunity to do so. One such hobby is bird-watching. It might seem simple to read the word and guess that it is very easy to watch the birds. But it is not what it seems. It needs a lot of dedication, determination and consistency to master ‘the art of bird-watching.’ It takes years of patience and perseverance to be a good birdwatcher. What you choose as your hobby is not as important as to what hobby chooses you. You have to be the chosen one. Dr. Pankaj Maheria, a Professor at GMERS Medical College, Valsad (South Gujarat) is one such Chosen One. Birds have chosen him as a medium between their worl

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