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Ruddy Shelduck | Brahminy Duck | Birds of Gujarat
Feb 10, 2024 | Birds of India Ruddy Shelduck | Brahminy Duck | Birds of Gujarat

Ruddy Shelduck is migratory bird in India and also in Gujarat. It is generally found in many wetland areas and bird sanctuary like Thol Bird Sanctuary, Nal Sarovar , Little rann of Kutch , Pariej Wetland etc. It is known as Brahminy Duck in India. They are resident in Northwest Africa and Ethiopia. Their main breeding area are southeast Europe, China and Mongolia. Ruddy Shelduck is common winter visitor in India during  October to April.  Ruddy shelduck generally found near lakes, rivers , reservoirs and water bodies. Ruddy shelduck is the member of shelduck Genus Tadorna in wildfowl family Anatidae.

ruddy shelduck

Description and Facts about Ruddy Shelduck :

  • Length of ruddy shelduck is around 56-70cm . With wingspan length is around 110-135 cm.
  • Ruddy shelduck body is orange brown, head is paler , tail is black and wings feather during flight is black also.
  • It is migratory bird in India during winter . It breeds in Central Asia, southeast Europe .
  • Female Ruddy Shelduck lays around 8 eggs . Female incubate them for four weeks. 
  • Ruddy Shelduck call loud nasal honking  notes in series. They can call from ground and from air also.
  • Juvenile is darker brown shade but very similar to female.
  • Ruddy Shelduck is mainly nocturnal bird. It is omnivorous and feed grass, plants, grains and aquatic invertibates. 
  • Population of Ruddy shelduck is around 170000 to 225000 approx.
  • Ruddy shelduck is in least concern bird list in IUCN list




Ruddy Shelduck found in pair and small groups. They rarely found in flocks. It had been recorded more than 4000 birds in Koshi Barrage and Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve in Nepal. Also a 10000 recorded at Lake Duden in Turkey. In Gujarat i found Ruddy Shelduck at Thol Bird Sanctuary and also at Little Rann of Kutch. It is also found in many other wetlands like Nalsarovar Sanctuary, Pariej Wetland etc.  Nearest bird sanctuary near Ahmedabad is Thol Bird Sanctuary where you can find more than 150 different spices of birds and also a migratory birds like Greater Flamingos, Great White Pelican, Ducks, Spoonbill , Bar Headed Goose etc.



Camera used : Canon 6D, Canon 80D, canon 100-400mm lens 



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Asian Woolly-necked Stork_ Large Wading Bird
Mar 11, 2024 | Birds of India Asian Woolly-necked Stork_ Large Wading Bird

Asian Woolly-necked Stork is the large wading bird and it is also known as Asian Woollyneck . It is a spices of Stork family and large wading bird. It is widely spread spices  and it breeds in Asia , India and Indonesia. It generally found at wetlands, agriculture field, cliff, and on trees. It also build nest on trees, mobile towers. Asian woolly necked stork found in Gujarat at many places like Thol Bird Sanctuary, Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, Velavdar Sanctuary, and many more agriculture lands and wetlands, small ponds etc. I shoot it at agriculture land near vamaj village neat to kalol. 


Facts and description about Asian Wooly-necked Stork :

  • Binomial name of Woolly-necked stork is  Ciconia Episcopus.  
  • Wooly necked stork is medium size stork in stork family
  • It is around 75-92 cm in height.
  • The iris of wooly necked stork is crimson or similar to wine red.
  • Overall body is black in color . Neck is white and underparts are glossy purple or dark green. under tail and lower belly are white in color.
  • It has long legs and heavy bill.
  • Asian Woolly necked stork breeds singly. It breeds in India, Asian and Indonesia. 
  • They are attracted of fire in farms and agriculture because they found insects easily run away from fire .
  • It has long and browed wings to travel long distance.
  • They are generally in solo, pair or in 4-5 group. Flocks are generally found in summer when wetlands are very few.
  • Asian woolly necked stork generally eat insects, reptiles and amphibians.
  • They build nest in agriculture area on trees. They lay 2-6 eggs.
  • Population of Asian woolly necked stork population is decreasing . It is now in near threaten  ( NT ) in IUCN list.


Well Like Asian woolly necked stork the other stork spices found in Gujarat is Painted Stork too. Size of both are almost same but difference of color. In Gujarat there are lots of bird sanctuary where we can found woolly necked stork and painted stork. My nearest bird sanctuary is Thol bird Sanctuary. In Thol Sanctuary there are more than 150 spices found by bird watcher. 

Gear Used : Canon 6 D , Canon 100-400mm lens

Location : Near vamaj village at agriculture area. 





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Eurasian Curlew A Large Wader Bird
Oct 02, 2023 | Birds of India Eurasian Curlew A Large Wader Bird

Eurasian Curlew is also known as a Common Curlew. It is a large wader bird in family Scolopacidae. During winter it found in Africa, South Asia  and southern Europe areas.  In Gujarat it is found in Little rann of kutch and Great Rann of Kutch areas. I found it at Little rann of kutch during morning safari.  It was first recorded in 1377 in Langland. It is found near to scrubby riverbeds , groves and thorn forests.  Eurasian Curlew is restricted to Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Shri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

Eurasian Curlew

Facts about Eurasian Curlew :

  • Eurasian Curlew is the largest wader in its range.
  • Its length is around  50-60 cm . Wingspan is around 90-105 cm. Weight of Eurasian Curlew is around  400 - 1350 gm approx.
  • Its color is mainly greyish brown, greyish blue leg, white back and a very long and curve  bill .
  • The bill is the longest in adult female than male.
  • Eurasian curlew lay 4 eggs and generally lay in april or may. They incubate eggs about a month.
  • It has been found that eurasian curlew built their nest near to Common Kestrel nest for protecting from Predators.
  • Eurasian curlew feed small invertebrates and crabs, earthworms  too.
  • The population of Eurasian Curlew is declining in very huge rate.  It is now in the Nearest Threatened list in IUCN list in 2008.
  • In last 25 years eurasian curlew population decline 50% in England and Scotland and 90% in Ireland .


Eurasian Curlew is a migratory bird in Gujarat during winter season. It is found in Little Rann of Kutch during november to march . Little rann of kutch is also famous for migratory raptors and eagles. Also lots of birds like Greater Flamingo, Falcons, Eagles, Pelicans, Short Eared Owl, Desert Fox  and a Wild Ass . Indian Wild ass is found only in Gujarat in Kutch area. The little rann of kutch land is dry during summer and after monsoon it is muddy. 

Camera used : Canon 6D, Canon 100-400 mm lens

How to Reach LRK : Little rann of kutch is around 100 -120 km from Ahmedabad.  

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Black Winged Stilt _ Wader Birds Gujarat
Sep 05, 2023 | Birds of India Black Winged Stilt _ Wader Birds Gujarat

Black Winged Stilt is a wader bird from stilt family. It is widlely distributed bird in Aisa, Africa, Europe. The scientific name of Black winged stilt is Himantopus . In Gujarat it is widely found in low water wetlands and some ponds and farms. Black winged stilt widely found in Thol Bird Sanctuary, Nalsarovar Sanctuary and their ourskirts. It is black and white bird with long legs and small in size. Not too small but medium size like Black Tailed Godwit bird. 

Black Winged Stilt

About Black Winged Stilt Bird :

  • Black Winged Stilt bird size 32-36 cm for adult.
  • They have long and thin black bill.
  • Black winged stilt legs are pink in color and also long too.
  • Black winged stilt head is white in color and neak is black in varying.
  • Male has black back and greenish glow and female has brown hue.
  • It has 5-7 subspices and sometime it reffered as Common stilt.
  • Black winged stilt breeds in small pond, lakes, marshes. 
  • Black winged stilt eat mainly insects.
  • Black winged stilt pick their food from water or sand.
  • It built nest near water and easily spotted. Also built nest in small group. Sometimes built nest with Avocets.
  • Black Winged stilt is one of the spices to which the agreement on the conservation of African Eurasian migratory water birds. 

Black And White Bird

Thol Bird sanctuary is located near Thol village in Sanand. It is really good place for bird watchers. In Thol Lake you can find waders, large birds, tree birds, migratory birds, resident birds etc. Also more than 150 spices as per my knowledge may be more numbers found here. Also Migratory birds are most attractions of Thol Lake during Winter. In migratory birds most found Flamingos, Pelicans, Bar Headed Goose, Sarus Crane, Demoiselle Crane, Grey legged Goose, Pied Avocets etc.

Lits of Migratory birds At Thol Lake :

  • Flamingos
  • Great White Pelicans
  • Bar Headed Goose and Grey heded Goose
  • Ducks
  • Spoonbills
  • Sarus Cranes and Demoiselle Cranes
  • Eagles
  • Mallard

Waders Bird

Best Time to Visit Thol Sanctuary :

Well for birding winter is the best time for Thol Bird Sanctuary. If you want day out then any time is better for thol except monsoon. There are lots of birds stay througout year in Thol lake. In winter lots of Migratory birds are most attractions of Thol Sanctuary. From November to March is the best time to visit Thol Lake.

Black Winged Stilt Bird

Birds of Gujarat

stilt bird

Stilt Bird

Long leg birds

Thol Bird Sanctuary

About Stilt Bird

Thol Lake

Pair of Stilt Bird

water birds

Birds around me

Stilt bird Matting

Birds of Gujarat

Nearest Railwaystation With Major City : Ahmedabad

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Grey Headed Swamphen Or Purple Swamphen
Sep 03, 2021 | Birds of India Grey Headed Swamphen Or Purple Swamphen

Grey Headed Swamphen Or Sultana Bird: Purple swamphen bird is water bird and also a backyard bird too. There are six spices of purple swamphen. It is also known as Sultana Bird. Purple swamphen bird is chicken size bird. It has large feet  and bright plumage and red bill. It is generally found near lower water areas in wetlands. It is easily identifiy and also easy to find because of its color purple catches easily to your eyes towards it.

Six spices of swamphen are : 

  • Western Swamphen 
  • African Swamphen 
  • Grey headed swamphen 
  • Black backed swamphen 
  • Philippine swamphen 
  • Australasian swamphen. 

In Gujarat generally it found at wetland areas like Thol Lake, Nalsarovar, Pariej wetland etc. Also some low water area they are found.  

Purple Swamphen

Some Facts about Grey-Headed swamphen : 

  • Purple swamphen can fly long distance . 
  • They are good swimmer too.  
  • They can make loud bleating and hooting call. 
  • They are seasonal breeders. 
  • Swamphen live in pair . 
  • They eat small fishes and snails like invertebrates. 
  • Color of Purple swamphen is like a peacock and a red bill on its head looks beautiful. 

Sultana Bird

Birds Of Gujarat

Purple swamphen is very good in color so the pictures are looking bright. Some of pictures are taken from my old camera so they may be not so good but i tried my best. Above image taken from my canon with 100-400 mm lens and in background and foreground a green grass make my image really fantastic.

Thol Lake Birds

Water Birds Gujarat

Birds of Gujarat : Purple swamphen generally found in water areas and wetlands. My nearest place and bird sanctuary is Thol Lake. I often visit Thol Lake for birding. During winter season lots of Migratory birds came here and stay during winter. Swamphen bird is residence here and you can get them the whole year. They also breed here. 

Gear used : Canon 100 - 400 mm lens, Canon 6 D , Canon 1000 D 

Location : Thol Bird Sanctuary , Near Sanand , Gujarat

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