Crimson Tip Butterfly

Large Salmon Arab Butterfly

Lemon Pansy Butterfly

Blue Pansy Butterfly

Crimson Rose Butterfly

Crimson Rose Butterfly

Common Leopard Butterfly

Common Jezebel Butterfly

Plain Tiger Butterfly (or Danaid Eggfly mimicing Plain Tiger?)

Plain Tiger is a beautiful butterfly and commonly found in India. But it is difficult to identify. Danaid Eggfly females mimic Plain Tiger and look very similar.

I was totally confused. How do I differentiate between a Danaid Eggfly female and a Plain Tiger? I did not find a convincing answer online so I wrote to one of the biggest authorities on this subject, Peter Smetacek.

Here is the answer. The arrangement of black spots is different in a Plain Tiger and female Danaid Eggfly. That's why image 1 and 2 below is that of a Danaid Eggfly and image 3 is that of a Plain Tiger.

Danaid Eggfly (female)

Danaid Eggfly (female)

Plain Tiger

Notice the difference between Danaid Eggfly and Plain Tiger. The spots are very different in both the species.

There are two more differences which Peter explained to me over email.

1. In flight, the Danaid Eggfly female is much stronger. The Plain Tiger flutters about weakly compared to the Danaid Eggfly female.
2. On the upper side, the hindwing border is a very stable difference between the two species.

Peacock Pansy Butterfly

Great Eggfly Butterfly

Female

Male

Common Mormon Butterfly

Pioneer Butterfly

Lime Butterfly (Lime Swallowtail Butterfly)

Identification: Black and white butterfly with red spots on the hindwing. There is a small blue colour patch too (above the red).

Birds of Ameenpur Lake, Hyderabad

I went bird watching at Ameenpur Lake yesterday with my son and we saw many types of birds. Ameenpur Lake is a huge lake and does not have any entry fee or any controls/fences. You can stroll along the banks and enjoy watching birds and butterflies. Here is the list of birds we could identify; there were more we could not identify.

Great Egret

Water birds

• Great Cormorant
• Grey Heron
• Oriental Darter
• Great Egret
• Cattle Egret
• Indian spot-bellied Duck
• Common Coot
• River Tern
• Painted Stork
• White-breasted Waterhen

Baya Weaver (male)

Other birds

• Pale-billed Flowerpeckercker
• Baya Weaver
• Red Avadavat
• Green Bee-eater
• House Sparrow
• Red-wattled Lapwing
• Plain Prinia
• Ashy Prinia

Great Cormorant (breeding plumage)

Ameenpur Lake is nice and quiet and a lovely place to go bird and butterfly watching.

Scaly-breasted Munia: The Forbidden Bird

How would you feel if you saw a bird you were not supposed to see?

As per the book 'Birds of the Indian Subcontinent' by Grimmett, Inskipp, and Inskipp Scaly-breasted Munia is not found in Hyderabad. It resides in almost all parts of India but not here. Nonetheless, I saw the bird in Hyderabad. I first saw one Scaly-breasted Munia in IISc Bangalore. Later, I saw the bird in Hyderabad. It is a small bird with a distinct beak and colours. I have now seen this bird many times and in large numbers too.

You can spot a Scaly-breasted Munia sitting atop trees and often in groups of 2 to 8. They like to sit in groups, unlike many other birds who prefer being alone.

How do you identify Scaly-breasted Munia?

• Scales (like that of a fish) on the breast
• Unique shape of the beak
• Brown-coloured head
• The male and female look similar.
• No change in colours during breeding season

By Yathin S Krishnappa (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Where will you find Scaly-breasted Munias?

As per the book, Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by Grimmett, Inskipp, and Inskipp

• It is found everywhere in India
• Except for large parts of west Rajasthan
• Except for parts of Telangana*, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and the Himalayas

* Whatever anyone says, remember that nature can always surprise you.

Habits and Habitats

I have seen this bird in my backyard and in Botanical Garden (a reserve forest). The area behind my apartment has around 50 trees and I have seen this bird sitting atop a tree which was aloof and had very less leaves.

When will you see Scaly-breasted Munias?

This bird is a resident in India and hence you should be able to see it all the year round. In Hyderabad, I have not seen this bird in the summer and it only started to be found since the monsoon set in. I expect this bird to be around till winters. In places where it is a resident, it should be found all year round.

Video of Scaly-breasted Munia

Here is another video with a good view.

Interested in more?

Wikipedia article

Photographs

Birds of Hyderabad

Hi! I am Vivek and here is a list of all the birds I have seen and identified in Hyderabad. I update this list as and when I identify a new bird.

Water Birds (19)

1. Indian Spot-billed Duck
2. Little Grebe
3. Painted Stork
4. Great Cormorant
5. Oriental Darter
6. Great Egret
7. Little Egret
8. Intermediate Egret
9. Cattle Egret
10. Indian Pond Heron
11. Black-crowned Night Heron
12. Black-headed Ibis
13. White-breasted Waterhen
14. Purple Swamphen (Grey-headed Swamphen)
15. Eurasian Moorhen
16. Eurasian Coot (Common Coot)
17. Bronze-winged Jacana
18. Grey Heron
19. River Tern

Birds of Prey (3)

1. Black Kite
2. Black-winged Kite (Black-shouldered Kite)
3. Shikra

Other Birds (37)

1. Indian Peafowl
2. Yellow-wattled Lapwing
3. Red-wattled Lapwing
4. Rock Pigeon
5. Laughing Dove
6. Greater Coucal
7. Asian Koel
8. Little Swift
9. White-throated Kingfisher
10. Green Bee-eater
11. Coppersmith Barbet
12. Common Iora
13. Small Minivet
14. Bay-backed Shrike
15. Indian Golden Oriole
16. Black Drongo
17. House Crow
18. Red-vented Bulbul
19. Ashy Prinia
20. Plain Prinia
21. Oriental White-eye
22. Large Grey Babbler
23. Yellow-billed Babbler
24. Indian Robin
25. Oriental Magpie Robin
26. Tickell's Blue Flycatcher
27. Rosy Startling
28. Brahminy Startling
29. Common Myna
30. Purple Sunbird
31. Purple-rumped Sunbird
32. White-browed Wagtail
33. House Sparrow
34. Scaly-breasted Munia
35. Baya Weaver
36. Red Avadavat
37. Pale-billed Flowerpecker

Interested in more? Click here to download a PDF which has names and photographs of 59 birds of Hyderabad.

Butterflies of Hyderabad

Hi. I am Vivek and I live in Hyderabad. I am maintaining a list of all butterflies I have seen in Hyderabad. I update this list as and when I see a new butterfly.

Seen and Identified

Click on the names to know more about these butterflies. 

• Common Mormon
• Common Rose
• Pioneer
• Common Emigrant
• Common Jezebel
• Lime
• Great Eggfly
• Peacock Pansy
• Danaid Eggfly / Plain Tiger*
• Common Leopard
• Crimson Rose
• Orange Tip**
• Blue Pansy

*Danaid Eggfly mimics Plain Tiger. It is difficult to differentiate one from the other :)

** Not yet photographed