Little Cormorant

The little cormorant in breeding plumage is black, or brownish-black, and has a small crest on the forecrown which is often flattened. Non-breeding adults are duller and a little brownish, particularly on the head and neck. It has white on the anterior face from below the gape (the inside of the birds mouth) to the throat. The gape and the base of the bill are often bluish. 

This is the first little cormorant I saw - in Yala NP in Sri Lanka. 

This little cormorant was in a small lake near the Diphlu Lodge near Kaziranga NP in Assam, India. 

This little cormorant was in a lake below the Amber Fort in Jaipur, India. It clearly has the white spot beneath the gape and a bluish lower bill.  

This is an illustration of the little cormorant in breeding plumage from Birds of the World. 

It is found in eastern Pakistan, India and northern Southeast Asia. 

Range of the little cormorant from Birds of the World.

Medium Egret

In the U.S. we have our white egrets: The snowy egret, cattle egret and great egret. I go internationally and see what I think is a snowy egret, and the guide says, "little egret." What? In India recently I saw what I figured was a great egret and the guide says, "medium egret." What? In Kaziranga NP in Assam, India I got photos of two medium egrets, one in the Central Range and one in the Western Range. The first time I've seen them or even heard of them. 

Medium egret in the Central Range.

Medium egret in the Western Range.

What was known as the intermediate egret had three recognized subspecies which in 2023 were each raised to species status. They were: (a) the yellow-billed egret of sub-Saharan Africa; (b) the intermediate egret of Asia to Eastern Russia, to Japan to India to the Greater Sundas; and (c) the plumed egret of eastern Indonesia, New Guinea and Australia. The intermediate egret subspecies was re-named the medium egret species. It differs from the yellow-billed egret species in that it has a black bill in breeding plumage (instead of a yellow bill) and has black at the top of the legs compared to reddish in the yellow-billed egret. 

The medium egret in breeding plumage from Birds of the World (also below flying).

In non-breeding plumage (yellow bill) from Birds of the World.

Medium egret range from Birds of the World. From the map it looks like it is a year-round species in Assam, India. 

The great egret is larger and has a noticeable kink in the middle of the neck. The medium egret has a slightly domed head and a shorter, thicker bill. Little (and snowy) egrets are smaller and have yellow-soled feet and black bills. 

Falcated Duck

On a safari in the Eastern Range of Kaziranga NP we drove along some lakes with lots of ducks. Some of them were at quite a distance with groups of like-kind ducks intermixed occasionally with loners from other breeds. My guide, Boblu, with binoculars in hand, was spouting off familiar and unfamiliar names of ducks that all looked the same to me with my naked eye, and not much more distinguishable with my 400 mm lens. I found myself taking photos in the directions he was pointing and hoping that when I was able to crop my photos I could distinguish the differences. One of these unfamiliar names was the falcated duck, a name I wrote down on a list I kept from this morning with Boblu. I looked up the falcated duck on Wikipedia and then went through my photos scanning pockets of birds scattered along a large area of lake looking for one. I eventually found it, a beautiful bird that I would love to get a closer look of. 

My photos on iNaturalist are the only ones that I can see of falcated ducks identified in that area of Kaziranga NP. 

It breeds in northern eastern Asia, including Russia and Japan, and winters in parts of southern and southeast Asia, including northern India, where I saw it. 

Range of falcated duck from iNaturalist.

The male has a dark green head with a white throat, a bronze crown and a dark green collar. It has a silver-gray body with black crescents on the breast and belly and vermiculated flanks. It is closely related to the gadwalls and wigeons. 

Illustration of male falcated duck from Birds of the World.  Same below, but flying. 

Female illustration from Birds of the World. 

Stork-Billed Kingfisher

I got a poor photo of one stork-billed kingfisher on the road to the eastern range of Kaziranga NP standing on a power line. There are 13 subspecies and they vary in color, but generally it has a green back, blue wings and tail, and buff underparts and neck. It has a very large bill, like a stork's, which is red as are the legs and feet. Both sexes are similar. Pelargopsis capensis capensis, the nominate subspecies, is found in the Indian Subcontinent along the base of the Himalayas and the Gangetic Plain, from west Uttarakhand and south Nepal to Assam and Bangladesh, and from southeast Gujarat and southwest Bengal to Sri Lanka. 

This illustration of the stork-billed kingfisher, ssp capensis, is what I should have been seeing in Assam, where Kaziranga NP is located. This is from Birds of the World. 

This is my photo. Note the darker head and the darker tip of the bill. 

This is an illustration of P. c. floresiana found in the Sunda Islands of Indonesia, including Bali and Flores. Note the darker head and blacker tip of the bill. From Birds of the World. To me it looks more like the subspecies I saw. 

This is the range of the stork-billed kingfisher from Birds of the World. 

Red Junglefowl

The red junglefowl is the primary ancestor to today's domesticated breeds of chicken. Molecular evidence indicates the domestication event occurred about 8,000 years ago from multiple maternal origins. The Sri Lankan junglefowl, which I've previously posted on, the gray junglefowl and the Javanese green junglefowl also contributed genetic material to the modern chicken gene pool. 

There are five subspecies of the red junglefowl. Gallus gallus spadiceus is found from northeastern India to south China, Malay Peninsula and north Sumatra. This is the subspecies I saw in Kaziranga NP in Assam, India in December 2024. We saw quite a few of them on the grounds at Diphlu Lodge where we stayed and also a few out on the range, but I'm so inured into thinking of them as domestic chickens I had a hard time getting excited about them and have only one photo, of a male, even though they are absolutely gorgeous. I also saw females. 

Illustration of G. g. spadiceus from Birds of the World.

I also saw some in Singapore, on the Malay Peninsula, at the Singapore Botanical Garden in June 2023. They should also be G. g. spadiceus, but they appear to have been G. g. gallus, which is found in south Myanmar through Indochina. I got many more photos of them. 

Illustration of G. g. gallus, female, from Birds of the World. An illustration of the male is below. 

Here is the range of the red junglefowl from Birds of the World. 

 

Oriental Pied-Hornbill

The Oriental pied-hornbill's head, neck, back, wings and upper breast are black with a slight green sheen. The tail is black with white tips except the central feathers. The lower breast, abdomen, thighs and underwings are white, as is the skin around the eyes and on the throat (the throat patch often has a bluish tinge to it).  Males have red eyes and a yellow bill with a black base of the lower bill. Females have more brown eyes and a yellow bill with more black on the smaller bill. I saw three or four of them in the same tree along the perimeter road to Kaziranga NP in Assam, India, while we were driving to the eastern range. The Wikipedia article has a photo of mating hornbills in Kaziranga NP. 

Illustration of male oriental pied-hornbill, albirostris, flying, and standing, below, with the red eye. From Birds of the World.  

Illustration of the female with the more brown eye. From Birds of the World. 

There are two subspecies. We saw Anthracoceros albirostris albirostris, the nominate subspecies, which is found in northern India and southern Nepal to south China and south to northern peninsular Malaysia, southwestern Cambodia and southern Vietnam. It is sometimes known as the Malaysian pied hornbill. The other subspecies is A. a. convexus found in peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, Bali and other smaller islands. It is known as the Sunda pied hornbill (after the Sunda Islands of Indonesia). 

Range of oriental pied-hornbill from Birds of the World. 

Ruddy Duck

I've previously posted on the ruddy duck on March 4, 2021 and March 16, 2022. I really like them because they are diving ducks and move around a lot, and the breeding plumage is spectacular. I've not been particularly successful in getting photos of breeding plumage, but had my best day, yet, on Saturday at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. I've also come to love the Birds of the World subscription service. It is by the same organization that does All About Birds, which focuses on birds of North America, located at Cornell University. However, Birds of the World covers birds word wide. They provide wonderful illustrations as well as range maps. Wikipedia also often has range maps, but not always, and they often are not as good. Here are illustrations of the ruddy duck. 

Ruddy duck male in breeding plumage illustration from Birds of the World. 

Breeding male flying illustration from Birds of the World. 

Female illustration from Birds of the World. 

Female flying illustration from Birds of the World. 

Here is the range map. 

The ruddy duck on the coast of Southern California is found year-round. 

Following are my photos from Bolsa Chica, near Huntington Beach, California, taken Saturday, April 19, 2025. I think some of the photos do not do justice to the rich chestnut color because of the sunlight.