19 February 2009

Plumbeous water redstart, Rishikesh

Plumbeous water redstart on the Ganges at RishikeshOne evening a short distance upstream from Rishikesh, I watched this little chap (yes, a male) preening on a rock at the edge of the Ganges. Rhyacornis fuliginosa, I'm pleased to say, is classified by the IUCN as being of "least concern", although this doesn't mean it's abundant throughout its entire range.
That little black pellet on the rock in front of him is something he coughed up — as far as I could tell, mostly the hard bits of invertebrates he'd eaten.

All content © 2009 Pete McGregor

3 comments:

Emma said...

Ferocious! Hee.

pohanginapete said...

He does look a bit grumpy, Emma. Cute though, and his little warbling song was delightfully cheerful.

butuki said...

Perhaps it wasn't a crocodile in the water lily pond then!