Caprimulgus indicus

Ananthagiri Forest Range, Vikarabad

For this week, I am still exploring deep within the Ananthagiri Forest Range, but this time for the elusive nightjars. The jungle nightjar is a gray-brown nightjar of wooded, open grassy, and scrubby areas found in the Indian Subcontinent. Intricately patterned, with a golden patch behind the ear (often not visible on a resting bird) and pale tan spots on the wings it is found mainly on the edge of forests where it is seen or heard at dusk.

Located in the central stretch of the Deccan Plateau, Telangana has sub-tropical climate and the terrain consists mostly of hills, mountain ranges, and thick dense forests covering an area of 27,292 km2 (10,538 sq mi). The annual rainfall ranges between 1,100 mm to 1,200 mm and the annual temperature varies from 15 C to 45 C. The State is drained by a number of rivers which include Godavari and Krishna.

Telangana is endowed with rich diversity of flora and fauna. It has dense teak forests on the northern part along the banks of river Godavari. As per the Champion & Seth Classification of Forest Types (1968), the forests in Telangana belong to three Forest Type groups, which are further divided into 12 Forest Types. The State Government has taken up a massive greening programme, 'Telangana Ku Harita Haram' in the State to plant and protect 230 crore seedlings over a period of 4 years. This initiative aims at achieving the twin objectives of increasing the forest cover and reduce pressure on the existing forest resources, through massive community participation by Vana Samrakshna Samithis (VSS) and Eco-Development Committees (EDCs) in Protected Areas and Watershed Development Committees in the Watershed areas. Recorded Forest Area (RFA) in the State is 26,904 sq km of which 20,353 sq km is Reserved Forest, 5,939 sq km is Protected Forest and 612 sq km is Unclassed Forests. In Telangana, during the period 1st January 2015 to 5th February 2019, a total of 9,420 hectares of forest land was diverted for non-forestry purposes under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 (MoEF & CC, 2019). As per the information received from the State during that last two years, 12,730 ha of plantations including avenue plantations in the State.

Three National Parks and nine Wildlife Sanctuaries constitute the Protected Area network of the State covering 5.08% of its geographical area and our focus area today is the northern fringe of the Nallamalla forest located both in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. It is part of the Eastern Ghats. The Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve, the largest tiger reserve in India spread over the five districts of Kurnool, Prakasam, Guntur, Nalgonda and Mahabub Nagar falls in its precincts.

Ananthagiri Forest Range

Ananthagiri Hills is located in the Vikarabad district of Telangana. It is one of two major reserve forest blocks of the Vikarabad Forest Range the other one being the Damagundam Forest Reserve and each of these forest blocks is spread over a 10 square kilometre area. While the limits of Damagundam begin from Manneguda, a small town about 60 kms from Hyderabad, Ananthagiri block begins where the limits of Vikarabad end near the railway tracks. The Ananthagiri hills and their dense forests host many wild species like the Nilgai, Sambhar, Black Buck, Chital, Chowsingha, Chinkara, Wild Goats and many more. The streams from these hills flows into Osman Sagar, also known as the Gandipet lake, and Himayath Sagar. It is one of the denser forests in Telangana and is the birthplace (about 5 kilometers from the town of Vikarabad) of the Musi river, also known as the Muchkunda River, which flows through the capital city, Hyderabad. The Musi River after originating in these Ananthagiri Hills, about 90 kilometers to the west of Hyderabad and flowing due east for almost all of its course joins the Krishna River at Wadapally in the Nalgonda district after covering a total distance of about 240 km. Also in these forests is the Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Temple, a Hindu temple dedicated to the Lord Vishnu.

According to the Skanda Purana it is believed this temple was installed by Rishi Markandeya in the Dvapara Yuga. Attracted by the peaceful atmosphere of the Ananthagiri Hills Rishi Markandeya came here for yoga sadhana. It is believed that the Rishi, on the strength of his spiritual powers, would visit Kasi daily for a bath in the sacred Ganges through a cave. One day he was not able to visit Kasi because the Dwadasi was in the early hours of the morning. Because of this miss the Lord Vishnu appeared, gave Darshan, in a dream and arranged for the Ganges to flow so the Rishi could take his bath daily without having to travel.

About 400 years back the Nizams of Hyderabad used these forests as their hunting grounds. It is said that the lord Vishnu in the form of Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy appeared in a dream and asked the then Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, to build a temple for him. About 20 kilometers from the temple lies the Nagasamudram Lake or Kotipally Reservoir, a masonry dam.

It is one of the earliest habitat areas with ancient caves, medieval fort structures and temples that illustrate the antiquity of this area.

I love these forests as they are home to innumerable bird species, some of which I have photographed and many more which I am yet to photograph. I only hope the so called “bird and nature lovers” who come here to photograph and achieve social media fame adhere to ethical birding practices and refrain from using calls, especially owl calls, and bait. Over the years I have seen the behaviour of the wildlife change in these forests. Birds like this nightjar were easily visible without having to venture deep into the dense brush but now the overload of visitors has pushed these birds deep into the undergrowth. I think, in a way, it is good for the birds because it requires time and patience to slowly approach them which the modern bird lover/ photographer lacks.

Read about the other lovely species I have photographed in the Ananthagiri Forests.

Jungle Nightjar

The Jungle Nightjar (Caprimulgus indicus) is a species of nightjar found in the Indian Subcontinent mainly on the edge of forests where it is seen or heard at dusk. It is a small nocturnal bird, measuring 21 to 25 cm in length and weighing 60 to 100 grams. The plumage varies between males and females. The jungle nightjar is grayish-brown on the upperparts with blackish brown streaks. The crown region is also streaked blackish brown. The tail is gray, having well separated narrow black bars. There is a white broken throat patch in the male bird, whereas it is rufous in the female. Their soft plumage color and its patterns resembling bark or leaves helps to camouflage them with their surroundings. They have long wings, short legs and very short bills. These nightjar species perch along a branch, rather than across it. They are mostly active before dawn, after dusk and during the night. The jungle nightjar call is a series of thacoo or chuck sounds.

The taxonomy of this and related nightjars is complex and a range of treatments have been followed that cover this and several other nightjars in the Asian region. It was formerly called the grey nightjar or Indian jungle nightjar and sometimes included the East Asian Grey Nightjar (C. jotaka) as a subspecies. It is a gray-brown nightjar of wooded, open grassy, and scrubby areas and is not restricted to the jungles. It is intricately patterned, with a golden patch behind the ear (often not visible on a resting bird) and pale tan spots on the wings. The male exhibits bright white patches near the wingtips and on the edges of the tail that are buffy brown in females. The similar Savanna Nightjar is much more densely patterned and lacks the tan wing spots and it also tends to roost on the ground, versus in trees for Jungle Nightjar. Their song is alien-sounding and unique, a long series of bouncing “pooKIHpooKIHpooKIH” notes, comparable to a cartoon laser gun.

The Jungle Nightjar is about 21–24 cm long with the Sri Lankan population (ssp. kelaarti) being smaller. They are mostly grey with black streaks on the crown, lacking a conspicuous wing patch which is rufous. The tail is greyish with well separated narrow black bars. The male has a white throat patch that is broken at the middle. The female has a rufous throat patch and submoustachial streaks. The usual call is a series of thacoo or chucknotes (at the rate of 5 every 2 seconds) like a distant engine. The song is a slow and regular, series of FWik-m notes, repeated for as long as 10 seconds. This sometimes ends in quick whistling foo-foo with the quality of sounds obtained when air is blown over an open bottle.

These jungle nightjar species are distributed all over Indian forests and woodlands, south of Himalayas. They also occur in Sri Lanka. The subspecies C. i. indicus is distributed in India. The subspecies C. i. kelaartiis distributed in Sri Lanka. The two recognized subspecies of jungle nightjar are: C. i. indicus Latham, 1790 and C. i. kelaarti Blyth, 1851. Caprimulgus indicus was earlier clubbed with East Asian gray nightjar (C. jotaka) as a subspecies. Caprimulgus indicus is closely related to C. europaeus, C. jotaka and C. phalaena.

The Indian (nominate) and the Sri Lankan populations (ssp. kelaarti) are included in this species while jotaka (whose egg coloration and calls differs) has been separated and elevated to a full species, Grey nightjar, by Rasmussen and Anderton (2005). The populations found along the Himalayas, west from Hazara to Bhutan and south to Bangladesh, hazarae, are then treated as a subspecies of Caprimulgus jotaka in this work. Records of jotaka have come from the Andamans and Phuentsholing.

Older treatments include the widely distributed (China, Japan) migratory subspecies jotaka and phalaena (Palau Island) in this species. Its scientific name means "nightjar from India", and it is thus sometimes confused with C. asiaticus which is commonly known as the Indian nightjar. To distinguish them, in former times C. indicus was known as the large Indian nightjar.

The jungle nightjar becomes active at dusk, often over hilly grassland or scrub, perching regularly at favourite prominent bare posts or rocks. It roosts in trees, perching lengthwise along a branch. The breeding season in India is January to June and March to July in Sri Lanka. The nest is a bare patch on the ground in which two eggs are laid. Both parents incubate the eggs for about 16 to 17 days. The diet of these species mostly consists of large insects like cicadas, grasshoppers, mantises, beetles and moths. They may catch the prey while flying or pick it up from the ground. They actively feed before dawn and after dusk. These jungle nightjar species are mostly sedentary and are residents in their range. Post breeding dispersal of juveniles takes place. They may make local movements for feeding and breeding.

The global population size of these jungle nightjar has not been quantified. The overall population trend is considered to be stable. They have a large range and population. These nightjar species do not approach the thresholds for population trend criterion and the population size criterion. Hence considered not "Vulnerable" to extinction. Loss of woodlands and deforestation are the main threats to the survival of these birds.

The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has categorized and evaluated these jungle nightjar species and has listed them as of "Least Concern".

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For a print of the beautiful birds from my various sojourns click on the button below to read my process and order a limited edition canvas.

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