It’s time to test your fitness as this week we will be exploring the bird diversity at hills and cliffs, and quarries. The birds we talk about today have a wide distribution across India, however the flora varies with region, latitude and elevation. We are exploring a habitat of the Deccan Plateau region, where the average elevation of hills is around 600 metres. The terrain is mostly arid, but plantations are common here, pockets of grasslands are rampant in these hills, and occasionally there is dense vegetation to be found. We will come across birds of grasslands, scrublands and forests as well. Join us on our trek uphill as we encounter grey-breasted prinias, little swifts, tawny bellied babblers, Bonelli’s eagle, crested buntings, the burly Rock Eagle-Owl and the swishing and swooshing Shaheen Falcon. We also have some interesting tidbits about the now endangered White-Rumped Vultures. 

If you have any questions related to birds or birdwatching, you can reach out to us on our Instagram handles: @peregrinator.in and @mariamspicclicks.

Credits:

Intro sound citations: 

1. Mike Catsis, XC176709. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/176709. License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
2. Recording by Adil Hussain Ali

Bird sounds and calls citations:

1. Grey-breasted Prinia - Sandeep Chakraborty, XC778992. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/778992. License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
2. Crested Bunting - Saswat Mishra, XC672086. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/672086.Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
3. Little Swift - Tony Archer, XC634767. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/634767. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 
4. Bonelli's Eagle- Peter Boesman, XC473307. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/473307.Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0
5. Indian Eagle-Owl - Frank Lambert, XC409708. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/409708. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0
6. Peregrine Falcon - Romuald Mikusek, XC786158. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/786158. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 

Outro sound citation:

1. Guy Kirwan, XC778587. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/778587. License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0