A Winter in India

Just so you aren't left with the impression that parakeets are the only birds in India, here are three more. The top one is a red-wattled lapwing. We saw a lot of those in Madhya Pradesh; this one was in the garden of the Sun Temple in Gwalior.

Middle one is a grey Hornbill, and that was in the tree right outside our apartment window this morning. Quite a sight since hornbills are 65 cm long (26 inches). They have this huge long bill with an extra horn on the top "lip" (what is the top part of a bird's beak called, anyways??). They also have a huge long tail, so when they fly they look like little straight wings on way too long a body. We had seen one at Parana Qila Fort here in Delhi when Carolyn and Milan were here, and were quite startled to be eyeball to eyeball with this one in our tree today.

Bottom photo is a Hoopoe. They are about 12 inches long and make a distinctive "hoopoe" call. Those red feathers on the head can fan out when they really want to strut their stuff. We saw this one at Lodi Gardens here in Delhi when Ray and Connie were here.