Gudavi Bird Sanctuary, Shimoga District, Karnataka
Date of visit: 5/11/99
Sanjay, Anchal and Yash Sondhi

The sanctuary: Gudavi Bird Sanctuary is a small sanctuary, of 0.74 sq. km in 
Shimoga district, Karnataka, 55 km from Sirsi. Gudavi is a small seasonal lake, 
surrounded by degraded moist deciduous forest. The water level was quite low, and 
the day temperature was quite high (approx. 35 °C). We arrived at Gudavi at 
noontime and stayed till 6: 00 p.m.
How to get there: The route we took was Sirsi-Banavasi-Gudavi (55 km, 2 hours.). 
Enroute, there were numerous small tanks with a fair amount of water, and we 
managed to do a bit of birding on the way.
List of birds seen
Reference numbers and common names: Salim Ali and Ripley’s Handbook
+enroute to Gudavi from Sirsi
=enroute and at Gudavi

=5.	Little Grebe			Podiceps ruficollis
27.	Indian Shag			Phalcrocorax fuscicollis
28.	Little Cormorant		Phalcocrorax niger
29.	Darter				Anhinga anhinga
+37.	Purple Heron			Ardea purpurea
=42. 	Pond Heron			Ardeola grayii
59.	Bittern				Botaurus stellaris
We spotted a large Bittern on the same trees as the White Ibis. What struck me 
immediately, was the bird’s size. It was only a bit smaller than the Ibis. The bird was 
the Bittern. The Bittern clumsily clambered around the branches of the trees and sat 
around for a while. The Bittern’s head had erect hairs on them.
69.	White Ibis			Threskornis aethiopica
Hundreds of White Ibis in the Bird Sanctuary. The birds breed on Vitex leucoxylon 
trees in the sanctuary. The nests of the Ibis being a mass of sticks piled up between 
branches and covered with mud. Lots of juvenile birds, but not being fed by the 
adults. The breeding season is about over now. 
=88.	Lesser Whistling Teal		Dendrocygna javanica
97. 	Spotbilled Duck		Anas poecilorhyncha
The Spotbilled Duck seen with 5 fledglings, feeding in weed covered water, in an area 
with lots of tree cover.
Teal?
92.	Pintail				Anas acuta
=114.	Cotton Teal			Nettapus coromandelianus
124.	Blackwinged Kite		Elanus caeruleus
+130.	Honey Buzzard		Pternis ptilorhynchus
We spotted a raptor sitting in a field by the edge of the road. The bird was a Honey 
Buzzard in moult. The field characters: the head, neck and back was a golden brown 
with mottled splothes of brown. The bird had a dark eye patch, which was quite 
prominent. The bird had whitish marking on the greater coverts. The tail had a whitish 
tip and 3 broad black bands. Underneath, the bird was a buff had vertical streaks on 
the breast, and horizontal barring on the lower belly. In flight, the typical Honey 
Buzzard marking underneath were visible. The bird was sitting in the field for a good 
20 minutes. It then flew to a lower branch of a tree nearby, and sat there, as though 
reluctant to leave the area.
133.	Pariah Kite			Milvus migrans govinda
=135.	Brahminy Kite			Haliastur indus
=170.	Greater Spotted Eagle		Aquila clanga
The Eagle was seen in flight over the water during the day. In the evening, I had a 
lovely sighting of the eagle sitting just above me on a Ficus bengalensis tree . I got a 
marvellous view of the arrogant eagle, in all its splendour, surveying its surroundings. 
I could almost count the bird’s feathers, and its white spotted wings were clearly 
visible.
185.	Whitebacked Vulture		Gyps bengalensis
193.	Marsh Harrier			Circus aeroginosus
=350. 	Coot				Fulica atra
Enroute to Gudavi, after Banavasi, we spotted a Coot in the process of nest building. 
The bird’s nest is built mainly a mound of lily leaves, all piled up to form a floating 
mass of leaves, twigs similar material. At the same jheel, one of the bird’s was 
building its nest, whilst another bird had juveniles sitting on its nest. On being 
disturbed, the adult and the juveniles took to the water and took refuge amidst grass 
and weeds. There were 3 juveniles, with a whitish patch on the throat. 
Gudavi: Again saw 3 juveniles with the adult bird.
343.	Whitebreasted Waterhen	Amaurornis phoenicurus
347.	Indian Moorhen		Gallinula chloropus
349.	Purple Moorhen		Porphyrio porphyrio
=359.	Bronzewinged Jacana		Meopidius indicus
366.	Redwattled Lapwing		Vanellus indicus
430.	Blackwinged Stilt		Himantopus himantopus
516.	Blue Rock Pigeon		Columba livia
530.	Rufous Turtle Dove		Streptopelia orientalis
550.	Roseringed Parakeet		Psittacula krameri
558.	Blossomheaded Parakket	Psittacula cyanocephala
566.	Indian Lorikeet 		Loriculus vernalis?
631.	Brown Fish Owl		Bubo zeylonensis
Spotted the bird sitting on the ground at 1:00 pm in the afternoon. We watched the 
bird for quite a while. It then flew and perched on a leafy tree, where it watched us 
suspiciously.
+707.	Palm Swift			Cypsiurus parvus
719. 	Lesser Pied Kingfisher	Ceryle rudis
=722. 	Small Blue Kingfisher		Alcedo atthis
=735.	Whitebreasted Kingfisher	Halcyon smyrnensis
750.	Green Bee-eater		Merops orientalis
819.	Lesser Goldenbacked Woodpecker	Dinopium benghalense
867.	Indian Pitta			Pitta brachyura
A path has been built along the jheel to facilitate birdwatching. As I walked along the 
path, a small bird hopped out from the shrubbery- the Indian Pitta! The Pitta saw me, 
and hopped onto a rock and froze there, with only its short stubby tail waging in 
agitation. We both watched each other for about 5 minutes, after which the Pitta flew 
off, with great agility for a clumsy looking bird. Believe it or not, but this was my first 
sighting of the Indian Pitta in 14 years of birdwatching! The bird had been eluding me 
for a long while!
+923.	Redrumped Swallow		Hirundo daurica
952.	Golden Oriole			Oriolus oriolus
=963. 	Black Drongo			Dicrurus adsimilis
988.	Whiteheaded Myna		Sturnus malabaricus blythi
A flock of Whiteheaded Myna were foraging on bushes in the jheel. I watched the 
Mynas clamber from one bush to another over, the jheel.
1049. 	House Crow			Corvus splendens
1065.	Black-backed Pied Flycatcher-Shrike	Hemipus picatus picatus
1098.	Common Iora			Aegithina tiphia
Male and female bird feeding on insects on Terminalia tomentosa.
=1104.	Gold-mantled Chloropsis	Chloropsis aurifrons frontalis
=1128. 	Redvented Bulbul		Pycnonotus cafer
1411.	Redbreasted Flycatcher	Muscicapa pavo
1442.	Tickell’s Flycatcher		Muscicapa tickelliae?
A glimpse of a Flycatcher, which looked like the Tickell’s. Not a good enough 
sighting to be certain.
1461.	Paradise Flycatcher		Terpsiphone paradisi
While watching the Paradise Flycatcher, and comparing it with the Redbreasted 
Flycatcher and the Blacknaped Blue Flycacther, I noticed that the Paradise Flycatcher 
has a much larger and thicker bill, and also that generally, it catches larger insects 
than the other 2 flycatchers.
1465.	Blacknaped Blue Flycatcher	Hypothmis azurea
=1556.	Blyth’s Reed Warbler		Acrocephalus dumetorum
1574.	Chiff Chaff			Phylloscopus collybita?
1590.	Yellow-browed Leaf Warbler	Phylloscopus inornatus
1661. 	Magpie Robin			Copsychus saularis
1665.	Shama				Copsychus malabaricus
A pair of birds seen singing in the deciduous forest surrounding the jheel.
1809.	Yellowcheeked Tit		Parus xanthogenys
1907.	Purplerumped Sunbird	Nectarinia zeylonica
1917.	Purple Sunbird		Nectarinia asiatica
1911.	Loten’s Sunbird		Nectarinia lotenia
Both the male and female bird seen, and also heard calling.
1874.	Forest Wagtail			Motacilla indica

Sanjay, Anchal and Yash Sondhi
B 1 Siddeshwar Heights, Sanewadi, ITI Road, 
Aundh, Pune 411007
India
Email: sondhi@yahoo.com
Tel: 020 5885717