National Birds of_SAARC

National Birds of SAARC countries

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an organization of South Asian nations. The concept of SAARC was first adopted by Bangladesh during 1977, under the administration of President Ziaur Rahman (Former President of Bangladesh). It was founded in December 1985 and dedicated to economic, technological, social, and cultural development emphasizing collective self-reliance. Its seven founding members are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan joined the organization in 2005.

The 16 stated areas of cooperation are agriculture and rural, biotechnology, culture, energy, environment, economy and trade, finance, funding mechanism, human resource development, poverty alleviation, people to people contact, security aspects, social development, science and technology; communications, tourism.

Here are the SAARC countries national birds:

 

1. Oriental Magpie Robin

[The National Bird of Bangladesh]

The Oriental Magpie Robin is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but now considered an Old World flycatcher. They are distinctive black and white birds with a long tail that is held upright as they forage on the ground or perch conspicuously.

Distributed in many parts of tropical South and Southeast Asia, they are common birds in urban gardens as well as forests. They are particularly well known for their songs and were once popular as cage birds.

The Magpie Robin is the National Bird of Bangladesh, where it is common and known as the Doel (Bengali: দোয়েল). It is a widely used symbol in Bangladesh, appearing on currency notes, and a landmark in the city of Dhaka is named as the Doyel Chatwar (meaning: Doyel Square).

2. Peafowl or, Peacock

[The National Bird of India]

Peafowl are two Asiatic species of flying birds in the genus Pavo of the pheasant family, Phasianidae, best known for the male's extravagant eye-spotted tail, which it displays as part of courtship. The male is called a peacock, the female a peahen, and the offspring peachicks. The adult female peafowl is grey and/or brown. Peachicks can be between yellow and a tawny color with darker brown patches.

The male (peacock) Indian Peafowl has iridescent blue-green or green colored plumage. The peacock tail ("train") is not the tail quill feathers but the highly elongated upper tail coverts. The "eyes" are best seen when the peacock fans its tail.

Like a cupped hand behind the ear the erect tail-fan of the male helps direct sound to the ears. Both species have a crest atop the head. The female (peahen) Indian Peafowl has a mixture of dull green, brown, and grey in her plumage. She lacks the long upper tail coverts of the male but has a crest. The female can also display her plumage to ward off female competition or signal danger to her young.

3. Common Raven

[The National Bird of Bhutan]

The Common Raven, also known as the Northern Raven, is a large, all-black passerine bird. Found across the northern hemisphere, it is the most widely distributed of all corvids. There are at least eight subspecies with little variation in appearance although recent research has demonstrated significant genetic differences among populations from various regions.

It is one of the two largest corvids, alongside the Thick-billed Raven, and is possibly the heaviest passerine bird; at maturity, the Common Raven averages 63 cm (25 inches) in length and 1.2 kg (2.6 pounds).

It continues to be used as a symbol in areas where it once had mythological status: as the National Bird of Bhutan, Official Bird of the Yukon territory, and on the Coat of Arms of the Isle of Man (once a Viking colony).

4. Himalayan Monal

[The National Bird of Nepal]

The Himalayan Monal, also known as the Impeyan Monal or Impeyan        Pheasant or Danphe is a bird of genus Lophophorus the pheasant family, Phasianidae. It is the national bird of Nepal, where it is known as the Danfe, and the state bird of Uttarakhand.

Traditionally, the Himalayan Monal has been classified as monotypic. However, studies have shown that the male Himalayan Monals of northwestern India lack the white rump that other Himalayan Monals have, and have more green on the breast, indicating the possibility of a second subspecies.

It is a relatively large-sized bird with reference to family Phasianidae. About 70 cm in length, the weight of males and females range between 1980-2380g and 1800-2150g respectively. Adult males possess a long crest, are feathered with multi colored plumage throughout their body, while the females, like in other pheasants, are dull in color with the upper parts covered with dark brownish-black feathers.

5. Chukar Partridge

[The National Bird of Pakistan]

The Chukar is a rotund 32–35 cm (13–14 in) long partridge, with a light brown back, grey breast, and buff belly. The shades vary across the various populations. The face is white with a black gorget. It has rufous-streaked flanks, red legs and coral red bill. Sexes are similar, the female slightly smaller in size and lacking the spur. The tail has 14 feathers, the third primary is the longest while the first is level with the fifth and sixth primaries.

The Chukar is the National bird of Pakistan. In Punjab, the Chukar has been considered as a symbol of intense, and often unrequited, love. It was considered to be enamored by the moon and said to constantly gaze at it. Due to their pugnacious behavior during the breeding season they are kept in some areas as fighting birds.

6. Jungle-fowl

[The National Bird of Sri Lanka]

The male Sri Lankan Jungle-fowl ranges from 66–73 cm (26–29 in) in length and 790–1,140 g (1.7–2.5 lb) in weight, essentially resembling a large, muscular rooster. The male has orange-red body plumage, and dark purple to black wings and tail. The feathers of the main descending from head to base of spine are golden, and the face has bare red skin and wattles. The comb is red with a yellow centre. As with the Green Jungle-fowl, the cock does not possess an eclipse plumage.

The female is much smaller, at only 35 cm (14 in) in length and 510–645 g (1.1–1.42 lb) in weight, with dull brown plumage with white patterning on the lower belly and breast, ideal camouflage for a nesting bird.

7. Brown Booby

[The National Bird of Maldives]

The Brown Booby is a large seabird of the booby family, Sulidae. The adult brown booby reaches about 76 centimeters (30 in) in length. Its head and upper body are covered in dark brown, with the remainder being a contrasting white. The juvenile form is gray-brown with darkening on the head, wings and tail. While these birds are typically silent, bird watchers have reported occasional sounds similar to grunting or quacking.

Brown Boobies are spectacular divers, plunging into the ocean at high speed. They mainly eat small fish or squid which gather in groups near the surface and may catch leaping fish while skimming the surface. Although they are powerful and agile fliers, they are particularly clumsy in takeoffs and landings; they use strong winds and high perches to assist their takeoffs.

8. Bearded Vulture

[The National Bird of Afghanistan]

The Lammergeier, Lammergeyer, or Bearded Vulture, ("Bearded Vulture-Eagle"), they are not much more closely related to the Old World vultures proper than to, for example, hawks, and differ from the former by their feathered neck. Although quite dissimilar, Egyptian and Bearded Vulture both have a lozenge-shaped tail that is unusual among birds of prey.

It eats mainly carrion and lives and breeds on crags in high mountains in southern Europe, North Africa, Southern Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, and Tibet, laying one or two eggs in mid-winter which hatch at the beginning of spring. Populations are resident. It was formerly killed in significant numbers because people feared (without justification) that it carried off children and domestic animals; the bird was also hunted as a trophy.      Article Source: wikipedia