The last time I travelled to Asia was in 2014, and the last time I travelled specifically to Pakistan was in 2012. At those times, I was not yet into birding, and while I enjoyed using the good zoom lens on my camera to capture birds, butterflies, and other critters, I was in that phase where you don't really notice those things as much until you get into birding and start to pay more attention. If you are into birding, you'll know what I mean: that strange feeling of wondering why you never noticed all these birds before when they were there all along, but realising that it's because you never paid attention. So this time, I was able to find and photograph about a dozen and a half new birds--I actually saw and heard more than that, but I was unable to see and/or get photos of them all. Those are the ones that I'll list first, and then I'll share photos of all the other ones. In total, I encountered 21 new species of birds, which I was very excited about. Technically the number would be 22, I guess, but it's only because the common myna is one of them, and I've seen those a lot, just not recorded them in my Merlin App since that wouldn't have been possible 10+ years ago. Anyway, for most of the birds, I have albums as I was able to get multiple photos of most of them, so scroll through and enjoy!
Seen or Heard, but not Photographed
The birds that I was unable to photograph was mainly because I'd see them in places where it wasn't possible to stop for photos. These birds included the black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) and the common sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos). In the place where I saw these birds together, I also saw some sort of skylark, but because I wasn't able to get any photos, I couldn't positively ID it as Pakistan has 4 different species of skylarks, as it turns out. So I haven't included these in my bird count since I can't know the specific species I saw. The other bird I saw and heard that I would have loved to get a photo of were white-throated kingfishers (Halcyon smyrnensis). They are absolutely gorgeous birds! Finally, there was one bird that I heard but didn't get to see--my husband used Cornell U's BirdNET app to help ID it--which was the blue-throated barbet (Megalaima asiatica). Given its appearance, it's a shame I didn't get to see that one either, but we could tell that it was deep within some trees, and with its colouring, it's really unlikely we would have been able to spot it.
Birds with Photos
A good number of these birds I was able to photograph just in or around my mom's place. If they are from anywhere else, I will note it in the list, but for the most part, these were taken near or at her place. My mom's been having some issues with her own good camera in the last little while, so she hasn't been able to get good quality photos of the birds at her place since she just has her phone camera, so I'm happy to have been able to capture these birds--and even get some near her place of birds that she hadn't noticed or knew were there before!
Red-vented bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer)
One of the first interesting birds I saw in my mom's yard was the red-vented bulbul. It has a pretty song, and it was probably one of the most numerous birds I saw during my trip, from Lahore to Islamabad. I would have thought them handsome birds to begin with, but the red vent on them gives them a pop of colour that really makes them shine!
White-eared bulbul (Pycnonotus leucotis)
I spotted this fellow at the Khewra Salt Mines and thought it looked like a jay. I was fully expecting it to be some sort of corvid, but I was vastly mistaken! The white-eared bulbul doesn't really look like the red-vented one at all, in my opinion, although it does also have a coloured butt. I don't know why this isn't called the yellow-vented bulbul since the same part of its anatomy seems to be coloured, but you could read all about how birds got to be named and some of the issues surrounding the naming of them, and this isn't the place for those controversies--if for no other reason than that I'm not learned enough to offer my 2 cents.
Bank myna (Acridotheres ginginianus)
In all my trips to India, the myna bird is probably the one that I've seen the most. I thought there was just one kind, but it turns out there are actually at least 3. One of them is the bank myna, which looks quite different from the common myna because of the bright, darker orange around its eyes and in its beak. My mom was pretty impressed that in just my second day on the job (the first was sleeping in after arriving in the middle of the night), I was able to get specific IDs on some of the birds she sees all the time. I discovered that in the earlier hours of the morning, it's the best time for spotting these because so many birds are out, and it's also just cooler and more bearable at that time of day! I must admit that some of these may be common mynas, but I know that the one photo of the myna on the chair is a bank myna. The Merlin app ID'd these other ones as bank mynas, so I'm going with that, but I could be wrong. But I do know that I've seen at least one bank myna and got a photo of it!
Common myna (Acridotheres tristis)
The common myna is indeed very common. They are found anywhere there is garbage and food, so you'll often see them at fast food restaurants picking up people's leftovers. There were a couple of them that entered my mom's yard as well and seemed to be trying to kill eggs in the nests in their birdhouses or at the very least, take over the nests for themselves. Unfortunately, that's what they do. But they are nice to look at, at least.
Black kite (a.k.a. yellow-billed kite) (Milvus migrans)
If I didn't live in the UK, where I came across the red kite, I would never have ID'd this bird so quickly. As soon as I saw it, I could tell by the shape that it was a kite of some sort. There's no lack of these birds in the country. There were swarms of them flying everywhere, over rivers, over cities, over open park areas, over buildings, it didn't seem to matter. The black kite is a very prolific bird! The best place I was able to get photos of these birds was at Lahore Fort. There were so many, and we were going slowly enough at times that I was able to get photos of them. Like any bird of prey, I find them very beautiful!
Black-winged kite (Elanus caeruleus)
This bird really surprised me. We had gone out for a walk one evening when the sun was setting. I was snapping bird photos every chance I got. I couldn't really tell what it was, but the shape suggested it might be something different, so I snapped a photo. When I got back to the house, I zoomed in on my camera to view it, and I realised it definitely was something new--and kind of creepy looking! The black-winged kite is apparently common in the area, but this was one of those birds that my mom said she had never seen before, so it was nice to show her something new to now look for. The light wasn't the best, but I was glad to get a photo good enough for ID.
House crow (Corvus splendens)
I've seen these crows before, I'm sure, but as I never used to pay attention, I had no idea what species it was. I just knew it was some type of crow. The house crow is the most common crow in the region. My husband didn't really think they looked that nice, but I like them. I'm a fan of corvids in general, even if some look better than others. It has more to do with how much I appreciate the intelligence of corvids than anything.
Laughing dove (Streptopelia senegalensis)
I love doves. They're pretty, they're gentle, and they often have soft and pastel colourings to match their personalities. I don't think I properly got to hear these doves, but according to the site I found about them, they are called laughing doves because their song sounds like a human laugh, and I don't think I heard that. They would come down to the feeders on the driveway all the time, so I enjoyed watching them.
Black drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus)
A beautiful black bird with what looks like a fishtail, I spotted black drongos in trees and mainly on wires. I was mostly unable to get any good photo of them beyond a silhouette of them, but I lucked out and was able to get one with just a bit of sunlight on it just a couple of days before we left. They're just so beautiful, I wish I could have one live on my balcony so I could just see it all the time! I guess that's what photos are for.
Red-wattled lapwing (Vanellus indicus)
It turns out I had seen these before, knowing it was some kind lapwing but not realising there was a specific species of them. My mom had sent me a photo of a lapwing some years ago, and that's all I knew, but it turns out that it's specifically a red-wattled lapwing. I had seen them first among the black-winged stilts and thought I might not get photos of them, but unlike the stilts, who seem to stick to shallow waters, the lapwings also hang out in fields, so I was able to get photos of them one evening when we went for a walk.
Large-billed crow (Corvus macrorhynchos)
This crow looks much more similar to the ones we have at home as well as here in the UK--plain black crows. I love the fuzzy head on these crows, though. I spotted them when we were in the mountains in Murree and on the road up to Nathia Gali. I thought at first that it might be a raven, but once I popped it into my Merlin ID app, I discovered it was a large-billed crow. It's another one that would be fun to have live on my balcony! But what I was excited about is that I learned it's not really that common in the region, mainly living in that particular area of Pakistan, but it has a limited range. So to have spotted an uncommon bird when you don't even live there and get a chance to watch birds there all the time is always something special for me.
Green-backed tit (Parus monticolus)
Like the large-billed crow, the green-backed tit is another bird that has a limited range in Pakistan. I spotted it in Murree and took as many photos as I could. But I had to stop because we were walking through a military cantonment, and I guess I was making some of the soldiers a little nervous, wondering what I was taking photos of. I got enough photos anyway, and besides, you can only hold up the people you're with for so long. Not everyone wants to stop every 10 seconds or stand around for several minutes for bird photos! I try to be conscientious of that, but it's not always easy! hahaha Anyway, this was a really pretty bird, so brightly coloured.
Indian robin (Saxicoloides fulicata)
I was fascinated to find out that this bird that I had also photographed at the Khewra Salt Mines was called the Indian robin. Just like with robins in the North America and Europe not being the same species (the N. American ones are thrushes and the European ones are flycatchers), the Indian robin is a flycatcher, but an old world one, not like the new world one that's found in Europe. At least it's somewhat related? What I found interesting is that in the page I linked, it was thought that they were actually in the thrush family but later discovered not to be. So I guess that's where the robin classification comes from--it was and is somehow related to these species, or thought to be at one point, anyway. Again, problems with how bird names are determined. The Latin classifications in these cases are much more reliable for this reason. In any case, I was really excited to be able to get both a male and female in this case. I think it's only one of two species (aside from the ubiquitous house sparrow) that I was able to positively determine that I had both male and female. So that was pretty exciting. I also like that they have reddish bums--another red vent!
Green bee-eater (russet-crowned) (Merops orientalis [orientalis Group])
Along the road to and from the salt mines, I kept seeing these emerald-coloured gems flitting about. They were sparkling in the sun, and it was one of those birds I thought I'd never get a photo of due to there being nowhere to stop for the photo. I got a somewhat poor one as the sun was setting when we had to stop to let some oncoming traffic pass around a huge pothole, but it did not showcase the beautiful colour of this bird at all. Then a couple of days later, I discovered that there are dozens of them around my mom's place, and whole flocks of them fly overhead around 6pm every day, likely on the way to their roosting spot for the night. So I was hopeful I'd see one landing somewhere and be able to get a good photo of one--and I did! It wasn't still the best lighting, but I knew that once I edited my photo a bit, I'd be able to bring out some of the colour at least, even if it wasn't still ideal. But it was good enough to help me know that these were russet-crowned green bee-eaters, because there are a couple of other varieties of them as well, and I couldn't be sure which ones I had seen on our salt mines trip.
Purple sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus)
I had taken a photo of an olive-backed sunbird once in Thailand, so I knew as soon as I saw this one that it must be some type of sunbird. They'd be easy to mistake for a hummingbird because of their size and beak shape, but they don't buzz around the same way, and you see them sitting much more than you would see a hummingbird sit. And I recognised the beak. There's something unique about its shape to me--or at least it has become recognisable since figuring out what the Thai sunbird was. I really lucked out with photos one day, getting to capture the purple sunbird right in the sun and really seeing its iridescence shine. It looks more blue than purple to me, but I guess it must look purple in some type of light. I have included some photos that aren't quite as good mainly for different angles and the ability to see certain parts of the bird. The only regret is that I was unable to get a photo of the female. I saw one a couple of times, but I was not somewhere that I could get a photo of it, so it will have to remain in my memory that I did see it in person.
Shikra (Accipiter badius)
Like the black-winged kite, the shikra is another bird that is typical in the region but that my mom said she hadn't noticed before. It's also a bird of prey, so I was happy to get a photo of another one. In fact, I don't think I've been able to get Albertan birds of prey as easily as despite being into birding for the last 7 years or so, I've only got I think 3 different species of those photographed--and I got 3 from Pakistan in just a few days! I was unable to get a good photo before the shikra flew away so was just snapping and not able to focus well as I was rushing. Again, it was still good enough for ID, so I have to be thankful for that, if nothing else!
Common rosefinch (Carpodacus erythrinus)
I must admit that this one might be a bit of a stretch, but I had photographed it in poor light, the same evening we went for a walk, and based on the results in my Merlin app, this was the closest it appeared to be, so I decided to go with it, in this case. The common rosefinch looks a lot like the house finches we have back in Canada, and I'm sure it sounds as pretty, too.
Eurasian collared dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
I've seen this bird in Alberta (where it is an introduced species) and in the UK, where it is native, and now in Asia--I think it might be the only bird I've come across of the "Eurasian" birds I've seen that I have actually spotted in both Europe and Asia. I guess that's kind of cool, right? And like any dove, I love the Eurasian collared dove. It's pretty to look at and makes those soothing cooing sounds.
Sind sparrow (Passer pyrrhonotus)
Just when I thought all I was seeing were house sparrows, I discovered that house sparrows have an almost doppleganger: the sind sparrow. I had to look up to figure out how to tell the difference between the two because they are so similar to each other that I wasn't sure I'd be able to figure it out. But I did! It's all in the black beard. The house sparrow has a bib-like black part beneath its chin, almost like a full beard, whereas the sind sparrow has just a goti, a thick black line that runs down its chin but stops instead of spilling into a black bib like the house sparrow. As for the female, for me it's a lost cause trying to distinguish them--it would be so minuscule that you'd probably have to be the world's leading expert on the subject. I've created a side-by-side photo of the males so you can see it for yourself. I figured I would have to take tons of photos of the sparrows just to figure out if there were any sind sparrows among them because they hang out together, and it turns out that I didn't need to worry about it. A male and female pair decided to try to fly into the kitchen window from the clothes line outside over and over again. It was really bizarre. The line is close enough to the window that they would hop off, peck a number of times at the window, and then fly back to the clothes line. I can't explain it! If only the male were doing it, it could be that he's seeing someone competing for his mate, but usually the female doesn't join in, so I'm not sure what that was all about. Anyway, they pointed themselves out for me so kindly, so I was able to get photos of the pair of them.
I don't imagine that in my next trip to India, I'll have the chance to photograph that many birds because I'm usually not in places with as much variety, so I've really enjoyed getting a chance to see and photograph some different birds and some real beauties in Pakistan while I had the chance. I hope you've enjoyed this special post, too!
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