GKVK, Bangalore, March 2016

Two unexpected vagrants in Bangalore!

Great twitch + shoot session of two male passage / wintering minivets in the GKVK campus, Bangalore this morning. Thanks to Ramit Singal, Deepa Mohan, Aparajita Datta and Bopanna Pattada for the company and the assistance.

Here is an awesome tutorial to tell these two birds apart, apart. Per the guide, IDs are pretty clear: Swinhoe’s white supercilium extends well behind the eye while the Ashy’s stops at the eye. Also, the Ashy’s bill is heavier. Swinhoe’s back and rump is brown (last 2 pics).