“Imagined flight” Black-headed ibis are resident breeds on the Indian Subcontinent and across SE Asia, forming large breeding colonies N India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka all the way E to Japan. (Aayush Dudhiya)

 

Bird with wire” Wire-tailed swallows flock in response to high densities of flying insects and are found throughout SubSaharan Africa and S Asia from the Indian Subcontinent all the way to SE Asia. (Akshay Jadhav)

 

“Nightrider” Jerdon’s nightjars are a common nighttime sighting throughout coastal S India and Sri Lanka. (Bhanu Singh)

 

“Paired forever” Yellow wattled lapwings leave two small, camouflaged eggs in amongst dry rocks in the coastal regions of the Indian Subcontinent. (Chaitanya Solanki)

 

“Standing tall”… Indian robin are, as the name suggests, are common throughout the Indian Subcontinent, ranging across Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. (Shubha Vaidya)

 

“Night fisherman” Brown fish owls are distributed throughout most of the warm subtropical and humid regions of continental Asia and parts of SE Asia. (Deborah Pearse)

 

“Forest tinker” Golden-rumped tinkerbirds are a rarely seen forest specialist in Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. (Richard & Eileen Flack / www.theflacks.co.za)

 

“Into the abyss” Great egrets are one of the largest egrets and are found along waterways throughout the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world. (Harry Collins)

 

“Metal eye” Metallic starlings are indigenous to New Guinea and some of the nearby Australasian islands, migrating in their thousands to N Queensland (Australia). (Harry Collins)

 

“Great power” Bald eagles are both the national bird and national animal of the United States of America, and are found in most of Canada and Alaska, all of the contiguous United States, and N Mexico. (Huzhong Cai)

“Humming for nectar” Ruby-throated hummingbirds are common throughout E North America and the Canadian prairies, preferring deciduous and pine forests, and especially forest edges, orchards and gardens. Only hummingbird that regularly nests east of the Mississippi River. (Jenny Alvarado)

“Fishing for a living” Lesser fish eagles are only found on the Indian Subcontinent mainly in the foothills of the Himalayas. (Koushik Sreedhar)

 

“Web of life” Black-crowned night herons have a near global distribution and are only absent in the colder regions of Australasia. (Lennart Hessel)

 

“Rodent vision” Spotted owlets roost communally in small hollows of trees or artificial cavities in buildings across tropical Asia from India to SE Asia. (Dharuman Nanjan)

“Mechanised cockatoo” Major Mitchell’s cockatoos require extensive woodlands, particularly favouring Callitris, Allocasuarina and Eucalyptus, and have declined due to habitat destruction. (Geoff Wilkins)

 

“Landing gear” Mallards are one of the most widely distributed ducks on earth with breeding populations throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Europe, Asia, and N Africa – also introduced to New Zealand and Australia. (David Lychenheim)

 

“Aerial acrobat” Blue-tailed bee-eaters breed in sub-tropical open country like farmland, parks and ricefields where there are lots of flying insects throughout SE Asia and peninsular India. (Nisha Purushothaman)

 

“Winged statue” Common kestrels are a widely spread “global species” that are widespread in Europe, Asia, and Africa, with occasional sightings on the E coast of N America. (Nisha Purushothaman)

 

“Redder than red” Summer tanagers are resident breeders in the extreme S of the United States, central America and the extreme N of South America. (Owen Deutsch)

 

“Lone islander” Greater crested terns are one of the largest tern species and form massive breeding colonies in all five subspecies from South Africa around the Indian Ocean to the central Pacific and Australia, dispersing over a vast area from their breeding grounds as soon as nesting ends. (Pranesh Kodancha)

 

“Forest hermit” Indian pittas are found mainly in the sub-Himalayas and prefer to winter in S India and Sri Lanka, breeding during the SW monsoon from June to August each year. (Sathish Poojari)

 

“River perfection” Ultramarine flycatchers breed in the foothills of the Himalayas and winter in S India, preferring open, mixed forests of oak, rhododendron, pine, and fir. (Vijayraj Jare)

 

“1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10…” Spotted doves are common residents of Indian Subcontinent and SE Asia and are also known as “Mountain dove”, “Pearl-necked dove” or “Lace-necked dove”. (Vinayak Yardi) 

“Oh yes!” Green bee-eaters are widely distributed across sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and SE Asia from Senegal and the Gambia in the W to Ethiopia, the Nile valley, W Arabia, India and Vietnam. (Vivek Khanna)