Miscellaneous

Most Beautiful Birds
of India

A Celebration of Avian Beauty!

The top 10 birds chosen by a panel of birders

Which is the most beautiful Indian bird?
India is bird-rich country with about 1300 species recorded within its borders, representing about 13% of all avian species found in the world. Such richness is a result of the diversity of habitats, the tolerance and caring of its people, and the great number of protected wild places in one of the most populous areas on earth.
All birds are beautiful, but some appeal to the onlooker more than others. India's great bird diversity means that we have an abundance of avian stars amongst them. Which is the most beautiful Indian bird is then a valid question when we are so spoilt for choices. To answer this we decided to short-list 10 of the most beautiful birds which reside in India. The selection was done by an independent panel of 38 birder lovers who have considerable 1st hand experience of Indian birds. The panel chose a representative cross-section of key species that inhabit our area. We then put up the selected birds for open voting and received 544 responses during November 2010. All the birds received support, but the clear leaders were the:
Himalayan Monal
Fire-tailed Myzornis
Asian Paradise-flycatcher
Indian Peafowl
and the winner with 100 (18%) votes was the:

Himalayan Monal

The Fire-tailed Myzornis was a close second.

Fire-tailed Myzornis (Myzornis pyrrhoura)

In conclusion, it goes without saying that these are not the only striking birds around us. Picking a top 10 is never about which bird to include but which to leave out. Beauty does lie in the eye of the beholder, and this is even more appropriate for birds and like. So it is certain that some of these birds may not even make your list. But it is good to make a start – if for nothing else but to know more about the birds in our country, to appreciate them, and to support them in their fight for survival.
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Sumit K. Sen
Series Editor

A gallery of images of the short-listed birds

Himalayan Monal (Lophophorus impejanus)