Plain Tiger

I used Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM with 36mm of extension tube to shoot this Plain Tiger butterfly only very cloudy evening.

The Plain Tiger is a medium sized butterfly with a wingspan of about 7–8 cm. The body is black with many white spots. The wings are tawny the upper side being brighter and richer than the underside. The apical half of the fore wing is black with a white band. The hind wing has 3 black spots around the center. The hind wing has a thin border of black enclosing a series of semicircular white spots.

Background color and extent of white on the forewings varies somewhat across the wide range.

The male Plain Tiger is smaller than the female, but more brightly colored. In addition, male danaines have a number of secondary sexual characteristics. In the case of the Plain Tiger, these are:

• The male has a pouch on the hindwing. This spot is white with a thick black border and bulges slightly. It is a cluster of specialised scent scales used to attract females.
• The males possess two brush-like organs which can be pushed out of the tip of the abdomen

The range of the Plain Tiger extends from Africa and southern Europe, eastwards via Sri Lanka, India, and Myanmar to China and Sulawesi. It is a very common species.
Despite the external similarity, the Common Tiger is not closely related to this species.

It is found in every kind of country including the desert (pending availability of food) and right up into the mountains till 9000 feet. Primarily a butterfly of open country and gardens. Unlike the Common Tiger, a related species, is least common in damp, forested, hilly regions. It is a somewhat migratory species.

This butterfly is perhaps the commonest of Indian butterflies and is a familiar sight to practically everyone on the subcontinent. It flies from dawn to dusk, frequenting gardens, sipping from flowers and, late in the day, fluttering low over bushes to find a resting place for the night.

As usual for diurnal butterflies, this species rests with its wings closed. When basking it sits close to the ground and spreads its wings with its back to the sun so that the wings are fully exposed to the sun’s rays.

The Plain Tiger is protected from attacks due to the unpalatable alkaloids ingested during the larval stages. The butterfly therefore flies slowly and leisurely, generally close to the ground and in a straight line. This gives a would-be predator ample time to recognise and avoid attacking it. Inexperienced predators will try attacking it, but will learn soon enough to avoid this butterfly as the alkoloids in its body cause vomiting.

The butterfly also has a tough, leathery skin to survive such occasional attacks. When attacked it fakes death and oozes nauseating liquid which makes it smell and taste terrible. This encourages the predator to release the butterfly quickly. The Plain Tiger thus has the ability to recover “miraculously” from predator attacks that would kill most other butterflies.

The protection mechanisms of the Plain Tiger, as of the other danaines, and indeed of all colorful unpalatable butterflies, result in predators learning this memorable aspect at first hand. Predators soon associate the patterns and habits of such butterfly species with unpalatability to avoid hunting them in future.

This advantage of protection has led to a number of edible butterfly species, referred to as “mimics”, evolving to resemble inedible butterflies, which are referred to as the “model”. The resemblance is not only in color, shapes, and markings, but also in behavioural and flight patterns. This form of mimicry – where an edible species mimics an inedible species – is known as Batesian mimicry.

The mimics can resemble the models very closely. In some cases, it requires examination in hand and reference to field guides to tell them apart. The Plain Tiger is specifically mimicked by the following butterflies:

• Indian Fritillary (Argyreus hyperbius) females
• Danaid Eggfly (Hypolimnas misippus forma inaria females.

The following butterflies have a general resemblance common to both the Plain Tiger and the Common Tiger:

• Leopard Lacewing (Cethosia cyane) males and females
• Indian Tamil Lacewing (Cethosia nietneri mahratta) males and females
• Common Palmfly (Elymnias hypermnestra) females

The similarity between the Plain and Common Tigers makes them Müllerian mimics, as the adverse experience a predator makes with either species will also protect the other.

Yellow-billed Babbler

The Yellow-billed Babbler also called the White-headed Babbler (Turdoides affinis) is an Old World babbler endemic to southern India and Sri Lanka. The Old World babblers are a large family of Old World passerine birds characterized by soft fluffy plumage. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in southeast Asia.

The Yellow-billed Babbler is a common resident breeding bird in Sri Lanka and southern India. Its habitat is scrub, cultivation and garden land. This species, like most babblers, is not migratory, and has short rounded wings and a weak flight and is usually seen calling and foraging in groups.

These birds have grey brown upper parts, grey throat and breast with some mottling, and a pale buff belly. The head and nape are grey. The Sri Lankan form T. a. taprobanus is drab pale grey. Nominate race of southern India has whitish crown and nape with a darker mantle. The rump is paler and the tail has a broad dark tip. Birds in the extreme south of India are very similar to the Sri Lankan subspecies. The eye is bluish white. The Indian form is more heavily streaked on the throat and breast.[2] The Sri Lankan subspecies resembles the Jungle Babbler, Turdoides striatus, although that species does not occur on the island.

The Yellow-billed Babbler lives in flocks of seven to ten or more. It is a noisy bird, and the presence of a flock may generally be known at some distance by the continual chattering, squeaking and chirping produced by its members. One member often perches high and acts as a sentinel while the remaining members of the flock forage. They feeds mainly on insects, but also eat fruit and human food scrap.[3]

Birds wake up before dawn around 6 AM and begin foraging. They are relatively inactive in the hot hours of the day from 1330 to 1630. They assemble in groups around 1900 hrs and preen themselves before going to roost. Members of a group roost next to each other with some juveniles wedging themselves in the middle of the group. When foraging the sentinel bird calls with wing fluttering and hopping. Allopreening is a common activity and members may beg for food from other members.[4]

A study in the Sivakasi plains noted that the birds had a home range of 0.4 sq km per group with a density of 55 birds per sq. km. The maximum distance flown non-stop was about 180 m and prior to flying, they usually gain height by moving up a tree or tall shrub. Black Drongos are often seen foraging near these babblers. [5]

It builds its nest in a tree, concealed in dense masses of foliage. The normal clutch is two to four turquoise blue eggs, although up to five may be laid by birds in the hills of Sri Lanka. The eggs hatch after 18 to 21 days. The parent bird often stands on the rim of the nest rather than sit on the chicks. Brood parasitism by the Pied Cuckoo (Clamator jacobinus) is known.[6] Chicks are fed mainly insects and the occasional lizard.[7]In an exceptional case, Jungle Babblers have been seen seen feeding the chicks of the Yellow-billed Babbler.[8] Like most other birds, the parents take care of nest sanitation, removing the fecal sacs of the young.[9][10]

References

1. ^ BirdLife International (2004). Turdoides affinis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006.
2. ^ Rasmussen, PC & JC Anderton (2005) Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions. Vol 2. p. 447
3. ^ Davidar,ERC (1994) Exotic diet of Whiteheaded Babblers Turdoides affinis (Jerdon). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 91(2):321
4. ^ Zacharias,VJ; Mathew,DN (1998) Behaviour of the Whiteheaded Babbler Turdoides affinis Jerdon. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 95(1):8-14.
5. ^ Johnsingh,AJT; Paramanandham,K; Murali,S (1982) Foraging behaviour and interactions of Whiteheaded Babbler Turdoides affinis with other species. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 79(3):503-514.
6. ^ Johnsingh,AJT; Paramanandham,K (1982) Group care of White-headed Babblers Turdoides affinis for a Pied Crested Cuckoo Clamator jacobinus chick. Ibis 124(2):179-183.
7. ^ Raj,PJ Sanjeeva (1964) Communal breeding in the Whiteheaded Babbler [Turdoides affinis (Jerdon)] in Tambaram, Madras State. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 61(1):181-183.
8. ^ Zacharias,VJ; Mathew,DN (1977) Malabar Jungle Babbler Turdoides striatus malabaricus (Jerdon) and Whiteheaded Babbler Turdoides affinis affinis (Jerdon) jointly caring for the chicks of the latter. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 74(3):529-530.
9. ^ Jeyasingh,DEJ (1976) Faecal feeding in the Whiteheaded Babbler Turdoides affinis (Jerdon). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 73(1):218-219.
10. ^ Khacher,Lavkumar (1978) Faecal feeding in the Whiteheaded Babbler, Turdoides affinis (Jerdon) – a rejoinder. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 75(2):490-491

Tired

Red-whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus) chicks sleeping after feed.