In an age of so much inconsequential tweeting, it’s worth recalling the advice of yogis: Sit still, they say, so still that a bird can land on your head.

From the cold lakes of the Himalayas to the sand dunes of western Rajasthan to the tropical rain forests in the south, India hosts a dizzying variety of birds, like a dizzying variety of everything else. Residents and visitors, common and rare, more than 1,200 species have been recorded in India, which puts it somewhere between the United States (just under 900 recorded species) and Colombia (more than 1,800 species).

More: The New York Times

The white cheeked barbet is a common bird in my garden in Lucknow, North India. In this picture it is eating giloi berries. It also see it enjoying figs, and the banyan tree fruit.

Yesterday, I saw 5 white breasted kingfishers on my neighbour’s roof! It is a commonly sighted bird in Lucknow’s green areas.

Peacock is the national bird of India, and the Sarus crane is the state bird of Uttar Pradesh in Northern India.

Last year, members of the Society for Conservation of Nature identified 1,005 Sarus birds in the districts of Etawah, Auraiyya and Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh.

A four-hours exercise to identify and count Sarus Crane (Grus Antigone), the state bird will be organised across the state on Sunday, June 20. After a span of almost a decade, such an exercise is being launched and it will be conducted by the state forest department and its associated agencies, volunteers and various NGOs in the thousands of wetlands in the state as per the sources.

Out of the total number of 10,000 Grus Antigone, Indian Saras, Demosil Crane and Common Crane, nearly 2,500 of them are said to be nesting in and around Etawah and nearly 1,000 in Mainpuri district besides a good number of Sarus birds have also been spotted in Aligarh and Etah districts, claim the wildlife experts.

More: Times of India

Photo credit: Arup Kumar Choudhury, Flickr

Arunachal Pradesh is home to the great Indian Hornbill. It is the state bird of Arunachal Pradesh. The white winged wood duck, a rare endangered species, has been sheltered in Namdapha National Park.