Happy Holi to all my dear friends
Malabar Woodshrike (Tephrodornis sylvicola).
Endemic to Western Ghats.
Tephrodornis : Greek word tephrodes – like ashes, ash-coloured; ornis – bird….Sylvicola : Latin word silva – forest; cola – inhabitant.
Large, dark woodshrike with ashy gray upperparts and darker gray wing panel and tail with a variable brownish tinge. A prominent black face mask surrounds the pale yellow iris.
The male has dark blue-grey crown and upper mantle, the female is very similar, but is dark slaty-brown upperparts, weaker dark grey mask.
Shot in Coorg, Karnataka, Nikon Gears, March 2026 © Dr.Bishan Monnappa
