


Top 15 Most Common Bird in Maldives
Surrounded by turquoise ocean, lined with white sandy beaches, Maldives offers a tropical paradise home to 15 common bird species. Each displays unique adaptations to the island's environment, displaying a variety of behaviors, vibrant colors, and complex calls. Sourcing from reputable ecological studies, let's explore these fascinating creatures enriching Maldives's breathtaking landscapes.

Most Common Bird

1. House Crow
The house Crow is an intelligent bird that is near becoming a declared invasive species. The house Crow is very common in developed areas and can have a bold, aggressive personality. These birds have been known to damage and steal crops, affect local flora and fauna, create excessive noise, and carry diseases and parasites.

2. Black-naped Tern
The tern is about 30 cm long with a wing length of 21–23 cm. Their beaks and legs are black, but the tips of their bills are yellow. They have long forked tails. The black-naped tern has a white face and breast with a grayish-white back and wings. The first couple of their primary feathers are gray. There are two listed subspecies: S. s. mathewsi (Stresemann, 1914) – islands of the western Indian Ocean S. s. sumatrana (Raffles, 1822) – islands of the eastern Indian Ocean through to the western Pacific & Australasia


3. Asian Koel
The Eudynamys scolopaceus is commonly called asian Koel, native to China, the Indian Subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia. This bird is used widely in Indian poetry, and it has a habit of colonizing new areas that it goes to. The bird is also known for stealing nests from other birds and having their chicks raised by the foster parents.

4. Grey Heron
The grey Heron is a very common species to come across in marine, brackish, and freshwater ecosystems; these habitats must have at least four months of warm weather or else these birds will migrate for new breeding grounds. The grey Heron hunts by wading through shallow waters looking for fish and various invertebrates; their natural diet helps control some aquatic species populations.

5. Common Sandpiper
While the common Sandpiper is considered a common shorebird around lakes and rivers, it does have a unique trait. The small bird bobs its tail, giving the appearance of wagging. The bird communicates with others by chirping in the air, but is silent when feeding on small crustaceans and invertebrates.

6. Common Myna
The common Myna is a large, stocky starling that prefers to live near humans in towns and suburban areas. It forages among tall grasses for grasshoppers; in fact, its scientific name, Acridotheres tristis, means "grasshopper hunter." The common Myna likes to maintain two roosts at the same time - both a temporary summer roost near the breeding site as well as a year-round roost where the female can sit and brood.

7. Cattle Egret
Cattle Egrets are short, thick-necked egrets. Their name refers to their preference to follow along with livestock as they forage in fields. Cattle Egrets were native only to Africa until the late 1800s when they somehow made their way throughout the Americas. They can often be found along airport runways waiting for planes to take off and blow insects out of the grass and weeds. They also follow behind farm equipment and do the same thing.

8. Rock Pigeon
The rock Pigeon is a wild ancestor of all domestic and feral pigeons, inhabiting coasts, cliffs, and caves. Pairs nest in rock crevices, often mating for life. They are known for their ability to fly very long distances to return to their homes, navigating using the sun's position and the earth's magnetic fields. Thanks to this ability, pigeons were used as messengers, particularly during World Wars I and II.

9. Striated Heron
Adults have a blue-grey back and wings, white underparts, a black cap, a dark line extends from the bill to under the eye and short yellow legs. Juveniles are browner above and streaked below. These birds stand still at the water's edge and wait to ambush prey, but are easier to see than many small heron species. They mainly eat small fish, frogs and aquatic insects.


10. Javan Myna
The bold and social javan Myna is known for foraging in farms, parks, and gardens. It prefers to roost in large and noisy flocks near humans. The javan Myna eats seeds, nectar, insects, and fruit, as well as human waste. In Malaysia and Indonesia, they are kept in cages where they sometimes learn to mimic human speech.

11. White Tern
The white tern has a wingspan of 76–87 cm (30–34 in). It has white plumage and a long black bill. Nesting on coral islands, usually on trees with small branches but also on rocky ledges and on man-made structures, the white tern feeds on small fish which it catches by plunge diving.


12. Indian Pond Heron
They appear stocky with a short neck, short thick bill and buff-brown back. In summer, adults have long neck feathers. Its appearance is transformed from their dull colours when they take to flight, when the white of the wings makes them very prominent. It is very similar to the squacco heron, Ardeola ralloides, but is darker-backed. To the east of its range, it is replaced by the Chinese pond heron, Ardeola bacchus. During the breeding season, there are records of individuals with red legs. The numbers do not suggest that this is a normal change for adults during the breeding season and some have suggested the possibility of it being genetic variants. Erythristic plumage has been noted. The race phillipsi has been suggested for the populations found in the Maldives, however this is not always recognized. It forms a superspecies with the closely related Chinese pond heron, Javan pond heron and the Madagascar pond heron. They are usually silent but may make a harsh croak in alarm when flushed or near their nests. This bird was first described by Colonel W. H. Sykes in 1832 and given its scientific name in honour of John Edward Gray. Karyology studies indicate that pond herons have 68 chromosomes (2N).


13. Eurasian Hobby
Adults are slate-grey above with a dark crown and two short black moustachial stripes. The throat is unstreaked white, thighs and undertail coverts are unstreaked rufous and rest of the underparts are whitish with black streaks. Close views enable the red "trousers" and vent to be seen. Sexes are similar. Juveniles are generally much browner, with scaled upper parts and streaked buffy thighs and undertail coverts. The hobby has a distinct first-summer plumage. This falcon is 29–36 cm (11–14 in) in length with a wingspan of 74–84 cm (29–33 in) and a weight of 175–285 g (6.2–10.1 oz).


14. Zebra Finch
The zebra Finch, with its cute teardrop eye stripes, is a popular pet. These birds have been kept in captivity for more than a century. They are a tiny, easy-to-care-for beginner bird. In the wild, they pair for life and both males and females build the nests and care for the young.

15. Greater Sand Plover
This chunky plover is long-legged and thick-billed. Breeding males have grey backs and white underparts. The breast, forehead and nape are chestnut, and there is a black eye mask. The female is duller, and winter and juvenile birds lack the chestnut, apart from a hint of rufous on the head. Legs are greenish and the bill black. In all plumages, it is very similar to lesser sand plover, Charadrius mongolus. Separating the species may be straightforward in mixed wintering flocks on an Indian beach, where the difference in size and structure is obvious; it is another thing altogether to identify a lone vagrant to western Europe, where both species are very rare. The problem is compounded in that the Middle Eastern race of the greater sand plover is the most similar to the lesser species.
