Nature clicks by Pradeep (2024)

10/12/2023

Psyche/ මනහාරි (𝘓𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘢)

The Psyche is a common butterfly. You may see them everywhere. Psyche /ˈsaɪkiː/ (Greek: Ψυχή) is the Greek goddess of the soul symbolised by butterfly wings.There is this mythical story of Psyche and Cupid which is interesting and should be read. It is interesting how scientists incorporate these stories in naming creatures. The erratic flying pattern makes it feel like a floating snow flake. It is really pleasing to look at these creatures wandering around the garden and by far my favourite butterfly.

25/10/2023

Freedom..
A Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) gliding through the air, just before landing on a nearby paddy field. 🤍

24/10/2023

A mating pair of Dark Cerulean butterflies Dark Cerulean/උදුල සෙරුලියා (Jamides bochus)

There were several dark ceruleans flying closer to a winged beans plant, one of their larval food plants. When I looked closer, I saw several mating pairs including this couple. There were many eggs laid on the flower buds, covered with some kind of foam. Sadly I couldn't take a photo of the eggs as the rain started 🥺. They feed on the flower buds as caterpillars, hopefully waiting to see some 🐛 🤭😌.

Spotted at the home garden and captured with my mobile phone (Nokia 5.4)

21/10/2023

Hapalopezella maculata

A colourful and an endemic species of praying mantis limited to Sri Lanka. One speciality is that the nymph stage of this mantis mimics ants (show myrmecomorphy) for protection.

Spotted at the home garden and captured with Nikon D3500 with 18-55 mm lens.

11/10/2023

Waiting 🥺😌....
A white-bellied drongo
(Dicrurus caerulescens)
Regularly,a large number of birds consist of drongos, minivets, monarchs, flower peckers and also leaf eaters visit our garden. Although they are not from the same species, they seem to make these feeding groups for protection. Usually, they visit our garden around 11'O clock in the morning. The drongos as I've seen, stay closer with the minivet gang. These birds fly from branch to branch in search of small insects and fruits. Usually seen among the higher branches and rarely come down.
This particular guy in the picture however was perching on a electrical line closer to our house and seems to be waiting for someone 🤭🤭.

Spotted near the home garden and captured with Nikon D3500 with 55-300 mm lens.

08/10/2023

Loten's sunbird (𝘊𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘺𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘶𝘴)

A beautiful and a cute little bird from the Nectariniidae family, the family of the sunbirds and spider hunters.
The males are covered with glossy purple feathers which glisten with the sunlight. The curved beak is an adaptation for its way of life, the nectar feeding. A small part of his tongue is visible at the end of the curved beak. They have brush tipped tubular tongues as an adaptation to their nectar feeding habits. The brush like ends would collect more nectar when they lick nectaries of the flowers. Also their tongues can be extended beyond their beaks.

Ah the name, did Loten had one ?? Who is this Loten ??

Joan Gideon Loten was a Dutch governor appointed for Sri Lanka or Ceylon as they called. He collected specimens of birds and other animals including illustrations. Later they were referred by naturalists and used in describing new species. The Loten's sunbird is also considered to be described from one of his specimens. So to commemorate him, the bird has been given that name. ( From Wikipedia)

Spotted at the home garden and captured using Nikon D3500 with a 55-300 mm lens.

25/07/2023

Although there are many colourful butterflies, Psyche is my favourite 😍🤍. By looking at their calm and graceful flight, the mind settles down. Psyche means mind, soul or spirit also the Goddess of soul according to Greek mythology.

23/07/2023

A leaf on a leaf 🌿
Sri Lankan lesser albatross (Appias galene)
A beautiful butterfly which engages in migration. They are not common around our home garden, but during the season they are seen in large numbers. Huge swarms of butterflies migrate mainly from the dry zone. This occurs during the rainy season after a prolonged dry period, when the conditions are right for the growth of plants. Newly emerging tender leaves become the food for the butterfly larvae and accelerate their population. Then they fly toward the wet and intermediate zones and even through the famous "Samanala Mountain".
So the Sri lankan lesser albatross is one of the major representatives of this migration.
The males usually have a white upper side on the wings and the amount of black scales vary in seasonal forms (dry and wet).
Females have a broad black apical band with 3 white spots. They are a bit difficult to separately identify from the common Albatross (Appias albina), fore wing outer margin is straight in Common albatross than in Sri Lankan lesser albatross.
Their laval food plants include වීර )Drypetes sepiaria). During their long journey, they involve in mid puddling to retrieve essential nutrients. Seen in large swams and most of them get crushed by vehicles too.
Spotted at the home garden and captured with Nikon D3500 with 55-300 mm lens.

05/07/2023

Black prince/ කුවණ්ණා - Female
Rohana parisatis camiba
Not a common visitor, yet a special one. This Butterfly from the Nymphalidae family has a beautiful name 🖤.
The male has a velvety black upper side which is the reason to get this name. The underside is dark purplish brown. The females have an orange coloured background on the upperside with a much lighter underside than the male.
This one perched here for a blink of an eye and left there to reach a tall tree 🥺.
The larval food plant is ගුරුන්ද (Celtis timorensis) from the Family Cannabaceae. They are known to be uncommon in the highest hills but present around the lower hills where its Larval food plant is abundant. The adults feed on fruits and engage in mud puddling.
Spotted at the home garden and captured with Nikon D3500 with 55-300 mm lens

03/07/2023

Indian fritillary
කොටිති අලංකාරිකයා
Argynnis hyperbius

A beautiful butterfly from the Nymphalidae family. Somewhat similar to the Common Leopard butterfly by the colour and pattern, specially the male. But the two rows of bluish streaks on the black outer margin of its hind wing is helpful in separately identifying them. See the image 3 to see the differences between male and females.
Usually they are fast flyers and can be seen in the grasslands of the hill tops. So they are not common as Common leopard butterflies. Their larval food plants include Viola pilosa and Viola betonicifolia which usually grow at higher elevations. It's mesmerising to see them flying nearby. We were so exhausted at the time we arrived at the top, but at the moment we saw this magical fritillaries passing by, all our pains vanished 🤭😍🧡.
Spotted them at the upper region of the Madulkele tea estate. Captured with Nikon D3500 with 55-300 mm lens.

03/07/2023

White hedge blue (එළ ගොමු-නීලයා)
Udara akasa mavisa
The best findings come at the most unexpected times and places. This Lycaenid is a bit of a rare gem. While our eyes were set on a higher level looking for birds, aiya quickly spotted this enchanting beauty.
As the name also implies, this guy is "එළ/white" in colour. Unlike many other Lycaenids/ blues, the upper side of the wings is mostly covered with white scales (in males, a small amount of blue scales present closer to the base of the wings).
According to the slbutterflies.lk and the bcsl pocket guide, they were abundant before 2000 and have become rare since then. Their laval food plant is Persicaria chinensis which is also a larval food plant of the Sri lankan hedge hopper (we observed that guy too).

22/06/2023

Tawny coaster/ ලැසි සැරියා
(Acraea terpsicore)
A common yet beautiful butterfly from the Nymphalidae family. It has a weak fluttery flight which is pleasing to watch. That has given rise to its Sinhala name "ලැසි සැරියා". The English name Tawny coaster refers to its colour "Tawny "- orange brown and the "coasting" flight.
The forewing is elongated with a round apex. The Tawny coloured wings have black spots. The apex margin of the fore wing is black with minute white spots. The hindwing also has some black spots and a thicker black margin with more prominent white spots. The underside is much paler in colour and a set of distinct white spots are clearly visible. The head is also black in colour while the labial palp is yellow. The females are much dull in colour (pic 1-A female laying eggs).
They usually stay closer to the ground. Fly with weaker beats. Females specially remain closer to the host plant.
Another important thing can be seen in the image 1, a shragis or a copulatory plug. After mating, the males pass additional secretion which closes the females copulatory opening to prevent further mating. You can see it clearly just near the tip of the abdomen.
Their larval food plants include Passiflora sp. Ipomoea indica and a few more plants.
They were abundant in the location we observed them. Special thanks to aiya 😍☺️

13/06/2023

Club beak
දඬු හොඹුවා
(Libythea myrrha rama)
A quite unusual butterfly from the Nymphalidae family. As the name also suggests, a beak or a snout like projection is present which is characteristic to the butterflies of Genus Libythea.
The upperside of the wings are dark brown in colour with orang-yellow markings. The underside is also brown while the front wing has the yellow markings while the hind wing is greyish brown and covered with dark spots.
They are seen feeding on wet patches on soil or near roads. Sadly this one was feeding on medical waste which was dumped carelessly near a road 😥. Occasionally it was coming to the road. The flight was fast and when landed the colouration blends with the ground and is difficult to spot.
The larval food plants include Celtis timorensis (ගුරුන්ද).
Special thanks to 💚💚

Spotted at the Madolkale tea estate and captured with Nikon D3500 with a 55-300 mm lens.

14/05/2023

A mating pair of Glad-eye bushbrown/ ලාලිත පඳුරු-ගුරුවා (Mycalesis patnia) butterflies
Probably the one on the right side is the female as the females are larger in size and dull in colour compared to the male.
Spotted at the home garden and captured with Nikon D3500 and 55-300 mm lens.

30/04/2023

Yellow-browed Bulbul
බැමකහ ගුලුගුඩුවා
(Acritillas indica)

A beautiful little bulbul from the Pycnonotidae family, the family of the bulbuls.
Their underside is yellow while the upper side is olive green in colour. They have a prominent yellow brow from which they have received their vernacular names " Yellow browed" and "බැම කහ ". The bill is black and the iris is reddish brown.
Their songs are pleasing to hear, bit similar to other bulbuls and consist with whisteles and warbles. Their calls goes like a sharp "weeep".
Their diet consists of berries and small insects. Usually seen within the forest canopy. Seen in pairs or small flocks and even in mixed flocks. I see them often with a daily visiting mixed flock which consists of minivets, white eyes,black naped monarchs and etc. They are distributed in the forests of southern India and Sri Lanka.

Spotted at a nearby home garden and captured with a Nikon D3500 with a 55-300 mm lens.

13/04/2023

A beast hidden among the rose petals, the Crab spider.
Spiders are excellent predators. Some weave webs, some make traps, some can run fast while some spiders use their outrageous jumping ability. Among them the spiders from the Thomisidae family are ambush hunters. They are found in different places but the Thomisus sp. Spiders are mostly found on flowers waiting eagerly for pollinators. This guy in the photos belongs to the genus Thomisus.
The crab spiders got their name because of their crab-like shape and the crab like motion. The front pair of legs are longer and they keep them like the claws of the crab. This is to quickly grab the prey. It has been found that they can change their colours based on the flower they reside within 2-3 days. But if we think of the pollinators like bees, they usually use UV nectar guides on the petals. It has been also found that these spiders are UV reflective while the nectar guides are UV absorptive, this contrasts the spider to the pollinators yet make them interested to visit the flowers and end up being captured. There is a whole research paper about this and I'll add the link below.
In the cephalothorax, they have two conical projections where the lateral pairs of eyes reside. Abdomen is almost pentagonal shape and the colour is off whitish while the cephalothorax and the legs are semitransparent. So nature is fascinating, even in the home garden you'll find amazing things.
Spotted at the home garden and captured with Nikon D3500 with a reverse mounted 18-55 mm lens.

Link to the article https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=958a286dc736f677ffce8d4a64ad6f547180a52b

30/03/2023

Common tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius)

27/02/2023

Chrysalis of the Glassy tiger (Parantica agela) butterfly just before emerging out.
Even as a small kid, one of the things we were fascinated about is how a caterpillar turns into such a beautiful butterfly.
The 🐛 is a leaf eating machine, after sometime it stops eating and hangs itself on a leaf or a branch and transform into a immobile pupa. This is where the magic happens. Some of the tissues of the caterpillar break down while some remain. Like lego, the broken down parts are rearranged into the components of the butterfly. Little by little the body, wings, eyes and antennas are formed. This process is done with the help of "imaginal cells". These cells are already scattered in the caterpillar body dormantly, carrying the blueprint for the future butterfly structure. Once the pupa forms these cells awake. First they act individually but with time they multiply, aggregate and connect with others moving around the pupa in a sea of broken down tissues and cells. With time these cells together form the structure coded in their blueprint and just a few hours before it emerges as an adult, the eyes,antenna and the wings become visible through the glassy wall of the chrysalis as you can see in the following pics.
One thing we can learn from this is that everyone of us have our blueprints deep within our minds, you'll definitely discover them and become who you're meant to be ❤️❤️.

Captured with Nikon D3500 with a reverse mounted 18-55 mm kit lens with inbuilt flash. Few photos were stacked manually to get a clear image.

23/02/2023

A mating pair of Zebra blue (Leptotes plinius) butterflies
These tiny brown gems belong to the Lycaenidae family as their name "blues" also implies that. The males and the females have quite similar lower wing patterns. But on the upper wing surface of the male is shiny purplish blue while in the females the blue coloration is limited to the basal area and the other regions have a brown and white chessboard pattern.
Their larval food plants include Plumbago sp. (නිතුල්).
I saw their courtship display near a Plumbago auriculata plant which was full of flowers (larvae feed on flower buds).

Spotted at the home garden and captured with Nikon D3500 with a 55-300 mm lens

19/02/2023

Jezebel
(𝘋𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴)
පිළිල-රිසියා

Amazing butterfly with beautiful colours. The vibrant colours with black margins looks like a work of an artist 🎨. But in nature bright colouration is a warning. Here the bright red and yellow are warings for predators that these butterflies are unpalatable (cannot be eaten) or toxic.
This one belongs to Pieridae family. Considering their colourations, both male and female ones have similar undersides with yellow, orange and white markings with black stripes or margins.
The upper side of the wings of the females are heavily lined with black along the veins with much brighter colour in outer marginal spots of hind wings.
As their Sinhala common පිළිල-රිසියා name implies, their larval feeding plants include hemi-parasitic plants from Loranthaceae family, such as Dendropthoe falcata. It's thought that the larvae accumulate toxic compounds from the host plants.
Distributed all around the island. And globally they are distributed in South and Southeast Asia.
Information from the book Common Butterflies of Sri Lanka by Himesh Dilruwan Jayasinghe; page 47.
Spotted at the home garden and captured via with a 55-300 mm lens.

18/02/2023

Sri Lankan Scimitar babbler
(Pomatorhinus melanurus)
දෑකැති දෙමලිච්චා

A bird was hopping on the ground and searching all over turning the dried leaves, first I thought of a yellow billed babbler. Suddenly it came a bit closer and I didn't expect to see this guy in the garden.
This amazing bird has a Scimitar (a curved shaped sword) or දෑකැත්ත shape bill which has given it the sinhala and english vernacular names. Identification is easy with this yellow bill. The upper parts are brown while the lower parts are white. Has a pair of bold white eyebrows.
Belongs to the Timaliidae family, the family of the old world babblers. Earlier they were considered as a sub species of the Indian Scimitar babbler but later classified as a separate species that is endemic to Sri Lanka.
Seen in all the regions of the country and inhabits understory parts of forested areas. They are seen as pairs or in mixed flocks. They have a beautiful song. As mentioned in the ebird.org the song goes like "yee-doo-doo-doo" and the calls go like repeated sharp "ker-trick"s. I have heard these calls before and never seen them here. Forages like other babblers, searching on the ground for prey turning the dried leaves. Recently I saw a little one too, maybe they are nesting nearby.

Spotted at the home garden and captured with Nikon D3500 with a 55-300 mm lens.

15/02/2023

Glassy tiger (Parantica agela) pupa stage.
Three days after laying, the eggs were hatched and tiny caterpillars emerged. They consumed tender leaves at first and then with time the leaves of the කිරි අගුණ (Tylophora pauciflora) plant disappeared 😂. Finally after 16 days from hatching, finally they had stopped eating and enclosed themselves in the pupa. Hopefully we will see the butterflies soon. Until then here's the gorgeous pupa of the Glassy tiger butterfly (actual size is about 1.5 cm)

Captured with Nikon D3500 with a reverse mounted 18-55 mm kit lens.

13/02/2023

Tiny grass blue
හිච්චි තෘණ-නීලයා
(Zizula hylax)

As both the English and Sinhala names suggest, these butterflies are actually tiny. This guy was less than 1 cm in length (body length).
Males have a dull violet upper side which glistens with the light to give different hues of violet in different angles. In contrast, the females have a glossy brown upper side as in many other Lycaenidae butterflies. The underside is grey in colour. The unique black and brown spot pattern can be used to identify them. These black spots are encircled with white and arranged curved manner around a brown lunular line on both the fore wing and hind wing (more regular curve on the hind wing). Wings are margined with a set of sub terminal brown lines and greyish white cillia which can be clearly seen in the image.
They are active and mostly fly closer to the ground. Often seen wagging their body like a cute dance after perching.
Larval food plants include plants from Acanthaceae family including Hygrophila auriculata (නීරමුල්ලිය).
They are found in the oriental region and in Sri Lanka they are widely distributed up to 2000 m.

Details from slbutterflies.lk and pocket guide to butterflies of Sri Lanka by BCSSL.

Spotted at the home garden and captured with Nikon D3500 with 18-55 mm lens.

05/02/2023

Common tailorbird
බට්ටිච්චා
(Orthotomus sutorius)
A cute little birdie from the Cisticolidae family. As the English name suggests, it's a talented little tailor. Their scientific name "Orthotomus sutorius" translates to "straight cutting tailor/ cobbler", which may be due to their sewing ability.
They are small in size. Have a green back and reddish brown crown with cream underparts. The tail is longer compared to the body size and often seen wagging while moving between branches. The males and females are similar except the males have longer central tail feathers during the breeding season as the one in the images.
They usually select larger leaves and use their tiny and sharp beak as a needle to sew through. Small vines usually become their thread. Their effort results in a small pocket within which they lay their eggs. This is helpful for the protection as their nest is now disguised within the foliage.
They are insectivorous and often seen jumping from branch to branch with keen eyes to catch a beetle or a caterpillar. Their calls are sharp and loud. You may not see them but their “tuui-tuui…” and “whee-whee…” calls may wake you up in the morning 🤭.
They are mostly seen closer to human habitats and also in wooded areas. They are found across South and Southeast Asia.

spotted at the home garden and captured with Nikon D3500 with a 55-300 mm lens.
Details from ebird.com

04/02/2023

Orange minivet female
මිනිවිත්තා
(Pericrocotus flammeus)
A beautiful little passerine bird from the Campephagidae family. Their colours often remind me of the highlighter pens, the bright yellow females and the bright orange males.
Its scientific name illustrates these colours well. The genus name comes from Greek, "peri"(very)+ "krokotus"(saffron). And the species name comes from Latin "flammeus"(flame coloured).
The males are bright orange with black markings on the head and the back while females are bright yellow with more grey markings.
They are insectivorous and quite active. Found in groups and often I have seen them in mixed groups of several other bird species including white eyes, drongos and also black-naped monarchs. Usually forage among the canopy and with their high pitched twee-twee sound, they can be easily identified.
They are found in open forested areas throughout the country but are common in the hills. Found in Sri Lanka and in India.

Spotted at the home garden and captured with Nikon D3500 with a 55-300 mm lens.

28/01/2023

Glassy tiger (Parantica agela) egg
This gorgeous looking egg belongs to a Glassy tiger butterfly. It was laid on the ventral side of a Tylophora pauciflora (කිරි අගුණ) leaf. If we look closely we can see that the egg is adhered to the leaf surface by a glue-like substance. They lay their eggs in the ventral side of the leaf as a protective strategy, not to be spotted by any predators.
Butterflies have specific larval food plants, so how do these tiny guys correctly identify their larval food plants? Many researchers suggest that they have chemoreceptors on their legs so that they scratch the leaf surface and by the chemical composition they identify the correct plant to lay the eggs. There are some other theories that they mostly use visual cues to correctly determine the plant and also the suitable location on the plant to lay the eggs. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8622024/)
If you are planning to see more and more butterflies in your garden, plant some of these larval food plants. They will attract the butterflies surely ❤️.

Spotted at the home garden and captured with Nikon D3500 with a reverse mounted 18-55 mm kit lens.

21/01/2023

Grey wagtail
අලු හැලපෙන්දා
(Motacilla cinera)
A beautiful little bird with a long tail. A winter migrant from Central Asia. Well it is a quite common bird but this is the first time I saw one and saw it in front of the house.
Its binomial name Motacilla cinera comes from Latin. Motacilla was the Latin name used for the Pied wagtail, which came from "motare"- to move about "cilla" - tail. This is well suited for them as they are constantly wagging their tails. The "cinera" is the Latin name for ash grey.
Mainly they have grey upper parts( head and back plumage) and yellow underparts (belly and bent) with white in between. They have a whitish broken eye ring around the eye. The breeding males have black throats. My guess is this can be a female or an immature male.
They prefer feeding near streams or paddy fields as the one I observed and prey upon small insects. Didn't hear the song but as in the ebird.com, it is a repetitive set of high pitched notes.

Spotted near the home garden and captured with Nikon D3500 with a 55-300 mm lens.

10/01/2023

White throated kingfisher
(Halcyon smyrnensis)

A commonly seen yet a beautiful kingfisher. Usually seen perching on telephone posts and wires or something higher, which they use as a vantage point.
The back, wings and the tail are bright blue (electric blue) and the head, shoulders and lower part of the belly are brownish. As in the third image, a white patch is seen through the throat to the upper part of the abdomen from which they got the name "white throated". The bill is large and red in colour.
The diet usually includes small insects, frogs and even lizards. Their nest is also interesting, unlike many other birds, they use nesting burrows or tunnels on the banks of a river or slopes near a road. In our area I have seen them using the holes (marked with PVC) kept on a retaining wall supporting the road as burrows.
Their calls are not so pleasing though 🙈. Their songs include sharp and rapid trills and the calls are either cackles or clicks.
They are widely distributed in many countries in Asia all the way from the Sinai peninsula, Indian sub continent (including Sri Lanka) towards the China region. In Sri Lanka, according to ebird data, they are found in all the climatic regions.

Spotted at the home garden and captured with Nikon D3500 with a 55-300 mm lens.
Information from ebird.org.

04/01/2023

Colopsus sp. ( Female)
This cute little spider is a jumping spider from the Salticidae family. Males in this genus are mostly metallic green in colour while the females are yellow brownish with a prominent yellow brown colour central band on the opisthasoma. So clearly we can say that this is a female. The classification of the spiders of this genus in Sri Lanka were recently revised and 8 new species were described under this genus. Previously spiders of Colopsus genus were placed under the genus Evarcha and this new study has carefully untangled the the issues in ths previous classification using genome level experiments Link to the article https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2020.1869335
Got know many of these spiders and their interesting facts thanks to the amazing identifiers of the 💚💚

Spotted at the home garden and captured with a Nikon D3500 with a reverse mounted 18-55 mm lens.( All these images were stacked)

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25/12/2022

Banded Blue Pierrot
නිල්පටි ගෝමර-නීලයා
(Discolampa ethion )

A beautiful little butterfly from the Lycaenidae family, the family of the blues.

Can be easily distinguished from the other Pierrots by the larger black patches. These patches however look similar to the ones in the Angled Pierrot but the marginal spots along the outer margin of the wings are only seen in the Banded Blue Pierrot. The pattern in the lower side is similar in both males and females but the space between the two stripes near the base of the forewing is higher in females (as of the one in the image). The upper side is black and a white median patch is present across the wings. The males have a blue band surrounding this white patch from which they got their name.

Distributed in the oriental region including Sri Lanka, South India and even towards Singapore except Taiwan. Found in the forests and forest edges. They are more abundant in the wetzone up to 5000 feet. Males prefer mud pudding and can be seen on bird droppings too. The larval food plants include Ziziphus oenopolia (හීන් එරමිණියා) and Ziziphus mauritiana (දෙබර).

The female in the photo was laying eggs while observing.

Details from the slbutterflies.com and "A pocket guide to the butterflies of Sri Lanka" by BCSSL.
Spotted at the Udawaththakale Sanctuary, Kandy.

24/12/2022

Barking deer/ Muntjac
ඕලු මුවා/ වැලි මුවා
( Muntiacus muntjak)
A cute little mammal which is widely spread but difficult to spot. Belongs to the Cervidae family, the family of the deer.
The English name Barking deer comes from the fact that their call or the cry is much similar to a dog bark. Can be misidentified as a dog due to the smaller body size and this bark like call.
The males have short antlers as the one in the image while the females have bony k***s. Males are larger than females. They have preorbital glands, a bit similar to the lacrimal glands of us but the purpose is different. These glands secrete a scent which is then rubbed on the ground or the trees to mark the territory.
Their diet consists of grasses and leaves. The adults are having a solitary life and the males are territorial. The males would fight with their antlers and the curved canines over the territories and especially over the females during the mating season. I've heard about some deer fights recently in the area so probably this may be their mating season.
Commonly the females give birth to a single offspring and take care of it up to 6 months. Then they leave to find their own territory.
Distributed in the South and Southeast Asia and their IUCN conservation state is least concerned (LC). The leopards and the raptors are some of their natural predators. They are also hunted for bush meat and also in some Asian countries they are considered as pests for their plantations and hunted down.

Spotted at a nearby neighborhood and captured with Nikon D3500 with a 55-300 mm lens.

Nature clicks by Pradeep

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