6 Oct 2017

Scaly-breasted Munias feeding on green algae

by | posted in: Feeding-plants, Videography | 0
Green mat of Spirogyra on the water surface (Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons}.
Green mat of Spirogyra on the water surface (Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).

Lakshmi Ravishankar’s video clip of Scaly-breasted Munias (Lonchura punctulata) feeding on a green mat of growth along a stream was documented in Pune, India (below). An earlier post shows similar feeding in a drain in Perak, Malaysia.

Commonly known as Water Silk, Mermaid’s Tresses and Blanket Weed LINK, Spirogyra is a group of filamentous green algae that grow in clean freshwater where they develops into a slimy green mass floating on the water surface (top).

Strands of Spirogyra under the microscope showing the spiral chloroplasts (Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons}.
Spirogyra under the microscope showing spiral chloroplasts (Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).

Under the microscope it can be easily identified by the spiral arrangements of the chloroplasts (above, below).

Spirogyra filaments under the microscope to show the spiral chloroplasts (Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).
Spirogyra under the microscope showing spiral chloroplasts (Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).

Lakshmi Ravishankar
Pune, India
3rd October 2017

Follow Wee- YC-:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.