(a) Golden Mahseer
(b) Indian Nightjar
(c) Spoonbill
(d) White Ibis
9. Ans: a
Explanation:
Golden Mahseer: It is a fish which typically lives in fast-moving, relatively cold waters, inhabiting hill streams although they’ve also successfully adapted to introduction in lakes and reservoirs. The golden mahseer is found in the Himalayan foothills, the Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra basins as well as in the south of India. Most of India’s golden mahseer are found in Uttarakhand state, where it is the official state fish.
Indian Nightjar: Nightjars are small, medium-sized birds with short toes, short beaks, and long feathers. They are nocturnal and live in heathland and young conifer plantations. It is active at night and has a jarring voice (hence, night+jar).
Cryptically-colored nightbird. It is found in a range of wooded habitats, from hilly dry forest to garden edges. Listen for its distinctive song, an accelerating knocking akin to a ping-pong ball dropping and bouncing rapidly on the floor.
Ibis, has about 26 species of medium-sized wading birds (Wading birds are long-legged birds with long bills. They have long legs to wade through shallow water without getting wet, and long toes to support them when standing in mud or sand).
They constitute the family of Threskiornithidae, which also includes the spoonbills and ibises. They occur in all warm regions except on South Pacific islands. They wade in shallow lagoons, lakes, bays, and marshes and use their slender, down-curved bills to feed on small fishes and soft mollusks. It has a loud call and is noisy when breeding. It builds its nest most often on the top of a large tree or palm.
Spoonbill: Spoonbill are most easily distinguished from Ibises through the shape of their bill which is long and flat and wider at the end. The eyes are positioned to provide spoonbills with binocular vision, although while foraging tactile senses are important. Nostrils are located near the base of the bill so that the bird can breathe while the bill is submerged in the water.
Hence, option a is correct.
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