Prelims 2014 · archive
MediumIf you walk through countryside, you are likely to see some birds stalking alongside the cattle to seize the insects disturbed by their movement through grasses. Which of the following is/are such bird/birds?
- 1.Painted Stork
- 2.Common Myna
- 3.Black-necked Crane
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) 2 only
The answer is (b), 2 only. The behaviour described belongs to a ground-feeding insect-eater of farmland that walks beside grazing cattle and picks up insects they disturb. The Common Myna fits this. The Painted Stork is a wetland wader that catches prey underwater by touch. The Black-necked Crane is a high-altitude wetland bird, not a cattle-follower.
- ✗ 1. The Painted Stork is a wading bird. It forages by touch: it holds its open beak underwater and snaps it shut when prey moves near the bill. It does not hunt insects flushed by cattle.
- ✓ 2. The Common Myna feeds on the ground in rural, cultivated land. In its native South Asian range, flocks feast on insects and grubs turned up in the soil by the plough. In the same way, it walks alongside grazing cattle to seize the insects they disturb.
- ✗ 3. The Black-necked Crane, the state bird of Ladakh, breeds only in high-altitude wetlands. There it feeds on roots, insects and occasionally fish. It is not a bird that follows cattle through countryside grasses.
Remember · Feeding on insects flushed by grazing cattle is a commensal association, best known for the Cattle Egret. Among these options, only the Common Myna, a farmland ground-feeder, does this. Storks and cranes are wetland birds.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Biology, Ch 11 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 12 · Biology, Chapter 11 “The egrets always forage close to where the cattle are grazing because the cattle, as they move, stir up and flush out insects from the vegetation that otherwise might be difficult for the egrets to find and catch.”
- IUCN Global Invasive Species Database: Acridotheres tristis (Common Myna) ↗ · reference work “In their native range of southern Asia the myna forms flocks in rural areas, which feast on insects and grubs turned up in the cultivated soil by the plough”
- Government of Ladakh: State Bird of Ladakh, Black-necked Crane (Grus nigricollis) ↗ “These stylish birds exclusively breed in high altitude wetlands, where they feast on a gourmet menu of roots, insects, and even occasionally on fish”
- Animal Diversity Web (University of Michigan): Mycteria leucocephala (Painted Stork) ↗ · reference work “Tactile foraging involves a bird holding its open beak underwater and waiting for movement near the bill before clamping shut on the prey.”
Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2014, General Studies paper. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·