Blue-faced Malkoha - the sulker...

Indian Subcontinent has four Malkohas in all. I have resided in the recent years in the home range of two and though I will not say that I am not obsessed - I surely have been chasing them. These two are - the Sakeer Malkoha - the one with red lipstick painted bill and the Blue-faced Malkoha.

Malkoha are from the cuckoo family and the group name is derived from the Sinhala word for the Red-faced Malkoha - and Mal-Koha means Flower-Cuckoo. They are sulking birds that prefer - not only thick bushes - but particularly the epicentre of these thick bushes.

I was lucky really when two odd months back I was able to see the Blue-faced Malkoha. Saying that I saw them might be an overstatement really, they were the fleeting glances as it hopped in thick bush… The first encounter was in KBR National park, when I managed to rip my T-shirt trying to follow it in the bushes to get a good glance and the second in Nallamalla Forest when it just flew across the road we were travelling and disappeared into the thick bushes across.

Well season changes and now with the temperatures touching 44 degree celsius - the leaves on most of the trees have shrivelled and dropped of leaving those thick bushes as scraggy mass of branches. The visibility through the bushes have improved but photography is still a no go as the camera focuses on the thinnest of the branches ahead of the bird and refuses to focus behind. I was in a terrible fix when two things happened - I out of curiosity used the focus ring to get the bird in picture and the second one - while waiting in the heat of the day - a water pipe that was leaking attracted the bird. I will not say that I got the best of the shots - but am terribly happy with pictures under the circumstances.

Presenting below are the few of the hundreds I managed to bag...

Hello there...

This is what I mean when I call this just hops around in thick bushes.

Ahh... finally got the focus right.

The eye has to be this birds beauty spot...

At 39 cm its a fairly large bird...

Don't mind the nicked tail - other than that the picture I liked the most...

When will I ever learn ? - White-naped Woodpecker

A lot of people ask me - when will you ever learn ? I give them a blank stare, a sheepish look, or anything that I feel goes with the moment - but my mind is on to it (blank) mind you. I am a person who likes to atleast think that I introspect every little thing that I say - or for that matter others say...

Where and how does it all come in - in birding I mean ? Well I have been making a mistake in the past to see and ID a bird - and if it is a seen variety - to ignore and keep looking for something else. I have paid a very heavy price mind you. I will give you an example, I see the Black-winged Kite so very often in India that when I was out birding in Australia - I just ignored the a kite looking so like the one here. It was just by luck that I had clicked a few pictures - and forgot about them. I did enter the data into the eBird and when it said - wake up boy - these are rare (meaning - they are not supposed to exist here) - I just ignored it - saying that I have seen it and I am the last word in it come what may. I forgot about this entire episode - came back to India and to my mind that was it.

Later - I am saying - like a few months later I got a mail from one of the guys reviewing the data entry to eBird and asked me - when I entered Black-winged Kite in Australia - was I sure that it did not mean - Black-shouldered Kite? I was about to ignore this too when I decided and opened both the books - Birds of Indian Subcontinent and Birds of Australia. As I read the details of both the birds - I realised the mistake - one was Elanus axillaris (Australian) and the second was Elanus caeruleus (Indian). They were not bloody same though on the face of it they both looked no different that the other one. I did decide that I will pay more attention to this fact - and also that there are so many sub-species that every new place I go I will get something newer than what I had seen (or discovered) before.

Now coming back to the bird at hand. I had gone along with Mr Sriram (of Hyderabad Birding Pals) to Anantgiri hills and heard a call - well the first reaction - Oh the Lesser Goldenback I said. It was just about a moment that the these two birds flew across - I saw them and did not even blink an eyelid - I was too busy looking out for Brown Fish Owl… That was that and these birds to tell me my place sat on a tree a few feet away from me. I thought to myself - what the hell - if they are to pose so well - what goes out of my pocket to have a good snap? As I peered from my viewfinder, saw the nape of the bird and the revelation hit me. But before I could press the trigger both the birds flew off - as if to taunt me for disregarding them...

The signs were all there - the bird bigger than the Lesser Goldenback, the White running down the hind neck and mantle contrasting with black scapulars, the large bill and divided moustachial stripe - and I dis-regarded all this because I was hell bent upon believing that I have Lesser Goldenbacks flying around there… It was a good gap of time before the birds decided that they have punished me enough for this oversight of mine and came back for a photo. Still that were nothing compared to the moment I missed initially due to - Ahhhhh stupid me...

Black Redstart: Story of my bird...

Okay - I can be stupid at times, I am talking about the times when one could not have walked up to a computer and asked 'Miss Google' to give the right answer - the way my kids do today. Birdwatching in India, atleast in those times that I am talking about was not very fashionable.

Black Redstart

I used to regularly see this black and red bird in India, especially in winters that I really, really admired. From the few dozen books I could procure on wildlife I came to know the name of the bird - Black Redstart. Now came the second part of the problem - what the hell do you make out of this name - and I was a kid back then mind you...

I was crazy enough to even go to the extent of thinking - Redstart would mean - this bird moving its tail akin to - say the way I used to kick start my Bajaj Scooter. Alas now that I know - I was just 50% right. The right part was - that it refers to the tail of the bird - and the wrong part was that it had nothing to do with the wacky tail movement that it has...

Okay here goes the wiki intelligence of mine… Redstarts are a group of small Old World Birds that were in the thrush family some time back but are now part of Old World Flycatchers. Most of these birds have Red tails and the group name has ‘start’ that is modern English reflex of Middle English ‘stert’, Old English ‘sterot’, that is the tail of the animal. So you get it ? it refers to Red Tails... These birds are long distance winter migrants to Indian Subcontinent. Though having seen this beautiful bird so many times - I still did not have a trophy in terms of a beautiful picture that I so badly desired. Then it was one of the hot days of receding winters that one bird obliged, and oblige it did.

The few pictures of this beautiful bird that are now close to my heart, clicked in Anantgiri Hills near Hyderabad in March 2016.

Black Redstart (male)

Okay - that was the last one...

...if only all birds can oblige me like this one... ;-)

A date with Greater Flamingos....

Greater Flamingo is one of the most widespread of the flamingo family that has six species. The range of the bird covers Africa, Southern Asia (Bangladesh and costal regions of Pakistan and India, middle East and Southern Europe. Though India as the entire Subcontinent is part of its range - it is not an every day sighting in North India, so for someone like me (from Chandigarh) to get good sightings of these birds in wild is a great treat.

I was part of a group of BSAP (Birdwatchers Society of Andhra Pradesh) and witnessed 100 plus greater flamingos at Ameenpur lake of Hyderabad, and a treat it was. At 110-150 cm this bird is also the biggest of the flamingo. Such a huge bird to see and weighs just 2 to 4 Kg on an average with the largest record at 4.5 kg. The longest life span of this bird recorded in captivity is around 83 years old when the bird was euthanised in January 2014 in Adelaide Zoo in Australia.

A grace and perfection seen will remain for a long time with me...

Adults and Juv Greater Flamingos

Romancing Flamingos...

 

and ofcourse - we were not the only one there to admire them...

Destined to die... Red Avadavat (Lal Munia)

Humans are funny creatures, we want to be Gods and Slaves all at the same very time. God because we have found ways and means to challenge the nature and Oh, havoc we have wreaked, we have built great Cities, Dams, travelled to moon and back and looking at ways to visit the stars… all this is okay but in the very deep we are afraid and look for ways and means to brush aside the unknown and are ever looking for reasons and looking for others to be the fall guy for our doings.

Today I deal with this quality leading to devastation of a species - but then we just brush it aside without a second thought… I refer this unfortunate species as Canary birds of India.

Some dose of history has to be passed with this to understand what do you mean when you say the Canary… Its a cliché really… a common place remark that is made without knowing. It so happened that there were miners dying in the Coal mines mysteriously. The tissue of the dead were stained red. Meanwhile a Mr John Haldane was experimenting with deadly gases using himself as a subject of these tests. He used to lock himself up in rooms with high levels of carbon dioxide and monoxide to ‘know firsthand’ the effects of being slowly poisoned. He discovered that the carbon monoxide, that is a by-product of combustion is combining with haemoglobin in the blood and the combination stained the tissue bright red. He put two and two together and came to the conclusion that it is the air poisoning in the mines that was killing miners. He proposed that Canaries be carried in the coal mines to detect this poisoning. Why canaries ? I do not know but they were pets, small, birds and expendable? The birds tissues absorb oxygen while it inhales and while it exhales, so in theory the birds would get effected twice as fast by air poisoning and if the canaries starting to die - it was time that either the men run out or follow suite. (Continue reading after these pictures...)

Pictures of birds clicked in Hyderabad

Red Avadavat in all its glory...

Their favourite spot - on Sarkanda - the elephant grass

Hey you !!

In India I really do not know the history this well but the story was - keep Lal Munia (Red-avadavat) in your homes, if there is ill omen on its way to affect you - the birds will die. Oh and there is no proof of that at all is another story - but this did catch on. The Red Avadavats were kept as pets in thousands. These were poor pets, in the sense that they would not last for long in captivity, this made the story more real and owners used to replace them by those caught in the wild. This along with the massive loss of habitat dwindled the numbers of the birds in the wild. They are banned as pets and believe you me - it did give this bird some respite. That respite would still not have a meaning if you as and individual is ready to look the other way - the day you see this bird being traded.

A pair in Mohali... 

Presenting the beautiful Red Avadavat, the Lal (red) Munia or the Strawberry Finch - the little red bird of Estrildidae family. Surprisingly the species name amandava and the common name avadavat are derived from the city of Ahmedabad in Gujrat, India, from where these birds were exported as pets in the former times. The males are bright red in the breeding season. One fun fact about these birds are the the beak turns red in May, darkens in November and December and turns black in April. This beak colouration is cyclic and linked to changes in Day-length.

The beautiful...

Typical habitat of Lal Munia

We as humans need to realise that this is the wealth that we have to pass down to our generations - the real worth of living in this world...

Know your sparrow...

Chasing Sparrows of Indian Subcontinent...

Sparrows - the so very common birds of my yesteryears - that have become an object of so much study/controversy/speculation etc. Why the population of the sparrows have declined over the years - Fertilisers? Pesticides? Mobile towers? All probable reasons are there for anyone who wants to read between the lines and justify whatever theory they support. Personally I would say - all of the above with an additional - add loss of habitats, basically due to the box designs of our modern living spaces, especially in places like villages also, where earlier the houses were more of cottages with a lot of nooks and corners. These nooks and corners gave a lot of room for the birds to build nests and breed. Okay, I would not like to dwell any more in to all this and just cover the beautiful sparrows of India.

To start with the sparrow are small Stubby-billed birds with predominantly brown and grey plumages - some with a varied amount of black on the heads. They belong to genus Passer All these birds frequently feed on the ground.

Grimmett and Inskipp book of Birds of Indian Subcontinent list six sparrows in the Indian subcontinent. They being: -

1. House Sparrow: covering the entire Sub-continent.
2. Spanish Sparrow: visits North and North-Western continent.
3. Sind Sparrow: basically seen all along the Indus Valley from present state of Indian Punjab, Pakistan's Punjab and Sind - along as the river flows.
4. Russet Sparrow: Bird all along the Himalayas
5. Eurasian Tree Sparrow: Wide spread resident of entire Europe, Russia and North India along with the Himalayas
6. Dead Sea Sparrow: A bird that has eluded me so far - but then it is shown as the resident of Extreme West Afghanistan in the Subcontinent.

House Sparrow: A bird that the decline of which has prompted the ‘World Sparrow Day’ (every 20th March, an initiative of Nature Forever Society of India). A beautiful bird that I have often spent hours catching and releasing in my childhood. If this bird would enter any room in our village I would shut off the fan (lest I hurt it) then throw some soft cloth on it till it was tired enough for me to catch it. I know - thinking back it was cruel - but that is the way it used to be. I would then admire it for some time in my hands and then release it. The male has a grey crown and a black throat with chestnut brown on sides and nape. I do remember clearly a decline in these birds, but thankfully there seems to be a comeback in many a places and have started hearing the chirp again.

House Sparrows, male in centre...

Spanish Sparrow: Sighted many a times but since the time I have been having the better version of digital camera to capture it - I do not remember coming across it, perhaps because I have not visited the Western region of the country during winters when they come. Unlike the grey crown of the House sparrow, this bird (male) has a Chestnut crown and extensive streaking on the breast, flanks and belly.

Spanish Sparrow, the streaking is so very pronounced...

Sind Sparrow: This bird can easily be disregarded as a house sparrow because they are so bloody alike. At 13 cm it is 2 cm smaller than the house sparrow, has a Grey nape (rather than chestnut of House sparrow) with the Chestnut of the head making a broad present around the ear-coverts. It also has a finer bill than House Sparrow.

Sind Sparrow, Notice the small Black Throat vis a vis House Sparrow (Photo credits Rajive Das, Chandigarh Birds)

Sind Sparrow (male) (Photo credit Rajive Das, Chandigarh Birds)

Russet Sparrow: It would be a shame to call this bird any more beautiful than the rest - but personally this is my favourite. The breeding male has a bright Chestnut coloration to the mantle and variable yellow wash on underparts and ear coverts.

The beautiful male Russet Sparrow...

Another male from Satal/Pangot area

Eurasian Tree Sparrow: A male with dull chestnut crown and a small black spot on ear coverts and throat. The size is more or less of a house sparrow only. A bird with both sexes alike - makes the identification of female of the species easier.

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Dead Sea Sparrow: I am sorry but this is the end of sparrows for me for the time being. Haven’t seen one till now - so will wait till I see it first hand.

If you would have noticed I have hardly talked about the females of any of the above species (expect Eurasian tree sparrow) since I do get pretty confused in their company and look forward to seeing a male to identify the bird, and males are always there...
 
Yellow-throated Sparrow (Chestnut-shouldered Petronia): Let me start - Petronia is not a sparrow - but since in the yesteryears it was called a Yellow-throated Sparrow and looks (somewhat) like sparrow. I will post a picture here. It does not belong to genus Passer. What is interesting is that it is said to be this bird that kindled the interest of Dr Salim Ali to stop shooting birds and start studying them.

No points for guessing why it was ever called a Yellow-throated Sparrow

Same bird, different angle

Nothing at all can explain the Sparrows of India like Mr Rohan has done in his caricatures of sparrows.... Hey mind you - the females in the caricature below are still as complicated as in real life... ?

Reproduced with permission from Mr Rohan Chakravarty of http://www.greenhumour.com

Plum-headed Parakeet: Blo*dy Show Off...

We were four of us who had gone hunting the Elusive Blue-bearded Bee-eater in Nahan and like so many other times - the bird decided that this was still not the right time to get a tick in my lifer list. Disappointed ? Yes and while on the drive back Mr Mahesh who was sitting in front while I was at the wheel shouted stop - the drill was set - rear view, look right, look left and apply breaks - I asked what ?

He replied that there is a Plum-headed Parakeet sitting on a perch. I was not at all happy as I have clicked this bird a thousand times and on all possible good perches… All the same I reversed the car to the spot and when I saw it - once again my heart skipped a beat. Inspite of having seen this bird a zillion times - this one was as striking and as beautiful as the first one I would have seen in my life. The bird too was half drowsy with no intention to have the afternoon siesta being snatched away with a couple of paparazzi. Presenting here some of the hundred or so snaps that I clicked yesterday...

Plum-headed Parakeet

Oh No !! The paparazzi again...

We were not the only one disturbing this bird - I swear - there were bugs too...

Magic in the Air: Sunbirds

There is a magic in the air and I am not joking. This is the time of the year when most of the birds in the Northern Hemisphere put on the best of the plumages and show off. After all the breeding season for most of the birds is on. The males have to impress the females (nothing new I suppose). It may not be a known fact for many that in the Animal and the Bird kingdoms the word Beauty is more often than not related to Male and not the female - of course the exceptions are there but they are not the norm and few - far and in-between.

Purple Sunbird (Male)

Crimson Sunbird

You go around in my part of the world and one of the most common sounds and sights you will hear is of this small and a beautiful bird - Purple Sunbird. In and around Chandigarh (India) there are three sunbirds that are found - Purple Sunbird (Very Common), Crimson Sunbird (Common) and Fire-tailed Sunbird (Infrequent).

Crimson Sunbird

It has been no easy feat to picture these bird as it does not believe in staying put still even for a fraction of a second so when I got these opportunities when these birds come calling for a photograph I just cannot resist setting aside any other bird that I am targeting to give all my attention to these bird. I am glad that out of the 100s of snaps that I fire in all - I get these one odd pictures

Crimson Sunbird with a spider (a high protein diet during breeding)

to my satisfaction - rest have been used to satisfy the hungry Thrash Box of my Mac. Here I am presenting some of the pictures that I have.

Fire-tailed Sunbird (File shot, not in Breeding Plumage)