Man playing Demi-God: Myna & Noisy Miner

Its not new - but then the man always had a habit of playing Demi-God. Whether he has ever succeeded or not is a debate that I will not be drawn into. The problem with man is that he sees wiseness of his action over such a small time period - that there is no vision of future. Second problem with his actions are that he wants the results of his actions in his life time so that he can enjoy the shower of accolades most of the time. This - my friends is the two bladed sword that mans actions hold and unfortunately both the edges are very-very sharp to say the least.

Noisy Miner

I will support my case with the example of Common Myna (also spelled Mynha). This bird is a resident of Asia, Subcontinent of India in particular. These birds have been introduced by man over a period of time to a large number of countries and where ever they have been introduced - they have created a havoc.

The Dark clouds on the horizon

See - if any foreign species have to establish in a native land - it has to do so at the expense of the Native. After all there is always so much space and resources to compete for. When I visited Australia on my birding tour last year my observation of Mynas were - firstly they were everywhere, secondly they were more aggressive than what I observed them in my own country (India). It struck to me then that they would have surely displaced some of the local species and pushing them so as to establish themselves successfully. That made me read a lot about it in my last few months. Whatever I read just confirmed my worst fears - and to me - just observing during 10 day tour of Australia was not good and was sure that when I read up the research by more serious souls - the findings would be more grave than anything I observed.

A show down with Indian Myna - what had to happen

Two strong species fighting for supremacy...

Like all wars - I wonder if there will be a real winner at all...

The bird was introduced in Australia Melbourne and South-east during 1862 and 1872. Infact in 1800 there was a locust plague and the Indian Mynas were got there to control them. Ofcourse as the history now tells us - the Mynas never helped controlling the Plague - and unfortunately became one of the worst pest of Australia.

All this while this next generation watches in the sidelines....

I witnessed Mynas fighting with native species many a times in my 10 day visit - I wonder how much damage it would have done over the past centuries - perhaps pushing some native species to extinction. (It is not a hype I can assure you). The problem is so severe that there are web pages and companies both private and funded now fighting to control these ‘Pests’. So next time you do plan to do something wise - just give it a thought - after all nature did not do what you think is wise for a reason maybe...

This may give the idea of the scale of problem that Aussis are facing over this bird... This is one of the so many websites giving solutions....

The bird that called me... Clamorous Reed Warbler

The Clamorous Reed Warbler is an Old World warbler that one will find at really wide range in the Indian Subcontinent. If I say - the entire Indian Subcontinent I will not be wrong. As with any bird with such large ranges - they tend to have a lot of variations in shades and plumages across the range. Infact the bird in Sri Lanka is endemic to the island. 

The bird is largely sedentary except the breeding birds in Pakistan, Afghanistan and North India that migrate, wintering in peninsular India and Sri Lanka.

When I visited Basai Wetlands this summer a week back - these reed warblers were vocally very active but as expected just not interested in getting themselves photographed. Though I did get some good sightings but all were brief and too short to photograph them. Then as I got ready to set course back I had one bird sitting on a branch nearby and shouting on the top of its voice. I really did not know whether or not it was challenging me or some other bird - but it definitely gave a wonderful opportunity to stare and admire the bird and of course - to click some great snaps. Presenting here are two snaps of the said bird.

My singing bird: Clamorous Reed Warbler

Same bird, when it did manage to keep quite for a second or so...

Sleeping with eyes wide shut - Yellow-bellied Prinia...

Okay - Yellow-bellied Prinia ceased to be my lifer a long long time back. That long time back probably took the zing of my love for it perhaps. Then a few days back on 19 May I decided to visit Sultanpur, big news - it closes from May to September - and there I was with a professional birder who didn't know about the bird sanctuary being closed and he called me to meet at the gates of the sanctuary before break of dawn.

Ah ! here you are pretty one...

Anyway he promised me some good birding and asked me to list the birds I would like to see. I listed some fantastic ones that would have got me some ticks on my life list - and one that I wanted to see - the Yellow-bellied Prinia. Well - yo behold and some time after two hours of birding and chasing the ones I asked for - the guide stops and points at a clump of reed and says that there is a resident Yellow-bellied Prinia in that patch. We waited and could see the bird clearly hopping around in the distance - dancing and singing. After about an hour we realised that it is in no mood to move in any closer and decided to move on.

Yellow-bellied Prinia

All the same - seeing the bird dancing around made my love for the little bird kindled again and joy of hearing the pleasing sound made me decide to hunt it again. I was in Chandigarh the next day - fired up my computer and started a search for the last few sightings in and around Chandigarh - my home town.

Okay - that one is far away - but then there it is...

I was not really very happy to see only one listing of the bird a few years back in Mohali - but since the person who listed it - Mr Munish - a great and active member of Chandigarh bird club. I posed the question on our club group and surprisingly answers came pouring in about sightings a bare couple of kilometres from my home. Self, with Mrs Rima and Master Amandeep were there in the evening hunting Prinias.

Okay - I had only one poser - but then that did the trick...

The thing is that the bird is resident of reeds near water and my past visits were more concentrated at other birds so just did not seem to ever find them perhaps. Here I was today looking for them and was wondering - how the hell did I ever miss them for past few years. They were really every where - singing, dancing and spreading love songs...

All the pictures are from my visit hunting these small beautiful birds today...

Next take some time off and listen to these beauties.

Brown, tiny and a pain to find: Eurasian Wren

Wrens are small, and inconspicuous except for their loud songs. There are a total of 80 species worldwide and out of that only one, that is Eurasian Wren that is "old world’ and occurs in India, The range extending basically along Himalayas from Iran, Afghanistan across till Japan.  These birds have short wings and thin down-turned bills. Several species out of these hold their tail upright. All are insectivorous.

The small little Eurasian Wren in its typical Himalayan Habitat

Small tail, down curved bill...

This bird is almost as familiar in Europe as the robin. It is mouse like and the best tell tale of this bird is the song.

Great lighting, good pose, wonderful patience, it finally stood there - in a studio settings to give me a awesome shot...

Highly polygynous and it is believed to be unusual mating habit for passerines. The Eurasian Wren at 9 cm is tiny - and funny to watch as it has a small tail. We were birding in Sikkim and it was just short of Zuluk (above 10,000 feet) when we came across this single wren. The bird got discovered due to its call and after we stopped, it did take us some time to spot it. Once spotted however - it was a paparazzi friendly bird. It posed to our complete satisfaction - taking us even to the small cave that it must have been residing. 

It moved in and out of the nooks and corners with the ease of a mouse...

This brings us to the interesting fact about this bird - the scientific name is Troglodytes Troglodytes - that name is taken from Greek word ‘Troglodytes’ - that means ‘Cave-dweller’. We saw this disappear into the cracks and caves in the stone pavement and we did take time looking at this beautiful bird for almost half an hour before moving on to other birds...

Barred Buttonquail: The ghostly birds...

Here goes my mandatory warning: the Barred Buttonquails are not the true quails, they are more of rails - so I am told. They are almost omnipresent in most of the Indian Subcontinent across tropical Asia to South China and Indonesia and Philippines. The problem is that they have and ability - like so many birds and animals - to hide in plain sight. And that they are small, mud brown with an effective camouflage pattern does not help in sightings...

...The poor male - smaller, duller and the home maker

I got alerted to their presence by a fellow birder - Mrs Alpana in Chandigarh and I was holding my horses to return to Chandigarh and see them properly and photograph them. Promptly after Stepping in Chandigarh I rang her up and requested her to come along for these birds. Very next day we were at the spot at sunrise and waiting. Half hour of sitting quietly - and there they were - the tiny bundles moving from one bush to another with extreme caution. I fired of - perhaps 300 shots - but the birds were just non obliging - The focus was hard even when they came a few feet from us - because they were just not ready to leave cover. Unfortunately one time when they were out of cover the one time and crossing the track I was just not ready.

The female Barred Buttonquail, beautiful, bigger, brighter, stronger and a flirt...

Same female as pictured above

Okay for information these four acceptable pictures are a result of five visits to the spot...

Okay - here is the fun fact of this bird: The female is larger and more richly coloured. We birders are usually not used to seeing more ‘beautiful females’ in the bird world - infact I may be able to recall only a few handful in my experience and thinking about it I can recall only one at the moment - Greater Painted Snipe. The female is also polyandrous - she fights for possession of a cock, announces herself to cock and goes off to acquire a new husband as soon as the eggs are laid as it is the cock that incubates the eggs - a husband who genuinely deserves sympathies - unlike most of us…


I have decided to include the bird songs if possible from this post onwards - mainly so that the option to hear them is also available - and the songs are quite a surprise I can assure you.

Ah - yes that sound that sounds like a scooter is a female call...

Yellow-throated Fulvetta

A beautiful 10 cm of a bird - like they say beautiful things do come in small packages. During our last birding visit to Sikkim - saw this bird that is a resident of NE and East Himalayan hills. It has a yellow supercilium that contrasts with the black sided of the crown It is the high pitched trill that alerted our birding guide to the bird and the next fifteen minutes were one of the best times I had with this beauty moving about and around us. I decided to sit on a ‘culvert’ on the roadside to see this bird and this bird did not disappoint us at all - chirping, pecking and bouncing all around us. There were times when I raised my camera to my eyes at a snails pace - because the bird was so close that I was afraid that I will loose the moment if it flies away.

I wonder who is staring at whom ??

Calling out to the birders - what a trill !!

Presenting the few shots when this 10 cm bird almost tried to fill the frame and jump out of my viewfinder...

These two pictures are to give an idea about the crown of the bird

A little better picture of the crown...

And - hey I have already disclosed the secret to some - this bird is not a true Fulvetta - more closer to the Shrike babblers perhaps. Fulvetta or anything else - this little bird added a small yellow feather in my hat...  A small lifer - a great sighting.

Hunting Thrushes: Orange-headed Thrush

Thrushes are the family of the birds that have members known to be one of the most beautiful birds of the Avian world. Thrushes are plump, short-plumaged, small to medium-sized birds that generally inhabit the wooded areas and feed on ground. Most of the times they are insectivorous, but then most eat fruits along with worms. In my experience the hunt for thrushes, especially these ones begin and end with patience - a little patience if at all. If you do spot a bird, forging in a place, move to the spot next to a tree or a bush and just sit down. It will take a few minutes before the birds will start - what they stopped due to your disturbance and you can have a great time staring at these objects of beauty...

Orange-headed Thrush (cynotus) the bird with Red Indian face stripes.

Orange-headed Thrush - a date with a friendly bird...

Till the time I was not looking for this bird - this was rarely seen - but once I started looking out for it - I find it surprisingly well distributed across a large variety of habitats I have travelled to in the Subcontinent. There are total of four sub-species in the Subcontinent and I have have so far been fortunate to see two of them. Infact the first time I saw the Orange-headed thrush was in Nagpur - that has the subspecies ‘cynotus' - the one with white streaks across its face - just like a Red-Indian ready for battle. Over a period of time I saw many many of them - each time I stop and admire the beauty of those stripes. The birds take very little time to accommodate to your presence and if you stand still or sit without moving for some time - you will find them hopping all around you.

Hey mama - I lost my strtipes' - ctrina subspecies of himalayas

Same bird pictured above...

Pictures taken at Sattal

The second subspecies that I have come across was in the Himalayas - for the first time in the lower hills of Shimla and then proper sightings and photographs in Satal, in Uttarakhand. The difference of this subspecies ‘citrina' is - no ‘Red-Indian face markings’.

The other two have not been sighted by me so I will surely be on the lookout for them - the ‘andamanensis’ the ones found in Andaman and ‘albogularis’ a resident of Nicobar Islands. There is a mention of subspecies resident of China also but I could not find too much data on them. Will add on as and when I progress...

Disclaimer: When I say 'Hunting' I mean searching for, or seeing, or photography, anything but killing.
Secondly I have used 'Red-Indian' and am not aware if it is an offensive term - please do leave a comment - it will be removed.