The call of Common Iora...

One of the very common and a beautiful bird distributed in the entire Indian Subcontinent is the Common Iora. Visible sometimes and invisible at other times - but one thing is common to all encounters - the sweet and loud whistles. It is a whistle that is worth listening to. I have so many times tried to imitate it unsuccessfully ;-(

The male is all its glory

Let me see if I can recall where all I have seen this bird in India...

Himachal, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim - and perhaps all the places that I cannot recall at this moment. The male is beautiful black and bright yellow in the breeding plumage - not that the non-breeding plumage it is any less beautiful but the breeding plumage as you are seeing has a special flair to it.

One more of this beautiful birds

One very very interesting behaviour of this bird - that I was lucky enough to encounter is that during the breeding season - that is after the monsoons generally, the Male darts up in air fluffing his feathers, then spirals down to the original perch. I could not find the call the male was giving at that time - so whenever I do recall it - I will share. The female has greenish wings - and not as bright as the male - but beautiful non the same...

I thought I was being partial to the bright males... This is a file photograph of a female - Jun 2014