Klishmaklaver

...And neither did I know that theres anything named like this until I spotted this bird, lurking in the branches. What an amazing sight! Wish my lens was good enough but I watched it to my heart's content. And I am sure it's keen eyes were staring right back at me. These birds are always so alert that even if I make the slightest sound I soon find them looking at me, into my lens..:D The Brainfever bird , is a medium sized Common Hawk Cuckoo. I don't know whether it is just me or is there an uncanny resemblance with the Shikra  and the Asian Koel ? Maybe the similarity to these birds gives it the categoric name Hawk-Cuckoo. Learnt at WikiPedia that this bird is a brood parasite, laying its eggs in the Babbler's nests.. Another question occured in my mind, Why would they be known as the brain-fever birds? And I found the amswer at WikiPedia again.. During their breeding season in summer males produce loud, repetitive three note calls that are well-rendered a...

Meet the Purple Rumped SunBird (Male) Marathi Name: Suryapakshi That inspired me to pen this Haiku... Like jewels shining   glorious blue purple feathered birds in the sun basking And here is the Female Purple Rumped SunBird What you see here is an Immature/Juvenile Male If you wish to know more about this cousin of the Humming Birds you can glean all the information from Wikipedia My own observation is that these birds seem to love the nectar in the flowers of the Red Kapok Tree  This turned and tapering, long, thin beak enables them to suck the nectar from the flowers.   Its a beautiful sight to watch these tiny passerine birds bathing in the water collected in the big Aapta/ Kachnar  leaves.     This post is an entry for the Z-A in 26 Days Challenge at I Rhyme Without Reason

The White-browed Fan Tail Fly Catcher.. I've been watching this restless little bird hopping from one branch to the next on the tree right outside my window, since the month of July. This  White-browed Fantail , Rhipidura aureola , is only about 18 cms. long and builds a rather tiny cup like nest. The name itself tells us that its an insectivorous and I've spotted it myself pecking at cobwebs. :D Its my aunt;s observation that this tiny little bird, surprisingly, can scare away crows very easily by attacking them with its tiny sharp beak, fearlessly.  I believe it must be the male protecting its fledglings or probably the eggs in its nest. Another beautiful characteristic is that this bird has peculiar way of fanning its tail out and doing a little semicircular jig on the branches. This is the most liveliest bird Ive spotted this season! Nanka  is an avid bird watcher and nature lover too. She calls this tiny passerine bird the tweety bird for its musica...

      The Weekend in Black & White

My heart went out to these big and little birdys soaked to their bones in the rains. With heavy feathers they were desperately searching for a safe and sheltered perch which is sadly rare in the cities now. :( The Black Kite (Milvus migrans) The Common Tailorbird ( Orthotomus sutorius) Scaly-Breasted Munia (Lonchura punctulata) The Oriental Magpie Robin (Copsychus saularis)

Had spotted the beautiful black male Asian Koel quite many days ago and you can know more about the cuckoo in the post I'd done then titled 'Two in the Bush' Yesterday after th epre-monsoon showers I was standing on the terrace and my little 1 year old spots this bird hidden between the branches. It also appeared as if it was shivering in the cold winds.. We blew her lots of flying kissys ..:) but only God can do something to keep her warm...:( Observe the beautiful pattern on her body, the spots are complemented by the striped tail. The Female Asian Koel   (Eudynamys scolopacea)

  The Oriental Magpie Robin ( Copsychus saularis ) ...has made my day! Spotted it early this morning on our garden fence.  This distinctive black and white bird holds its long tail upright as it forages on the ground and its perch.  This passerine bird is native to tropical South and South East Asia. It was considered a member of the thrush family but is now classified as an Old world Flycatcher. Wish My lens had a bigger zoom to capture a perfect pic' of this restless bird. Here we see The Asian Koel - Male ( Eudynamys scolopaceus.. we know this fellow better as the cuckoo since it belongs to the order of the Cuculiformes. At 45 cms, this big bird is again native to South & South East Asia and China. It is famous for encroaching into the Crow's nest for laying its eggs and the young ones are raised by the gullible foster parents. Such birds are known as the brood parasites. The word koel is echoic in origin and the bird is a widely used symbol in Indian p...

   This is the Red Cheeked/ Red Whiskered Bulbul ( Pycnonotus jocosus ) , measuring about 20cms. This bird can be easily identified by its brown crest, red cheeks and red vent. This bulbul is native to India and is generally seen in the woodlands or in the countryside. That's how I spotted this lone bird, sitting peacefully on a wire at Pratapgarh, while the guide was pointing to a small look-out window in th e wall of the fort. My imagination must have been going wild because I felt like it was staring away into the distance, meditatively. As if it was pondering on the history of the fort, too! This bird feeds on a variety of fruits, insects and flower buds, and often does so in flocks of three to fifty birds.  According to most authorities there are 144 species of Bulbuls, Greenbuls and allies in the family Pycnonotidae and I have spotted only 2 of them as yet?! :(  

This post has been altered on 2nd March after a valuable feedback from another blogger. At first we, Dr. Ajay Pradhan & I believed that this bird I'd spotted is the  The Red-necked Falcon or Red-headed Merlin (Falco chicquera). However, a kind reader and fellow-blogger Thomas , whose a veteran nature enthusiast, pointed out that we were mistaken. This bird here is in fact the Shikra  (adult male) and not the Turumti! As of now I'm extremely thrilled to have spotted a bird of prey. And I have actually also been able to click a fantastic picture within its brief moment of perch. WOW!! Isn't this a price catch of sorts? " Just look at the details..the red eye..super Vibhuti!" were the words of praise from Ajay! The  Shikra or The Little Banded Goshawk ( Accipiter badius ) is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors like the eagle, buzzard and the harrier. This bird is a small raptor (26–30cm long), a...

Again as identified by  Dr. Ajay Pradhan this bird my lens captured is The Jungle Babbler , Turdoides striata, a gregarious bird found mostly in South-Asia . An interesting feature about this bird is that it usually forages in a group of 6-7 birds and hence has acquired its Hindi nickname 'SaatBhai' or 7 brothers.... The Jungle babbler  is a non-migratory bird and has a harsh nasal call...Read more about the bird at Wikipedia. My observation is that its grey-brown body helps it camouflage in the urban surroundings and the trees but its noisy habit of  mewing calls, continual chattering, squeaking and chirping keeps it from being inconspicuous...

The Purple Sunbird , Cinnyris asiaticus , is a very small old world passerine bird that feeds mainly on nectar. Less than 10cm long the most prominent feature of this bird is its down-curve bill with brush-tipped tubular tongue.The species is distributed widely from the Persian Gulf through South Asia and into Southeast Asia. They are resident birds in most parts of India distributed over the east of the desert region and south of the Himalayas.  The Indian Grey Hornbill ( Ocyceros birostris ) is a common hornbill found on the Indian subcontinent , one of the few hornbill species found within urban areas in many cities where they are able to make use of large avenue trees. About 24 inches long, the call is a squealing call. Mostly spotted in pairs, their flight is heavy and gliding. The Great Tit ( Parus major ) a passerine bird of the Tit family, is a widespread species of temperate Europe & Asia. The great Tit does not usually migrate.14cms in size this bird has a variet...

Only these 2 can give me precise info about the birds I’ve recently spotted through my camera lens, Dr. Ajay Pradhan & Wikipedia.  And this is what I’ve learnt the second time around… The Greater Coucal or the Crow Pheasant ( Centropus sinensis ) is a non-parasitic member of the cuckoo order,  the Cuculiformes. It is a widespread resident in India . The Coucal or the Crow Pheasant is colloquially referred to as the Bharadwaj bird or Kumbhar kaola in Marathi.  There are mainly too varieties- The Greater & the Lesser, informs Dr. Ajay  and what I’ve clicked here is the Greater Coucal. It is considered lucky to have spotted one! With a purplish black body and rust coloured wings it is a large bird at 48 cm. The play of sunlight on its wings when in flight makes it appear golden! An extremely handsome bird it is. This pair is the Eurasian Golden Oriole (Oriolus Oriolus). As the name clearly suggests, these birds are found in Europe and Asia except for t...

I was suggested by my feature editor to do a story on migratory birds in Pune this winter. Being completely ignorant about our avian friends I owned up and almost immediately declined. The story was taken up by a more knowledgeable pen later but I was left thinking! How could I have missed out? I came home to peek out my terrace only to be even more bewildered by the blind eye Id turned towards the beauty around. The garden facing my flat, rich in flora & foliage was also being visited by a whole lot of interesting feathered friends. My friend, the ever-obliging Dr. Ajay Pradhan who’s an avid bird-watcher also came to my rescue and helped me recognize the birds by their names. He started updating me on the basics of bird-watching, “ Just watch them patiently and carefully and you’ll see there’s so much to learn he says!” So this is what I saw ….   The adult Ashy Drongo (Corvidae Dicrurini)  breeds in central India and also along the Himalayas . “Next time u see this...