Indian Treepie

This very pretty bird is a regular visitor to my garden. Bearing in mind its very dashing good looks, I was surprised to learn that it is in fact a member of the Corvidae (crow) family.

This bird is common throughout Tiruvannamalai District and equally happy in open forest, scrub, plantations and gardens

It lives on fruits, invertebrates, small reptiles and the eggs and young of birds; it has also been known to take carrion. It is extremely agile while searching for food, clinging and clambering through branches and will sometimes travel in small mixed hunting parties with unrelated species such as drongos and babblers.

The Indian Treepie has a variety of calls, some loud, harsh and guttural and others pleasing and melodious. One of its commonest calls is kokila and a bob-o-link!

So Many Babblers!

They are many varieties of Babblers in addition to the three mentioned below. But to clear up some confusion, I list some differences in the variety of this bird species.

****************************************************************************************************

Common Babbler

The Common Babbler is slim, earthy brown with upper plumage streaked darker. This bird can be easily identified from other Babblers because of its long, graduated, finely cross-rayed, loosely attached tail. It prefers dry open country and semi-desert with thorn scrub and shrubby vegetation. The Common Babbler feeds on the ground and scuttles along like a rat through thorn scrub and thickets, as it is loth to fly. It has a feeble flight which is comprised of a few rapid flaps, followed by a glide on outspread wings and tail.

****************************************************************************************************

Jungle Babbler

At Tiruvannamalai the variety of Babbler most commonly seen will be the Jungle Babbler, of which there are six varieties with differences in colouration.

The Jungle Babbler is an earthy brown, untidy looking bird with a longish tail. It is the size of a Mynah bird. It invariably flocks in half-a-dozen or more, hence its popular names ‘Sat Bhai’ (Hindi) and ‘Seven Sisters’ in English. It inhabits outlying jungle, well-wooded compounds, gardens and groves of trees about towns and villages.

Flocks hop about on the ground rummaging amongst fallen leaves and mulch for insects. The flock keeps up a costant conversational chatter and squeaking which sometimes develops into loud wrangling. Sociable even while paired off and nesting. The Jungle Babbler feeds in flocks and bands together to ward off attacks by cats or predatory birds. Their food; insects, especially spiders and cockroaches, wild figs, berries, grain and flower nectar.

This bird nests irreguarly thorughout the year in a loosely built nest of twigs and grass in the fork of a high leafy tree branch. The Jungle Babbler lays about 3-4 turquoise blue eggs. The bird shares parental duties both with its mate and within the community.

****************************************************************************************************

Yellow Eyed Babbler

The Yellow Eyed Babbler (of which there are three different varieties) is mostly a dweller of thorn scrub and grass jungle, commonly met in patches and separating cultivated fields. This bird be easily identified by the conspicuous orange-yellow ring around the eyes.

Salim Ali – Ornithologist

The most famous ornithologist of India, is Salim Ali (1896-1987) known as the "Birdman of India." Born as the tenth and youngest child of a Muslim family of Bombay, the lad was orphaned at the age of ten and was brought up by his maternal uncle.

Salim Ali was introduced to the serious study of birds by the Secretary of the Bombay Natural History Society, a Mr. W.S. Millard, which was to fuel Salim's pursuit of a career in ornithology. After a difficult early education at St.Xavier's College, Mumbai, he dropped out and went to Tavoy, Burma, which gave him the opportunity to develop skills as a naturalist and hunter.

In 1917, Salim returned to India, resumed his education, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Zoology and in the following year married a distant relation. In 1926 he was hired as a guide lecturer at the History Section of the Prince of Wales Museum, Mumbai. In 1930, as the position of guide lecturer has been eliminated due to lack of funds, Salim moved to a coastal village near Mumbai, where he began making observations of the Baya Weaver bird.

He later undertook a systematic bird study of various Indian princely States, and with Richard Meinertzhagen, made an expedition into Afghanistan. Salim Ali was accompanied and supported on early ornithological surveys by his wife, who sadly died in 1939.

Salim Ali was very influential in ensuring the survival of the Bombay Natural History Society, the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary and the Silent Valley National Park. In 1990, the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History was established at Anaikatty, Coimbatore aided by the Government of India, Ministry of Environment and Forests. Salim also took an interest in bird photograph with a friend Loke Wan Tho.

Ifyou are interested in obtaining what is regarded as the definitive compendium of Indian ornithology, you could do no better than purchasing a copy of Salim Ali, Book of Indian Birds.

Red Wattled Lapwing

The Red-Wattled Lapwing is a bird commonly found around Tiruvannamalai. Probably the most uncommon and distinctive thing about it, is its amusing and easy recognisable call, which sounds like a scolding, did-he-do-it; often uttered throughout the night.

In the below photograph you can easily see another curious thing about this bird which is its white V-shape wingbar prominent only while in flight.

This bird which is a large wader is often found at the banks of reservoirs and water catchment areas, and is in great numbers around the Samudram Lake area here at Arunachala.

Indian Roller

The Indian Roller, (Coracias benghalensis) is also sometimes locally called the Blue Jay, is a very common bird around Tiruvannamalai. And often seen around the area I live at, Samudram Lake. It is the twists and turns of this bird that has given it the name of Roller. It especially indulges in a spectacular courtship display, somersaulting and nose-diving in the air to the accompaniment of harsh, grating screams.

This beautiful bird builds its nest around March to July which is generally made from straw, rags and rubbish in a natural tree-hollow or a hole in a wall of a building. However, a couple of Rollers have just built their nest under the cover of my bamboo roof. Eggs laid usually number 4 or 5 and are glossy, white, roundish ovals.

On several occasions I have noticed the Rollers standing guard against predatory Indian squirrels and crows, who have threatened the nest. These birds have a reputation of fearlessness and will dive and roll not only at animal intruders but also at humans.

The Indian Roller is the size of a Pigeon, blue with biggish head, heavy black bill, rufous brown breast, and pale blue abdomen and undertail. But it is dark and pale blue portions of the wings that show up as brilliant bands in flight.

The Roller generally prefers open cultivated country and light forest. From a lookout on a telegraph wire or high spot, it pounces upon some large insect, frog or lizard on the ground, returning with it either to the same perch or flying to another. This bird is regarded as highly beneficial to agriclture as it destroys vast quantities of injurious insects to farmers.

Peacock

Those who have visited Arunachala have noticed the many Peacocks both at Ashrams and also found to be inhabiting Ramana Nagar. The term "peacock" is commonly used to refer to birds of both sexes. Technically, only males are peacocks. Females are peahens, and together, they are called peafowl. The Indian Peafowl is indigenous to the country and is designated the national bird of India.

The male (peacock) Indian Peafowl has iridescent blue-green or green coloured plumage. The so-called "tail" of the peacock, also termed the "train", is not the tail quill feathers but highly elongated upper tail coverts. The train feathers have a series of eyes that are best seen when the tail is fanned. Peafowl are best known for the male's extravagant tail, which it displays as part of courtship. Peacocks don't develop their long trains until they are 3 years old and they molt the train yearly.

Males possess metatarsal spurs or "thorns" used primarily during fights. Suitable males may gather harems of several females, each of which will lay three to five eggs. Wild peafowl often roost in forest trees and gather in groups called parties. The female (peahen) Indian Peafowl has a mixture of dull green, brown, and grey in her plumage. Although she lacks the long upper tail coverts of the male, she does have a crest. Females can also display their plumage to ward off danger to their young or other female competition. The average lifespan of these birds in the wild is 20 years. The male size: Body, 35 to 50 in (90 to 130 cm); Tail, 5 ft (1.5 m) and Weight: 8.75 to 13 lbs (4 to 6 kg).

Colour in nature occurs due to two basic processes: pigmentation and structural coloring. Pigment is a substance that, like a dye, gives colour to living and inanimate objects. Peacocks and other structurally coloured animals and things, such as rainbows, soap bubbles and the blue sky, instead get most of their colour from light reflection. In peacock feathers, colour is produced by the reflection of light with frequencies within the partial photonic band gap. If you change the view angle, the partial photonic band gap will shift to short wavelengths for oblique incidence.

During mating season the bird will often emit a very loud high pitched cry, "may-awe, may-awe, may-awe." Peafowl are omnivorous and eat plant parts, flower petals, seed heads, insects and other arthropods, reptiles, and amphibians. A peahen's clutch may range from 3—12 eggs, although 4—6 is average. The eggs are usually laid 2 days apart and in the later afternoon. Peafowl eggs take 28 days to hatch. The young are known as peachicks.

Peacock watching is highly entertaining, specially when Peacocks and Monkeys decide to ‘have a go,’ and in this respect recall a fascinating afternoon on a roof at Ramana Ashram watching squabbling peacocks and monkeys.

Baya Weaver

Walking around the partly dried out Samudram Lake, I spotted 3 Baya Weaver nests high up in an inaccessible thorny bush area. The Baya Weaver has been known to nest in trees with a hornet's nest or with the nests of fiercely biting Red Ants, so this bird is careful about protecting its home. Baya Weavers nest in colonies of up to 20-30, usually in trees near freshwater and open ground and is generally found in grassland, cultivated areas, scrub and secondary growths usually near fresh or brackish water.

Baya Weavers eat mainly grass seeds and have large conical beaks to deal with their food. This bird forages in flocks, in grass as well as on the ground and flock flies in close formation, often performing complicated manouvres.

The Baya Weaver's nest is an architectural feat. It hangs from a palm frond or branch and looks like an upside down flask. The general features are a central nesting area with a long tube that leads to a side entrance. This tube makes it difficult even for snakes to enter the nest. Although they look precarious, most nests are very well attached and are impossible to remove without almost destroying the nest. The nests last well through the 3-month breeding season, sometimes even up to a year. After the breeding season, other small birds may roost in the abandoned nests. The nests are made entirely out of strips of grass which the birds collect by cutting a notch in a tall grass, then stripping off a 30-60cm length.

The birds’ breeding season is December-March. At this time, the males put on a brighter costume and they start to build their amazing nests. No stalks or entire grass blades are used. The birds then use their strong beaks to weave and knot the strips of grass. A newly-made nest is green with fresh grass and turns brown as the grass dries. A bird may make up to 500 trips to complete a nest.

The males are promiscuous and try to attract females by building several nests halfway. These half-built "male" nests look like motorcycle helmets complete with chin strap! A female bird first inspects the male's handiwork of a nest before signalling her approval to him. Once a female chooses to mate with him, he might finish the nest. But often, the female completes the nest.

When the female lays and is preoccupied with incubating the eggs, the male abandons her and immediately uses his other half-finished nests to woo a new female. Most males mate with two females, but sometimes three. The males defend his nests from other males. Meanwhile, the female is left to incubate and raise the brood on her own. 3-4 white eggs are laid and the nestlings are fed insects.