My friend Charlie

I previously posted information about a commonly viewed bird in the Tiruvannamalai District, i.e. the Indian Treepie. To read the posting go to this link here.







I always think of the Treepie as a crow in evening dress. Charlie started visiting our garden some months ago and nowadays even brings his gang of friends to visit and feast.







However, Charlie is a crank and if some of his favourite food (i.e. chapattis, grapes or biscuits) is not waiting for him in his special place in the garden, he comes into my cottage for a fly around to demonstrate his displeasure.

First call of duty when Charlie enters the cottage is ALL FANS OFF and thereafter I can relax and watch him have his fly around. My dogs are so used to him coming into the cottage to visit, that they have stopped reacting. So much so that they don't even blink when emboldened Charlie perches on their food dish for a quick snack.

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!