Indian Bird Nests—Part Two

The first part of this narrative which covered the main types of bird’s nests found in India, can be found at this link here. 

This second part of this narrative deals with four birds found in India who have a less conventional arrangement with nests and raising their young. This second part is also compiled from the works of the famous Indian ornithologist and naturalist, Salim Ali. 

Whatever its pattern, the nest is always true to the type of the species that builds it, and is primarily the outcome of instinct fixed and inherited through countless generations of builders. Experiments have shown that birds hatched in an incubator who can therefore have no idea of the sort of nest built by their kind, will, at the appointed time, build nests after their own specific pattern. A great deal of other seemingly intelligent behaviour of nesting birds, such as solicitude or love for their offspring, and the ‘broken wing’ trick practised by many different species to draw off an intruder from the nest or young, prove upon analysis to be largely the working of a spontaneous intellect. 

The below are examples of four remarkable nesting habits and behaviour of some common Indian birds. 

The Hornbill 

At mating season, after courtship, the female Hornbill retreats to a natural hollow in some tree-trunk, perhaps even the same that has been used for a numerous number of Hornbills. The bird incarcerates herself within the hollow, singer her droppings as plaster and the flat sides of her enormous bill as trowel to wall up the entrance, merely leaving a narrow slit through which to receive food brought in by the male It is ascertained that besides the female’s own excrement there is a considerable proportion of mud or clay mixed in the cement, thus it seems likely that the male assists his mate in the work of closing up the next by bringing mud to her. 

Hornbill at Nest

The plaster sets so hard that it prevents predatory animals from entering the nest. The female remains in this self-imposed confinement until after the young (two or three in number) hatch and are about a fortnight old. All the time the female is in the nest with her young, the male brings her food. Foraging for his mate wears the male Hornbill down, while the female becomes enormously plump during her chose confinement. 

Female inside nest with Chicks

When the young are about a fortnight old the female breaks down the wall by hammering away at it, and thus releases herself. After her exist the wall is usually built up once more and thenceforth the parents forage to feed the young until they are old enough to be let out to fend for themselves. 

The Baya Weaver

This bird is a polygamist with a unique system. At the beginning of the rainy season, the colourful males start to build their pendant shaped nests, chiefly on Babool trees or date palms and preferably standing in or overhanging water. When the building of the next reaches the crucial ‘bell’ or ‘helmet’ stage, there is a sudden visitation from a party of prospecting hen Bayas. The females inspect the nests, entering to inspect the interiors and seemingly indifferent to the amorous advances of the male. 

Construction of Baya Weaver Nest

If a hen is satisfied with a particular nest she calmly ‘adopts’ it and moves into possession. Thenceforth she and the builder are husband and wife. The male works to complete the nest while the female busies herself with tidying the egg chamber. 

 

Male Weaver completing nest

As soon as the next is completed and the hen settled on the eggs within, the male commences to build himself another nest on a nearby twig. In course of time this too if approved, is similarly appropriated by a second prospecting female who then becomes the second wife. The process may continue until the male simultaneously finds himself husband of up to four wives and father of numerous chicks. 

The Buttonquail 

Normally the male bird is more brightly coloured than the female. However in the case of the Buttonquail, the role of the sexes is reversed. Here it is the female who is the larger and more brightly coloured and who is the aggressor in courtship. She decoys males by a loud drumming call, courts them, displays her charms and engages in battle with rival hens for the ownership of the male. 

 

As soon as a husband is secured and the eggs are laid, the hen leaves the male and wanders off in search of new conquests. The husband is then left with the entire responsibility of incubating the eggs and tending the young. The roving hen may manage to attract three or more cocks as husband. And in this manner each hen may lay several clutches of eggs during a single season. 

The Parasitic Cuckoo 

A large section of the cuckoo family are parasitic on account of building no nests of their own but instead utilising those of other birds for laying in, and foisting their own responsibilities upon the proxy parents. 

Crow's Nest

Examples of parasitic cuckoos are the Brainfever Bird who lays in the nests of Babblers, often removing one of the rightful eggs to make room for its own, and the Asian Koel who habitually parasitizes the House and Jungle Crows. The eggs of parasitic cuckoos usually bear a close resemblance to those of their hosts or foster parents. 

Peacocks at Arunachala

Peacocks are found in abundant numbers all over the Arunachala area. At the back of the Samudram Erie there is a colony of over 60 Peacocks living and nesting in a secure environment at the back of the Reforestation Model Farm. 

Ramana Ashram Peacocks are used to attention from visitors

In many of the reserve areas surrounding and abutting such villages as Sirumbakkam, Meyur and Perumbakkam peacocks roam around in large numbers, wild and undisturbed and friends to the farmers in their relentless pursuit of all manner of insects. 

I have seen unseemly monkey-peacock scraps on several occasions

As well as prevalent in the countryside, Peacocks are also commonplace at several Ashrams and Compounds throughout Arunachala. 

An Ornate fixture to Samadhi Hall

The photographs in this posting were all taken (in just a few minutes) of peacocks outside the Ramana Samadhi Hall. 

They spend a lot of time on buildings, and on the trees

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. 

Having a good look around his domain

The Indian Peafowl is indigenous to the country and is designated the national bird of India. However the State Bird of Tamil Nadu is the Emerald Dove. 

Visitors ever on the look-out for peacock feathers lying about

To read more about the beautiful peacock go to this link here. And to view amazing photographs showing the structure of this bird go to my earlier posting here. 

Beautiful Arunachala Darshan from Peacock perch

Rufus -- A Working Bird

I have posted a narrative connected with Wimbledon Tennis on my Arunachala Grace Blog at this link here. 

Wearing the Wimbledon Colours, gorgeous Rufus

And now that we are on the subject of Wimbledon, can’t resist posting this photograph of Rufus the American Harris Hawk, who is employed by the Tennis Tournament to keep pesky pigeons under control. 

Rufus on fly-about detail

 

Throughout the year Rufus visits the Tennis grounds once a week for an extended fly-about. And during the two weeks of the Tournament, the Hawk flies about each morning to keep the grounds free of birds and pests.

Different types of Birds’ Nests: Part 1

The information on the below posting of the main types of bird’s nests found in India has been compiled primarily from the works of the famous Indian ornithologist and naturalist, Salim Ali:

1. Simple scrapes in the ground sparsely lined with grass and leaves, e.g. quail, jungle fowl and other game birds, or with no semblance of lining, e.g. tern and lapwing. Protections is secured by the eggs and young of such birds through their remarkable obliterative coloration.

Lapwing Nest

2. Twig nests like platforms with a cup-like depression in the centre usual lined with softer material-grass, tow, feathers, etc. This type, built in trees or on buildings or cliffs, is common to a large number of birds of different families, e.g. crow, kite, dove, vulture, cormorant, stork, etc.

Turtle Dove

3. Nests in tree-holes either excavated in living or decayed wood, or in natural hollows and either with a sparse lining of soft material or unlined, e.g. tits, Yellow-throated Sparrow, woodpeckers, barbets, hornbills, owls, some mynas and most of our resident ducks. The holes are in the first instance cut by woodpeckers, parakeets or barbets and subsequently appropriated in rotation by many other species. Nesting in natural tree hollows is a common habit among our resident ducks, all of whom breed during the SW. monsoon. The situation gives security against sudden rise of water level in the jheels due to cloud-bursts or the swelling of streams flowing into them. The ducklings reach the water by tumbling out of the nest and are not carried down by the parents as has sometimes been asserted.

Woodpecker

4. Nests in excavated tunnels in earth-banks or in clefts or buildings, rock cliffs, etc., e.g. bee-eaters, kingfishers, hoopoe. The tunnels are driven horizontally into the side of an earth-cutting or bank of a stream, the bird using its bill to dig and its fee to kick back the loose earth. The tunnels are from a few inches to several feet in length and usually bent near the extremity where they widen into a bulbous egg chamber.

Adult Kingfisher going to Nest

Adult Kingfisher feeding Chicks

5. Nests built entirely of mud or in which mud predominates, e.g. Whistling-Thrust, blackbirds, swallows, martins. The wet mud is commonly collected a r rain puddles. It is mixed with a certain amount of saliva in the case of swallows. There is a marked increase in the size of the salivary glands of these birds and swifts during the breeding season. Swallows’ nests have perforce to be built very gradually, pellet by pellet, so that not too much of the material is daubed on at one time before the underlying layer is sufficiently dry.

Barn Swallows

Cliff Swallows

6. Cup-shaped nests of grass and fibres in crotches or forks of branches, usually well plastered over with cobwebs, e.g. iora, fantail, and other flycatchers, orioles, white-eye minivets, reed warblers, cuckoo-shrikes, etc. Cobwebs are very extensively employed as cement in bird architecture, for binding the material compactly and neatly together. It is collected by being twisted round and round the bill and is then unwound and attached on the exterior of the nest, or used in securing the nest into position.

Iora Adult Feeding Chick

7. Domed or ball-shaped nests of twigs, grass or rootlets with a lateral entrance hole, e.g. munias, Rufous-bellied Babbler.

Munia Nest

8. Pendant nests, e.g. weaver birds (woven), sunbirds, flowerpeckers. The sunbird’s nest is a vertical oblong pouch suspended from the tip of a thin outhanging twig, usually not high above the ground. It has an entrance hole at the side with a little projecting porch over it. The exterior is draped untidily with pieces of bark, caterpillar droppings, and spiders’ egg-cases which give it an effective camouflage. The flowerpecker’s nest is a hanging pouch of the same general pattern, but made entirely of seed and vegetable down worked into a felt-like fabric.

Weaver Bird Making Nest

Weaver Bird Nest Creation System

Hanging Weaver Nests

9. Woven oblong purse; loofah-like—attached to stems of tall grass or low bushes, e.g. prinias (alternative to the next type).

Plain Prinia

 

10. Nest in leaves stitched together in the form of a funnel, e.g. Tailorbird, Franklin’s Prinia, Ashy Prinia.

Funnel Shaped Tailor Bird Nest

Tailor Bird Feeding Chicks in Nest

Southern Grey Shrike

Shrikes are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family name, and that of the largest genus, Lanius, is derived from the Latin word for "butcher" because of their feeding habits. Among its super family, the closest relatives of the Laniidae are the Corvidae (crows and allies). 

Adult male

The Southern Grey Shrike, Lanius Meridionalis, is a member of the Shrike family. It is closely related to the Great Grey Shrike, Lanius Excubitor, but the species do not interbreed and are separated by choice of habitat. This bird is not a common resident in Tamil Nadu, but I have viewed it several times in the open scrub country (which it prefers to habituate) of the Samudram Eri. 

Bird Preening

The Southern Grey has a narrow black forehead and broad face mask, grey mantle with white scapulars, broad white tips to secondaries, white sides tip to tail, and white underparts. Juveniles have sandy cast to grey upperparts, buff tips to tertials and coverts, and grey mask. 

Bird in Flight from Above

This bird eats small vertebrates and insects. Most important among invertebrate prey are insects, especially beetles, crickets, grasshoppers and bumblebees. To hunt it perches on an elevated spot in a conspicuous upright stance some distance above ground not only to watch for prey but also to advertise its presence to rivals. Alternatively this bird may scan land below during flight, staying in one place during prolonged bouts of hovering that may last up to twenty minutes. 

Bird in flight from below

This Shrike is medium-sized with a hooked beak reminiscent of a bird of prey. It has a harsh strident call. Prey is killed by hitting it with its beak, aiming for the skull in vertebrates. If too large to swallow in one or a few chunks, it is transported to a feeding site by carrying it in the beak or (if too large) in the feet. 

 

Adult Bird with impaled food in its "larder"

It is then impaled upon a sharp point such as thorns or barbed wire or even just wedged between forking branches. These “larders” are typically around a metre above ground and although they can be found anywhere within the birds' territory generally tend to be in the general vicinity of the bird’s nest sites. 

Eggs of the Southern Grey Shrike

Shrikes are territorial and are generally monogamous. Males attract females to their territory with well stocked caches, which may include inedible but brightly coloured items. During courtship the male will perform a ritualised dance which includes actions that mimic the skewering of prey on thorns and will feed the female. To lay its eggs, Shrikes make simple, cup-shaped nests from twigs and grasses, in bushes and the lower branches of trees. 

Juvenile Bird

Red Vented Bulbul

The Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus Cafer, Tamil: Kondai Kuruvil) is a member of the Bulbul family of Passerines. It is a resident breeder across India and found throughout Tiruvannamalai District. 

Beautiful Crested Head

Bulbuls are birds of graceful form and movement, their wings are short but broad and their tails are long and nearly even at the tip, instead of being forked or tapering as it usually the case with longish tails. Their bills are rather slight than stout and of moderate length; their legs are short. 

Eating Flower Nectar

The Red Vented is a largish bird as Bulbuls go, being about nine inches long. Its very picturesque in appearance, with a full black crest and black tail tipped with white (which is more noticeable during flight) and a crimson one below. It has scale-like markings on its beak and back. Sexes are alike in colouration, but young birds are duller than adults. 

This bird has no song as such and instead makes short, joyous notes. It calls throughout the year and has a number of distinct call types for roosting, flight, greeting etc. Its alarm call is usually responded to and heeded by many other bird species. 

Bulbul Preening

 Video of two adults feeding chick

This is a bird of dry scrub, open forest, plains and cultivated lands. It is a common visitor to gardens. Large numbers of his bird collect to feed on Banyan and Peepul figs and winged termite swarms. 

Bulbul cooling off

Red-vented Bulbuls feed on fruits, petals of flowers, nectar, insects and occasionally geckos. They have also been seen feeding on vegetables and the leaves of certain trees (e.g. Medicago Sativa). This bird is an important disperser of seed of plants such as Carissa Spinarum. 

Two Adults Grooming each other

Red-vented Bulbuls build their nests in bushes or tree cavities at a height of around 2–3 m (7–10 ft). Nests are occasionally built inside houses or in a hole in a mud bank. The nest is usually a cup of rootlets, sometimes plastered outside with cobwebs. Two or three eggs is a typical clutch and this bird is  capable of multiple clutches a year. Their eggs are pale-pinkish white with spots of purplish brown. The eggs hatch after about 14 days and both parents feed the chicks. The Pied Crested Cuckoo is a brood parasite of this species. 

Bulbul Eggs in Nest

In 19th Century India these birds were frequently kept as cage pets and for fighting especially in Karnataka. The bird would be held on the finger with a thread attached around its middle and when they fought they would seize the red feathers of its opponents. 

Newly Hatched Chick in Nest

Sri Seshadri’s power over birds

The below two stories illustrate the power over birds and nature exhibited by the great mahan, Sri Seshadri Swamigal. 

Calling out for Garuda Birds (Brahmini Kite):

“One one occasion the writer was given a send-off by Swamiji. It was 8 a.m. They were passing near Sadhu Chatram. Swamiji put his hands around the writer’s neck and stood for a while. In the distant sky it appeared as if a lone bird was flying. Pointing to that, Swamiji asked the writer, “Is that a Garuda?” The writer replied, “Yes, it looks like a Garuda.” At that time Swamiji made a gesture with his hands as if calling that bird. He bade farewell to the writer saying, “That bird will come, you can go.” 

Hardly had the writer walked on a few yards on the way to the railway station, when two Garuda birds flew very close to him, one on his left and another on his right. As Swamiji had said that the birds would come hundreds of Garuda birds flocked there. It was if the devotee’s journey should have a good augury. One could normally expect a few such birds like sparrows, crows. But hundreds of Garuda birds would not normally be seen. The confusion is irresistible that Swamiji had purposely called them in.” 

Beautiful Brahminy Kite

The Garuda bird in Hindu mythology is the vahana (vehicle) of Lord Vishnu and in daily life is believed to be the Brahminy Kite. To find out more about the Brahminy Kite, go to this link here, and for in-depth information about Garuda mythology go to this link here. Incidentally the photograph at the top of this page is of the Brahminy Kite.

Calling various Birds:

“Venkatachala Mudaliar and his wife Subbalakshmi Ammal were earnest devotees of Swamiji. Quite often Swamiji used to visit them, take food in their house and talk to them in a jolly fashion. In the centre of their house there were two Poovarasa (Portia) trees and two drumstick trees. It was a new moon day. Swamiji dropped in a 4 p.m, and said, 'Subbalakshmi, come here, I will show you some fun.'

When she asked what he was going to show, Swamiji was looking into the sky through the open verandah and raised his hands calling out, “Come! Come!” Immediately one crow came, then another crow flew in, then five, then, fifty, hundred crows flew in; likewise a number of other species of birds like pigeons, parrots, various types of sparrows—yellow sparrows, black sparrows, etc., all flew in. 

They all crowded the whole place including the neighbouring house, sitting on the ground, on the roof, on the trees and started making a noise and jumping hither and thither and playing. Swamiji was standing in their midst and played with the birds. Subblalakshmi was watching the scene with curiosity. A few minutes elapsed when she told Swamiji: 'You have called the birds from somewhere and are playing with them like this! After all they will also feel hungry and thirsty. Will their young ones not feel anxious?' Swamiji asked, 'But should I ask them to go back?' Saying that, he took a strand from his shoulder cloth and blew it. Immediately all the birds departed.” 

Asian Koel

The Koel called Kokil in Bengali, is the commonest and most familiar of Indian Cuckoos and is found in Tiruvannamalai District as well as the rest of India. 

Handsome Male Koel

Cuckoos are found all over the world, but are not numerous in species except in warm regions. They have slightly curved bills of moderate size, with conspicuous nostrils set low down and near the edge of the upper chap, and their toes are in two pairs, the outer front toe being turned backwards, as in Woodpeckers and Barbets. Tree-Cuckoos, which, in the East at all events, lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, have long wings and short legs, while Bush-Cuckoos, which always bring up their own young, have short wings and long legs suited for running; the Tree-Cuckoos on the rare occasions when they come to the ground, being only able to hop. Cuckoos usually have long rounded tails, and are very readily recognizable when a few have been seen. 

Close up of Male Koel

Cuckoos have peculiar notes and are generally more heard than seen. They generally feed on insects, and are exceedingly useful birds. Only in India are any Cuckoos commonly kept as cage-birds, they are not hard to rear, but require hand-feeding for a longer time than other birds. 

The Koel is about as big as a large pigeon, with a long rounded tail; its whole length being nearly a foot and a half, it measures 39–46 cm (15–18 in) and weighs 190–327 g (6.7–11.5 oz). It has a peculiar steady level flight which makes it easily recognizable. 

Male Koel

The cock and hen differ absolutely in colour, the former being a glossy blue-black, while the latter is brown, spotted with white on the head and back, and barred with that colour on the wings, tail and under parts; altogether she rather reminds one of a hen pheasant in colour. Both male and female have pale green bills, bright red eyes and lead-coloured feet. Young birds have black bills and grey eyes; in plumage they resemble adults of the corresponding sex, but not completely, young cocks being usually slightly marked with buff, and young hens having the head and top of the neck black. But there appears to be some variation, so that young cocks may be found in female plumage and vice versa. 

 Video of the song of the Koel

The Asian Koel is omnivorous, consuming a variety of insects, caterpillars, eggs and small vertebrates. However the adult bird feeds mainly on fruit. They will sometimes defend fruiting trees that they forage in and chase away other frugivores. They have been noted to be especially important in the dispersal of the sandalwood tree in India. Large seeded fruits are sometimes quickly regurgitated near the parent tree while small seeded fruits are ingested and are likely to be deposited at greater distances from the parent tree. They have a large gape and are capable of swallowing large fruits including the hard fruit of palms. 

Female Koel with distinctive colouring

This bird is much beloved by indigenous locals who admire the bird’s fine mellow call and it is with them quite a bird of romance with its glossy black plumage. The Koel deserves consideration from all, not only on account of its beauty and musical capacities, but for being one of the very few creatures which scores off the Crows, those birds being the foster-parents which it selects for its young. 

Beautiful photograph of male and female eating

The Asian Koel is a brood parasite and lays its egg in the nests of a variety of birds, including both the Jungle Crow and the House Crow, but the House Crow is the usual victim and the egg of the Koel is a miniature of a Crow's egg, being about an inch long, and green with brown spots. 

House Crow at its Nest

Sometimes two Koels' eggs may be found in one Crow's nest, and at times the big black Jungle-Crow has to do parental duty for the Koel. The most curious thing about the whole business is that the Crows, although they bring up the young Koel and feed it even after it has left the nest, yet evidently know there is something wrong, for they cherish a lively prejudice against the old Koels and hunt any Koel they can to death if they get the chance 

Koels breed from March to July, and at this time the call whence is derived its Hindustani name ''ko-eel ko-eel'' running up the scale, is one of the characteristic sounds of the country. Unfortunately the bird insists on calling at night as well as by day, and is rather apt at all times to be "instant out of season;'' whence thus many call the Koel, the Brain-fever Bird, and detest it accordingly. 

[Narrative taken from book by Frank Finn]