Avian Friends

That was the Mahratta woodpecker  Of course there are scores of parrots, mynahs,  peacocks and babblers  but alas no sparrows. As a sparrow myself (Signal Officers are called Sparrows in military parlance!), this obviously is painful. We were back in Delhi, Covid times…sky was clear, less vehicles less pollution and Cantt area retained its greenery bearing the onerous responsibility of being the lungs of the capital. During my morning walks when I heard the Mahratta woodpecker’s call, I was pleasantly surprised,  didn’t  expect this colourful avian to be found in Delhi of all places. After all it is not such a common bird, but the call was unmistakable, a long screeching tetetete….. Sure enough I found it having a go at the Neem tree. 

This is the Tree pie, 

Birds have always fascinated me, and I am sure everyone, after all the flight of the birds probably gives wings to our imagination. Moreover they are so colourful with such melodious voice that every child is automatically enamoured by them, wanting to touch them, hold them, caress them. Later in life, the urge remains but the preference shifts to the unfeathered variety.  Ornithology is the science of bird watching, no it is not for ogling, but actually observing their habitat, breeding, migration etc. While in RIMC, we were introduced to this hobby, I volunteered to join, but was disappointed that most of the study was undertaken with the Britannica Encyclopaedia only with no outdoor trips. Even at NDA, the Nature Study and Wild life club was there, but it was the sole preserve of the “well connected”, as it entitled you to skipping the cross country runs on Sunday mornings, with the study being restricted to the Gole Market or a casual trek around the hills with no serious attempts at studying nature. You could argue, we were as it is very close to Mother Nature  going around periphery or Sinhagarh. Other than attending to the Nature’s call, we did not have the time or inclination to admire or seek solace in the otherwise pristine surroundings of Khadakwasla. It was only later when we visited NDA, that the realisation dawned on us, NDA is really ideally located at the foothills of Sahyadri Hills and sort of descending into Khadakwasla Lake itself, with thick vegetation in the periphery region. The hillocks of Karpa, Rale-Rassi, Point 2475 provide it the much needed  contours and curves to the landscape. But frankly while we were running all over these hills, nature was the last thing on our minds!

‘Birds and the bees’ are commonly cited for explaining reproduction in the animals, wonder why not butterflies, as bees are not attractive and in fact their stings are rather painful. On the contrary, butterflies are pretty and do the same thing, cross pollination, no honey though. Have you ever observed how keenly a child watches a butterfly and how excited s(he) gets on watching it take wings. I am sure we all have got hold of caterpillars and then seen them evolve into pupas and finally grow those wings to break the shackles and fly out. It is the nature’s education at its best.

Anyway to return to the avifauna, the only name which comes to mind is Dr Salim Ali, his phenomenal research and love affair with these feathered creatures resulted in the most exhaustive treatise on birds in the subcontinent. While in Udhampur, I was lucky to spot the Paradise Flycatcher, a rare siting indeed and it is such a beautiful bird with a tail almost like a kite, no not the bird but kite as in flying paper objects, with a tail soaring in the sky.

Its diminutive  size notwithstanding, its flight with its tail following in the wake as if in waves was a treat to the eyes. We are indeed blessed, if we can spot some of these beautiful creatures and then actually feast our eyes on them.  Incidentally my father in law, Dr Bharat Poorey is an avid bird watcher himself, may be once I re-attire I will get to spend more time chasing these birds ……

Original Comments:

Anonymous (2023-01-18):
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S B Singh (2023-01-18):
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S B Singh (2023-01-18):
There are many a bird watchers but few can combine it with your skill at words…..rather weaving magic through your words . A lovely article.

S B Singh (2023-01-18):
Wanted to delete the duplicate comment, but ended up multiplying instead

Dev (2023-01-19):
Birds are fascinating creatures. One lifetime isn't enough to study them… And no place on earth is devoid of birds. In India we can see around 1400 species including the migrants.

Incidentally what we call parrots are actually parakeets. There's only one parrot species in India and that's the Vernal Hanging Parrot which is found along our west coast, some parts of the east coast, the North East and a small pocket in Central India. The mitthoo तोता is the Ring Necked Parakeet. Similarly we have the Plum Headed & Alexandrine Parakeets.

The beautiful Indian Paradise flycatcher you saw in Udaipur is a summer migrant to North India, it comes from Maharashtra, South India and Sri Lanka. It's the state bird of Madhya Pradesh. The adult males are long tailed. The adult male can be seen in white or rufous morphs. The females and juveniles are rufous morphed. Known as दुधराज in Hindi.

And to get back to birding in addition to a good field guide and binoculars, which I'm sure you must be having, I also recommend this online course https://onlinecourses.nptel.ac.in/noc23_ge10/preview

Birds of India published by the Zoological Survey of India is a good guide. And so are the publications of our Indore based NGO The Nature Volunteers – Birds of Indore & Threatened Birds of Madhya Pradesh. Do visit our website www.tnvindia.org too

Looking forward to some sessions when you are in Mhow next. Must add that it was a great pleasure for me to help MCTE in launching the MCTE birding club in mid 2022. I have been conducting birding walks there since 2012.

I also recommend checking out the website of the ELA Foundation Pune www.elafoundation.org It's run by a good friend – the reputed ornithologist Dr Satish Pande. It's he who told us the shortest definition of a bird – a feathered biped.

More when we meet!!!

Regards

Anonymous (2023-01-19):
Bird ️

Sudhir (2023-01-19):

Kpmdas (2023-01-19):
Great read. Also look forward to a birding walk in Mhow next visit.

Anonymous (2023-01-19):
Have converted the area near my home to a near dense forest . Due to an airport nearby ( scrub birds ) and a lake we get lots of birds . 40 plus species and yes sparrows .
Trying to revive them here by. It’d hones and feed . Numbers have risen but it’s a drop in the ocean . DDT May have be the culprit …
Once again well written

Anonymous (2023-01-19):
By providing bird homes ….

Anvesh (2023-01-19):
Great expression

S K Dwivedi (2023-01-19):
Great write up,this reminds me of William Henry,s poem,
All things are bright and beautiful
All creatures great and small
All things are wise and wonderful
That God has made them all .

Dharam Vir Tomar (2023-01-20):
Suyash,
Nicely written, lot to learn from nature.

V Pramod Kumar (2023-01-20):
Good read. Well written.
Birds, like flowers and Marine animals, come in innumerable variety and colour. They charm us with their sound. They are beautiful and colourful. They form an important part of our ecosystem. Thousands of them die during summer due to heat and lack of water. We should keep a pot of water in front of our house or on the balcony for the thirsty birds during summer.

Shirin Deshpande (2023-01-21):
That was a superb & concise primer on all that flies! And, as ever, your story interconnects so many facets in such a lucid manner – to draw from the topic at hand, "…as smooth as the bird's flight!" Thank you for giving us all such a condensed encyclopaedia, at one place and so well sprinkled with your typical, subtle humour all along! Congratulations for one more excellent piece sir!

Sofie (2023-01-23):
I now realise what all I may have missed…nice one Suyash!

Anonymous (2023-01-27):
Nicely put, never got the time to admire the birds in NDA, only the sunday visitors got the looks!- Arun