birds

Gender roles in our society is a much debated topic. How do other living beings handle this? Let’s take birds as an example.It seems to be the general rule (with a few exceptions, of course) that the female of the species is always duller, and less brightly coloured than the male. Here’s a beautiful bird that can often be seen in Lalbagh.... the male Asian Paradise Flycatcher. Male Asian Paradise Flycatcher. Pic: Deepa Mohan As you can see, this is a spectacular bird, and it definitely catches the attention of the observer as it flies around, flaunting that ribbon of…

The Nature Walk on Sunday, 13th November. went off very well with participants mostly from South Bangalore and one enthusiast who came from Malleswaram. The 40 odd participants including children and adults came early to see the sun rise and light up the lake and its inhabitants. They were amply rewarded - sighting several species of birds, insects and even a couple of water snakes. They had a whale of a time and, with Deepa Mohan as their guide, got a very good introduction to the beautiful flora and fauna at our lake.  Observation drawings by Ria(8)-top row, Nishka (5)-bottom…

Some 25 members of the Bird Watchers Field Club, Bangalore, led by ardent bird watcher, Deepa Mohan visited the Puttenahalli Lake on 8th Oct. After spotting the juvenile coots, little grebes and pheasant tailed jacanas and seeing a coot couple building a nest, Deepa called our lake a "nursery." This was the nicest thing to hear about the lake we have been trying very hard to revive and sustain. The nesting shows that the birds feel safe to raise their young ones and the presence of large shoals of fish means that the water is clean enough for them to…

Walk into any locality in Bangalore, even some of the more densely packed areas, and take a moment to try and block out the urban noise. It is almost a given that you will hear a penetrating two toned whistle, you might think that it is some roadside Romeo making a nuisance of himself but in fact it is made by a resident whose presence in our city vastly outnumbers those of our roadside Romeos. They too frequent market places looking for easy pickings. He even shares a name with the roadside Romeo of the silver screen but unlike his…

A crow, caught in the maanja. Pic: Saandip N G. I witnessed murder of my avian friends in Lalbagh, near the Glass House on Sunday morning. The culprit? A manja daara is a thread used for flying kites. This is very strong and is smeared with fine powered glass to increase its strength. Everyone present witnessed the birds being killed. Even the horticulture department workers inside Lalbagh ignored it and shook their heads as if it not of any concern to them. This is the second time I am noticing, unattended kite threads passing through many trees in Lalbagh. The…

The Spotted Owlet (Athene brama) is one of the many species of owls that have adapted to the urban environment and can be seen quite often in Bangalore. Usually they prefer open habitats including farmlands, groves, and ruins to heavy and dense forests. The spotted owlet has acquired a negative image and is associated with bad omens. Pic: Vikram Nanjappa. It is a squat, white-spotted, greyish-brown owl, approximately the size of a Myna Bird. They have the typical large round head associated with owls and forward-looking yellow eyes. Two races are recognised in India and they are Athene brama indica…

It was 7:30 AM on June 1st, when Anush Shetty spotted a Pied Cuckoo at the Valley School campus on Kanakapura road, just perched by the trail. The Pied Cuckoo is associated with monsoon in India, flying from Africa across the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean every year around June. Shetty has also spotted other migratory birds such as Ashy Drongo and Verditer Flycatcher at Lalbagh and Valley school campuses in the last few months. Shetty, an engineer working at a startup firm near South End circle (Jayanagar), is part of a volunteer team or citizen scientists, taking part…

Bangalore, one the fastest growing cities in India, has been known as the Garden City. The city boasts of congenial climate that birds thrive in. Three hundred or more varieties of birds have been identified around Bangalore and its peripheries. With exponential growth of the IT hub of India, the city has seen rapid changes and this has affected its bird population. Some birds have shifted their nesting areas, some have become mere visitors and some have found a place on the endangered species list. In this series on 'Birds of Bangalore', we will talk about some of the birds…

The name itself summons up visions of many of us, dressed in goatee beards, flowing white robes with burnouses, lined up with those thick leather gloves and magnificient-looking, keen-glanced birds of prey, racing them. It also conjures up fancies of some of us, astride birds with tiny reins and tinier saddles, flying through the air competitively, driving our birds on with worms dangled before their beaks.  A Black-Shouldered Kite, handsome in the monsoon wind. Pic: Deepa Mohan. Source: INW gallery. Wake up, wake up. This is a bird-watching race, actually. People should form teams of four and they will be…