20. The Asian Barbets

The barbets are called so because they have bristles growing around their thick beaks (Latin barba, beard). 

Brown-Headed Barbet

Megalaima zeylanica

27 cm

Male/female alike

Characteristics: Brown head and breast finely streaked, brown throat, orangish circumorbital (around the eye) skin and bill (when breeding), white spotted wing coverts. Streaking is almost absent on belly and flanks. They are a little clownish to look at with their plump bodies and big heads on a short stocky neck and thick, red bill.They have an unmistakeable loud call. Raka’s next door neighbour Mrs D’Costa (an ardent animal/bird lover, God bless her soul) in Lucknow used to call the bird “Batao” (meaning “say” in Hindi) because that is how he sounds. 

Distribution: Widespread resident but their colourings and their penchant for densely leaved high trees, makes them difficult to take a picture of, even though you can hear their loud call resonating from every tree. You can imagine my delight when after chasing them in all the beautiful old ficus trees in the Lucknow Residency I found this one nesting hardly at a height of 7-8 feet and boldly looking at me too!

In Maharashtra I’m more likely to see the white-cheeked barbet, which is more common in the Western Ghats. Still waiting to click one.

Diet: Eats fruits, berries and insects.

Breeding: The Barbets in Raka’s garden would nest in the same hole, dug by the birds themselves like a woodpecker, in the small 'Harsingar' tree every year till she chopped of the tree :-{ (unbelievable!!). They lay 2-4 eggs, both parents take turns to incubate.

Coppersmith Barbet

Megalaima haemacephala

17cm

Male/female alike

Characteristics: This adorable little bird with a crimson forehead and breast patch, yellow patches above and below the eye, yellow throat and streaked underparts, would be quite conspicuous if it were’nt so little. The Juvenile does not have the red on head and breast. Has a repetitive tuk tuk tuk call which sounds like the hammering of a metal-smith hence the name.

Distribution: Widespread resident and can be seen in open wooded country and groves. I have regular visitors on the Gulmohar tree outside my Living room window. You must see Rajeev’s video of a couple of them fighting like kids to sit inside a tree hole where they roost on a hot day even when not nesting.

Diet: Fruits, berries and figs, eating them whole and helping in seed dispersal. Sometimes they will eat insects like termites. 

Breeding: They dig out holes in trees to make their nests like the other barbets. They breed practically the year round with some local variations. 3-4 eggs are laid at a time and incubated by both parents.  

Blue Throated Barbet

Megalaima asiatica

23cm

Male/female alike

Characteristics: Blue ‘face’ and throat, red forehead and the back of the crown and a black band across crown. Juveline has duller colors. Call is a loud took-a-took.

Distribution: It is a resident bird of the Himalayan region but may be seen across the sub continent. I saw it in Himachal Pradesh in a small place called Jia.

Diet: Consists of fruits and insects.

19. Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary, Lucknow

21^st October 2012

Today, early morning, we drove out some 50 kms to the Nawabganj Bird  Sanctuary, on the Lucknow-Kanpur highway.  October, of course is too early for the migrating birds but still we expected to find some resident birds. The place has always had a lot of monkeys, so we made sure we did not carry any plastic bags or food with us. The drive through the city, many parts of which looked completely new to us, took well over an hour.  

As expected the caretaker told us that the migratory birds were yet to arrive. The season will start with the approach of winter and will reach a peak in January-February when you can see over 200 varieties of birds here, coming all the way from frozen Siberia.

We walked around the lake, all of us clicking away. A water-body, as large as the one in Nawabganj, will inevitably have a whole eco-system flourishing around it, and you will see a variety of creatures thriving there. The trees and the lichen and the waterlilies on the water and the sounds of the heronry on the trees in the middle of the lake are sights and sounds which would gladden any nature lover’s heart. A surprise sighting was a paradise fly catcher which glided across out of sight.

The beautiful trek around the lake

Cormorants and Asian Open Bills nesting on a tree

Asian Open Bill on the lake

A Dragon-fly

A Jacana

Open Bill in flight

Darter

A Pond Heron about to take flight

A Shikra scavenging on a dumpster

Intermediate Egret

Grebe

The lookout

Raka was all for climbing this tree, settled for posing by it.

There is only one way! no need for directions.

An interesting bench

Inside the Deer Park. Definitely not deers but a dear all the same

A reminder of what we missed

18. The Kingfishers - the king among fishers

Pied Kingfisher :

 

Ceryle rudis

Size 17 cm

Characteristics : There is a place on the outskirts of Pune where three rivers, the Bhima, Bhama and Indrani, meet and therefore called the Triveni Sangam. I go there only to see this bird fish. It is a most amazing sight. The bright looking bird, with its black and white plumage perched atop a tree or hovering over the lake occasionally plunging down and going up again (probably when losing sight of its prey) and then going for a smart swoop and coming up with its prey in its mouth.

Eyeing the prey

Hovering above the prey

The swoop down in the water

The males have double breast bands, one broad one thin, (like the one in the picture above) whereas, the females have a single broad band often broken in the middle. Both have a small black crest.

Distribution: It is a widespread resident bird. An interesting fact is that it is the world’s third most common kingfisher. They are found near still, fresh water bodies, slow moving rivers and streams, also tidal creeks and pools where acquatic creatures and fish are to be found.

Diet : Mostly fish butalso feeds on large acquatic insects and crustaceans.

Breeding : The pied kingfisher nests in 4-5 feet deep holes in mud banks near a water body.

White throated Kingfisher :

 

Halcyon smymensis

Size 28 cm

Reason it is called 'white throated'

A little painting I made

Characteristics :  Compared to the other two of its specie, the white throated or white breasted kingfisher is rather large in size. It has a bright blue back, wings and tail and chestnut head, shoulders, flanks and lower belly. The large bill and legs are bright red. In flight white patches can be seen on its blue-black wings. The male and the female are alike.

Distribution : Most commonly seen kingfisher is a widespread resident. Unlike the other two kingfishers on this page, it can be found even in places away from water. As it is not choosy about its diet and is not predated upon because of its strong bill and swift flight, the white throated kingfisher’s population is not threatened. :-)

Diet : It feeds on any small creature, sometimes, even, small birds.

Breeding : They nest in excavated tunnels about 50 cm or more in mud walls. 4-7 round white eggs take 20-22 days to hatch.

Common Kingfisher : 

 

Alcedo atthis

Size 18 cm

 

Distribution : It is a widespread resident bird. They are found near any water body which has some acquatic creatures. If I don’t see this bird when I am on a beach or a lake I feel a little heart-broken. It is such a cheery sight to see a patch of bright blue and orange, sitting motionless, on a rock.

Characteristics : They have bright blue upper parts and orange under parts and ear coverts. There are white patches on each side of their neck and chin. The legs are red with a blue stripe. The male has a black bill and the female has a black bill with a reddish base.

Diet: They feed on fish, acquatic invertebrates and amphibians. Sitting motionless on a perch and diving to catch their prey, which they gobble, head first, after coming back to their perch.

Breeding : Common Kingfishers can nest upto three times a year – in April, July and October.They nest in tunnels, 2-3 feet in length in the sand near a water body. They line the nest with fish bones and disgorged pellets (a bed of thorns!). The female lays 5-7 pinkish eggs which both incubate in turn and also when hatched both parents feed them. Which is just as well, because each chick can eat 12 – 18 fish per day. After about a month the chicks are driven out of the territory.