3. BLACK REDSTART

Muscicapidae

Phoenicurus ochruros

Size 15cm M/F dimorphic

CHARACTERISTICS : I saw this orange and black passerine in my cousin’s garden next door in February this year, mostly sitting atop some chopped branches kept in a pile. It hopped around in his garden for some 2 months and then he was gone. It has a peculiar trembling tail which is forever moving. That has earned him the name Thirthira Kampa (Hindi), Phirphira, Lal-girdi (Bangla). Apparently, the Black Redstart is a creature of habit and returns to the same place in the same season every year. I will be looking out for him next winter in my cousin’s garden for sure. The male has black upperparts and breast, and rufous underparts whereas the female has dusky brown underparts with an orangish tinge to flanks and vent, and brownish grey upperparts. 

FOOD: It forages for insects on the ground and occasionally captures one in the air too.

Distribution: A winter migrant to the plains,  during winter the Redstart is seen throughout the Indian subcontinent and Myanmar but not in Sri Lanka.

Breeding : It breeds in the Tibetan Steppe type habitat, ie all along the Himalayas, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Northwest Africa.

Some Interesting Facts : 

• The Black Redstart was earlier classified in the Thrush (Turdidae) family but now it is called a Muscicapidae ie. an Old World flycatcher.

• The Western subspecies (gibraltariensis) of this bird has a blackish belly.                       

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2. THE BLACK SHOULDERED or BLACK WINGED KITE

Elanus caeruleus

Size 33cm M/F alike

CHARACTERISTICS : A striking grey-white bird with black patched shoulders and black line on eyes which have red pupils,- makes a close encounter quite memorable. Juvenile has brownish-grey upperparts with pale fringes and the shoulder patches are not so distinct.  One can predictably, see them sitting perched on electric wires and poles and leafless tree tops while driving on any highway out of Pune. If you are visiting the forts of Maharashtra after the rains, you will inevitably see one hovering in mid air at the edge of the cliff, black shoulders conspicuous, and a typical stepwise descent with wings still. Quite a sight that! It is called Kapshi in Hindi/Marathi and a variation, Kapassi in Bangla. I have never heard its call which is a shrill squeal.

DISTRIBUTION : it is locally migratory and visible in various parts of the subcontinent at various times of the year. 

FOOD : small animals like mice and lizards and insects.

BREEDING : it breeds in the warmer part of the year. Makes nests like crows with twigs lined with grass etc, in trees. it lays a clutch of 3-4 brown blotched yellowish eggs. The male and the female participate in raising the young.
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