Barbet and its nest

It is really interesting to see how these small birds coexist with each other. I was watching this pair of Coppersmith Barbet building their nest and in the process saw many other birds on the same tree.

I also observed that the Barbet had a set routine during the day. At the crack of dawn he sits on the eucalyptus tree close to our house emitting his tuk tuk sound. Once he moves on, the Mynahs parks themselves on the tree creating a lot of racket. Then comes the sunbirds flitting around pretty fast, followed by the fan tail with their peculiar tweet.  Once the sun is real bright, the pair of grey hornbills do make their presence felt.

More like a fixed time slot for each bird. The Barbet  does not get distracted by the other activities on the tree, like the parrot feeding the young one.

Or the male koel sitting on the same bark where he is chipping away the wood for the nest.

Earlier he started on the east side and went pretty deep with the hole, but abandoned it. Could be the wood was hard, or could be that the sunlight would hit the young one directly.

Have made a small video with whatever I could capture. Now the Barbet is working on the west side, away from my line of visibility.  If I can capture some action from the other side, then maybe I may come up with part 2 of this video. We can name it West Side Story.

Black Kite and the chicks

It is not everyday that you get a ringside view of what is going on inside a bird's nest. That too a Black Kite's nest.

Happened to see this nest from our kitchen window, and from the terrace the view was perfect.

The best part of it was that the nest was exposed to the early morning sunlight which was lighting it up with a golden glow, as if the inside of the nest was lit up with a table lamp.

Noticed that when the Kite fed the young ones, she broke up the feed into small morsels and fed the chicks alternatively ensuring that there was no overfeeding.

All the activity went on in the nest with the accompaniment of cacophony from the rose ringed parakeet.

The coppersmith barbet produced the intermittent tuk tuk sound. It is interesting to note how the barbet makes the sound. The beak remains shut during each call. A patch of bare skin on both sides of the throat inflates and collapses with each tuk and the head keeps bobbing.  ( in the video at 2:46)

The Crow Pheasant (Bharadwaj) was prancing on the same tree but on a different branch.

The Grey Hornbill and Ashy Drongo did their balancing act on the wire

The purple sunbird was busy collecting nectar

While the mother bird sat with the chicks, she sent out a small bird call (typical of the kite family) by just opening the beak a wee bit. You will notice it if you listen with a earphone (at 5:53 in the video) 

The male makes frequent sorties to replenish the food.  In one  such sortie, I found that he had got a large piece of thermocol. Obviously he could not have mistaken it for food for the young ones. So I am guessing he got it to line the inside of the nest.

I did see another piece of thermocol on the floor of the nest, probably placed there while building the nest.

I shudder to think the harm it could cause to the young ones if they ingest it - the harm caused by man made waste which was not disposed properly. When it is not feeding time, she gathers the chicks under her feathers, maybe to keep them warm.

It was interesting to observe the mate waiting for the next call, and yawning in between.

If I get more footage, I hope to make part two of the video (till the chicks fly away) 

Birds in Chandigarh

It is so nice to see new leaves sprouting up at a place where a tree is cut. A sign to say that life goes on 

It is also nice to see birds doing the balancing act to get to the flowers. Here is an Oriental Reed Warbler among the sarson field (mustard field) 

Had been to Chandigarh last week and clicked some of the birds over there. 

Have heard the tuk tuk sound for so many decades but was never able to pin point the actual source. It was only last week I saw the Coppersmith Barbet in action, and I was like “OK so this is the guy who was eluding me all these years” 

I captured him in action by zooming more than 100 meters and hence the sound is very faint  (in the video) Even though they don’t have long beaks like the woodpecker, their nest is made by carving out a hole in the tree trunk. 

The Oriental White Eye was hopping around pretty fast and it was a challenge to keep her in the frame. 

The Indian Grey Hornbill was sitting on top of a Pipal tree swaying in the breeze.

 I have observed (even in Pune) that these hornbills move around in threes 

Almost all the birds were up but this parrot was still sleeping 

These two looked like a pair but the one in the foreground was ignoring the other one with the expression “Is that guy still behind me?” 

The Mynas were having a good time sharing their food with the squirrels. 

I even noticed a single legged Myna hopping around 

The Ashy Prinia was sort of lurking in the mustard field. 

The jungle Babbler is quick with his beak, looking for something tasty between the dry leaves. 

The Guldenstadt’s Redstart had a bobbing motion while sitting at a place  

The spotted Dove was casual in its movements 

I took a long shot at the Steppe Eagle who was majestically sitting on top of a tree.

"Is he gone ?"

I had spotted a Greater Yellownape Woodpecker too, but by the time I fetched my camera, he had disappeared. 

All the pictures/videos were captured with a hand held camera.