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) 

The eggs have hatched

Hi this is me one of the three kids of Choti chidiya, and that is my picture you see there below.

Aha this is life, just get up in the morning and go on eating till it is sunset. In fact we are fed 3 to 4 times in an hour (that works out to be every 15 to 20 minutes) One of  the reasons why Papa too chips in to feed us. 

For you humans, home is a warm and safe environment. For us birds, the nest can be a dangerous place. Predators can attack the whole brood leaving an unsuccessful nesting season. That could be the reason why mama is in a hurry to see us grow up fast and fly off.

There you can see us being fed. After putting the morsel in our mouth (turn by turn) she picks up our droppings and flies off to deposit them out side the nest. (that way the nest is always clean)

But this place is pretty cool. The humans around here are pretty friendly. Curious yes but they mean no harm. We are three siblings. Actually we were a bit doubtful about the third one. We both came out almost at the same time but the third one was still in her egg and mama hen (the one whom you call choti chidiya) did not give up and there she hatched the next day.

In fact Mr H (Haddock) does have a photograph of us when the third one was still in the shell. But I don’t want you to have a look at that photograph as we don’t look very pretty in it. In fact I should say we look ugly, no feathers, tiny wings, eyes closed (huge eye balls, compared to the body size) yuck !! Those huge eye balls means one thing, that the size of our eyes are fully formed when we are born.

Here comes mama with more insects.

We prefer insects, but some times she gets petals or small flower buds. I have seen mama drinking nectar from the flowers. I am waiting to do the same. Sometimes she gets these yellow pieces of crumbs, can’t figure out what it is, but she knows best what is good and nourishing for us. 

 Did you see that look? That is intimidation. (not the picture above but the ones below)

One does not have to be a Dr Salim Ali to learn our body language.  Like when we want to intimidate, we look straight, both eyes and beak pointed at the bird or person. This was a look that was directed at Mr H to say “scram, move back or I attack” 

If that does not scare you how about this ?

Hey what is that sound? I can see that Mama is also alert. She says its not a familiar sound. Yes it is a bird call, but not one heard in these surroundings. I can see that Mr H is also out with his camera. He says it looks like a Hornbill and is surprised to see a Hornbill in this area. Looks like he got some shots of the bird.

Another dawn, another day. Its raining today. But its nice to see the humans go about with their daily routine. There comes Mr H with his camera. Mama & Papa are getting more protective. They are trying to shoo him away. Hey look at that. This is something worth watching.

Mama is going for the ground attack while Papa is giving  the aerial support from the clothesline. (we birds seldom sit on the floor so I am surprised that Mama is sitting on that hard tile) 

Any way Mr H has backed away.

He did take some night shots of us from far. This is how mama sits with us when it is not feeding time.

I wonder if I could make an entry in the Guiness Book of records about our mama and papa as the most photographed Bulbul couple in the world.

Mr H tried a lot to get both of them in the same frame (a difficult task) Aha  finally a good one

 (frolicking around the papaya tree?)

Hey why is mama looking down? Is it time for us to fly? Is she gauging the depth (in case we have a fall) 

For those who missed the earlier part where we were yet to be hatched, it is in the post called Choti Chidiya as narrated by mama.

I wonder if Mr H will be able to capture us in the process of flying off. If he does then there will be a further sequel to this (and may be in that sequel you will get to see our yuck pictures)

That is mama trying to figure out who is behind the camera.