Meet the Avian Marvels of the Southern Rainforests 💚

Canopy Chronicles | My Personal Favourites From Today’s Birding! 😊

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Firstly, the Ethereal Malabar Starling - which is endemic to the Western Ghats.

Secondly, the Vigilant Crested Serpent Eagle - an awesome raptor that commands our attention with its piercing yellow eyes!

Thirdly, the Sprightly Cinereous Tit - an energetic songbird that’s immediately recognisable by its crisp black cap, and the sharp black stripe that bisects its grey underside.

Fourthly, the Resplendent Malabar Parakeet - endemic to the southern Indian rainforests!

Fifthly, the Luminous Yellow-browed Bulbul that features a prominent, luminous yellow brow situated just above a distinctive reddish-brown eye. Its highly vocal, loud, melodious, whistling calls often give away its presence in the mid-story foliage long before it is seen. 😊

Sixthly, the Formidable Changeable Hawk-Eagle displays the classic, heavily streaked breast and the signature upright, statuesque posture it adopts when scanning the forest floor.

Seventhly, the Theatrical Greater Racket-tailed Drongo which is most famous for its extraordinary tail! It is one of the forest’s greatest vocal mimics, capable of accurately imitating a vast repertoire of other species’ calls to manipulate them all! 😊

The Anatomy of Renewal | Antler Shedding in the Spotted Deer 💚

The Anatomy of Renewal | Meet the Chital aka the Spotted Deer 

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Meet the Chital, commonly called the spotted deer, that has just recently shed its antlers. The dark, rounded bumps that are visible on its head are called the pedicles - the permanent bony bases from which the antlers grow and detach annually.

Meet the Butcherbird of the Western Ghats | Arrival of the Winter Migrants 💚

Our Winter Visitors Are Here | Meeting the Fascinating Brown Shrike

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The winter migrants have officially arrived! 😊

For the first time in a long while, I spotted the Brown Shrike today in the Western Ghats!

Well, the Brown Shrike is a long-distance winter migrant. It breeds across northern Asia, spanning regions like Siberia, Mongolia, and Japan, and flies to the South to spend the winter across South and Southeast Asia.

The Brown Shrike is known for its “butcherbird” hunting behaviour - indeed a fascinating subject for birders! 

It possesses a sharply hooked, raptor-like beak designed for tearing flesh, (as you can carefully observe in this photo), and after catching its prey - ranging from large insects to small lizards, frogs, and even small rodents – it forcefully impales it on sharp thorns, stiff twigs, or barbed wire fences!

Yet another unique quality of the Brown Shrike is that, it has the ability of singing with a closed beak! What’s more – like the Racquet-tailed Drongo, it can expertly mimic the alarm calls of other local species as well!

Today’s Lovely Birding Delights! 💚

#intothewildwithrufus #birding

Sing with the Wing | Katy-did | Bush Cricket 💚

The Symphony in the Canopy | The Elusive Bush Cricket

I’ve always believed that a quiet moment of observation can often reveal to us some of the most fascinating things about life!

Today, one such casual glance resulted in a quiet moment of observation, and how!

Well, to be honest, to the untrained eye, the insect mighta been dismissed as a grasshopper. Yet, a closer inspection of its exceptionally long, thread-like antennae - revealed its true identity – it was a katydid. While grasshoppers have short, stubby antennae, the katydids have long antennae that exceeds the length of its body.

They are are basically arboreal, meaning, they spend their lives within the foliage of bushes, shrubs, and the forest canopy. One reason why they are known as bush crickets.

However, across the Atlantic, American English adopted the term “katydid.” This charming moniker is a direct onomatopoeia, born from the repetitive “Katy-did, Katy-didn’t” mating call of this insect.

Yet another unique marvel about the bush cricket is the way in which it produces sound! To sing their high-pitched mating calls to attract mates, katydids rub their forewings together.

Quite interesting, ain’t it? 😊

A gentle reminder to all of us that if we just take that little quiet time to pause and look closely, the canopy is always ready to share its secrets with us 24x7!

Are we listening? 😊

Today's Lovely Birding Delights 💚

 #intothewildwithrufus #birding