Birding in Hampi, capital of Vijayanagar empire

Hampi, once capital of Vijaynagar empire, is now a world heritage site. The extent and magnificence of the Vijaynagar empire can be experienced here, while exploring remnants of the city that are spread over few hundred square kilometers.

Pigeons in temple courtyards

The ruins, surrounding paddy fields, banana plantations and rocky surroundings provide diverse ecosystems for our avian friends. Here are some of the common ones which can be found while exploring Hampi & its surroundings.

Green Bee Eater

Cormorant at Pushkarni stepwells

Skylark at Royal Palace enclosure

Scaly breasted Munias amidst banana plantation

Spotted owlet

#birdwatching #indianbirds #woodpeckers #birdingwindow #birding #birdingathome #naturelovers #nature

Baya's Blobitecture

Blobitecture or blob-ism is a term for an architectural movement in which buildings have organic, amoeba shaped bulging forms. These structures types are designed for theaters, museums, or tourist attractions. Come the monsoon season, and one can find the inspiration for these blob-ism structures, suspended from tall palms or thorny acacia trees. They are the pendulum shaped nests of the baya weaver; built using green resources like palm fronds, paddy leaves or grasses.

During my stay in Moira village of Goa, I saw many baya nests precariously suspended from coconut palm trees. The freshly woven green nests would gradually turn brown with age, swinging gently in the monsoon winds. The bright yellow birds made countless trips from nearby rice fields to coconut tree tops, while making their masterpiece. Following is what I found out about the architect bird, the baya weaver.

Baya weavers are found near grasslands, plantations or marshy areas in the Indian subcontinent and South East Asia. They are related to the common household sparrow; so much so that the juveniles and females of the species look like the house sparrows. Baya are social birds and breed in groups. Often 15-20 nests can be found together in a typical baya colony. Another Baya relative, the African sparrow weaver builds multi-storied apartment nests, in which 100 to 200 pairs have separate flask-shaped nesting chambers entered by tubes at the bottom.

Inspection time

The nest is built by the male baya weaver between months of June- July. The structure is cylindrical, with a central nesting chamber and a long vertical tube that leads to the side entrance of the chamber. Such a nest design prevents intrusion by predators like snakes or raptors. A male bird is known to make up to 500 trips to complete a nest. The birds use their strong beaks to strip and collect the strands from leaves and grasses, and to weave and knot them, while building their nests.

Once a male and a female are paired, the two complete the nest by adding the entrance tunnel. Baya females give “feminine” finishing touches to interiors by adding blobs of mud, which provides stability to the nest in windy conditions.

Adding finishing touches to the Nest

The nest building process can take up to 24-25 days. The baya family resides in this nest for a period of 35-40 days.  Next breeding season means construction of new nests. Abandoned baya nest are later utilized by mice or munias also known as the Indian Silverbill.

Peacock Dance

The Peacock should have been the first entry in Feathered Friends, being the national bird.  Hopefully the number of pictures and the time spent on this chapter should appease this divine bird 😀

Peafowl family in Moira, Goa

During my stay at beautiful Moira village in Goa, in July, I had an opportunity to see this beautiful bird dancing. The peahens scavenged vegetable patch of  the neighbors for food, while the peacock merrily put up its show.

Being monsoon season, peacock's plumage  was in its full splendor.  Brilliant blue green and gold colored  feathers were mesmerizing. The call of the dancing bird could be heard all over the village for hours after mid day. The peacock is more flamboyant than the peahens in its harem. A typical peafowl family has one male and 3-4 females.

It is said that the peacock "has angel's feathers, a devil's voice, and the walk of a thief." Peacock is also the vehicle for Kartikeya, son of Shiva and Parvati.

Legends from Greek mythology, provide explanations for the extravagant display feathers of the  peacock.

A story describes how the peacock acquired the many eyes in his ornamental train. The goddess Hera had a beautiful priestess named Io. Io was greatly admired by Zeus. To protect her from Hera’s jealousy Zeus transformed Io into a heifer. Hera tricked Zeus into giving the heifer to her as a gift and set her faithful servant Argus to watch over her. Argus had numerous eyes all over his body, making him a natural choice for the assignment. Zeus sent the god Hermes to free Io from Hera’s watchman. Hermes charmed Argus to sleep until all of his eyes were closed and then killed him. To honor her faithful watchman, Hera took Argus’ eyes and placed them on the tail of the peacock.  

Three types of peafowls are found in world; Indian, Green and Congo. Green peafowl is found in southeast Asia which I have photographed in Sentosa island, Singapore. Hoping to get a chance to photograph the Congo variety in African region.