The pigeon story: A first hand account

This is the story of a pair pigeons who made home a corner of the balcony at my place. I never thought the eggs will ever hatch if they escaped the evil eyes of crows around, but they were meant to survive. All was well till an unfortunate incident united us with the pigeon family in their agony...

I had thought the eggs will fall prey to one of the crows around. Pleasantly, one fine morning, I discovered the poor helpless chicks out in open. I really felt bad for them. Dunno why the mother pigeon could not find a safer place....

Things in a larger perspective. That pot in the upper rack in the corner is the home to the chicks. Thats where the eggs were laid. I know you are amazed too. The mother pigeon would fly to neighborhood every time we went to balcony. She trusted us completely or was just helpless...

Chicks are growing....

Still growing, day by day....

Could finally catch them with mom.

My bai had already started complaining about the mess they were creating everyday :)

Soon they will outgrow the pot. Probably they have already. Look at the mess around...

Closer. That makes them attentive...

Here they are in their teens. When we are not looking the whole balcony is their playground and now they have their personal pots to sit. Huddled together for the click...

The youth, cant tell them from parents in one glance.

Venturing unknown territories..

They are no more afraid of us. Well, cant say that, they can hardly fly.

Tragedy struck!!! The chicks were attacked by an eagle ;( One fell victim to it, the other literally knocked on the door to let it in the house.

Here we see the mother pigeon. She could not find the chicks at the usual place. She sensed something wrong happened in the balcony, wont dare coming there. Just waiting somewhere near by.

Waiting for the chicks to appear...

The remains of the fight put up...

The refugee. He spent the whole night there.

We tried to feed it, but it wont budge.

Morning came, so came the parents looking for the kids. At least they found one. We were so relieved. They kept returning next two days, still hopeful, but ALAS!!

The story ends with this reunion. Hope they have a short memory and remain happy ever after, but not so short a memory to make a similar nest. They learnt it the bitter way, if they have.

Winter Session of the "Parliament"

The 2010 winter session of Indian parliament was a no show. No new policies or laws were passed, as the opposition parties wanted investigations into the 2G scam by a JPC. Walkouts, protests and disruptions were highlights in the drama of the Indian legislative assembly.

No, this blog hasn't deviated from avian life to humans and their politics. While our elected representatives were not doing their assigned jobs, other parliaments were in session in avian world; that of the owls. A collective of owls, also known as a parliament, is most active during the winters, which is their breeding season. The usually silent predators are more vocal; with mates calling out to each other and young ones demanding food from their parents.

Owl, a nocturnal bird, is often associated with misfortunes, black magic, evil, and conversely with intelligence by humans. Owl is also known as the vehicle of goddess Lakshmi in the Indian mythology. Fear of the dark and unknown, prominent at night, and deep rooted in the human psyche, has perhaps resulted in such conceptions.

Is this the reason why the same term has been coined for a collective of owls and that of politicians? :)

The call of the owl can sound very eerie in the dark, misty winter nights. The first time I heard an owl near my home, it sounded like someone was snoring loudly. Most residents of our housing society were annoyed by the continuous calls, which would start in the evenings and stop just before sunrise. Since no one could see the source of the sound, many theories were put forward to explain these winter happening. Some said it was bats hunting at night. Others proposed that it was probably a kite perched on high rise, protesting its discomfort in the cold weather. Mystery was unraveled one evening when someone standing in the 9^th floor balcony saw the owls flying around. 

Blurred photo of Barn Owl on our AC

The birds residing near our building were the barn owls, which are widespread residents in the Indian subcontinent. They can be found near human habitation and cultivated areas. They are very effective in controlling pests like mice. They also prey upon small birds, rats and insects.

One night a barn owl landed on our bedroom AC, where a pigeon family had made a nest. The owl sought a wholesome meal of freshly laid pigeon eggs. No sound came from the owl, but the pigeons made a lot of noise, which awoke me and my sister. We could see the owl from our balcony, as it waited patiently for the pigeons to leave their nest. Tried to click a photograph, however absence of a stand and darkness came in way of a good picture. Next morning, there was no sign of the pigeon nest abut remains of the owls meal were strewn on the window ledge below.

Another type, the Spotted Owlet is resident in my mother's school building. This bird breaks its nocturnal habit during winters. The spotted owlets are heard chattering or seen enjoying the warm winter sunlight.

Other birds like parrots, crows and babblers never leave them in peace, protesting owls foray into their daytime regime. The owlet pays them very little attention, but relents after sometime, retiring into some gap in wall or a hole in a tree trunk.

Oh no! Its the papparazzi again !

Searching for an escape route

One afternoon, when I reached the school to pick up my mother, the owlet was perched on a security spotlight on the school building. The shy bird left as soon as it realized it was the centre of focus of my camera.

Hopefully, these "members of parliament", i.e. the barn owl and the spotted owlet, will reappear soon for more photo sessions.

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.

Accipiters in the neighbourhood

Female Shikra

It was time to leave for work. I was packing my lunch, while my sister read newspaper in the dining area. She looked up while turning a page and happened to see a big bird, about a foot tall, perched in the balcony across the room. This was an opportunity that could not be missed.

Sub-adult Shikra

My sister grabbed her Olympus SLR and quietly crept into the adjacent balcony.

We took turns to take pictures and admire the magnificent bird. The bird, stayed on the spot for few minutes, fanning its wings and tail feathers, in the warm winter sun. A soon as it saw us, the bird spread its wings and flew away.

The bird was identified as shikra, a resident of our neighborhood. It can be seen perched on trees or lampposts, waiting for unsuspecting prey. It targets the juvenile or hatchlings of many birds; even crows' nests are not spared.

Mr Shikra

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.

Saarika - The Garrulous Myana

The balcony of our fifth floor residence is a happening spot for birds.We have variety of visitors landing in our balcony to drink or bathe in a shallow earthen water bowl.

Myanas have devised another use for the bowl. Twigs, leaves and grass are soaked in water; softened sufficiently to be woven into a nest. Raw material for nest building are also sourced by these intelligent scavengers from flower pots and cloths line in the balcony.

After the eggs hatched, young ones were spreading their wings; and the balcony became a training ground. Captured pictures of the myana family during one of their practice sessions.

The adults of the family can be identified by their dark-yellow lores. In the fledglings, the lores and plumage is duller.

Barbets lunching in Up market tree

The peepal tree offers a feast of figs from end winter to spring season. Its a banquet time, eagerly awaited by the city dwelling birds. Parrots, sparrows and even squirrels can be seen having their fill. One of the not so common bird which can be spotted especially around this time of the year is the barbet.
Strolling in market near office, I saw a pair of barbets; with green feathers and brownish head and beak. They were well camouflaged in the foliage as they lunched on the abundant figs growing on branches of the dense tree.

Checked the Pocket Guide to The Birds of Indian Subcontinent to find out about this beautiful and unusual bird, which turned out to be a Brown Headed Barbet. It is known as bada basanta in the North Indian plains.

Managed to get a few photos using phonecam, while sorely missing my Lumix FZ30. One of the barbets, being more inquisitive, came closer to find out why it was being given more attention than the display windows and advertisements.