Our Feathered Friends in India

My sister R. was a birder at an early age, so early that we were sharing a chest of drawers.  In my drawers were the usually sundries of a Midwestern kid in the ‘50s, and in her drawers: feathers, nests and the occasional egg.  I always yelled FOWL/FOUL to our mom and got them removed. 

Since then she has evolved into a birder of great repute, and vastly improved her hygiene where lice are concerned by nixing the bird parts in the house. Today she and I were Skyping and I was trying to describe the birds I was seeing out my 4 picture windows which overlook the lush tree tops and garden of my landlady.  It’s rather hard to describe birds “on the fly” (couldn’t resist it) for obvious reasons, so I thought I should step up my game in this incredibly diverse bird biome and bought a photographic guide to the birds of India. 

This afternoon I was casually staring out my window when the birds in the neighborhood got very active.  I got quite a show as they flitted about, and tried to remember flight patterns, speed, markings, crests, etc.  With my old peepers squinting for all they were worth, I decided to grab my camera to use the zoom lens.  Much better!  I was snapping a couple of birds to get a look at them on the camera, and then checking out my book when I looked up on the roof about 10 feet away, parallel to my line of vision.  What to my wondering eyes should appear but a female pea hen, who, along with the male counterpart the peacock is the national bird of India.  That floppy feather follicle (alliteration is fun!) on the top of the head was even visible, and I got off some good shots. [See photo above.] I was feeling very cocky (sorry, another bird pun) when I was telling my landlady about it, until she told me they saw 8 peacocks taking a procession on the same roof last winter.  I did see some incredible variety today, and because I have a great imagination, when I checked the book I was able to make a positive ID on several types.  Ornithologists, don’t call foul/fowl or get your feathers all ruffled, I know you’re supposed to be positive on the ID, but I’m just a fair weather feather friend.  (couldn’t resist the alliteration, either).  Among my finds were the Common Mynah (I think they should get rid of the “common” adjective -- who wants to be thought of as common?), the Eurasian Collared Dove, the Rock Pigeon, the Red-Wattled lapwing, also known as the “Did-ye-do-it?” bird because of its call, a fat stork that nests in the trees in the back yard, and lots of other flying wonders I don’t have fast enough eyes to identify…yet! My favorite bird find after the pea hen is the green bee-eater who robs beehives, and it a dusty lime green about the size of a finch with very interesting tail feathers.  Of course, it could have also been a Common Tailorbird, which is very uncommon in its ability to stitch leaves into the famous pouched nest, but I’m going with the Bee-Eater theory for now.

I’m definitely going to be purchasing some binoculars as soon as I can figure out which store sells them, but that’s another story for another blog.  The state we’re living in in India, Rajasthan, has a very famous bird preserve called the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary.  We are going to be visiting it sometime in the winter months, so check it out online.  Birders, come visit and keep me honest on the identification, if you can.  I leave you with a bird challenge.  I snapped this photo today, (brown body, black head, crest) but I can’t find anything about this bird, except the crest looks like a kingfisher.  Birders, I await your verdict.  Just don't try to tell me it's a Snowy Owl.