Its a new passion. Bird spotting.

Sunbirds are very tiny birds that are extremely swift. If you dont pay attention, they may almost pass off as a butterfly! The female sunbird is olive colored with yellowish underparts. The bill is downcurved almost like a hook. The mainly feed on nectar. The yellow oleander tree in my lawn attracts many sunbirds (as seen below).

A green bee-eater has a long spiked tail. This is a juvenile. A beautiful green colored bird perched on the fence of my lawn. It had a nasal call sounding like 'tree tree tree'. 

The  white-bellied drongo  ( Dicrurus caerulescens ) is a species of  drongo  found only on the Indian Subcontinent in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.  It was my first bird watching trip with a group of bird watchers. The forest was in the outskirts of the city of Jaipur. My father's colleague, his wife and a few others accompanied us for the trip.  It must be 6 am. The forest was scanty in the beginning with only dried trees. There was a Neel Gai which is a completely harmless, docile animal. After some 10 mins of trekking we found a small pond with twigs and branches of wood half submerged in the water. This is where we first halted. We sat down around the pond. Our camera's ready and set for any bird.  We spotted a white throated kingfisher, rufus  treepies, and black drongos. Then after waiting some more, we started to trek. some 10 mins towards the interior of the jungle. On the way I spotted green pigeons perched on the topmost branches of the tallest tre

31st May 2015 Sariska National Park, Rajasthan These royal spoonbills migrate from Australia.

The Long-tailed Shrike has a characteristic upright "shrike" attitude when perched on a bush, from which it glides down at an angle to take  lizards , large  insects , small  birds  and rodents . They maintain feeding territories and are usually found single or in pairs that are well spaced out.  The usual calls are harsh grating and scolding calls, likened to the squealing of a frog caught by a snake. They are capable of vocal mimicry and include the calls of many species including lapwings, cuckoos, puppies and squirrels in their song.  This singing ability makes it a popular pet in parts of southeast Asia. I spotted this bird during a bird-watching trek in a forest near Jaipur. While we were resting near a water pool, this bird perched on the branch right above where I was sitting. The orangish color was unique, and the fellow bird-watchers told me that it was a shrike!

Hi folks! This is my first post from Jaipur, the new city I moved to recently. I happened to spot some new birds here. This bird is called the Brahminy Myna or Starling. This myna is pale buff creamy with a black cap and a loose crest. The bill is yellow with a bluish base. The iris is pale and there is a bluish patch of skin around the eye. The outer tail feathers have white and the black primaries of the wings do not have any white patches. The adult male has a more prominent crest than the female and also has longer neck hackles. Juveniles are duller and the cap is browner. This  passerine  is typically found in dry forest, scrub jungle and cultivation and is often found close to human habitations. The especially favour areas with waterlogged or marshy lands.

Like most starlings, the chestnut-tailed starling is fairly  omnivorous , eating fruit, nectar and insects. They fly in tight flocks and often rapidly change directions with great synchrony. The chestnut-tailed starling has rufous underparts, grey  upper parts and a light grey head.

The house sparrow is the most widely distributed bird. It is associated with human habitations and can live in urban or rural settings. Though found in widely varied habitats and climates, it typically avoids extensive  woodlands ,  grasslands , and  deserts  away from human development. It feeds mostly on the seeds of grains and weeds, insects and many other foods. Its predators include  domestic cats ,  hawks ,  owls , and many other predatory birds and  mammals . The house sparrows are very social birds and usually fly in large groups.  Females and young birds are colored pale brown and grey, and males have brighter black, white, and brown markings.

The Jungle babbler lives in flocks of seven to ten or more, and for that reason they are often called 'Sath Bhai' in Hindi. It's a noisy bird, and the presence of a flock may generally be known at some distance by the harsh mewing calls, continual chattering, squeaking and chirping produced by its members. The Jungle Babblers are gregarious and very social.  They feed mainly on insects, but also eat grains, nectar and berries.    For their size, they are long lived and have been noted to live as long as 16.5 years in captivity.  Birds fledge and females tend to leave their natal group after about two years.  Birds within a group often indulge in  allopreening , play chases and mock fights.  When threatened by predators, they have been said to sometimes  feign death .  Here is a short film on jungle babblers I shot sometime back :- ).  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRVxAGaDkHs

I spotted this bird in the middle of the afternoon when I heard a unique (kinda metallic) bird call. It moved with the celerity of a tailor bird; vanishing, appearing and then vanishing again.  Hence, I could hardly see the bird just knew that it was a new one.  I noticed it's bill only after I reviewed the pictures that I clicked.  The purple sunbird  is a small  sunbird .  A sunbird typically has a long thin down-curved beak.  Like other sunbirds, purple sunbirds feed mainly on nectar, although they will also take insects, especially when feeding young. Their fast and direct flight makes clicking their photographs quite a challenge.  They  can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird but often perch at the base of flowers. The males appear all black except in some lighting when the purple iridescence becomes visible. Females are olive above and yellowish below.

Hello to all the viewers! I am moving from Calcutta. Calcutta will remain special since my passion for bird spotting started here and so did this blog. All the birds that I would spot and read about would periodically go into this blog. I must have spotted and clicked some 30 species of birds by now. I have learnt much about the birds. Whenever there is an oriole or a bulbul or barbet singing outside my window, I know without looking that it's an oriole or some other bird for that matter. I recognize bird calls. I hope Jaipur is as exciting as Calcutta was. Chirping trees to all.. :)