By Ragoo Rao, Ethologist The Shikra has long been known for its great courage, coupled with intellect as a hunter. It is the most common bird used in the art of falconry across the country in pre-independence times. Falconry is the keeping and training of birds of prey, especially the falcon, and hunting with them,…
The Egyptian Pharaohs
May 30, 2021By Ragoo Rao, Ethologist The vultures are hungry; the vultures are waiting; as disgusting as a vulture eating… These are the phrases we use to describe a person as despicable — an obnoxious behaviour, more so at the dining table. In fact comparing a despicable man with a vulture is an insult to the latter…
Vedike fixes pots atop trees to quench thirst of squirrels, birds
March 19, 2021Mysuru: To quench the thirst of birds and squirrels, Mysuru Kannada Vedike has started tying earthen pots on trees near Agrahara on Sayyaji Rao Road in city. This novel initiative has been taken up on behalf of late D.V.Gundappa Memorial Forum across the city. Aim of this programme is to provide water to birds and…
270 bird species and six new species sighted at Nagarahole
January 28, 2021Mysore/Mysuru: The four-day bird survey conducted at Nagarahole Tiger Reserve that concluded on Jan. 26 has indicated the presence of over 270 bird species and six new bird species in the National Park. According to Nagarahole Tiger Reserve Director, D. Mahesh Kumar, this could be termed as a second census as the first census was…
A rare sighting…
November 4, 2020Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters (Merops leschenaulti), which are mostly found in Eastern and Western Ghats, were spotted near Thavarakatte at Chamundi Hill on Friday last. Normally, Small Green Bee-eater and Blue Tailed Bee-eater are sighted in Mysuru. However, the rare sighting of Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters in a group of five brought joy among bird-lovers. This photograph was captured…
Kite Flying…
October 7, 2020By Ragoo Rao, Ethologist Go Fly a Kite” is a phrase in English, which we use sometimes to tell a child or a teenager, to do, when we find them too interfering into our adult matters. Flying a Kite is considered a juvenile fancy (No it is not, I think a lot of old people…
Hebbal Lake: Birds & Birders’ Paradise
October 4, 2020By Ragoo Rao, Ethologist Hebbal Lake, a lake nestled in the midst of a bustling industrial area, a lake that was perennial and never went dry, a lake that hosted plenty of migratory birds, a lake that set several first and only sightings of many birds, a lake that had a good inflow of storm…
Tit… The 11 O’Clock Bird
September 30, 2020By Ragoo Rao, Ethologist [Pic. by SOM reader H.S. Sreeranjini] Tzeee….Tzeeee….Tzeeeee… the familiar sound of the grey and black bird, the size of a Sparrow, quite often mistaken for the male House Sparrow, is that of Cinereous Tit – Parus Cinereous. Until recent times, called as the Great Tit – Parus major, it has now…
Tukk… tukkk… tukkk… goes the Coppersmith
September 16, 2020By Ragoo Rao, Ethologist This is the repetitive, monotonous, steady sound, one hears in a grove of trees, or a single standing heavy tree, that gives the bird that makes this sound, the name Coppersmith Barbet – Megalaima haemacephala as known in the Ornithological world. In yesteryears, when the metal copper was manually beaten into…
Where have the ubiquitous house sparrows gone ?
March 19, 2020Mysore/Mysuru: Tomorrow is World Sparrow Day-2020. It is a day for the house sparrow — to convey the message of conservation of sparrows and other common birds and also is a day of celebration to appreciate the beauty of the common biodiversity which we take so much for granted. The house sparrow was once the…
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