Pelicans, the squat-looking ungainly birds, the least aerodynamic-looking shape, a gait like a Duck’s, is the most unimpressive bird to look at. But wait, the Pelican has some unique characters which would put any one into an awe-inspiring mood, apart from its unique Gular pouch (the fold of loose skin like a bag, drooping loose…
Birds migrate, so do a lot of other species of animals. Migration is to move from one region of habitation to another region in search of various needs of life. Birds migrate mostly from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere, during the winter months. The winters are colder and harsher in the Temperate Zones…
By Ragoo Rao, Ethologist Next time you go out birding, watch for Pelicans, the pirates. They may not brandish knives, cutlasses, ropes or guzzle liquor. But they’re out there, lounging in the leafy shade or plying the winds, just waiting to pounce on passing treasures. Piracy or ‘kleptoparasitism’ — to use the technical term —…
Larks, the very name makes one recall the story of ‘The Lark & Her Young Ones’ studied by all in the Middle Schools, as an English prose in the text books. The moral of the story was to do things when the time is right, neither late nor early. Larks, the Sparrow-sized birds, resembling the…
By Ragoo Rao Come March, with the summer heat on, the rivers neither in full stream nor dried up, right enough to expose the sand-banks, the enthusiastic bird-watchers from all over our Old Mysuru region, zero in on to a village — Naguvanahalli, close to Mysuru, off Bengaluru-Mysuru Highway, to photograph and observe the Migratory…
By Ragoo Rao Nectarinia… Nectariniidae, as the name itself suggests, is a Family of Small Birds, smaller than Sparrows, energetically and boisterously flitting around in gardens and wild places, wherever there are abundant flowers, to relish the sweet nectar the flowers offers. These Nectar Seekers, the Nectarines as they are called in Ornithology, have their…
Papamoscas… Gobemouche… Tickellblauschnapper… as this blue and yellow bird, about the size of a sparrow, is called in Spanish, German and French respectively, which recently moved in to human habitations, like home gardens and parks — since two years, from its original habitat of lakeside and riverside bamboo thickets and shrubs, is called in Common…
Mythology, whether from India, Egypt or Greece or anywhere in the World Civilisations, has wonderful tales of animals. People cursed to take animal forms, animals cursed to take plant forms and the like. How true is not the question here but how fascinating and connected to the description of these Myths around the creatures is…
By Ragoo Rao, Ethologist Bird-brained. Calling someone bird-brained is an insult as it refers to the person as a dunce or a dimwit. The size of the brain of birds is likened to the brains of a dimwit. This might have been true until now as we were ignorant of the capabilities of small-brained birds….
By Ragoo Rao, Ethologist The Purple Swamp Hen is a large water hen with a distinctive heavy red bill and forehead shield. It has red eyes and a deep blue head and breast with black upper parts and wings. In bright sunlight the plumage shines with an intense blue sheen. These birds use a variety…
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