By Ragoo Rao, Ethologist, [Pic. by SOM reader H.S. Sreeranjini] T.P. What…? Who is it? Sounds like a pedigree name for a nobleman, from an aristocrat family!!! Relax, it’s neither a nobleman nor a pedigree name for a Royal Family. It’s just the Taxonomical name for a Pigeon. The Yellow-footed Green Pigeon. Hasiru Paariwala in…
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…
Shikra… The Leopard of Birds
September 2, 2020By Ragoo Rao, Ethologist Shikras — Accipiter badius, in Taxonomical terms, the urban raptor, a bird of prey, a small but fierce predator, is likened to the Leopards of the Cat family, owing to their fierce and brutal hunting techniques, blended with intelligence and strategy, exactly like the Leopards. The urban treetops, specially the leafy…
Lockdown, Let Loose…
June 14, 2020By Ragoo Rao, Ethologist Lockdown, sealed down, quarantined, COVID, Corona… these are sickening words. We are almost hearing everywhere 24X7 about mask, sanitise, wash and these are dictums. It is a dreadful period. A small sneeze from a little dust blown around is enough to either send you to a quarantine or everyone keeping away…
When a Peahen comes calling
May 9, 2020Mysore/Mysuru: A Peahen visited a residential area in Mysuru city this noon and has stayed put in the area. The bird was spotted by a few residents this noon as it perched on their compound walls at Sri Vidya Ganapathy Temple, Kashipathi Agrahara, behind Lakshmi Talkies on Chamaraja Double Road. Some residents fed the bird…
Knock… Knock… Knock…
March 18, 2020…so goes the Woodpeckers, knocking on the tree branches, with their powerful beak. By Ragoo Rao, Ethologist We hear the Woodpeckers first and then try to locate them in the direction of the sound. Woodpeckers knock on wood; they have to, for that is where their food is hidden. The Woodpeckers are not killing the…
Proud… as a Peacock
March 11, 2020Peacock — Pavo cristatus, being its zoological name — the flamboyant, beautiful, colourful, arrogant bird, the bird with an attitude, is naturally selected as a National Bird of India. Peacocks have a built-in Pride in them and they cannot be blamed for that, nature has created them; Only the males, with such lovely iridescent colours…
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