Magpie-robin Menezes

Mrs Robin at the campsite

With due apologies to Ranjit Lal, who in his delightful "Crow Chronicles", named the soulful singer of Bharatpur thus. I was given the book by Chitra before departing for Bharatpur, but my son wanted first dibs, and so I read it (actually am still enjoying it) on my return.

For anyone who has been to Bharatpur, the book is a must-read, as all the birds of Bharatpur are characters in a fast-paced adventure set in the sanctuary.  The characterisation is delightful, with the main protagaist being His Excellency Shri Khatarnak Kala Kaloota Kawa Kaw Kaw aka Kaw the crow!

I digress though.  This post is about that perky, jaunty little black-and-white bird that you cannot fail to see in Bharatpur, with its upright tail and its sad song.
Mr Robin, with his tail up

They sat on tree stubs, hopped on the path, flitted about the central camp area, where we would gather for chai and biscuits...we would see them early morning, in the midday, and towards sunset as well.

Somehow, I always saw the bird alone.  I wonder if thats its habit, solitary.

We all got pictures of this little bird, because it did not seem shy of humans, and was quite happy to pose.
Carthic took this

Mr Ramanan found this lady on his bicycle!

And this young man peered inquisitively at Mr Ramanan

While the bird itself was busy, cheerful and jaunty its song I felt was somewhat plaintive. Hear it for yourself, and tell me what you think. This is the song that we would typically hear late in the evening, say at sunset.  I took this little video clip as a memory of the song, so dont expect to see the bird in great detail...its there though, that little shadow flicking its tail!

I also learnt that a bird call is different from a bird song. And magpie robins have an enormous range of calls and some songs as well.

Song performance rules in the Oriental Magpie Robin, is the title of a research study done on these birds in Nepal. The researchers studied the dawn-singing of around five Oriental Magpie Robins, and found that the songsters were quite original in their tunes! They switched songs/motifs, interacted and communicated through these songs, and in general kept Messrs Bhattacharya, Cirillo, Subba and Todt busy and fascinated!!

Birdsong is a learned behaviour, so that would mean that the Magpie-robins of Bharatpur would probably sing differently from their counterparts in Nepal! Well, why am I surprised - an Indian from Kochi speaks differently from her counterpart in Madras, doesnt she? We just assume that this is not true in the non-human world, dont we?

I wish I had known this before going to Bharatpur....I would have listened more carefully to the singing of these lovely, musical little songbirds, and maybe come back wit memories of different songs!  For now, though, I only have this one tune associated with the robins.

(If you want read more about Bharatpur, or go to the beginning of this serialised narration, click here.)