Balcony birding

Coppersmith barbet - Megalaima haemacephala

The bare millingtonia

Bobbing head

Tuk, tuk, tuk

all day long.

White-breasted kingfisher - Halcyon smyrnensis

The bare millingtonia

Beak so sharp

Chakee-ake-ake-ake

all day long.

The red-capped postman

Thats what he reminds me of. (Actually my postman is dressed in blue and has no red cap.)  Or is it a schoolboy in uniform?  Or maybe a fireman from a Noddy book?

Sinna kukuvaran in tamil....

Or Chempukotti in malayalam

Or Coppersmith Barbet

Or Megalaima haemacephala

Another sparrow-sized bird, that goes tonk-tonk outside my bedroom window, on the Millingtonia tree! My husband was lucky with these pictures, as Mr Barbet usually shows up early morning, when the light is poor.

As he sits there, his head moves jerkily back and forth as he calls out in that repetitive tonk-tonk, sounding like a melodious version of the worker banging on the steel rods in the construction site next door.
I never tire of looking at this bird, its lovely red cap and red chest. And that stout bill.

Poor Mrs Barbet, she has no such adornments and is a rather plain green, as you can see below. Unlike the sparrow, its rather shy, and flies off at the least movement at my window.
I wonder if they eat neem fruits, since they are frugivorous, and that's the only fruit tree on our street! They're supposed to feast on figs, banyan and peepul fruit..

There are some great photos on Flickr of this little bird.    My favourite is Ryan Brookes, who has captured the bird in that large urban sprawl Mumbai.  Its amazing how amidst all the noise, dust and hustle bustle, you can still find these treasures, if you only look.

Another great one is Pixelography, who's got two of them on a branch, in Chennai.

The hoopoe in the tree

One quiet afternoon a few weeks ago, I looked out of my bedroom window to see a hoopoe sitting on the Millingtonia tree, and surveying his immediate environment. (Now I dont know for sure if it was a he or a she, since they both look alike, but since he had the cocky air quite typical of the male species in general, I assumed he was male!) Was he looking for a mate, a nesting site? Hoopoes nest between February and May, in tree hollows. Nowadays though, gaps between roof tiles will do nicely thank you.

I hurried off to get my little Sony Cybershot, and my binoculars to capture the moment. So, while the picture is not great, I did get a long, uninterrupted look-see through my binos. What an interesting plumage. Fawn coloured, and then the feathers on the back and wings have this zebra-like stripes. It also has a crest, which stayed folded back, all the time I was watching it. But it opens up the crest, like a fan every now and then. If you want to see a hoopoe with its crest open, click here.

As I looked, the hoopoe turned around and fixed me with a hard, long stare, its eyes glinting in the sun, and its long curved bill reminding me of a narrow scimitar. It is supposed to use its bill like forceps, to pick up worms and grubs, from the soil. Rather elegant and sophisticated dont you think?!

It then let out a soft call, which was a lovely, musical one, travelling in the breeze to me. Salim Ali describes the call as a "hoo-po, hoo-po", which it really did!

After a while, the hoopoe left, in a flash of black and white, and I was just left with the memory.... and the picture.

The Millingtonia outside my window

Madras is lovely these days, cloudy and cool, and I can sit and quite happily daydream at my window, enjoying the trees and the breeze. One particular window is my favourite. Looking out of it, I see no buildings immediately, as there is a Millingtonia, some teak and coconut trees, badam, neem, forming a lovely green sight for my eyes.



My favourite of the lot is the Millingtonia, or maramalli tree. It is a perching point for many a bird that I see. Currently, it has shed some leaves and there a lot of bare branches, but by April/May, I hope to see it flower again. The white fragrant flowers, which fall in the mornings, form a white carpet under the tree. When the tree is in flower, the sunbirds are excited and in plenty.

I was rewarded this morning, with an amazing moment that lasted all of thirty seconds I think.

A coppersmith barbet, a red vented bulbul, a sunbird, and a crow all perched on the leafless branches of the Millingtonia! Soon, the quartet was joined by another barbet, but then all except the crow took wing. I had just enough time to take a look at them through my binoculars, before they all took off.

The tree is native to the Myanmar area, and is named after Sir Thomas Millington, an 18th century English botanist and a physician, informs Dr Mahadeswara Swamy, in his Know Your Trees series for the MNS. The bark supposedly is used as a cork substitute, and hence the common name Indian Cork Tree.