#birdograph

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THE SECRETARYBIRD

The secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius) is a very large terrestrial bird of prey. I was fortunate to spot it in East Africa, where it is usually found in the open grasslands and Savannah. Africans call it the Devil's Horse and it is the national emblem of Sudan as well as a prominent feature on the Coat of arms of South Africa. Thanks to lightning-quick aerial kicks and stomps forceful enough to shatter bone, the secretarybird is a master at immobilizing dangerous prey. A much more formidable hunter than its crane-like appearance would suggest, it is even capable of vanquishing the deadly black mamba, the fastest terrestrial snake in the world. But this skill makes the bird a  popular pet for humans, who rob nests and raise young as Protection from snakes. Meanwhile, prey is becoming harder and harder to find due to habitat degradation. So, only a 100,000 of these bird now survive in the wild.

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Stellar’s Blue Jay

In Yosemite, the Steller’s Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri ) is a common bird and the most beautiful of them.

One curious fact about these birds is that its brilliant blue feathers have no blue pigment in them.

Birds with yellow or red feathers usually get their color from pigments in the foods they eat, but the digestive process destroys blue pigments. So how do feathers on Steller’s jays get their blue color?

Feathers are made of keratin, the same stuff your fingernails are made of. As sunlight strikes one of these feathers, the keratin pattern causes red and yellow wavelengths to cancel each other out. The blue wavelengths reflect back, giving the feather its color. Different shapes and sizes of air pockets and keratin make different shades of blue. This is what scientists call a structural color (as opposed to pigmented color.

Next time you see a Steller’s jay or a bluebird consider the amazing way nature has colored its feathers. (Source: National Park Service: nps.gov)

When patrolling the woods, Steller’s Jays stick to the high canopy, but you’ll hear their harsh, scolding calls if they’re nearby. Graceful and almost lazy in flight, they fly with long swoops on their broad, rounded wings. (Source: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology)

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The Golden-fronted Leafbird

This golden-fronted leafbird (Chloropsis aurifrons) flew in from nowhere into a crevasse in an old tree trunk on the hillside. This is an adult bird and, as you can see, it is notable for its leafy green-body with a black face and throat. It's called golden-fronted as it has an orange forehead. It also has blue moustachial line, and fluorescent blue flight feathers on the shoulders.

I clicked this in the southern Indian hills of Yercaud, Tamil Nadu. May 2014

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The Hoopoe as a Symbol

Known as 'Hud hud' in India, the hoopoe was behind the name of the deadly cyclone that hit the East Coast of India near Visakhapatnam in October 2014.

Hoopoes were seen as a symbol of virtue in Persia. They were thought of as thieves across much of Europe, and harbingers of war in Scandinavia. In Estonian tradition, hoopoes are strongly connected with death and the underworld.

The hoopoe is the king of the birds in the Ancient Greek comedy 'The Birds' by Aristophanes and also occurs in Ovid's Metamorphoses. The bird's crest indicates his royal status, and his long, sharp beak is a symbol of his violent nature. 

The hoopoe was chosen as the national bird of Israel. It appears on the Logo of the University of Johannesburg and the municipality of Armstedt, Germany, has a hoopoe in its coat of arms.

I spotted this bird in Pondicherry India | August 2014

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The Brahminy Kite

The brahminy kite (Haliastur indus) also known as the red-backed sea-eagle in Australia, is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family of diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards and harriers. 

They are found in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Australia mainly on the coast and in inland wetlands. Adults have a reddish brown plumage and a contrasting white head and breast which makes them easy to distinguish from other birds of prey.

Known as Elang Bondol in Indonesia, the brahminy kite is the official mascot of Jakarta. In India it is considered as the contemporary representation of Garuda, the sacred bird of Vishnu. In Malaysia, the island of Langkawi is named after the bird ('kawi' denoting an ochre-like stone used to decorate pottery, and a reference to the bird's primary plumage colour).

A fable from central Bougainville Island relates how a mother left her baby under a banana tree while gardening, and the baby floated into the sky crying and transformed into Kaa'nang, the brahminy kite, its necklace becoming the birds feathers. (Wikipedia)

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Black-hooded Oriole

Spotted the Black-hooded Oriole (Oriolus xanthornus) in Kolkata at IIM-C Campus. It has a melodious single whistling call wIth a little roll in the sound, which attracted me to this bird. It is a passerine bird of tropical southern Asia with seasonal migratory movements. They live in open forests and woodlands, and are opportunistic omnivores, their diet being fruit, berries, arthropods, and nectar. In Bengal and Bangladesh, this bird is known as ‘Bene Bou’ or ‘Krishno Kotha Pakhi’ in Bangla.

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The Yellow-footed Green Pigeon

The Yellow-footed Green Pigeon (Treron phoenicoptera) also known as ‘Hariyal’ forage in flocks on forest canopies remaining well-hidden in foliage. Although brightly colored, they are not easy to spot high up on a leafy tree. I was lucky to find a few of them while looking up one tall and well-spread kadam tree full of ripe fruits - perhaps a favorite feeding place as you can see. A stout and heavy bird, it is a voracious fruit-eater, and rarely visits the ground. It has ashy olive-green above with olivish yellow collar, band in dark slaty tail, lilac shoulder patch, and yellow legs and underbody. It moves briskly with a clatter of wings and fast direct flight. Catch them if you can! Photographed at IIMC, Joka, Kolkata, India.