birds

wildlife · birds

Orthotomus sutorius or the Common Tailor Bird or Darzi chiriya uses sutures bound with cotton to weave a nest out of two leaves of a mango sapling in a pot, thus earning itself the moniker of being a 'tailor bird'.

birds · hills

If you've heard this lovely trilling call before, look up to an open perch or vantage point, or up upon a cliff-face, and you might well see the pleasant Chestnut bellied Rock Thrush, if you're in open scrubby forest with rock faces around…

monsoon · wildlife

The male is a dapper black and white while the female is a dignified grey and white. The two make a great caring couple of parents for their four chick brood hiding in the exposed nest hollow of a guava tree.

lake · wildlife

This Jalmurghi cautiously approaches its nest and then comes in to incubate This waterhen comfortably and cautiously pads on to its nest in tall water grasses, within a wetland.

birds · wildlife

A Grey Hornbill female is weak and thin, and struggles to release herself from nest-hole after one month of incarceration. After hours of struggle, she gives up to catch her breath and rest, and withdraws back into the nest hole.

wildlife · crafts

Baya or Common Weaver Birds feed on grass seeds on the ground, in the company of Common House Sparrows which are common no more in most parts of India, having been reduced in numbers due to radiation from mobile / cellphone towers, a lack o…

Uttarakhand·hills · forest

A Kalij Pheasant breeding pair of male and female birds forage for insects and seeds among ferns on a moist early monsoon hillside at the wildfilmsindia estate in Motidhar, Mussoorie.

monsoon · wildlife

The cricket is even squirming in her beak. Talk of zero food miles! And talk of fresh produce for the mother's babies... In the hollow created by a broken tree trunk, a pair of Magpie Robins have cleverly decided to nest.

birds

This chalaak tota is waiting on a Bakain tree for the chance to attack a bed of flowering Sunflowers below. Meanwhile, it preens and pecks its own feet and feathers, to bide time...

wildlife · birds

Akin to a Tailor Bird's leaf nest, this Ashy Wren Warbler also stitches together leaves - in this case two sunflower leaves - to make its leaf nest, and then line it with soft cottony materials in order to lay its eggs.

birds · hills

The brilliant blue plumage shines in the summer sunshine of the Himalaya, offset by the green forest hues behind. A prettier bird one cannot possibly behold than the Verditer Flycatcher!

lake · birds

Patience is a virtue but with Pond Herons (Ardeola grayii)) it is a way of life. These birds wait patiently, still as they can be, till they see a small fish moving just below the water's surface and then catch their prey, quick as lighteni…

wildlife · birds

Orthotomus sutorius or the Common Tailor Bird or Darzi chiriya uses sutures bound with cotton to weave a nest out of two leaves of a Giloy or Tinospora cordifolia (Ramdev's favourite medicinal plant!) creeper along a wall, thus earning itse…

Uttarakhand·hills · forest

A real mountain predator - the Mountain Hawk Eagle sits here with its jaunty head crest atop Chir Pine tree at the wildfilmsindia forested Estate at Motidhar in Mussoorie in the Uttarakhand Himalaya.

birds

This apparent mess of cobwebs and dried plant matter is no ordinary junk. it is the previously made nest of the Purple Sunbird.

birds · wildlife

The brilliant blue plumage shines in the summer sunshine of the Himalaya, offset by the green forest hues behind.

forest · wildlife

See the lovely perky jaunty feathered crest move atop its head whenever it bobs its head! This Whiskered Yuhina is related to the plains White-eye and is a shy retiring bird of thick forest cover and doesn't come out into the open a lot, or…

Uttarakhand·birds · hills

With a Hill Barbet and a Blue-throated Barbet calling, and a Rufous Sibia too, a Grey-winged Blackbird takes full advantage of the display of Rhododendron flower heads before it, above our Bindal stream at Motidhar Estate in Mussoorie.

Uttarakhand·birds

A male Chestnut Bellied Rock Thrush sits on a dry tree trunk in the Mussoorie area of Pari Tibba.

birds

This Honey Buzzard has come avisiting to raid a Honey bee hive. That is their favorite feed! Meanwhile, the Babblers and Bulbuls create a frenzied ruckus at the sight of the predator, knowing what it's after and is about to do...

birds · hills

The most beautiful trilling caller in the Himalaya, surely, the Verditer Flycatcher warbles its call loudly in spring, sitting atop an Oak tree, with a Hill Barbet calling out closely as well.

wildlife · birds

Once common in our gardens, our houses and even on streets, the Common House Sparrow has all but vanished from our lives. A precious few of these small birds are now seen on rare occasions.

birds · hills

The Blue Whistling Thrush (Myophonus caeruleus) gets its name from its very human-like whistle of a call. Often seen jumping off the edge of a mountain road, this a a common and familiar Himalayan bird.