Spring is nearly coming to its finale and Summer is already throwing its shadow. This is an excellent season to spot return migratory birds as well as welcome the summer breeders to our region.
Every year, thousands of birds, big and small, undertake long migration journeys to various parts of the world. Mostly, these migrants escape the harsh winters when food gets scarce and fight for survival is at its peak in their homelands like Central Asia, Steppes or the Arctic Circle.
Flocks of birds travel over oceans, continents, and mountains to reach warmer destinations in the tropics where they stay put for a few months and then once the weather turns favourable, they return to their homelands to breed there. Amongst the winter migrants easily spotted and heard regularly in Malibu are Lesser Whitethroat, Hume’s Warbler and Black Redstart. They are all calling and are going to be gone in the next few weeks, back to Central Asia, where they came from. Large flocks of Rosy Starlings have begun to gather in the Delhi region on their way back to Central Asia. Each year, massive flocks of these returning birds can be seen around the first week of April at India Gate at Sunset. Millions of birds roost in Jamun trees lining the avenue and their amazing flying patterns called murmuration can be seen along with the setting Sun. Soon, they’ll be gone.
But we never have a dull moment in our hospitality department. The next set of migrants that we’ll welcome are summer/monsoon breeders. These birds come to our region (some just pass through our region to go further south) to breed. Examples are Indian Oriole (Peelu in Hindi), European Roller (The actual Neelkanth), Indian Pitta (Navrang in Hindi) etc. But the most fascinating is the Indian Pied Cuckoo or Chaatak in Hindi. Since time immemorial, poets and dreamers alike, have touted Chaatak as the harbinger of rains, and one can hear the desperate but melodious peee-hu peee-hu in scorching heat when one badly looks forward to clouds. I can’t influence rains but I will urge all of us to keep small water bowls in gardens, and parks so these little feathered friends of ours are also able to live and breed happily.
Trivia: It’s not the Pied Cuckoo that brings the rain, instead it’s the onset of rainy weather that brings Pied Cuckoo to our region.
Another Trivia: Pied means Chitkabra in Hindi, meaning jumbled up colours. But mostly in birds, it refers to Black and White. So, you have Pied Cuckoo, Pied Kingfisher, Pied Starling. Can you name a Pied bird?
