That was a hot and humid day of mid May. I was walking through the Mango orchard near our locality. Suddenly a bird with ribbon like tail fly pass me. That beautiful bird was Indian paradise flycatcher.
Indian paradise flycatcher (male)
The first time you see the mature gentleman in full regalia, you will be amazed totally. This is a graceful looking flycatcher and the adult male sport a long ribbon like tail. They perched upright at the edge of a branch, often near water. They are silvery-white bird,raffish inky blue-black crest and head, black eyes ringed with neon, a spiky black moustache, and two 45-50 cm long white streamers in its tail.
The females are cinnamon above with a grayish throat, a shorter tail, and they lack the male’s blue eye ring.
Indian paradise flycatcher (female)
It flies with all the grace of an Olympic rhythmic gymnast, the long tail trailing loops and scoops and figures of eight as the bird darts after insects.
Their breeding season from May to July. I've spotted two nest for their breeding. Their cup like nest made up of twigs and spider web. This spider webs give elasticity to the nest which is required for extra space during hatching. They use spider egg sac to build their nest. Spider egg sacs used as insulator to retain heat helping in hatching eggs.
The Nest: Made of Twigs, Spider web and Spider egg sac
They are monogamous in nature. The pairs remain faithful to each other and the female lays three to four eggs in the tidy little nest. They usually make their nest near that of a Drongofor protection from prey bird.
The male: Doing his duty
Both male and female take part in nest-building, incubation, brooding and feeding of the young. The incubation period lasts 14 to 16 days and the nestling period 9 to 12 days.
The hungry chicks waiting for their parents
The father: Feeding his baby
Both parents take care of incubation and bringing up the fledglings. Incubation lasts a fortnight, and the fledglings are ready to leave home in about a month.
Have a watch the video here to see their different activities.
10 Things Most People Don't Know About Indian roller
My last birding was a hot and humid day of mid July. The scorching sun on the sky. The grassland and bushes become greener due to the Monsoon rain. Suddenly a bird with blue shades fly smoothly from the corner of my eyesight. But within couple of seconds I'm able to identify the bird as an Indian roller.
The Indian Roller is a pretty bird belonging to the roller family of birds. Indian rollers are distributed across Asia, from Iraq and the United Arab Emirates in south-western Asia through the Indian Subcontinent, including Sri Lanka, Lakshadweep islands, and the Maldives Islands. The main habitat of these birds includes cultivated areas, thin forest, and grassland. Indian rollers are generally solitary birds that are often seen perched on prominent bare trees or wires. After waking up, they spend a few minutes preening followed by flying around their roosting sites.
The Indian roller is best known for its aerobatic displays of males during the breeding season.
A brightly colored bird with various shades of blue on the wings, tails, and belly that are often more prominent in flight.
Indian roller in flight
Indian roller favorite perching site is electric or telegraphic wires.
Indian roller on wire
These birds communicate with each other using a harsh crow-like 'chack' sound.
Generally, the rollers are monogamous and have only one partner.
During the breeding season, males attract females with an aerobatic display which includes twists and turns that give these birds their English name of "rollers.
Indian rollers are attracted by fires and they also often follow tractors to feed on disturbed invertebrates.
Adding chopped feathers of the Indian roller to grass and feeding them to cows was believed to increase their milk yield.
Indian roller eating insect on bush
Indian roller eating insect on bush
A local Hindi name of this bird is Neelkanth, meaning "blue throat"; this name is associated with the deity Shiva who drank poison resulting in the blue throat.
