This is a narrative of birds commonly encountered at IIT Kanpur. The campus may be particularly attractive for birds since it is a virtual oasis of green amid the surrounding agricultural land; this checklist lists 259 bird species that have been sighted around here.
I am no bird expert. Until some years ago, I didn't know a cattle egret from a little green bee-eater. The birds shown here are not rare or special - they are just everyday birds, birds that may drop in at your lawn. Most were photographed while walking around my house, but many are from other areas such as the orchard behind the airstrip and the reservoir near it, or the barA nahar (Ganga Canal). See more on bird-sighting spots at IITK below.
While most of the images are nearabout the IIT campus, these birds are actually common across most of Northern India (Gangetic plains), and some are common much beyond. As one goes West, things get drier, and birds like the drongo or the pied myna become rarer.
If you come across an exceptionally artistic picture, it is probably the work of Sainath Vellal, who did his Master's here 2006-2008. Some other pictures have also been contributed (see below), and do let me know if you would like to contribute any pictures here. (amit [AT] iitk.ac.in).
Those from IITK may visit the page [Birds of IIT Kanpur] created by Prof. TV Prabhakar, which lists more than two hundred species that have been seen at IITK, incorporating the descriptions from the Book of Indian birds as well as non-IITK photographs. Unfortunately this page is not available outside IITK, but I have updated and made an HTML version of the checklist that was originally created in the 70s by Raman Athreya and others, as well as this PDF version which includes the local (Hindi) names. Note that abour 50 of the bird species are from Bithoor on the Ganga and are typically not encountered on campus. A more recent attempt at creating a list, by Sainath and Suhail, may be found here. See more links below.
Yet I didn't know its name for nearly a decade at IITK. Hindi legend has it that the babbler flocks are mostly females - which is why they are known as sAt bahin (seven sisters). But perhaps that has more to do with how they are forever squabbling and fighting - wrestling pairs from a group will pin each other to the ground in a flurry of claw and feathers. You can hear them uttering a single intermittent "squaw" through the day, but often they make other calls as well.
In particular, when a cat or a snake is near, they go into a
frenzy hurling invective at the intruder (Click on the adjacent image
for the photo-story of What the Babblers think of the Cat... )
Birds, like everything around us, hold more interest as they are more uncommon. This is as it should be, since non-surprising phenomena contain less information. But I realized it firsthand when I found myself reluctant to turn the camera onto babblers, despite their fascinating social behaviour.
In the middle image,
Notice how much birds can inflate when
they breathe! (Click on images to enlarge)
These birds (size:Myna-) visited my garden in small groups of 2 or 3 about twice a week or so through the pre-winter flowering season. The brilliantly coloured crimson-breasted variety is quite common across India, even in urban areas.
Finally, an artistic contribution from Sainath, practically from
his hostel window in Hall 7:
You can see bee-eaters in most open spaces, sitting on wires, and tall reeds of grasses, their tail having the distinctive thin wire-like bit coming out in the middle. They are amazingly acrobatic, catching insects on the wing. They'll often be sitting on the wires; near the airstrip is a good bet. The first two images are from Sainath (you can tell from the quality).
And now, one more amazing capture by Sainath. The bee-eater on the right
looks on jealously while the other gobbles his catch :
Here are some more images.
The "vent" is that red tuft at the bottom of the tail:
I have seen the rock chat singing away
in solitary splendour around
April-May, which may be their mating season. They can often be seen
on prominent roof corners of buildings, and are well-known for their
ability to mimic the songs of several species.
From close
up, it looks rather scary, with those huge talons (see the third image, 0277)
and the eyes and furry black head like something leftover from a horror
movie.
These images are of the same individual, who transited through my
garden almost every day for a few weeks in April 07.
Murphy's Law: They never call when you are looking at them.
Proof: You are so focused on looking through the lens that you can't hear.
One April morning the cuckoo to the left was sitting on a branch, serenading away to the world, when another male cuckoo quietly landed on the same branch to its right. There was a ritual sparring, after which the intruder flew off again. In photo 2857 the original inhabitant (to the left) is staring down the other.
The little egret has a darker beak than the cattle egret, and is rarely seen away from water bodies. When I started this page, I had labelled these as cattle egret, thanks to Ramit Singal for correcting it!
The hoopoe is commonly seen even in urban areas across India.
In IIT, it visits our
lawns, and can also be seen near
the Visitor's hostel. The fluffed up crest and the flip-flop flight makes
it rather remarkable, and one remembers it.
This one was photographed in Giridih, Jharkhand.
A pair of Hornbills have been regular visitors to the top branches of my garden since last November. They come from the West, around nine in the morning, sit amicably for about half an hour, and wing on eastwards.
And now a fascinating image from Sainath. The hornbill uses mud and feces to
seal its nest; the female stays inside for the entire incubation and is fed
through a hole by the male.
This is the bird that got me interested in bird photography - October 2005, Delhi. Image 3 (with the blue tail visible) is from the banks of the Ganga in Bithur. It is also called the White-Throated Kingfisher.
Large brownish kite, matched most features of Pariah Kite, which is the most common raptor in urban areas. Sometimes the feathers may separate in flight seeming like a tear (they are attached to the bone at the front of the wing).
The rest of the images are from a kite nesting family in Calcutta. I have a small doubt about their ID though, because the pariah kite is supposed to have a forking tail; this one shows it only in some views. Mostly though, the descriptions match.
You often see them in flight:Building the nest:
Next time around, there were two juveniles in the nest. When I shot this
photograph I thought there was only one bird, standing
prominently a little above the nest, but if you look closely you
can see the other
one - see if you can
find him? It is amazing how much their striped skin is meant to look like
the texture on the branch. He's
hidden in the foliage on the branch to the top right of the image,
looking down at the other nestling (you can
see the larger picture by clicking on the thumbnail).
A large brown bird (somewhat larger than a pigeon) with a black head and neck, brown and white colour, with thin yellow legs. Often seen near water, along with other waterbirds. However, a pair has taken up residence on the roof of Prof. Gajbhiye's house (618), and terrorizes lane 32 with their loud call, day and night: "Did-you, Did-you, Did-you do it?", especially if they see a dog or a cat.
The first image [2041], finds it sitting on the roof of H. 618, which it colonized for much of 2007-08. Though there are don't seem to be any water bodies nearby, Prof. Gajbhiye is kind to them and often keeps his lawn wet, and then these birds will sink down to the belly on the wet grass. They often actively dig out earthworms from the ground.
In flight, The V-shaped white stripe (see image under Little Egret) is very distinctive.
Although this bird is quite common, and sports such brilliant colours,
it is relatively less known, being often mistaken for the common myna.
This species has been re-named "Brahminy Starling" at an international congress
with no representation from India. In fact,
the entire Myna range was renamed "Starling", throwing out a fact lamented
by Indian ornithologist J.C. Daniel in
Mynas love exploring holes, and this one in the gulmohar tree is a
favourite. The Brahminy enters head first, disappearing completely,
but manages to turn around inside the hole and re-emerge head first.
Occasionally, it might have an insect too...
And don't forget to read the story of the Brahminy Swimming Pool.
Totas are known to be very smart animals. Like many other birds, use their
limbs very creatively. Here
you can see a tota holding a bottlebrush flower with one hand (oops,
claw).
Finally, the story of a young parakeet, who was a bit too greedy. On top of that, he wasn't too smart, and he had a slight problem. Click on this image or link to read the story of The Foolish Tota on the Guava Tree.
The plum-headed parakeet has a yellow beak, and a thin blue tail with a white tip. It is a bit smaller, is more yellowish-green, and has quite a distinctive shape. The head is distinctly reddish, as opposed to the full green on the rose-rigned.
Earlier, the plum-headed parakeet used to be also called the blossom-headed
parakeet. But Grimmett/Inskipp consider these as different species; the
blossom-headed is similar but has a yellowish tip to its tail.
This dove has a half ring around the back of the neck. Here it is trying to
engage a brahminy myna in conversation at the top of a babool tree. The
second image, due to Sainath, has them involved in a morning argument.
This has a stippled pattern on the wings, and also on the back of the neck (rather than on the sides for the Laughing dove). It is yet another bird that is more common in eastern India.
We may conclude that...those males which are best able by their various charms to please or excite the female, are under ordinary circumstances accepted. If this be admitted, there is not much difficulty in understanding how male birds have gradually acquired their ornamental characters...The wasteful tail is an honest indicator of the individual's "fitness", so that the female who chooses to mate with it is assured of a high-quality gene. Some people think that by analogy, human brains may be a peacock's tail, they are quite unnecessary and expensive, and may only serve for being attractive to the opposite sex. See this article I wrote some years ago in my column Storytelling Science in the Hindustan Times.
Amazingly, no sparrow ever visits my garden. I have seen them in Kanpur city though, e.g. on the tracks at the railway station. Sparrows (like most birds) are masters at hopping (middle image).
These had me foxed for a long time. Though these birds look like several different species, it turns out that the male Purple Sunbird changes its plumage dramatically over the year.
Sunbirds and hummingbirds both have curved beaks and a hovering style of feeding, but they aren't related - these features are just an example of convergent evolution. /P>
More about [How I discovered sunbirds].
I saw this only one day, that also for a few minutes. Thanks to B. Ravindran for ID'ing it. It is now called the Black-rumped Flameback.
This tiny restless bird is a frequent visitor, sipping on the flowers. Even if you can't make out the white ring around the eye, you cannot mistake the yellow-orange colour, and the tiny size, as it jumps from branch to branch, sometimes in small groups. Getting a white-eye to sit long enough for you to photograph it is a rarity.
These images are from the bottlebrush tree in October, and from a Delhi
park in April.
These are just the most common birds that one sees, the ones (I think) I have been able to figure out.
There are many more birds on campus, that one sees less frequently. In the page Less Common Birds, I list some of these:
There are a whole lot of other birds that one sees on campus, but I just don't know their names. Please check up on them at this page of Unidentified Birds.
In the last two years, the pump that fills this tank with waste water has been malfunctioning (yes, that long!), so the reservoir has gone completely dry. The pond has become dense muddy jungle, and birdlife has also gone down. As of January 2010, however, I was told that the pump has been repaired, but it will be a many months before the pond comes back...
Meanwhile,
the oxidation
tank near hall 8 is worth a visit. The perimeter road running beyond
it is also worth a visit.
Birds are tricky to photograph. They are never still, and they will move, as if with great deliberation, between locations with great lighting disparity, e.g. from a background of foliage to where they are silhouetted against the bright sky.
Also, the work begins only after you have taken the actual photo. Thank heavens for the digital era, but now you have the problems of plenty. You have to collate the images, sort them by quality, bird name, venue, time, etc. You have to crop, cut, and resize them. And if you are planning to make webpages, you have to create thumbnails ... the work is endless. And it can be very very consuming. Very detrimental for a normal civilized existence.
Nonetheless, there is great satisfaction in it of course, which is why the breed of bird photographers is constantly increasing.
Note on Camera: Most of the pictures on this website were taken on the Canon EOS 350D DSLR with a Canon 55-200 f4.5-5.6 lens. However, I would not recommend a zoom lens for such photographs, a fixed telephoto, 300mm or higher, with image stabilization, may be better (Sainath uses a 400mm lens). But these lenses are rather unwieldy, and the cost, around Rs. 1 lakh, can be prohibitive. I have recently got a superzoom compact camera - the Canon SX20IS; with the lens going to 560mm, this is quite a competent alternative, in a much more compact format.
