Researchers' Corner

Wayanad has always granted me countless memories, many of them from the time spent watching birds. But the memory lane of my tryst with the Legge’s Hawk Eagle stands out the most: not because of the bird itself, but because of how the entire four-month journey...

"I scanned the area with my binoculars and noticed a group of shorebirds moving around the mudflat, pecking and probing the invertebrates in the mud. Their agile movements and foraging patterns were mesmerizing. Suddenly, a large shadow swept over the mudflats, and shorebirds began simultaneously darting in the air."

"I looked around and finally spotted the source: a large Prosopis shrub that almost looked like a tree, standing next to a Salvadora persica. To my surprise, there was a small flock of birds with muddy-colored feathers and distinctive beaks, feeding on the Salvadora. I wasn't sure of the species, but I had a hunch they might be the..."

It was a bright day, and I was ready for the day-long data collection. I eagerly scanned for the swiftlets, but they were nowhere to be seen. By noon, I had spotted Little Swifts, Asian Palm Swifts, Swallows, and every other bird except the Indian Swiftlet!

I was always fascinated by hornbills (called 'hangrayo' in the locally spoken language Nepali) as a child. However, I live at an elevation of around 1600m, and hornbills are rarely seen in the forests around this altitude in Darjeeling. This is likely due to the extensive tea plantations and monoculture of non-fruiting trees, which have fragmented the forest landscape. Yet, stories of hornbills once frequenting my native place always intrigued me.

“As I navigated through the underbrush, I suddenly heard the unmistakable whoosh of large wings cutting through the moist air. The sound was immense, almost like the roar of wind through the trees, but I knew it was the flight of something extraordinary.”

“He then presented the shiny object to the female, placing it gently on the ground near her. The female, in turn, would inspect the gift with great interest, often picking it up and carrying it back to their nest. This wasn't just a one-time event. I observed the male bringing numerous gifts, each time performing his courtship dance with the same enthusiasm.”

“And at last… one fine evening.. just before sunset, when we climbed up on a river island.. We heard the call “chirik chirik”. I turned to my colleague to know if he was doing a playback and just then, I saw four males flushing from a thicket only a few metres from me.”

"On that specific day suddenly, there were alarm calls from all the lapwings and all of them flying in the air, flapping their wings. There was eeriness in the air. Then we saw a rat snake trying to feed on the eggs of the ground-nesting lapwing."

“But then Sherlock showed what birds can do! I started training him for the new sequence and within just one week, he learnt it. The best part is, he could discriminate between the sequences easily (I did not expect this at all), thus acquiring both techniques to solve the problem.”