Have
you my friends observed a Kingfisher flying around, diving to catch his meal
and flying back to sit on a branch/perch to enjoy his catch? There are a few
distinct phases in which he goes around doing his job.
Phase
I- This is the ‘fly in’ phase when he approaches his favourite
vantage point. Having brushed his teeth or should I say cleaned and sharpened
his beak on the branch where he spent the night, he gets into ‘shikari’
mode to go on a ‘recce mission’. His earmarked places are checked during
his fly past.
He
approaches one flying haphazardly. The flight is not a straight line but is
full of ‘dips’, He ‘darts’ doing ‘hop, skip and jump’. A fast flap of his
wings, then a pause with his wings pressed close to his body making it
aerodynamic. In between his shrill and boisterous call announces his arrival.
He checks if a perch is clear.
Phase
II- This is the ‘observation phase’. He sits ‘still’ with his neck
and head fixated at a target. The branch may move, the wind may disbalance him,
but his focus remains undeterred, like the main gun of a tank or BMP in
‘stabilized mode’. He dances like a ‘kathakali’ dancer, moving his neck from
side to side.
Phase
III- This is the ‘kill phase’. Having identified his prey, it is a
quick move to the target, a short hover and then a vertical dive. Once the
‘catch’ is in his beak, a quick exit. It could be over a water body for a fish
or frog or a bush for a grasshopper/chameleon. Then fly to that branch from
where he had launched that operation. It is rare that he comes back empty
handed but that is how it goes.
Phase
IV- In this phase he ‘showcases his prized possession’. A quick
whack to the left and then to the right. Then a pause. After giving his prey a
few knockout punches, he hurls his prey in the air to catch it head first.
Phase
V- Inch by inch the prey goes down his gullet and disappears. Once his
tummy is full, he lets out the ‘victory cry’. If his instinct tells him
that there isn’t any prey here, he moves on. Off he flies to another perch to
rest and digest his breakfast. I watched it live this morning.
Because
I was outside, he didn’t dare look at my fish. Mr Kingfisher concentrated on a
chameleon instead. As soon as I brought the camera out, he went hop skip and
jump across the row of houses.
Moment
the Kingfisher left, came a pair of Drongos. Black as black could be. Their
split tails help them keep their balance on swaying branches, as also when they
are in air, to take sharp turns while chasing insects. This was the second bird
I observed today. Now, I had my camera with me.
I am
not sure if they were a pair or a mom and daughter team. If the size of their
tails is a measure, then one definitely looked like a juvenile. But for a
novice like me to make out who was who, was very difficult. It didn’t matter
till the time they posed for me.
Initially,
they came and sat on the Drumstick tree on two different branches, a little
apart. Then something happened that they flew to the same branch and started
pecking each other. What were they agitated about, I don’t know. The tone and
tenor of their sounds and behaviour looked as if they were husband and wife
fighting with each other. If that be so, I am sure, I knew who the wife was.
Whatever
be their conversation, in between one would take a short flight, twist and turn
very fast in the air and catch something. I reckon it would be a bee as the
drumstick tree is flowering. There are tons of bees which come and collect
nectar.
The
Drongos are smart. They wait for a sparrow or a hummingbird to disturb a bunch
of flowers. The bees get distracted and leave in a hurry. The Drongos wait for
an opportune moment, take flight and catch their breakfast acrobatically and
return to a branch. Maybe, teasing each other that look I got one and you
didn’t and their conversations continued.
It
gets quite interesting when you start observing birds. For a layman like me, to
know their gender or age is out of the syllabus question. However, one does
enjoy their antics and the way they go around catching prey. There is
predictability but one cannot say that for certain.
Having
captured some good photos, I returned home. What else did I miss? I
wonder!!!!!!!
JAI HIND
© ® NOEL ELLIS
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