Kestrel and Drongos in Mizoram

Kestrel

On 20/10/2013 I saw 1 Common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) from my room at Ritz Hotel in Aizawl. I saw it for about 20 minutes, as if protecting itself from rain. It sat in a ledge on the top floor, yellow claws and the black tips of the claws were clearly visible as was the yellow on the beak. Its posture was slightly different from what I have seen on the telephone towers at Saiha; possibly because of the location.

I noticed that the tail was not long (this came out since 2 wagtails came and perched about 10 – 15 feet away from it – albeit little higher – and helped comparison). It was not affected by the wagtails and their calling, only once in 20 minutes I understand it called, initially it was positioned perpendicular to me i.e. I faced its side with its head to my right and it twisted its neck with ease to as if look at me without being perturbed by my presence, the manner in which it moved its neck reminded me of the Spotted Owlet (Athene brama) owl I had seen at New Delhi. The later, of course, espoused far more grace.

Its feathers were ruffled on account of the drizzle which was on when I began looking at it and as the wind blew I saw a small feather (or a part of it) fly away from its body and it was a beautiful sight!, I could see the dark mark below its eyes as if moustache that came down not from edge of lips but corner of eyes! The eyes were also surrounded by a shade of white (if there is one!); it walked about 15 – 20 meters to the left as if to figure out if it should take a flight now that the drizzle had tapered off and then walked to and fro twice – as if seriously contemplating. Here I noticed that it took a while to take a turn, for it was uncomfortable, and it reminded me of myself during school days on a - fresh for me - ladder.

All this while neither it had flown nor had I observed the under wings; it then flew to a slightly higher point on the same under-construction building as if to take a final decision but after a few minutes it came back to one of the points that lay on its to and fro walk-line, it got dark and I had to move so I finally rested the binoculars.

On 21/10/2013 morning I looked for it at the very ledge around 6.30 am and then again 7.30 am but could not see it. It had perhaps begun its journey to Saiha to meet its friend on the telephone-tower!

Rishad Naoroji in his Birds of Prey of the Indian Subcontinent states Seen at regular intervals perched singly in staked-out, readily defended foraging territories on relatively low, bare or sparsely foliaged trees, posts, fences, telegraph poles and wires, communication pylons, stacks of harvested grass or crop, rocks, and even sand dunes if higher perches unavailable, from where hunting sorties are launched. Near human habitation observed feeding and roosting on church ledges under the eaves, and overhung ledges of old buildings, temples and ruins.

Drongos

On 08/02/2014 I was at Teirei (Mamit district) forest-department campus to take a short-walk above the IB. Just as the walk began – to my right I came across Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus), Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus remifer) and Spangled Drongo (Dicrurus bracteatus) on the same tree – and what a stunning sight it offered! Of the many around only this tree - Bombax Ceiba or Punchong in Mizo - was flowering and I for a moment wondered if the neighbours would be jealous! Bright red flowers when brought out against the green background Dampa Wildlife Sanctuary offers appeared all the more stunning. Both the red (of flowers) and black (of drongos) emerged in resplendent shades as sun bestowed its energetic winter light on them.

The drongos moved along the large and not so large branches of the tall tree; sucking nectar from the flowers. More than once I saw the drongos go almost upside down as if trying to suck the last drop. The 2 ‘racket-tails’ then appeared as if miniature rockets waiting to go off - up in air. To add to these the drongos created what resembled (while I am no musician) an animated orchestra and were joined in (during short visits) by an inquisitive Black-headed Bulbul (Pycnonotus atriceps). As I saw the drongos from close - with help of binoculars - I got more aware to their royal demeanor. I realized why Garos called them Do’pa raja (king of birds). They say it leads the other birds in search of food.

As I looked up and chatted with forest-department staff later I got aware to Mizos having separate names for 7 drongo species. Ecology is neither the only facet we are rich in nor the only we need to conserve!

Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo: Chang-hlawi

Ashy Drongo: Kak-pawl

Black Drongo: Thlan-thla-pui

Bronzed Drongo: Thlan-thia

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo: Va-kul

Spangled Drongo: Kuherkh

Crow-billed Drongo: Kulher-nu

Pradip Krishen in his Jungle Trees of Central refers to the tree species as one of those (along with Erythrina suberosa) whose flowers have evolved to attract birds and have very bright colours, especially reds and vibrant orange. This is because the eyesight of birds is most sensitive in the long wavelength (red) part of the light spectrum. Birds have little or no sense of smell, so bird-pollinated flowers waste no resources in trying to smell ‘nice’. In other words you can tell a bird-pollinated flower because it tends to be large, is borne on leafless branches (to be more conspicuous), opens in the morning (flower-visiting birds are mostly diurnal) and usually offers a bird visitor a suitable perch of some kind on or next to the flower. 

Many thanks to Mizoram Forest Department