Friendly Oriental Magpie Robins

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I started the birds in my backyard series with our national bird, Peacock. And coincidentally this one happens to be the national bird of our neighboring country- Bangladesh.

A bird majorly black in color with dark blue hue on its head, has white underbelly and a streak of it on the wings and the tail. Perches on trees and branches not too high or hops along the ground foraging for food under the dried leaves. An extremely noticeable bird not only due to its color which is stark contrast to its surroundings, but more so for its sweet and melodious call made during early mornings or evenings. I have mostly spotted oriental magpies in farms, gardens and bushes near villages so I assume they like to stay close to humans.

By now I can identify 3 to 4 different calls of this bird but yet to know what it means ( work in progress). It is very amusing to see its tail flick up and down in sync with its sallies. Quiet similar to the tail of the squirrel which moves involuntarily with each call. 😊 It feeds on insects, worms, small lizards and other crawlies from the ground.

I first got acquainted with this beauty when I was watering my plants and it followed me at an unusually close distance. Little did I know that it was utilizing my efforts of watering to its benefit. As soon as I watered, all the small insects would come out of their holes in the soil and would be an instant feed of this magpie robin. Definitely an adaptation made due to proximity to humans.
Seen in the pic is one of them taking a bath in the water kept for birds this morning. It later perched to one of the lower branches taking in the warm sunlight and preened it feathers to perfection. Wish I could capture all of it, but I am still struggling with my photography skills.
Hope to have better pictures as I read the manual and experiment more.


Oriental Magpie Robin foraging on ground.

                                                          Oriental Magpie Robin
Location: Mitthi, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 382210, India

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