Fourteen years with birds!

One common habit of the Bulbul birds is to visit their favourite flights stations in our garden. The above seven stations are  in the flight paths of the Bulbuls in our garden. 

The Bulbuls are the commonest birds in our garden. There is one or a pair somewhere in the garden during most of the day. They like to  come closer to the human habitations. 

The last photo of a Bulbul with its bird call was in response to the food  it spotted in the feeding station. Most Bulbuls announce through bird calls when they spot food in the vicinity. 

I keep looking for any distinguishing feature I can identify in each Bulbul. I have not been successful in identifying in the commonly visiting Bulbuls any distinguishing physical feature. 

But I got familiar with the behaviour and the tone of the bird calls of some Bulbuls. That helps me to observe them and learn how they relate to their own species, other birds and squirrels. 

One distinguishing feature of Bulbuls is its habit of choosing to feed together in the feeding station. 

The Barbets feed alone. It is not common to find two or three Barbets together at the feeding station. They have a gregarious feeding habit. Some of them would even carry one banana and go to a solitary place to feed by itself. 

It is now 14 years since Anna and I have been resident in our cottage. We have come across different generations of birds. The bird behaviours change. One behaviour that is different since we have a food and water corner for them in our garden, is that birds are comfortable with each other. There is a sharing attitude between them. 

The two Bulbuls who come into the dining table of the cottage are the ones who have learned to ask for food. If there is no food in the feeding station, they will come to the dining area and call out for us. They would come to the dining room if there is banana kept on the table. Their bid calls for food are different from the usual bird calls. 

The largest number of photos I have taken in the last 14 years since living in our cottage is those of the birds. When we got a a booklet published two years ago, with photos of the common birds and description of their behaviour we observed in our garden, we thought that we have become familiar about their behaviour. 

Now two years later, we are still learning about bird behaviour that makes us even more curious to know more about their behaviour. Anna mentioned the other day, that it is time we have a coffee table book with the birds in our garden!

I find that the birds help us to be observant and patient. Some birds like the Tit below has an ultra short stay in one station. Its movements are so quick that half the time the photos I take are blurred. 

The Bulbuls on the other hand move slowly giving us time to watch and take photographs leisurely.  

Anna and I are grateful to the avian friends, who make our experiences in the garden refreshing each day!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)