Bird Watching - House Crow

House Crow

Crow... Yes Crow!! Most familiar bird for all of Us, we don't need any description to identify this bird.
Crows are birds known for their intelligence and adaptability, and for their loud, harsh "caw."

Local names

Hindi- Kowwa
Malayalam - Kakka
Tamil - Kakkai

The forehead, crown, throat and upper breast are a richly glossed black, whilst the neck and breast are a lighter grey-brown in colour. The wings, tail and legs are black.

Crows live in close association with man and obtain its livelihood from his work.
Has no particularly food preferences,will eat almost anything. House crows have also been observed swooping down from the air and snatching baby squirrels.
It lays 3–5 eggs in a typical stick nest, and occasionally there are several nests in the same tree.

 Pictures:

TVH Taus, Chennai (2020)

Bird Watching - Rock Dove Pigeon

Blue Rock Pigeon

The rock dove or Blue rock pigeon is often simply referred to as the "pigeon".

yes.. Our very own pigeon. The only bird i knew, other than the common crow  when i was a child. The coo sound they produce makes it easy to identify that a pigeon nest is there on the window ledges of your building.

You can see these birds in large groups in all most all major cities around the world.

Rock Pigeons crowd streets and public squares, living on discarded food and offerings of birdseed.

Local Names
Hindi - Kabutar
Tamil - Mada Pura
Malayalam - Kutta Pravu

It has a dark bluish-grey head, with glistening metallic green, purple and magenta sheen on neck and the upper breast. It has two dark bars on wings and a band across the end of tail. Both the sexes are alike.

This pigeon nest on building ledges, walls or statues. They may damage these structures via their feces; starving birds can only excrete urates, which over time corrodes masonry and metal. In contrast, a well-fed bird passes mostly solid feces, containing only small amounts of uric acid.

The rock dove breeds at any time of the year. 

The nest is a flimsy platform of straw and sticks, laid on a ledge, under cover, often on the window ledges of buildings

Two white eggs are laid; incubation, shared by both parents, lasts 17 to 19 days.

 Pictures:

TVH Taus, Chennai (2020)

Srinivasa Classic, Bangalore (2018)

Bird watching - Yellow Billed Babbler

Yellow-billed Babbler

The most common visitor in my balcony, The above picture is very recent, i took it today.

Most of the time they are seen in group. It is a noisy bird, The presence of a flock may generally be known at some distance by the continual chattering, squeaking and chirping produced by its members. 

Local Names
Malayalam - Kariyilakkili
Tamil - Thavittu kuruvi, Pandri Kuruvi.

These birds have grey brown upper parts, grey throat and breast with some mottling, and a pale buff belly. The head and nape are grey.The rump is paler and the tail has a broad dark tip.

Some interesting things about Yellow-billed babbler

This bird is not migratory, and has short rounded wings and a weak flight and is usually seen calling and foraging in groups.

The Yellow-billed Babbler is a common resident breeding bird in Srilanka and southern India. 

Its habitat is scrub, cultivation and garden land.  

They feeds mainly on insects, but also eat fruit and human food scrap.

It builds its nest in a tree, concealed in dense masses of foliage. 

The normal clutch is two to four turquoise blue eggs,The eggs hatch after 18 to 21 days.

References

Various Bird watching websites 

'The Book of Indian Birds'- Salim Ali

 Pictures:

TVH Taus, Chennai (2020)

Chettikulangara, Kerala