(The content is contributed to The Sundarban Times by Het Ambaliya)
BIRDS OF
SUNDARBAN
Do you know
our green Sundarban is also a home of many birds? They make Sundarban more
beautiful! How many birds have you spotted in Sundarban? Can you name all of
them? All birds have unique names and there’s a defined guidelines for giving
them the names. For example, we see pigeon daily but do we know their
differences and names? There are Domestic pigeon, Feral pigeon, Rock pigeon, Band-Tailed
Pigeons and many more.
Today, let
us learn about a small bird named Indian White-eye. Name of this
bird is recently changed, earlier it was named as Oriental White-eye.
Its Hindi name is बबूना and Marathi name is चष्मेवाला (गारडोळी
किंवा गाऱ्या पाखरू).
You can
spot this bird in Sundarban premises during this season. They are identified by
the distinctive white eye-ring and overall yellowish upperparts. See the photo.
Indian White-eye is a small (9-10cm long) and
beautiful bird. They have yellowish olive upper parts, a white eye ring (and
hence the name J),
yellow throat and vent, whitish grey belly. Male and female of this bird looks
similar. They are little difficult to see inside green leave because they
camouflage due to their yellowish olive upper parts.
Generally, they forage in small groups, feeding on nectar and small insects on the flowers. As they rarely descend to the ground, you have to look trees having lots of flower to find them. Their breeding season is February to September.
Indian White-eye helps nature by pollinating the flowers when they visit them for their food.
Here you can hear their song and their call here.
Next time, we will know about other bird. In the meantime, click this link to see many birds of the Sundarban.
(Photo courtesy Ashvin Ambaliya)
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