This is that time of the year when very often we would wake up to a beautiful bird song, shrill and melodious. No matter where we are, be it the busy city of Panjim or the markets of Margao this beautiful song can be heard almost everywhere between March and July every year, for this is a very special time of the year in the lives of the Oriental Magpie Robin. Every year during these three months the Oriental Magpie Robins go through a very elaborate courtship ritual followed by raising the next generation of young Magpie Robins.
This species is distributed throughout the country and can be found in very diverse habitats, right from deep forests till thickly populated human areas. The bird is eight inches long, with the male having a pied plumage, meaning their plumage consists of only two colours- white and black. The male has black upper parts and white lower parts, while the female is grayish black above and a duller shade of white below.
Globally this species is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent, and entire south-east Asian region. They have also been introduced in Australia recently. Most of us would have encountered this bird in two ways, during the breeding season the male will perch on a high place and start singing loudly to attract females while in the non breeding season we would have seen them hopping around bushes and undergrowth looking for food. Dr. Salim Ali the Bird Man of India has written very detailed and lovely notes on the behavior of this species during the breeding season.
Nest is usually an untidy cup made of grass, leaves and other odd materials like rags, spider silk and so on. They will also readily nest in gaps in the walls, crevices and nest boxes kept for them. Each brood has usually three eggs. The female spends more effort than males in feeding the chicks while the male usually focuses on protecting the nest from intruders. During the breeding season the males become so territorial and aggressive that they will chase any other bird that comes within a few meters of its territory and will also peck at its on reflection during this period.
The song of Oriental Magpie Robins has been subjected to a lot of research. It has been found that the males’ songs have dialects. Songs of males from different regions are quite different from each other. Sometimes the song of the males will have portions of calls and songs from other species of birds that it imitates.
Because of their wide distribution range, the Oriental Magpie Robin is classified as Least Concerned by International Union for Conservation of Nature. This species is also the National Bird of Bangladesh. The probability off finding this species nesting in the vicinity of your house is quite high in the next two months. In case you do find them around, please observe them from a safe distance and do not disturb them. For other instructions, do look up last Sunday’s column.
Image Credit: Mangirish Dharwadkar
