Young Birdwatcher's Club

Indian flying foxes are large bats, probably the largest in the world.  They are also known by the other name of the Fruit bats.  As the name suggests they survive on fruits, plants and insects sometimes.  The bats are nocturnal i.e. they stay awake at night and relish fruits on the trees.  They live in colonies i.e. large groups and stay dormant during the day.  Bats are mammals, that is, they give birth to their young ones, which are called 'pups'.   These bats visit us daily to eat the fruits of the Kadamba tree and Borsali tree.  One can hear the busy cacophony of these bats in the wee hours.  Right after the Sun set you can see them hovering around these trees.  Sometimes they fly so low and over your head that you can hear their wings flapping. One of the most misunderstood and hated creature as they are nocturnal and are mythically connected to the world of black magic are hunted down and culled in large numbers making them on the verge of extinction across the globe.  T

Treepie is a good looking bird of the size of Mynah with a long tail. It is quite a common resident of the gardens and compounds with good vegetation.  It can make various kinds of noises and are very vocal during mating season. Its black head and chestnut brown feathers with white belly make them stand out among other birds. A beautiful long tail feather and curved sharp beak give it a majestic look. They are spread across the subcontinent but mostly over the areas with good amount of rainfall.  It survives on insects, fruits and is a notorious thief of eggs and small chicks of other birds, it also hunts down lizard and small rodents.  Treepies are very aggressive and can defend itself against bigger birds quite well.  We have a pair of Indian Treepie living in our society for past few years, whose photographs are presented in this blog.