Young Birdwatcher's Club

Black Drongo, as the name suggests is a bird which could be distinguished from even far off due to its shiny blueish black colour and agility. Perched on top branch or a stem, with two very prominent tail feathers forming V shape, this bird is a excellent hunter of insects and bees flying mid-air. Black Drongos are very protective of its territory and aggressively react to invasions by other birds, even larger in size. Common across Indian Sub-continent, these birds are a common sight in agriculture field as well as in places with green cover in cities. Todays we are presenting some photographs and a video of Black Drongo pair, permanently residing in our society in Ahmedabad. These beautiful birds have adapted to urban invasion.  The snaps/video are taken in my own garden (on our Kadamba Tree) today morning....   

A short and stocky bird commonly found across the Indian Subcontinent is a resident of wetlands.  It is about 30 -40 cms long and a thick yellowish beak and a brownish plumage, Indian Pond Herons mainly survive on fishes and amphibians.  During the mating season males grow a very distinct greyish white plumage.   These birds are normally found with other wading birds around ponds, rivers, canals and streams.  They have excellent camouflage which sometimes enables to approach them till a close range before it takes the flight.  Because of this, there are many myths around this bird that it is short sighted but actually extremely focused on its prey. We were lucky to sight one Pond Heron at Indroda Nature park, Gandhinagar to be able to capture photographs and videos of it hunting fish in the waterlily pond and we are happy to share the same with you all.