Flying beauties of Himachal Pradesh

It is a small(about 12cm in size) active bird with grayish head, neck and breast.With greenish upperparts and bright yellow under parts both the sexes look similar. Abundant in forests and open wooded areas it breeds at an altitude of about 1200-2500m and can be seen in lower areas as well during winters. In Himalayas it is generally a short distance altitudinal migrant. The bird is very restless and can be seen turning and twisting in the air after insects and flies.

Ultramarine flycatcher is a beautiful bird(about 11cm in size) with male having deep blue upper parts. The sides of the head and neck are also deep blue with white eyebrow. A prominent white patch runs from centre of throat, through breast to belly. Female has grayish upperparts with blackish coloured edge of the tail. Sides of the neck and the breast are grayish white in colour. Occurring at an altitudinal range of about 1500-3200m, the bird keeps largely to low trees and bushes in open forests, bushy areas, grooves and gardens.

This beautiful bird is named after its typical shade of Copper Sulphate-blue. About 15cm in size the bird is black lored i.e. it has a dark patch between the eyes and the bill. It is widely distributed in open forests especially the broad-leave forests.the bird breeds between 1200-3000 meters but it moves down to the lower areas during winters.

Asian Paradise flycatcher can again be seen dancing like a kite as the spring spreads the wings. The bird is called  Dudhraj  in Hindi due to milky white colour of its body. The long white tail of the bird looks even more beautiful when it flies in a wavy motion up and down, manoeuvring in the sky to catch insects.The long tail is used to impress the female and may be for balancing the body during frequent changes of direction in flight.       The female on the other hand has got a short tail and the colour of the body is brown.The sub-adult males resemble the female, but the long tail makes the differentiation easier. The coming of Asian Paradise flycatcher highlights the struggle for existence among the birds.Being monogamous,both the female and male contribute in nest building,incubation, feeding and guarding the nest against predators.They can be seen scaring away the Yellow Billed Blue-Magpies wh...

This male Paradise Flycather is one of the most spectacular birds with beautiful combination of white/grey /black colours and metallic blue colour arround the eyes