2790) Leisure Time (Hobbies - Painting): i) About Tickell's Blue Flycatcher: ii) A painting titled "Tickell's Blue Flycatcher" by Veteran Wing Commander Anup Banerjee (Anupda):
Links to posts by Anupda on this blog:
1) Leisure Time - (Hobbies): The Musical Journey of Veteran Wing Commander Anup Banerjee (Anupda)
i) About Tickell's Blue Flycatcher (Cyornis tickelliae"):
The Tickell's Blue Flycatcher is a small perching/passerine bird in the flycatcher family.
It is an insectivorous species which breeds in tropical southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka to Indonesia, and eastwards to Bangladesh and Western Myanmar. It is blue on the upperparts and the throat and breast are rufous. It is found in dense scrub to forest habitats in secondary brush and scrub jungles, in foothills, in shady glades, slightly wooded deciduous country and bamboo clad ravines.
The species is named after the wife of the British ornithologist Samuel Tickell who collected information about these birds, while they were in India and Burma.
Tickell's blue flycatcher is about 11–12 cm long. It sits upright and forages mainly in the overgrowth.
The Male is a beautiful bird which has bright blue upperparts dark blue and the throat, breast and flanks are orange/red fading into the buffy white belly. The rest of the underparts are white. It has a smaller-billed profile, is less extensive orange, and has a paler face which distinguish this species from Male Hill Blue Flycatcher. Extensive orange on the throat separates Tickell’s from Blue-throated Flycatcher.
The Male is more intensely-coloured overall than the Female.
The Female is duller blue with a brighter blue brow, shoulder, rump and tail. Females are duller, and the red is reduced in intensity and extent.
It hybridizes with the Pale-chinned Flycatcher in the Eastern Ghats of India and these hybrids have sometimes been called the subspecies "vernayi".
The Juvenile is streaked and has a spotted mantle. Juvenile birds have scaly brown upperparts, head and breast, with just the wings and tail being blue.
The Tickell's Blue Flycatcher has sometimes been observed to feed even after dusk. Apart from flying insects they have been noted to occasionally glean crawling insects. They feed on flies, gnats, bees, insects, midgets etc.
The Bird favours open hill forests as well as forest edge, particularly in drier, scrubby areas, often close to water. Both sexes give a pleasant high-pitched tinkling song. Calls include dry rattles and metallic clinks - a sharp "click-click".
They make a small untidy nest in tree hollows and tree stumps.
The widespread species shows regional variations in plumage and size and several of these populations have been designated with subspecies names. The nominate form is found in India, Nepal and Myanmar.
The Sri Lankan population is termed "jerdoni" (or "nesea/mesaea") which is darker.
ii) The Painting titled the "Tickell's Blue Flycatcher" (by Veteran Wing Commander Anup Banerjee - Anupda):
1) Leisure Time Short Stories: Friends at the Crossroads
7) Leisure Time Short Stories: Connecting through several lifetimes: The Story of the "Panditji" (Priest) of the Hanuman Temple at Chandrasekhar Azad University, Kanpur
Santosh Khanna has commented:
ReplyDelete"A VERY interesting and informative article. Thanks for sharing."
Thank you so much Khanna sahab.
DeleteRajan Trikha has commented:
ReplyDelete"Very interesting Dear. You were also beautifully clicking the birds earlier. Keep us entertained by feeding your informative posts👍👍
Thank you so much Trikha sahab for the encouraging words.
DeleteAshok Borate has commented:
ReplyDelete"👌👌".
Thank you, Ashokji.
DeleteVijaylaxmi Shukla has commented:
ReplyDelete"Very nice 🙏🙏."
Thank you so much.
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