Oriental White-Eyes seen from my balcony!

See its photo here

Saw this bird today morning on a bush full of big brushy red flowers. The bird was full of energy, constantly jerking its head in all directions, hopping about, occasionally scratching itself! A chubby little bird it is, and the white eye-ring was quite conspicuous. Its bottom too was noticeable as a bright yellow spot. There were two of them. I saw them yesterday too, except that was in the afternoon. Seeing this bird here in the suburbs of Pune was quite a delight! [:)] The last time (and the only time) I'd seen it was on an Industrial Visit organized by our college to some companies around Pune in January 2008. We'd been to a garden named after Indira Gandhi somewhere near Pimpri and I only got a glimpse of these birds, which were in a party of about 7-8 in the scrub-like forest.

This bird has an amazing camouflage! Its lemon green colour nearly blended it into the similar coloured leaves of the bush. Curiously enough, the bird was only tugging at the base of the long red flowers, which had many smaller "sub-flowers" all the way to the tip. Perhaps that's indeed the only way it could feed on the nectar by balancing itself. I recalled David Attenborough's documentary where he mentioned birds being attracted to reddish coloured flowers. I soon realised how much more fun it is to actually see things like these in real life!

There was a squirrel running all over the bush too, and the white-eyes were quite efficient in keeping out of its way. Later, a couple of Purple-Rumped Sunbird females paid a visit, and the bush was busy with activity. But it soon stopped, with the White-Eyes scurrying off to a nearby broad-leaved tree. Grimmet et al. certainly mention its habitat as "Open broad-leaved forest and wooded areas"! The leaves of this tree weren't that broad, but surely about as broad as those of a Cashew-nut tree. Perhaps it is a Cashew-nut tree!! Whatever it is, the bird could now be seen clearly against the dark leaves, albeit only for a few moments. It soon disappeared into the foliage. A perfect start to a Sunday morning!

Facts about the bird compiled from various sources:
Measuring about ~10cm from beak to tail-tip, the bird is a breeding resident found over most of the sub-continent. Its quite a common bird and breeds from February-September. Both sexes look the same, and its usually a gregarious bird. I've yet to find out what this bird feeds on, but I'm sure nectar would be on the menu!