White-spotted Fantail flycatcher (Rhipidura albogularis)

A wide spread resident bird of the Indian peninsula. One can never miss this little bird hopping and dancing in a garden, or a scrubby forest area.

I came across this bird in my sisters farm. In the corner of the farm was a clump of untouched bamboos. A very nice roosting and nesting place for the birds.  It was in these bamboos a pair of fantails had made a nest.  I made myself comfortable in the thorny surroundings of the bamboo and sat observing the bird activity.  To my surprise my presence near their nest did not seem to annoy the birds. One bird came and sat on the eggs, while the other kept on hawing flies nearby and merrily chirping all around me.  One my birding high was given to me by this bird, by perching on the toe of the outstretched limb. Remembering this after nearly twenty-five years today still gives me Goosebumps!

For the past 10 years now a pair of Fantails use my garden to make their nests. Sometime during mid May they make their appearance.  They spend two three weeks in courting and frolicking around, before they settle down to actual hard work of breeding. They normally start building their nest just before the onset of monsoon. The jackfruit tree is their most preferred nesting site. This tree is quite near to the rear entrance to my house, but the birds do not seem to mind our presence. The nest as many of us know is a neatly made cup.  I always used to wonder what do these little birds use to make this cup?  Last year these birds answered my question.  The bids de-bark the young tree branch. The brown bark is discarded. They extract the tender white fibres and use them with a saliva like secretion to make the cup. It is a very painstaking effort the little birds put in the bring their future generations in this world.

Generally small birds make their nests silently and secretly. They do not want their predators to know their nesting site.  The game of hide and seek is played in earnest by both the prey and the predators, for the winner gets life and looser death! The fantails don’t seem to care about the predators at all.  Every time one bird gets some fibre and puts it on the nest it gives its musical chirp from the nest itself, as if telling its partner I have done my bit now it is your turn.  The pair relies on its powers to shoo away predators. While these birds are nesting in my garden, it is out of bound area for the crows and the coucals. If a crow dares to come near the vicinity of the jackfruit tree both the fantails launch themselves in air like fighter jets and turn by turn keep pecking at the tail end of the crow.  The crow tries to fend off one attacker while the other hits out at its mark. The hit may not be painful but is insulting to the crow, which always leaves the area in disgust. The fantails are wise enough not to follow the crow leaving their nesting site unguarded.

Both parents take equal domestic responsibility from building the nest, incubating the eggs to feeding the young ones.  While one is attending to the domestic duties the other is always at an ear shot distance from the nest.  From May to October end my garden is practically ruled by these two little birds.  They ensure that there is never a dull moment from sun rise to sunset.

As I am writing this I can hear the merry calling of the Fantails from my window. They seem to urge us to take their example in  team work and apply it in our lives.

Text and photographs cannot be used without the permission of Jayant Deshpande.