Understanding the Life of Indian Blue Robin Bird'

Understanding the Life of Indian Blue Robin Bird’

Indian Blue Robin Luscinia brunnea (Hodgson, 1837)

Kingdom - Animalia Phylum - Chordata Class - Aves Order - Passeriformes Family - Muscicapidae Genus - Luscinia Species - brunnea

ABOUT THE BIRD/- The Indian Blue Robin is a small sized bird of about 15 cm length and also known as Indian Blue Chat in the Indian Subcontinent. The bird shows well marked sexual dimorphism. The adult male has dark blue upperparts and bright orange or rufous colored underparts. The undertail and lower side of belly are whitish colored. The peculiar identification feature is the presence of white stripe above the eyes. This white stripe contrasts with the black mask present around the eyes. The female has brown upperparts and light colored eye-ring. It shows cursor movements during nesting phase.

DISTRIBUTION/- It breads in the Himalayas in India. The Himalayan population show migration in winters. They migrate to Western Ghats of Southwest India.

BEHAVIOUR/- Indian blue robins prefer to stay in dark and dense Forests. Sometimes they make their nests in the tea gardens, just to full fill their need of dark, dense and bushy habitat. Blue Robins are insectivorous and feed on the ground insects. They show frequent flicking of tail and utter a low but sharp note.

LIFE CYCLE/- The breeding season is May to July. This bird breeds in Himalayas and then migrates to Southwest of India. The nest is placed just few feet above from the ground in the bushy vegetation or placed on the ground between the roots of large trees. Nest is made up of small roots and barely thick sticks. The female lays 4 light blue eggs in the beginning of breeding season. Incubation of eggs is shown only by female while male plays an important role in feeding the young.

Broods come out after the hatching off eggs. The young broods are depend on their parents but after 3-4 weeks they take their first flight and start living their own life. The southward migration begins in the early September or in late August. Indian Blue Robin birds spend their winters in Southern India and migrate back to Northern Himalayas in the month of April where they repeat their life process.