Birds of Chandigarh

  A large-headed, beautiful bird with dark green feathers present in most residential areas of the city and very easy to locate these days in the backyard. Its name is derived from the Latin word Barba, meaning the beard ( also the root of the word “barber” ). This bird has a number of stiff, hair-like feathers or bristles that fringe its beak. It is a bird that is definitely most frequently heard these days, even if not easily seen. It goes kutrook – kutrook in a loud and repetitive fashion throughout the day. Where the male stops, the female picks up and vice versa. Barbets are primarily fruit-eating birds, though they don’t mind the occasional insect for a snack. Barbets serve the essential function of seed dispersal.

A common, “small-billed” golden-backed woodpecker with four toes. It is one of the few woodpeckers that are seen in urban areas. It has an undulating flight and characteristic rattling-whinnying call “ki-ki-ki-ki-ki,” which steadily increases in pace and ends in a trill. Propped against the side of a tree trunk, they rapidly hammer against the bark. This pecking behavior serves three purposes. The birds uncover and eat adult insects, their eggs and larvae, and other invertebrates living in or under the bark and in the wood of the tree. The birds also drill holes in dead or dying trees in which to nest. The third reason for hammering is for communication. Woodpeckers declare their territories and seek mates by what is called “drumming”. This is why you might see a flicker pounding on a metal power pole or your house siding – to make the loudest sound he can, not to look for food or drill a hole, but to make a statement.