I got interested in birding about a year back. A trip to Ranganathittu, followed by a day-outing to the The Outback Farm and countless drives thro Ragihalli forest piqued my interest in birding. However, what really sustained the interest was birding from my balcony. Once I started noticing and observing birds around me, I was amazed at the number of birds which could be sighted from the comforts of my balcony and bedroom window. The birds sighted around my home are all common city birds. However, since I was new to birding and could earlier ‘ID’ only common city birds like crows, pigeons etc, finding 30+ species around home, was both amazing and surprising.

Below are the birds, we sighted around my home, ordered from most commonly sighted to the least. Unless mentioned otherwise, all the pics are taken from my balcony.

1. Black/Pariah Kite

Black Kites are very common in Bangalore. A couple of them can be seen and heard anytime in our backyard either gliding in the air or just sitting on the electric poles. Its dark color is reflected in its scientific name: Milvus migrans govinda. I think the high population of Black kites in Bangalore is a side effect of the garbage problem that afflicts Bangalore today.

2. Rock pigeon

3. Common Myna

4. Large-billed Crow

5. Greater Coucal

Also known as महोख in hindi, I think our backyard is home to at least a pair of them. These are mainly sighted flying from one tree to other. They can heard far easily as they have a loud, deep resonant call. Sometimes, I have also seen them on ground, foraging for insects. This bird is found across India and many consider sighting/hearing one to be auspicious.

6. White-throated Kingfisher

I think it is a lone kingfisher which calls our backyard home. I have seen it almost everyday of the past year sitting on the electric wire, waiting patiently for its prey. Even if its raining heavily, you can rely on this kingfisher along with the munias and bee eaters to maintain their vigil.

7. Green bee eater

There is a family of bee eaters which moved in sometime in monsoons. I don’t remember seeing them last summer. However, once they moved in, they can be now seen every day siting on the electric wire, swooping down to catch insects. I have noticed boys from the nearby slum trying to hunt them unsuccessfully with slingshots.

8. Asian Koel

Koels can also be regularly sighted everyday, however like coucals, its easier to hear them than spot them.

9. Red-Whiskered Bulbul

Sapthagiri Splendor is home to a few pairs of bulbuls. They can be seen on the trees in the backyard and on the Singapore cherry trees in the front. They have a nice melodious call.

10. Pale-billed flower pecker

The Singapore cherry trees on the front side of Sapthagiri splendor is home to a few pairs of these flower peckers. These are the tiniest birds found in India. Spotting them when they are on the tree is difficult due to their tiny size and the dense foliage, however, they do sometime sit on the electric wires on top of the tree. They have a peculiar call which once identified can be heard all over Bangalore. The pic below is taken at : DoresaniPalya Forest Campus.

11. Purple-Rumped Sunbird

This is a very beautiful bird which is endemic to India. It feeds mainly on nectar. The ‘bird of paradise’ flowers in the backyard and the Yellow Bells bush are the favorite haunts of these birds.

12. Common Tailorbird

A pair of tailorbirds are regular visitors to our campus. They can be seen hopping on the boundary wall and the lawns below probably looking for insects. Since they visit the campus every day, I guess their nest must be on one of the trees nearby. I have not been able to spot their nest yet.

13. Rose-Ringed Parakeet

There are 3-5 Pink Poui/Tabebuia rosea trees in front of my bedroom window. When these tree are in full bloom in spring, I have seen parakeets visit these and snack on the flowers.

14. White cheeked Barbet

These barbets are very common in Bangalore. This is another bird which is heard more often than seen. These are small green birds with loud and repetitive call. Once you have ‘id’ed the call, you will start noticing it everywhere in Bangalore. I have not managed to photograph them from my home yet, the photograph below is taken at : DoresaniPalya Forest Campus

15. Barn Swallow

Barn swallows was the first bird which got me interested in birding. When I moved into my current apartment couple of winters back, I started noticing these small birds flying around in weird patterns. I never saw them sitting down and hence it was difficult to get a decent picture of them or even to notice their distinguishing features. With no background in birding, it took my considerable time to identify the species. For a very long time, I thought them to be Swifts. And then after a few months these birds disappeared. When they reappeared next winter, I realized that these were migrants and were in fact swallows.

These swallows are migrant visitors to our apartment. They are generally seen flying around in unpredictable trajectories as they chase around insects. They have a marked fork-tail which helps them in performing such expert maneuvers mid-air.

16. Scaly breasted Munia

A family of 3-4 munias made our backyard their home for a couple of months post monsoon. While they were here, we could spot them everyday on the trees and the electric wires along with the bee eaters. These are gorgeous sparrow sized birds, hopefully they will be back next monsoon which is their breeding season.

17. White-browed Wagtail

A solitary wagtail can be often spotted near the swimming pool. I have also seen them on the electric wires in the backyard. As suggested by their hindi name: ‘Dhobin’, these are generally found near water bodies. You can read about an interesting incident here: Wagtail at my window

18. Dove

A couple of doves are often seen perching on the electric wires or foraging on the ground.

19. Pond Heron

A couple of pond heron visits from time to time.

20. Egret

Quite a few egrets visit the backyard. They are generally seen after the rains or following the cattle.

21. Drongo

Drongos was a regular visitor in the summer. They stopped coming post monsoon. Last spring and summer they were a daily visitor. I hope they will start visiting us again as the temperature gets warmer.

22. White breasted Waterhen

As the name suggests these are found near water bodies. I was very surprised to spot two them from my balcony early one morning. They were here for couple of days before heading off to one of the lakes nearby.

23. Shikra

Shikras are a remarkable bird. It is a relatively small raptor. Around the size of a pigeon, these are hard to spot as they hide themselves in dense foliage. As suggested by their name, they are fearless hunters and can take down other birds much bigger then them. If spotted in open, I have noticed that other birds and squirrels raise quite an alarm. From my balcony, I once saw a shikra attacking a female Koel. The Koel managed to escape the predator’s clutch.

24. Brahminy Kite

Brahminy Kites are very common in Bangalore and can be spotted easily near water bodies, However, I have spotted them only a couple of times from my balcony. I have observed that they generally visit us post rains. I have not managed to take a photo of these kites from my home yet.

25. Golden Oriole

Golden Oriole is a common bird in India and can be seen on native trees like banyan or mango. However, at my home, I have managed to spot them just once last spring, hiding in the pink poui tree. We took this pic when I was new to birding and the presence of this beautiful bright golden bird pleasantly surprised me.

26. Rosy Starling

These are yet another migrants to visit us in winters. Last spring a flock of around 20 birds made our backyard home before heading to their summer homes in Europe. This winter, I spotted quite a few of them during my walks near The Valley school. However, I haven’t noticed them in our backyard yet this year.

27. Ashy Prinia

As suggested by its hindi name: फुत्की, it is a small bird. It is a very common bird and can be heard easily, however, I found them a little difficult to spot and photograph due to the small size.

28. Pied Bush chat

I am not 100% sure about this one. I think this one is a pied bush chat. A pair was nesting on the grounds behind our apartment.

29. Red-wattled lapwing

This is the only bird in the list which I have not seen from my balcony. However, I have heard them almost every night. Almost every night, their unmistakable calls can be heard at about 10 pm. The photograph below is taken at The Valley School walk.

30. Cormorants, Pelicans

Cormorants and Pelicans are mainly spotted flying across. Since we have 5 lakes in the radius of about 3 km around us, I guess, we are on the aerial highway of these water birds.