Treepie

Treepie - just the name has a beautiful ring to it. I saw a treepie for the first time last year in Sabathu, Himachal Pradesh. It has this beautiful long tail, which is hard to miss as it flutters or flies.

I was lucky to get a close view from an aunt's garden bird bath.  There are 11 species and are similar to Magpies. I have seen two colours grey and brown, but after reading I know there are black and white ones too. They are found in Southeast Asia and live in tropical forests.

The first one I spotted was in October of 2019, in this garden alone I spotted for the first time 12 varieties of birds.

So the ones I have spotted so far are Rufous Treepie and Grey Treepie. I have after that sighted them in Delhi also thrice. This bird's call is very distinct and one day I opened my house gate to find it perched well on the electric wires and calling out loudly. The call varied from soft, mild, loud to very loud, sometimes continuous ones. 

First view of the Grey Treepie and watch closely for the long tail.

On ground to get closer to rice strewn on the ground.

 A quick drink and bath.

Back to the safety and cover of the branches.

Here is the capture of a Rufous treepie, notice the difference in colour but same long tails. 

If you look closely they are so similar to the crow family too. So these birds are adaptable and omnivorous.The breeding season in India is April to June. From my reading I have learnt the local name is "Taka chor" literally translated or means "coin stealer". They are called so on account of its habit to seek out and steal shiny items such as coins, jewellery. They collect these objects and often line them up in their nests to possibly attract the female treepie. The bird lays a clutch of 3-5 eggs.