Meera Bhardwaj:
Flitting from branch to branch, a small passerine bird caught our attention. Perching on a branch for a few minutes, we found it to be the Scaly breasted Munia.
A Schedule-IV species, it is native to India and Asia and has been classified as a species of Least Concern under the IUCN Red List. An attractive songbird, they are found near water bodies in tropical plains and grasslands but have been observed even in the Himalayas.
We were traversing the state highway-90, the Mysuru-Virajpet road during monsoons and came towards the Nagarhole National Park gate in Karnataka state, India.
Just opposite this, we entered a verdant area surrounded by hills in Gonikoppa area of Kodagu district. With rains having stopped for a while, we relaxed in a homestay lush with flowering shrubs.
Relaxing in the verdant area amidst rains, we came across the Scaly Breasted Munia that was whistling and making sharp sounds.
One cannot miss its distinctive scaly feather markings on its breast and belly despite its frequent activity.
They were a pair – if one sat on a branch, the other was flitting across a terracotta roof, maybe, trying to find a place for nesting.
Both the males and females are almost similar, except that the male has darker markings on the underside and their throats are darker.
Very small birds, they have got a stubby bill for feeding on grains and grasses. They usually communicate with short whistles and sometimes, with sharp alarming notes. Unlike other passerines, the munias perch on a branch for a longer time.
The Scaly breasted munia usually breed between June to October and we found a male that was maybe, waiting for its partner.
In the Indian subcontinent, they are found across a range of habitats ranging from grasslands to waterbodies to hilly regions that includes Nilgiris to the Himalayan regions.
(PHOTO CREDIT: ALL PHOTOS BY MEERA BHARDWAJ, GONIKOPPA REGION, KODAGU DISTRICT, KARNATAKA)