19 Aug 2014

Date with a scaly-breasted munia ....

Small sparrow- sized birds called munia .
The name munia includes six species of small, seed eating birds .
They are generally found around meadows,  farmlands ....
I spotted this munia in the balcony of a high rise apartment .

One lazy morning I decided to drop by at my friends place . And as luck would have it spotted a bird flitting in and out of the ficus plant  in the balcony .On close observation it was a small bird building its nest with loads of hard work .




The nest is an untidy globe made out of grass and bamboo leaves. The nesting material is pushed together not woven .The nest is hidden at a height 4-5 m in  bushes ,trees or creepers . The male bird gets the nesting material and female builds the nest form inside .


Agile ,little social bird .
with small conical beak,
designed for feeding on seeds of grass and sedge .





Will be back soon with another munia ....
Birds which are found so abundantly yet so inconspicuous .