Visit the home of Shubha Bhat and you will find many birds enjoying birdbaths in her garden and its surroundings. An avid birder, Shubha has spoken about backyard birding in many forums including the Bangalore Bird Day, Manipal Bird Day and others. Her work has been videotaped and photographed in many publications, including Bird Count India. Today we talk about how to make your gardens and balconies a haven for birds.

Episode Timeline

1:00 Basic steps of how to attract birds.  

3:00 Use of big pots and coconut shells to create an ecosystem.  

5:00 Shubha lists her resident birds.

6:00 Kashmir Flycatcher sighting.

8:00 Poetic description of birds enjoying her garden. Do listen to this part.

9:00 Bird behavior. How do they bathe and drink water? Shubha gives beautiful descriptions.

11:00 Why did the kingfishers stop coming?

11:30 About warblers.  How do they bathe?

12:00 Persuading others to keep bird baths.

14:00 Migratory birds and birds breeding in her garden.

15:00 The pleasure of backyard birds and birding.

15:50 Shubha Bhat speaks about backyard birding in her native Kannada. It is a beautiful section.  How poetically she speaks.  Listen if you know Kannada.

Birds quoted in this episode: Oriental magpie robin, Indian white-eye, mynas, coucals, black kite, flycatchers, warblers, thrushes, Indian blue robin, Indian pitta, Kashmir flycatcher, Tickell’s thrush, large-billed leaf warbler, ultramarine flycatcher, blue-throated flycatcher, yellow-browed warbler, Tytler’s leaf warbler, rusty-tailed flycatcher, paradise flycatcher, monarch flycatcher, drongos, orioles, ashy wood swallows, cineroeus tits

Links

Manipal Bird Day, Shubha’s talk for Bangalore Bird Day, Photos of Shubha’s garden here