Knowing birds in the close vicinity:
By Rajashekhar Pant
The Himalayan Black-lored Tit is really an interesting bird. Quite charming to look at, it is so restless and agile that it is difficult to find her perching on a branch or twig for a while in a composed manner.
I would often mistake Black-lored Tit with the yellow cheeked one. It was only after going through some details that I could know of the blackness between eyes and the bill and the pronounced black eye-stripe that differentiate the former from the latter.
An often sighted bird in the cultivated regions of the Central Himalayas, it prefers mixed and broad leaf forests. Its nesting takes place in the holes and crevices made by barbets, woodpeckers or human beings. At times it also does make holes for itself. It is an insectivore and feeds on seeds and fruits also. One may notice it with other insectivore avian species foraging for spiders and other small insects in arbores.
Besides the inherent agility and restlessness of this beautiful bird, what attracts me most is her behaviour while opposite a mirror. In my house, I have seen her hammering the surface of the rear view mirrors of cars and bikes for considerable duration. These days it has become a regular visitor, especially in the first half of the day, playing with a towel hanger hung against the wall close to a looking glass in our side-corridor.
With the exception of the blue magpie (that I am aware of) the majority of birds, studies reveal, do not recognise their mirror image. It is said that considering their image to be another bird they try to communicate with it. Hammering the polished surface continually might be a reflection of their tension and confusion for not getting the desired outcome of their endeavour.
I do not know that how far and fair it is to understand that birds may develop certain habits which though widespread in the region are otherwise localised. Tits puncturing the foiled lids of milk bottles left at the door steps in Hampshire in the twenties of the previous century – to syphon the creamy upper layer of the milk is a much quoted anecdote among ornithologists.
I think looking at the mirror is a signature trait of the black-lored tits in Bhimtal, i.e. my home town.
