Ye Bulbulein Humari - Red Whiskered / Vented Bulbuls

Pics : 1 - 9 = Red Whiskered Bulbul ; Mulshi | Pic : 10 ; Manas National Park | Pic : 11 - 12 ; South Andaman | Pics : 13 - 14 = Red Vented Bulbul ; Ranthambore National Park | Pics : 15 - 16 ; Tadoba National Park

Seeing one of these two similar looking birds is the first sign usually that you’ve left the city behind in most parts of India except the cold north. One’s got red ass feathers while his cousin has red cheek feathers of sorts along with the red ass. They’re one of the most successful small bird species in India and South Asia cause they adapt easily, are omnivorous (unlike many other Bulbuls), aren’t shy, are pretty aggressive towards much larger competition and have no qualms about living around humans. Add to that, the fact that they have a long breeding season which lets them raise multiple broods of chicks every year and right there is your reason for why they have succeeded while others who might be larger or in possession of better hunting abilities cannot match up to their success as a species in general. We’ve seen time and again how it’s not the most skill in one aspect of life but rather the mix of many capabilities of a certain species that makes it successful at survival on this planet. An Elephant‘s a lot more dangerous than a Man head to head and yet, here we are today. These guys considered to be invasive species in many places which perhaps just proves how well they have adapted to wherever they have been taken by humans. More power to them if you ask me. The situations isn’t their fault, they’re just surviving. These little guys just adapt better and out breed much of their completion pretty much like how the warthog in Africa although carnivore fodder individually, is a lot more successful as a species than the carnivores that hunt it. ( Ref : Lover Not A Fighter; That’s What Pumba’s All About ).

Although common, they aren’t as easy to photograph as one would imagine cause firstly they’re small at like 20 cms or so and on top of that they have black heads. Anything with black features is hard for the camera to catch clearly as I wrote in “Drongo ! Drongos ! Naughty by Nature”. With smaller subjects like these guys, the need for good light to make the distinct features stand out multiplies a lot if you're at a distance. My photo of one of these guys from Manas National Park taken earlier this year ( Pic : 10 ) shows clearly how the camera can be confused by light in relation to these subjects. Another one from Andaman, ( Pic : 12 ) shows the difficulty of the camera in capturing details of these guys from a distance unless the light’s right.

The thing is that you need the light directed on to your guy’s little face and any shadow or backlight just adds to the confusion in the final product when the little face is dark to start with. You can't always creep up close to little subjects. The dark and shadow game is all around and is one of the main reasons that people use reflectors and artificial light where they can. Us wildlife guys don’t have that luxury but then we do have access to water at certain times which is excellent for increasing ambient light around a subject that’s near water. We just have to wait for the opportune chance to use light that’s bounced off water to our subject’s face, which I was given finally in Mulshi last month ( Pics : 1 – 9 ) while photographing the Red Whiskered Bulbul. I’d gotten lucky with his cousin the Red Vented Bulbul earlier in Ranthambore and Tadoba where I’d chanced upon that species randomly perched over watering holes ( Pics : 13 – 16 ).

Although small, these birds are pretty relaxed in comparison to many small birds around the country who are usually in a perpetual hurry when out of the bush. It’s not like these guys are incapable of fast movements like the others. You can see the sudden bursts of activity in these guys as well. It’s just that they’re rowdy in nature and that dominant streak makes them pretty at ease in environments that other small birds are nervous to be in. These guys have no issues with hanging out on the branch of a tree that’s in a clearing even when they know there may be predators around. They’ll happily visit your hotel balcony and even tap at your window early in the morning. It’s the adventurous mindset that they’ll deal with trouble when it comes to them cause they just know that they’re faster at the short dash.

There are eight sub species of the Red Vented Bulbul and nine sub species of Red Whiskered Bulbul and all of them with slight differences which you may or may not notice on such a small bird anyway when you’re looking for the face and tail for identification usually. These guys are so common that most people don’t get into their intricate details which differ by location usually. The calls of the two species are very different from each other. The red vented bulbul has sharp, short calls that have been described as “scolding”, while the Red Whiskered Bulbul’s calls are longer and have been described as “sweet and melodious”. Both species are known to use these calls to communicate within themselves. These birds were kept as caged pets in India for ages and folks used to even tie em on a string and keep them in their person to show them off in a crutched perch made of jade or precious metals. In my home state of Assam, folks used to turn gladiators out of these poor guys for entertainment. These practices are thankfully gone and done with for now although their presence in small towns and villages is pretty common still.

Seeing the Red Whiskered Bulbul next to water at Mulshi helped me a great deal in finally getting their pictures right by using reflected light to bring out the details of their little black faces. Despite that, all the images from the set aren’t keepers. The biggest lesson that Mulshi probably taught me was that you need a lot of patience when you’re out for birds by the water. It can involve hours of waiting for a few minutes of action that you’d better get right. The constant scouting of the changing scenery on a safari vehicle helps with boredom but then water helps with light on small subjects who you’ll miss if you’re driving past in a vehicle. Using bounced light to illuminate your little subject is another nifty trick in the bag of the wildlife photographer that I’m very glad to have caught up on. I can now deploy it from a safari vehicle as well when needed. I guess the best approach is to always give watering holes some time and I’ll be sure to keep that in mind from the next time on when I’m using a vehicle.

Natural light’s good but there’s never enough of it when the owls actually come out to play. That’s why we have to use indirect, artificial light for those guys at night. I finally met an owl in Mulshi who I’d seen a lot of during the day but seeing him out in all of his glory turned out to be a huge shock for me when I found him. That is gonna be the story for next week. See you then.