MURDESHWAR DIARIES: AUG'14 - Part II

GREATER COUCAL or CROW PHEASANT

One of the birds that I look forward to on all my trips to Murdeshwar is the Greater Coucal or the Crow Pheasant (Wiki Link). Last year when I had been there at this time of the year, I remember seeing three of these, foraging in our backyard for worms and frogs. While they may look fiery in their black and brown coat, especially with those bright red eyes, they are extremely shy and will fly away whenever you close in on them to get a good shot. On this trip, I found one coucal who had just caught a frog. Later, in the evening, I saw it again, this time with a worm in its beak. As it flew into the trees with its prey, I spotted a juvenile which she was rearing. While the little coucal was perched, mummy went about getting food for it. This was the first time that I had seen a mother coucal with her chick. Though I could not get both of them in one frame, just watching the mother taking pains to rear her young was in itself such a pleasure.

Other posts in this series: 
Murdeshwar Diaries: Aug'14 - Part I - Part IV (Link)