The Team Player

Bird of the Day Series, Social Media Content

Photo: Adityaa Chavan

This is the Grandala, an elusive 9” thrush found only in the alpine forests of India, Tibet and China. Lucky people occasionally spot clouds of them; flocks can number up to 500 (although the females and juveniles which are brown and grey).

We know that they are part of the thrush family, that they hunt from trees and eat larvae, caterpillars, moths, seeds and insects. And we know that their nests are bowl-shaped and placed on ledges or rock edges, that they lay just two eggs per year and that both parents care for the eggs and chicks.

We don’t know much else about them, because they are so hard to study. To understand a bird species, researchers have to find them alone. These birds are never alone—they are always in a flock, and if they do happen to find one trying to get some privacy, the entire flock will descend upon him and pester him until he joins the group.

They were first classified in 1843, when the gleaming blue male was described as ‘Eye-Searing’. Of course, people want to own them. But they will swarm attackers, and they stick to high rocky areas and mountain peaks. Lots of people have died trying to scoop them from cliffs. As so few succeed, these birds are not threatened.