Rosy Pastors are back in the city. Look out for them.
The migratory birds have made the city their temporary home and are presently on the lookout for banyan, pithicellobium dulse (seema chinta), berries of peepul (marri), lantana and nectar of Erythrena (badga).
One can find these birds quivering with excitement near State Guest House here. The environs are buzz with singing and calling of these birds.
It is an amazing experience to see the pale pink and glossy black birds winging off suddenly to a nearby peepul or banyan tree located there, at the dusk.
The bird lovers could witness their amazing pre-roosting behaviour in the city. The tweeting grows in intensity, and then suddenly for no apparent reason it stops. Kommareddy Durga Prasad, a local bird watcher, said: “I have been watching their arrival and departure for the last 20 years. But, probably, this is first time that Rosy Pastors have flocked the city in such large numbers.”
These birds are doing a favour by decimating the locust population, he said.
The Rosy Pastors are earliest migrants in the region and could be seen every year. They’re even more famous for timing their breeding cycles with that of the swarming of locusts. They feed mainly on berries and nectar.
The first bunch starts trickling in by around October/November and by the middle of April, they can bee seen returning to their native places. They come here from far off places like Eastern Hungary, Central Europe, Middle and Eastern Turkistan. They nest and breed between May and August in those countries. Later, they migrate to India with new progeny to save them from extreme winter. These birds could be easily mistaken for common Myna as they resemble the latter in size and shape. But, little experience would help in differentiating them.
Rosy Pastors raise their nestlings almost solely on the locusts which form a very nutritious feed to the young birds, he said.
I have been watching their arrival and departure for the
last 20 years. But, probably, this is the first time that
Rosy Pastors have flocked the city in such large numbers
Kommareddy Durga Prasad
Local bird watcher
