An aviary at the window

Most of us urban dwellers associate birds as beings of the wild. An idea that we all dwell on is that if we fancy a pretty looking bird, the only way to spot it, is by visiting a bird sanctuary or a national park. Little are we aware that if we just look outside our window and observe even one tree, we can probably spot a variety of birds. 45-year-old Madhuri Deshmukh, a Vile Parle resident, did just that and the results are phenomenal.

Deshmukh, a passionate birder, noticed that the peepal tree, which can be seen from the bedroom window, was frequented by several birds. "So I started photographing these birds with my DSLR camera and a 150-600 telephoto lens. As days passed, I came across several birds, which are difficult to spot elsewhere and so I started documenting them," elucidates Deshmukh.

Peepal tree (Ficus religious), a wild fig tree, is a magnet for wildlife. Though it is rooted in a city, the tree attracts fruit-eating bats, lot of birds like the coppersmith, common mynah, golden oriole, Asian koels, rose-ringed parakeets, red-vented bulbuls depend on the tree for their diet. Apart from the fig-eaters, birds like the flycatchers, sunbirds, warblers, tailorbirds, shrikes also find ample opportunities to hunt countless insects that thrive around the fig tree. "In addition to this, the time during which the pictures were clicked (last three months) was the migration season. Hence, it added to the list of birds that she photographed," says naturalist Shardul Bajikar. "September to December is the time when a variety of migrant birds visit Mumbai and Madhuri was lucky as well as perseverant enough to document them," he adds.

Birds like amur falcon, blyth's reed warbler, greenish warbler, lesser whitethroat, red-breasted flycatcher are the few migrant birds that Deshmukh had captured from her camera. In a span of just three months, she has documented and photographed around 20 species of birds like the Indian paradise flycatcher, black-naped monarch, tickell's blue flycatcher, long-tailed shrike, Indian golden oriole among many others.

Deshmukh's photographs reinstates the point that the wildlife experts have been saying all this while-just — look outside the window and you may notice a treasure trove of nature.

Make your own urban aviary

If you want birds and butterflies to frequent your backyard, it can be done by adopting a few things. You may try and install birdhouses/nest boxes (available online) that can become home to birds of small to medium sized birds. Few birds that may make these nest boxes their home are sparrows, mynahs, golden oriole, parakeets, robin and barn owl.

Apart from this, try installing bird feeders or fruit feeders, where you can fill it with grains and fruits, which will attract a variety of fruit-eating birds and make your home a mini bird sanctuary. You can club this with a water bath or a bowl filled with water.