Black-backed dwarf kingfisher

Karnala Bird Sanctuary, Panvel, Maharashtra

It’s hard to stop talking about the tiniest beauty of the Western Ghats. The Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher is the smallest and most colorful kingfisher of them all. It is truly a treat for the eyes to observe this species. When viewed correctly during the day, it is so small that, with the naked eye, you may not be able to appreciate its beauty. That’s the reality. Due to its fast flight and movement, photographers face challenges in capturing it at times. It generally doesn’t give much time during its feeding activities. It comes and goes in and out of the nest, bringing kills to feed its chicks. We visited the Karnala Bird Sanctuary in Panvel to see this bird from Samadhan’s bird hide. It was indeed a struggle to capture this bird.

This bird is typically visible for a few months during the monsoon, especially when it has a nest and chicks. The parents are responsible for hunting prey such as lizards, crabs, small fish, grasshoppers, spiders, etc. They bring the food back in their beaks, sitting for a few seconds before returning to the nest. They build their nests by digging holes in the bank of a river or near adjacent foothills. Depending on the availability of prey, they appear at various intervals. In Karnala, the bird is visible in the morning from 7 to 10 a.m. and in the evening from 3 to 5 p.m., with intervals of 20 to 30 minutes between visits before disappearing for another hunt. I hope to see this bird more frequently in other parts of the Western Ghats and will try to upload more images to this page.