Ephemeral, colourful and finely attuned to nature’s rhythms, these birds are the true jewels of our summer gardens. Their return each year is not just a spectacle, but a reminder of how intricately life is woven across seasons, landscapes, and even the quiet corners of our backyards.

Around mid-March, a tiny ethereal apparition appears among the mango blossoms — flitting and somersaulting, while hawking insects. Its long tail feathers stream behind like silken ribbons, reminiscent of the ‘tail’ we, as children, would put on a paper kite to balance it. The male Indian Paradise Flycatcher, also called Dudhraj for obvious reasons, glides through the sun-dappled branches with infinite grace and poise. The pure white plumage, topped by a black, slightly peaked head and the iridescent blue ring around the eyes, is a sight to behold.

The male Indian Paradise Flycatcher can also sometimes be seen in rufous plumage, resplendent with tail streamers. The jury is still out on the reason for this different colouration — it could be a combination of age and genetics. The tail streamers are especially grown as courtship display and may reduce after the breeding season.

The female, though only rufous and without the tail streamers, is no less beautiful. Parental duties are equally shared by the pair, from nest-building to hatching and raising the brood. The male Paradise Flycatcher is a hands-on parent and helps during the incubation period. The long tail streamers hanging down from the tiny cup-like nest often give away its location.

Among the tangled roots of India’s forests, a sudden flash of colour betrays the presence of one of nature’s most elusive jewels. The Indian Pitta is one of the most eagerly awaited and prized sightings of summer breeders for birdwatchers. It announces its arrival with its distinctive, high-pitched, three-syllable call heard very early each morning.

The time is so precise you could probably set your clock by it. It’s also why it has earned the moniker ‘Six O’ Clock Bird’. In Sanskrit texts, the Pitta is called Navranga, alluding to the nine colours that appear in its plumage. It is, however, predominantly olive green in appearance, with a distinctive black band through the eye. It can remain undetected and elusive, standing statue-like or silently hopping around foraging in the leaf litter — but its serenading calls from atop trees easily give away its location.

This small, Myna-sized bird migrates north from as far as Sri Lanka during the summer to breed in the Himalayan foothills. From mid-May to early June, Pittas are almost literally ‘falling from the sky’. The bird is so exhausted from its long journey that by the end, any refuge will do. It can end up in the most unusual situations. At these times, people think it is injured and try to nurse it. The only thing it really requires is some water and rest before it flies off to more wooded areas and begins to serenade for a mate.

While the Indian Pitta and Indian Paradise Flycatcher use our gardens as resting spots before heading off to the cool, verdant foothills bordering Chandigarh, the Indian Golden Oriole nests in urban areas. Its bright golden-yellow colour is the inspiration for its vernacular names. In Punjab, it is called Peeli Koel (Yellow Koel) for its colour and melodious song.

In spite of its bright colour, the Indian Golden Oriole is heard more often than it is seen, as it tends to perch in the thick foliage of tall trees. Its trilling musical notes are only a part of its repertoire. It is known to mimic birds like Drongos, Bulbuls, and Shikras with great finesse — using these to attract a mate and for territorial defence.

The Oriole is a smart bird that uses existing situations to its advantage. For protection of its brood, it builds the nest near aggressive species like Drongos and Treepies, depending on them to keep the predators away.

Most birds have associations in folklore, and these three species are no exception. In an agrarian country, they are revered as the harbingers of good fortune and rains. Farmers have, for ages, taken the cue for planting crops from the arrival of these birds in the summer. However, these birds time their arrival with the rains. Breeding birds require large quantities of soft-bodied invertebrates to feed their young. Rains bring a peak abundance of hatching beetle larvae, termites, ants, crickets and earthworms — ensuring a rich food supply of high-protein diet for the nestlings. A seasonal change or unmonitored use of chemicals in the fields can result in poor breeding success for the birds, disrupting a cycle that has long been in harmony with the land.

— The writer is president of the Chandigarh Bird Club