Stop scrolling Instagram for the Cannes Red Carpet. Step out, and you’ll find several birds which will outdo both the Cannes and the Met Gala in their glory, beauty and sheer presence. India is home to several birds that effortlessly outdo every costume. It has been a struggle to pare it down to just three, so everyone can see something.
The most dramatic bird of all this season is the male Asian Paradise Flycatcher. It is one of my favourite sights, something I can see again and again without tiring. To start with, when it is young, the male is a striking rufous-cinnamon coloured bird, as if it were lavishly coated with a powdery henna. At this point, the rufous female isn’t that different to the untrained eye. As they get older, at about four years, several males embrace a dramatic new avatar.They turn milky white, with a deep black head and spiky crest—the unforgettable white morph. Even more dramatic than the ball gown trains at the Met Gala are the bird’s long, milky white, streamer-like tail, which flutters as it flies. The while morph offers no advantage to the male bird-if anything, it makes it more visible and therefore, vulnerable. But being visible to a female is an advantage, and this is what it seeks.
