There are many birds and animals which live on and make use of roadside trees. They may be using the trees for shelter, for getting their food or, even using it as a travel corridor to move from place to place. If one considers birds of Bangalore for example, there might be birds of quite different lifestyles living in or using these trees. They might come to these trees just for roosting, or come to these trees to catch insects or eat fruit, or do both. They could even build their nests on roadside trees and feed their young there. There are even water birds like Night Herons which build their nests and raise their young on large trees in Bangalore.
Roadside avenues play a very important role in connecting the various green spaces still surviving in the city. The green spaces could not only be the parks and public gardens that we have, but could also be the various other gardens distributed in other private areas. The following lists the lifestyles of birds that could be using roadside trees (both large and small) in our city. It should be noted that in many cases, though certainly not all, roadside trees take more importance in conjunction with appropriate other greenery, including gardens.
- Fruit eating birds
- Nectar feeding birds
- Sallying insectivores
- Foliage gleaning insectivores
- Bark gleaning insectivores
- Far ranging roosting birds
- Birds of prey
- Scavenging birds
- Singing birds
- Birds using it as a corridor for movement and dispersal
- Birds which use buildings
- Water birds nesting or roosting in roadside trees
Even though birds can fly, they very often keep close to shelter and are loath to cross large open spaces away from cover. Quiet residential areas with closed canopies could even have the spill over from neighbouring gardens and harbour the more woodland kind of birds. There is a common misconception that roadside trees serve no use for wildlife in urban areas. Nothing could be farther than the truth. All the examples considered herein could come under the preview of the Wildlife Protection Act and revisions and perhaps under the treaties for the conservation of migratory birds. These are some of the birds found in each category mentioned above:
Fruit eating birds
There are many fruit eating birds which come to take fruit from roadside trees. Many of these are even part of our folklore and culture like the Koel. Small Green Barbet and the Coppersmith Barbet are two of the more prominent species. In addition, both Redwhiskered and Redvented Bulbuls can come to roadside trees in appropriate habitats. Roseringed Parakeets and the colourful Blossomheaded Parakeets come to roadside trees. The two myna species and the starlings, namely Jungle and Common Mynas; the Grey-headed, Black-headed and Rose-coloured Starlings come to roadside trees to take fruit. At the other end of the size spectrum, we have the almost thumb sized Tickell’s Flowerpecker visiting the mistletoe on roadside trees.
Nectar feeding birds
Many nectar feeding birds like the Purplerumped Sunbird and the Purple Sunbird come to roadside trees. The much rarer Maroon-breasted Sunbird also comes to roadside trees.
Sallying insectivores
A large number of sallying insectivorous birds also use roadside trees. Various flycatchers could make use of the under-canopy space to carry on their food gathering activities. Many of these are migratory. The Grey Drongo which is again a migratory species, makes use of the air space over the canopy using the upper branches as perching sites.
Foliage gleaning insectivores
There are quite a number of birds in this category. There are warblers which are abundantly found here. They search leaves at different levels depending on the species. The migratory Greenish Leaf Warblers are quite prominent. Tailor-birds, and occasionally Ashy Long-tailed Warblers make use of the lower branches, and in the wooded outskirts, the Franklin’s Long-tailed Warbler.
Bark gleaning insectivores
Grey Tit is a prominent member of this guild. On the outskirts, woodpeckers are found too.
Ground feeding birds
Many birds which feed on the ground or near to the ground fly up into trees on disturbance, and roost there. They could be both insect eating birds like the various species of babblers or seed eating birds like the Spotted Dove. The many babblers include, depending on the part of the city and time, the most common of them all, the White-headed Babbler. In addition we have a class of birds which perch on low trees but swoop on insects on the ground like the Roller, though this is essentially on the outskirts. The Roller is known to breed on roadside trees.
Far ranging roosting birds
There are long flying birds like the crows and mynas which commute long distances from their feeding to roosting places. Depending on the season, even Roseringed Parakeets are found abundantly on Roadside trees.
Birds of prey
Most birds of prey make use of the large roadside trees for roosting, feeding and nesting. Shikra, Brahminy and Common Kites are all found on roadside trees. In addition many species of owls like the Spotted Owl, the Collared Scops Owl, the Barn Owl and the Mottled Wood Owl could come to or roost in roadside trees.
Scavenging birds
Crows are one of the main users of roadside trees. Common Kites are another species found abundantly on this substrate.
Singing birds
Quiet roadside trees are places where our proverbial cuckoos, the Koels roost and sing from. Many warblers and flycatchers, thrushes and the Magpie-Robin sing from the shelter of roadside trees.
Birds using it as a corridor for movement and dispersal
The critical function of the roadside avenue to provide a corridor for movement of our avifauna cannot be underestimated. Many species are loath to leave their sheltered places and fly across open ground. For all such species and others in general, avenues provide the corridor.
Birds which use buildings
Birds which sit on building like Blue Rock Pigeons also perch on trees. Often they land on to trees before settling down on the ledges of buildings. Another bird which shows a similar behaviour is the Barn Owl.
Water birds nesting or roosting in roadside trees
This is a classic example of the unexpected happening. Many species of shoreline water birds like Night Herons, Egrets and other herons roost and breed on roadside trees, often within Bangalore.
And then, there are Endemic birds
Many of the species which occur on these roadside trees are endemic to this part of the world, and found nowhere else. They include the Small Green Barbet, the Purple-rumped Sunbird and the Mottled Wood Owl.
[09 July 2011. Not formally edited]
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