Its local names are
Baboona (Hindi)
Motichur (Sagar, M.P.)
Daotisha-gophu-pi (Chachari)
Vellai Kanni (Tamil, Chennai)
Kannadi kurivi (Tamil, Madurai)
Pukuruvi (Tamil, Sri Lanka)
Mal kurulla (Tamil, Sinhala)
It has the size of a sparrow and is a tiny square-tailed greenish yellow and a bright yellow bird with a conspicuous white ring around the eye and slender pointed and slightly curved bill.It is gregarious bird in the trees, gardens and wooded countries.
Distribution
It is distributed practically throughout the Indian union,Bangladesh, Pakistan,Sri Lanka, and Myanmar excepting desert regions .It is resident and locally migratory.It has four geographical races based on details of size and colouration.
Habits
It is arboreal in habits.Flocks of 5 to 20 or more hunt energetically for insects among the foliage of trees and bushes.They often cling upside down and peer into likely nooks and crannies in the manner of tits.They also subsist largely on flower nectar and on the fleshy pulp of fruits and berries.
Call
Feeble jingling conversational notes keep the members of a flock together.In the breeding season the male delivers a pleasing , tinkling song reminiscent of the Verditer Flycatcher's . It commences almost inaudibly, grows louder and finally fades out as it began.
Nesting
Nesting season is principally from April to July.The nest is a cup of fibres neatly bound with cobwebs (similar to a miniature oriole nest).The nest slings hammock wise in the end fork of a thin twig and hangs normally 2 to 4 m above the ground.Eggs are generally 2 to 3 pale blue in colour, sometimes with a cap of deeper blue at the broad end.Both sexes share the domestic duties.
Photographs taken at Tadoba-Andhari tiger reserve, Chandrapur, Maharashtra
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