Drop-Dead Gorgeous: Festoon of Grandalas in the Himalayas
Photo StoryPublished : Jan 09, 2023Updated : Jan 11, 2023
In flight or at rest, flocks of grandalas are a joy to behold, thanks to the brilliant blue colouring of the males of the species
Text by: Anita Rao Kashi
In flight or at rest, flocks of grandalas are a joy to behold, thanks to the brilliant blue colouring of the males of the species
A large flock of dazzling blue birds sitting atop a rocky slope in the high Himalayas is a sight for sore eyes. The creatures are male grandalas (Grandala coelicolor) — their brilliant plumage is even more striking against the stark landscape of their high-altitude habitat (of 4,000-5,000 m). So well adapted are they to the mountains that they will even breed at these heights; some grandalas have been recorded breeding at 6,600 m.
These very social birds do everything as a collective unit. They eat together, perch together, fly and migrate in flocks, only splitting into pairs when it is time to breed. They inhabit a wide swathe of India’s Himalayan regions: Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh. They are also found in Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, and China, spanning a geographic range of approximately 2,770,000 sq km. To see these birds in India, head to areas like Lachen and Thangu Valley in North Sikkim in the winter (late December to February), where they come to find food when the higher reaches are completely snowbound.
They build their large, bowl-shaped nests in boulder-strewn alpine meadows or on rocky mountain ridges. Their electric blue colour allows them to be easily spotted, whether it is in open forest areas or even in gardens and plantations, where they may sometimes congregate. Though there is no formal bird count of grandalas, they are numerous enough to be of “Least Concern” on the IUCN Red List.
Grandalas are from the thrush family (Turdidae). They are the size of a common mynah, about 20 cm in length and weigh about 40-50 gm. They are usually spotted in flocks of royal blue and black-winged males and grey-brown females. These large flocks (even numbering 500 birds or more) will sometimes descend en masse on a bare tree, making it look decked out for festivities.
(1 & 2) The male grandala is a stunning bird, with a brilliant deep blue colour. It is almost shiny, with sharp black wings and a black pointed beak. Females and juveniles (birds on the left in #3) may have faint blue patches though they are mostly a dull greyish brown with occasional white bars or streaks on the wings. Photos: Sourav Mondal (1,2), Kallol Mukherjee (3) Cover photo: Sourav Mondal
Grandalas are known to be insectivores, and can be seen hopping and skipping around in open meadows, looking for food. But they also feed on berries and fruits, especially seabuckthorn if they can find it. They are also relatively noiseless birds with very short calls; their mating calls and songs are similar. In his book Field Guide to the Birds of the Eastern Himalayas (1977), noted ornithologist Dr Salim Ali states that “Song, merely a quickly repeated variant of the call-note, soft and clear but audible only at close range. Bird very silent on the whole.” Photos: Kallol Mukherjee (1,3), Sourav Mondal (2)
The grandalas’ mating season starts around May/June, though they have been spotted mating into August. They build bowl-shaped nests in rock crevices and vertical surfaces using moss, twigs, and other materials. The female lays two eggs. During the breeding season, the birds prefer to feed on insects since they are a source of protein required for the juveniles to grow. The young chicks are ready to join the flock in the same season and are known to be ready for breeding from their second year. Photo: Sourav Mondal
Grandalas are extremely gregarious birds. They live in flocks during winter and in pairs during the breeding season. They gather in large numbers; flocks can sometimes number over 500 birds. The gathering together is also a defence mechanism that protects them from raptors. It is very unusual to see solitary birds. In the rare instance of a single bird being spotted, a flock will fly towards it and absorb it within the crowd. Photos: Kallol Mukherjee
The flight of the grandalas is robust; their typical triangular wings are used in a specific pattern of wing beats and gliding. “They are very agile and very fast in flight. They migrate to lower elevations, sometimes as low as 2,000 m, but the movement is based not on temperature but on the search for food. Their dietary preferences change with the season purely out of availability,” says wildlife biologist Shashank Dalvi. Photo: Kallol Mukherjee
In flight, grandalas behave more like starlings than thrushes. They can often be seen swirling over alpine forests, meadows, mountain passes, and valleys. At rest, the flock will sit on bare trees, rocks, and crevices; a large flock at rest is a surreal sight. They are known to suddenly take flight for no apparent reason, fly around, circle above and settle down again, sometimes descending quite abruptly like rain. At other times they seem to waft around as if carried by the wind, a bit like a starling murmuration. Photos: Kallol Mukherjee
Grandalas don’t have too many predators or threats, but they are sometimes preyed upon by raptors. On the other hand, their natural habitat makes them vulnerable. As snow caps and glaciers melt and temperatures increase at higher altitudes, and their preferred habitat alters, they are likely to be among the first affected by climate change. Photos: Kallol Mukherjee
is an independent journalist, travel and food writer based in Bangalore, India. With over 28 years of experience, she has written for the BBC, South China Morning Post and Nikkei Asian Review. When not writing, she's reading, listening to music, cooking, or eating, and considers the forest to be her bolthole.
