Rufous Treepie

The rufous treepie is a long-tailed member of the crow family with loud musical calls, making it very conspicuous. The sexes are alike, with a cinnamon body, a black head, a long graduated blue-grey tail tipped in black and a white wing patch; the bill, legs and feet are black. The only confusable species is the grey treepie, which lacks the bright rufous mantle. It is found commonly in open scrub, agricultural areas, forests and urban gardens (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is native to the Indian subcontinent and adjoining parts of Southeast Asia, and several subspecies are recognised: a paler desert form, a brighter one in the Eastern Ghats and a smaller one in the Western Ghats. Like other corvids it is adaptable and opportunistic, feeding on invertebrates, small reptiles, the eggs and young of birds, seeds, fruit and the nectar of Bombax ceiba. The breeding season in India is April to June, in a shallow nest in a tree or bush. The commonest call is a bob-o-link or ko-tree, from which the local name kotri derives, and it is also known as taka chor, the coin thief. SoIB 2023 rates it a Low conservation priority, with a Very Large range and a stable current trend (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).