Papamoscas... Gobemouche... Tickellblauschnapper... as this blue and yellow bird, about the size of a sparrow, is called in Spanish, German and French respectively, which recently moved in to human habitations, like home gardens and parks — since two years, from its original habitat of lakeside and riverside bamboo thickets and shrubs, is called in Common English as Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher and Cyornis tickelliae in Ornithology.
Visitors to Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, as they enter the paths leading into the boating area and the surrounding riversides, are very likely to be greeted with a sweet tweeting song with polyphonic notations, but the singer remains elusive, until earnestly searched, in the direction of the sweet songs. It is then one sights this beautiful blue bird with a bright azure head and brows, with rusty reddish-yellow under body, calmly perched on a bamboo branch or the imitation bamboo railing on the paths, singing to itself. A bird that is more heard than seen, which is a delight to hear and see both.
