rufous treepie dendrocitta vagabunda

Posted by sarah on 07 Aug 2008 | Category: prakriti

Watercolor painting of an Indian Treepie, also known as Rufous Treepie, dendrocitta vagabunda.

The head, neck and breast of Indian Treepie are a deep slate-grey colour, sometimes slightly brownish. The underparts and lower back are a warm tawny-brown to orange-brown in colour with white wing coverts and black primaries. The tail is a light bluish-grey with a thick black band on the tip.

The Indian Treepie is extremely agile while searching for food, clinging and clambering through the branches. Its acrobatic dances on the coconut palm leaf (ola) has given it the name olenjali in Malayalam.

Original photograph of the Indian Treepie, by rocksea, used for the painting :