One day we heard a lot of commotion just outside of our house. We saw 3 or 4 purple sunbirds, red whiskered bulbuls and yellow browed bulbuls at the same location, hovering and squeaking around. Though the possibility of a snake was there, it was ruled out because we saw a crow-pheasant (greater coucal) nearby, which is another enemy and nest raider of the smaller birds. Probably there is some bird nest nearby and the crow-pheasant was after it.

The greater coucal, Centropus sinensis, at the scene of action.

As usual, we took our camera and though the birds were in a distance, captured some photographs. These photographs were taken on 15 Feb 2008, from our home at Kerala. As usual, the photographs were processed and closely checked very late, more than a year later. We were taken in for a surprise. All of a sudden there is a snake in the picture! That too, a long snake with its long tail entwined all over the all-spices tree in our backyard…

The male purple sunbird, cinnyris asiaticus (~ nectarinia asiatica), as you see, is in the breeding plumage. They are glossy purple during breeding time and have brownish upper and greyish-white under sides during non-breeding time. You can see the predating snake sneaking through the all-spices tree on the right.

Birds, especially the smaller ones, have an effective (well, sometimes) defense system against snakes. If one of them finds a snake, they make sure that the whole world knows about it, by flapping and chirping out loud. This brings the rest of the community to the scene of action. Altogether, they make an aggressive attempt to mob and drive the snake away.

Red whiskered bulbuls, pycnonotus jocosus, at the scene of action. We had earlier discovered that the red whiskered bulbuls are nesting nearby. Some of these >> red whiskered bulbul nests were photographed around the same time. So it is of ultimate interest to both these birds to get rid of the enemy off their domain.

Yellow browed bulbul, lole indica, at the scene of action.

Related posts

• red whiskered bulbul (4)
• the great papaya fight (9)
• the elusive frogmouth and the cup fungi (2)
• indian treepie (4)
• great cormorants; silhouettes & orchestrated nest building (9)

Tags: bird nest, birds, birds of kerala, breeding, centropus sinensis, cinnyris asiaticus, crow pheasant, lole indica, nectarinia asiatica, nest, plumage, purple sunbird, Pycnonotus jocosus, red whiskered bulbul, snake, sunbird, yellow browed bulbul

2 Comments »

“This is my papaya!”

“No, this is mine!”

Reminiscing the great papaya fight of 2005 through an old photograph.

Rufous Treepie and Small Green Barbet competing for the papaya.

Birds of Kerala

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Tags: barbet, birds, birds of kerala, dendrocitta vagabunda, indian treepie, megalaima viridis, papaya, rufous treepie, small green barbet, treepie, white cheeked barbet

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7 Nov 2008. Casually reading through Malayala Manorama, a malayalam newspaper we subscribe, the pleading eyes of an Indian Mynah grabbed my attention. The mynah was too familiar to me… I told sarah that this was the mynah on the papaya tree, which I photographed a few years back. We checked our records and found that it was stolen from my article on kerala birds here: http://www.rocksea.org/kerala-birds

The plagiarised photograph which appeared in page 9 of  malayala manorama newspaper on 7th November, 2008.

The original photograph, taken on 24th September, 2005, from my front yard. Note that the copyright embedded was also dismissed by the newspaper.

Fortunately I am in Kerala on vacation now, or I would never have known about this! Going through the rest of the images on the newspaper, it seemed that most of them were simply lifted from the internet, without any consent from the respective photographers/authors.

This is very shameful to come from one of the leading newspapers in Kerala. The editors of the newspaper should ascertain that whatever published in the newspaper is genuine and rightly credited for its source. Failing to do this is a treachery towards its subscribers and the original authors.

 ______________________________________

19 Nov 2008. I had called manorama yesterday and they assured to email me regarding the necessary actions that could be taken regarding this issue. So far they haven’t contacted me back.

In case malayala manorama doesn’t come up with a satisfactory solution, I will be filing a complaint regarding copyright violation and protection of my intellectual property rights.

______________________________________

21 Nov 2008. Reply from Malayala Manorama:

Dear Roxy

We have enquired about publication of the photograph as mentioned in your mail.

The picture was sent to us by the author of the article in a CD. He had not mentioned that it contained photos having copy right. We are sorry for having published it without your permission.

If you have no objection, we will carry a corrigendum stating that that photo was taken by Roxy Mathew.

Incidentally, I went through your blog. There are good photog raphs. If you are ready to contribute, we would like to publish a few photos with articles in Padhippura ofcourse giving credit to you.

We have warned all our contributors to avoid such mistakes in future.

With regards

xxxxx
Senior Sub Editor
Manorama
Kottayam

______________________________________

24 Nov 2008. Reply back to Malayala Manorama:

Dear xxxxx, Senior Sub Editor:

Thank you for your email acknowledging the source of the photograph.
It is pleasing to know that the future contributors will be made aware
of providing genuine articles/photographs.

However, I am sorry to say that the solution provided is not satisfactory.
The credits should have been there in any case.
Just running a corrigendum stating the author will not
justify having the photograph on the newspaper free of cost.
Malayala Manorama does not run free advertisements or give
free subscriptions for everyone, right?

The photograph taken by me has been published, without credits,
on a commercial newspaper, which is sold in the market.
This means that the content of the news, articles, photographs
carry a price.

Adding the copyright violation to this, the newspaper has
to pay me a suitable compensation.
The newspaper may be aware that copyright violation charges
can carry a compensation from 50,000 to 2 lakh INR.
Please also note that my camera equipments are as expensive
as the amount stated above.

Roxy

______________________________________

27 Nov, 2008. From my experience, the dealings with Malayala Manorama on the above issue has been clean and amicable, so far. They are regretful about overlooking the copyright of the photograph. The solutions agreed over the telephone:
1. The newspaper will be paying me an amount of 5,000 INR as compensation.
2. The newspaper will publish a corrigendum crediting the photographer.
This, they stated, will be done within a week. So, let me wait and see before any further updates

The newspaper also mentioned that they will make sure about credits of photographs/articles before publishing any, in the future. So far, as it sounds, is a welcome decision.

______________________________________

01 Dec, 2008. Corrigendum published by Malayala Manorama in the Padippura section. I am also happy to note that many of the photographs published in Padippura these days are credited to their rightful owners.

Translation: The photograph titled Mynah, published in the Padippura section on 7th November, was photographed by Roxy Mathew. The omission of the name is regretted.
______________________________________

05 Dec, 2008. Happy to note that today I received the cheque from Malayala Manorama. Many thanks to the editorial staff of the newspaper for responding to the issue and taking appropriate action at the right time.

______________________________________

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Tags: birds of kerala, compensation, copyright, copyright violation, indian mynah, intellectual property, malayala manorama, malayalam newspaper, mynah, newspaper, plagiarism

18 Comments »

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 :

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Tags: birds, birds of kerala, dendrocitta vagabunda, indian treepie, olenjali, painting, rufous treepie, treepie, watercolor painting

4 Comments »

Silhouettes of the great cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo, against a murky sky on a misty September morning at the Periyar National Park, Thekkady.

Each bird seems to be in its own mood… and as you watch them, the mood slowly grows into you… Click on the images to see a larger version and get close to each bird!

Orchestrated nest building… the cormorant parents seem to be moving as in an orchestra, holding the long twig with their beaks. Both male and female actively participate in the nest building process.

Do you know that, in Japan, these cormorants have been traditionally trained to catch fish? The tradition is known as ukai. The necks of the cormorants are tied to the boats, tight enough to prevent swallowing. The fishes are later retrieved by the fishermen.

Location of the Periyar National Park, Thekkady:

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Tags: birds, birds of kerala, cormorant, great cormorant, japan, orchestra, periyar national park, phalacrocorax carbo, silhouette, thekkady, ukai

9 Comments »