Hello,
A bird comes on this group but there is a floral connect.
Intermittently over the past month and half, I have had the joy of having four species of birds (Red-whiskered & Red-vented bulbuls, Purple-rumped sunbird and Common Tailorbird) nesting within a few feet of my bed (yes, my bed) in the very heart of Mumbai's Lokhandwala Complex.
One of them was this Red-whiskered Bulbul pair that was closest to me. The pair reared two chicks.
I have documented the entire feeding cycle, the number of visits, the percentage of insects - spiders - fruits etc that comprised the diverse menu of the nestlings. Fruits and figs there are not many this time of the year (Sept - Oct) but when the young were close to leaving the nest (c. 13th day of hatching) I noticed the parents bringing these dark berries. I searched meticulously the entire neighbourhood but couldn't come across any plant with such berries. There are a couple of large Jamun trees in our complex but these fruit profusely, too profusely indeed, during summer. No fruits right now.
Then I checked the mangroves c. 400 mt behind our home. There is ample Salvadora persica here, especially along the margins of the creek. Saw some in fruit but the berries were dark reddish in colour. A Salvadora plant I saw near Naigon, north of Mumbai last fortnight had darkish berries.
From these photographs would it be possible to confirm if the berries are of Salvadora persica? If so it would be interesting because the bulbuls are travelling this far, and even further considering not much fruit available, to provide a diverse diet to their growing chicks, leaving them exposed to crows and cats for much longer than one would expect.
Cheers -- Sunjoy Monga