Baba’s home

An elegant male Indian paradise-flycatcher, locally known as “Shah-Bulbul”, tends to its hungry nestlings in Chuadanga during the peak of the summer breeding season. Captured mid-flight beside a delicately woven bamboo nest, the dazzling white-morph male reveals its flowing ribbon-like tail streamers, glossy black crested head and striking blue eye-ring -- features that make it one of the region’s most enchanting birds. Native across the Indian subcontinent and parts of Central and Southeast Asia, the species thrives in forests, bamboo groves, orchards and shaded gardens, feeding mainly on insects snatched acrobatically from the air. Both parents share nesting duties and fiercely guard their tiny cup-shaped nest. Despite habitat loss and declining tree cover, the species is currently listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

PHOTO: MONJUR MORSHED