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Coracias benghalensis
A beautiful bird sporting blue and lilac colours.
Spotted this one on the trees around the ruins of the Sahasralingam tank in Patan, Gujarat. The water pipe was spewing out water and in an arid region this was like a magnet attracting birds.
In West Bengal, India, this bird used to be released on the final day of Durga Puja (4 day worship of Goddess Durga) to take the message of her return to Mount Kailash--her divine abode after her sojourn on Earth. Known as Neel kanth (Blue-throated) a name also shared by Lord Shiv hence the connection to Goddess Durga and Mount Kailash. Now the Wildlife guys have banned the practice so, hopefully the bird will not be captured for ceremonial release. This bird has a peculiar, quite unattractive call. Often erroneously called Indian Jay.
Spotted on Dec 11, 2014
Submitted on Jan 3, 2015
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