In Pursuit of Red Avadavats

Red Avadavats fascinated me. Their beautiful images seen in the annals of social media mesmerized me. I was desperate to have my moment of triumph by having a nice image of this red beautiful bird in my photo repository and more importantly to see them with my own eyes.

For the uninitiated, Red Avadavats are small birds also referred to as Strawberry finches, belonging to the Munia family which is a genus Estrildidae Finch family of birds.

My first tryst with Munias happened inadvertently on a dry summer afternoon when a Scaly Breasted Munias perched on my balcony balancing on a cleaning mop. Shining dark brown color and scaly breasts gave these birds a beautiful sheen.

At that time I was not aware of the existence of such a bird called Munias and had dismissed the Munia as a Common House Sparrow. Later after analysing the photo with Google Lens, I got corrected that it was not a sparrow but a Scaly-breasted munia.

Later on, I had a daily rendezvous with the Scaly Breasted Munias for close to one month, when they chose to roost on my bedroom balcony. It was fascinating to watch them build their nest and settle in it. Those days we woke up to the beautiful chirps from the winged guests in our home.

Still, I nurtured a hope to find the Red Avadavat out there in nature. So I started going through the Bird checklists in e-bird to find the nearest place I could find them. It helped me to zero in on Manjeera Wildlife Sanctuary to go and hunt for the Red Avadavats.

Weekend 1

My first expedition was a dampener as far as finding Red Avadavats was concerned, but Manjeera turned out to be a paradise for birding. On my first trip towards the fag end of the birding walk, I could spot a Tricolored Munia perched at a distance, which my 500mm lens could get a shot. I was relieved at least to know that I was in Munia land.But the wish to see the Red Avadavats lingered heavy in my mind. I resolved to myself, that I would come to this place every weekend till I found the Red Avadavats.

Weekend 2

I was off early in the morning back to Manjeera. As soon as I embarked out of the car a pack of Tricoloured Munias greeted me in the fields foraging early in the morning.But the wish to see the Red Avadavats lingered heavy in my mind. I resolved to myself, that I would come to this place every weekend till I found the Red Avadavats.

My second birding trip to Manjeera was turning out to be a bounty for finding Tricolored Munias, I had a plethora of shots taken of these beautiful Munias in different poses, in-flight, and foraging.

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