Nishikant Tambe‘s sanctuary near Chiplun, Maharashtra is famous for the colorful migrant from Sri Lanka – ODKF aka Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher. While he has set up multiple hides on his property, what I like about these is the fact that he hasn’t meddled with the birds. There is no bait.

There are only perches set up for the bird to do a final landing before entering its nest to feed the young ones. Monsoon is their breeding season. And, if you can time it well, you get to shoot this gorgeous bird with a wide range of appetizers for its young.

We sat for over 10 hours shooting this beauty. Here are my 10,000 words x no of pics.

The most commonly accepted and widely used alternative name for this bird is Black-backed Kingfisher, in addition to Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher (ODKF).

Due to its bright colors, photogenic appearance, and elusive nature, it is highly sought after by bird photographers and wildlife enthusiasts like me 🙂

They are known to feed primarily on insects, spiders, small fish, frogs, crabs, lizards, and even tiny snakes. I have managed to capture a few here.

The ODKF hunts by perching quietly, then swiftly diving or darting down to catch prey.

This bird is most commonly found in countries like India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Their nesting occurs in tunnels excavated in muddy riverbanks or earthen slopes. Both male and female ODKFs participate in digging nesting tunnels and raising chicks.

Obvious from these photographs, they have extremely colorful plumage with shades of bright orange, violet, blue, pink, yellow, and black. It’s often considered one of the world’s most colorful birds.

Do take 10 seconds to watch this video. And if you liked this post, remember to subscribe to my newsletter NOW to get more of them in future, and to support my work.