Rufous Treepie

Head, neck, and breast are dark greyish-brown to blackish; mantle, back, and underparts are rich warm rufous-orange; wings are black with a prominent white patch on the primaries; tail is long and graduated, greyish with a broad black tip. Sexes are alike in plumage.

Distinctive rich rufous body, black mask around the eyes, grey head, black and white wings, and a very long, graduated tail with a black tip.

Length: 46-50 cm including the long tail; Weight: 90-130 g.

A wide variety of loud, metallic, musical, and harsh calls, including a resonant 'ko-ki-la' or churring sounds.

Omnivorous; feeds on insects, small reptiles, fruits, seeds, nectar, eggs, and nestlings of other birds.

Open forests, scrub jungle, plantations, agricultural areas, and urban gardens with scattered large trees.

Non-migratory resident species.

Builds a loose cup nest of twigs usually placed in the fork of a dense tree or bamboo clump. Lays 3 to 5 eggs, and both parents share incubation and feeding responsibilities.

Grey Treepie (Dendrocitta formosae), which has a greyer mantle and back, and Collared Treepie (Dendrocitta frontalis), which has a distinct black collar against a yellowish-white underpart.

Acts as an important seed disperser and generalist predator in its ecosystem, helping control insect populations and managing forest regeneration.

Least Concern, with a stable and widespread population trend.

Look and listen for their loud, metallic calls in open forests, wooded gardens, and rural outskirts. They are quite bold and readily visit urban parks and forest edges.

Rufous Treepies are known to occasionally follow tigers and other large predators to catch flushed insects, and they are notoriously clever at mobbing larger birds of prey.