Oriental White-Eye Taking a Bath

I have kept a 3 inch deep bath tub on the ground just besides the guava tree (Psidium guajava) and birds such as fantail flycatcher, Jungle babbler (Turdoides striata), Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer) have often been seen bathing in it.

“But on 10th March, an Oriental White-eye (Zosterops palpebrosus) perched on the guava tree and then hesitantly moved to the top of the bath tub "

“It appeared very vigilant and cautious and after making sure that there was no enemies nearby, it plunged into the water and took a fanatical bath. After flapping its wings four to five times, it flew to the nearby Chakotra tree (Citrus maxima) and started grooming its feathers.

It was a fascinating sight for me as I have read in field guides that white-eyes are completely arboreal and do not descend on the ground.”

It may be arboreal but the bird needs a bath and it needs to come to the ground for it.