Pied Bushchat

The pied bushchat is a small passerine ranging from West and Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with about sixteen subspecies including many island forms. It is a familiar bird of countryside, open scrub and grassland, perched on the tops of short thorn trees or shrubs watching for insect prey, which it picks up mainly from the ground (Wikipedia, general species account).

It nests in cavities in stone walls or holes in an embankment, lining the nest with grass and animal hair. Males are black with white shoulder and vent patches, females mostly brownish, and juveniles speckled.