India GO
Bird · Urocissa erythroryncha
Red-billed blue magpie
नीलकंठी (neelkanthi)
IUCN LC · Least concern
A bright blue crow relative with a black head, a white crown and a tail twice the length of its body.
How to recognise it
The tail gives it away in flight — a long blue streamer with a white tip, crossing a road between trees. Travels in noisy parties of five or six.
Where to see it
Mussoorie
The long blue tail crossing the road between deodars is the bird most visitors to Mussoorie remember, and it is entirely unbothered by the town.
Camel's Back Road · Jabarkhet Nature Reserve · Lal Tibba