LT COL NOEL ELLIS
06/VI/2025
It is ‘baby time’ in and around the Ellis’ Garden. You name a bird and it is caring and feeding its chicks. Most babies have grown and reached ‘semi flying stage, that is, flying in short bursts. From a tree, to the ground and back to a bush.
The chicks are testing their endurance and honing their flying skills. The watchful parents remain in the close vicinity. Not only are they guarding them, raising alarms in case of emergencies but also feeding them at regular intervals. In their tweets, they tell them various techniques to fly, like using their wings for lift, twisting their rudder aka tail to turn and many more.
‘Shikar’ is another skill in which they impart practical and thorough training. Till the baby catches an insect on its own, they keep getting it to a spot where they spotted an insect. In unison the ‘parent pair’ flap their wings vigorously, to disturb that insect while the baby sits observing on a branch close by.
They encourage it to dive and catch its food. When it does, they tweet loudly as if announcing to the world, like we humans do, that our baby has passed his/her matric exam. The chick also holds the catch like a graduation degree in its beak or under its paw to announce to the world to say, I have done it. The Ellis family claps at their achievements, lest the birds feel bad and complain.
If Bulbuls come, can sparrows be far behind? That is how the scene developed today. A pair of sparrows brought their baby first to the feast of roti I spread for them, then on the grain bowl. Like ‘human moms’ who keep force feeding their babies, the birds too keep ‘thoosoing’ them. Ye kuch khata hi nahi hai, is the general statement we hear. (The child doesn’t eat anything)
These bird chick too, while sitting around the pieces or roti would not lift even one morsel itself but flap its wings continuously and kept chirping that while mom would like to enjoy a morsel herself, she would have to shove it into the baby's beak. The never satisfied baby would not let her enjoy her meal.
Moment the mom would fly to the ground to catch an insect, this naughty fellow would start eating on his own, till mom returned and started his tantrums as usual. Moms heart is always made of gold. I was amazed at the similarity between bird and human child behaviour.
The Crow Pheasants kept calling in between. I thought they were a little late to raise a family. As they were four of them. I reckoned that two would be chicks. They all looked like adults though. These chicks who thought that they were very safe under the tutelage of their parents did not know that danger lurked in the skies.
The Bee Eaters too are busy feeding their little ones. In the last two days, it is difficult to make out which one is the baby, unless by habit the little ones start demanding for a juicy bee in the universal style of flapping their wings at a very high frequency.
As I went around the common garden, a pair of white pigeons caught my attention. Last year a baby which had probably lost its way had come over to roost on a tree infront of our house. These pigeons looked as if they had separated from the main flock. Hope they were not babies as there were kites in the sky.
Our garden hosts all sorts of parenting activities and one feels so good. Even a ‘wasp’ is nesting in a corner of our drawing room window. We let it be, as they hunt down larva and worms, they can lay their hands on, cleaning and eradicating them, to feed baby wasps which should emerge soon.
Life is fun. However, for the birds it is tough. They must be thanking their stars that they stay in a colony which is quite a protected environment. Predatory birds and cats do get to catch them off and on, but over all they are thriving and quite friendly, at least to us.
We wish them well and hope we see them congregate at our watering spot and feeding tray. We miss our little baby bird who has grown and flown away to work.
Which is the next bird which will come with its babies to the Ellis’ Garden? I wonder!!!!!!!
JAI HIND
©® NOEL ELLIS
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