It was Mother’s Day yesterday. A belated “Happy
Mother’s Day” to all mothers, grand and great grandmothers, would be mothers,
unwed mothers, and even mothers-in-law. A big salute to mothers of martyrs who
laid their lives for Mother India. Also, to all the wives, who are looking
after “kids” who now are veterans and behave like toddlers.
Having said that, today, I want to bring to the
fore certain mothers who cannot speak but can sing. Who instead of walking, fly
and hop. Their home is not built by bricks and mortar but by twigs and grass.
Mothers who get up well before dawn and sleep
only after dusk, working tirelessly to feed their babies. Their clothes are
their feathers and they don’t need a closet full of clothes. They don’t throw a
tantrum for food but eat what they get, with no greed. They wear no makeup but
look so beautiful.
They do not crave for chocolates or pizzas.
They drink from ponds and puddles. Their babies do not need straws, their beaks
substitute for it. They let their babies fly and explore the world, while they
keep a keen eye, unlike humans who let our kids cling to mama’s pallu till they
are adults.
Such moms teach their chicks to defend
themselves, fight if need be. Claws are their weapons. They raise an alarm to
warn everyone, to hide, to freeze to avoid detection, and sometimes to
sacrifice themselves for their clan.
Such mothers lament for their loss for a short
time and move on. Soon they have another clutch to bring up. Yes, these mothers
are choosy. The males have to sing and dance to woo the lady. Unless she
approves, there is no way that any male can touch her.
Once she lays her eggs, she stays in the nest
warming it with her body heat, like human mothers keep the baby in their wombs.
Once the eggs crackle open, the little lives know survival is to keep quiet.
Eat when fed. Eat what they get and sleep till the next round of feeding. Then
one day, when they grow their wings and leave the nest to soar in the sky. Our
babies take about a year to walk and talk.
But then these mothers keep a keen watch over
their chicks who are yet to learn to catch an insect or suck nectar from a
flower. She teaches them patiently. She feeds them even if she has to go
hungry. Imagine, your gullet is full of grains, insects and nectar. Mom first
feeds her chick. How can one control oneself? That is the sacrifice of this
feathered mother.
Not that the human mothers are any less. But what
we call bird brains are far more intelligent and worldly wise. We have our
aunts and parents to guide us. I haven’t seen the same in birds. They learn
from their experiences and pass it on to their chicks.
As I sat in our drawing room looking out of the
window, it was a treat to watch a Hummingbird mom, a mom sparrow and a Bulbul
mom grooming their chicks, when it was almost 44ºC in the sun. They brought
their babies in the shade of the veranda to rest in the afternoon. The chicks didn’t
make any fuss at all.
She taught them to sit ‘belly down’ in the pots
which I had watered in the morning. They being in shade would have cooled down
by now. This would save the chicks from being exposed to the torrid and scorching
sun.
Mama bird continued to explain to the chick and
even admonish it for misbehaving. But then, it is a mom’s heart that melts.
Probably, the father wanted to take that place but mom shooed him away.
While telling the chick to stay, the
Hummingbird mom flew to the ‘sweet water feeder’, filled her gullet with nectar
and returned quickly to the little one to give it a drink before it got
dehydrated. The little one kept flapping her wings at high frequency demanding
for more. It must be like ‘coca cola’ for it.
As the day moved on, the mom took the chick to
the hummingbird feeder. She showed the chick how to suck out the liquid from
the ‘artificial flower’. But our naïve little one kept poking its beak in the
side of the flower instead of the center, as this was how it was taught to suck
nectar from a real flower.
The training continued all afternoon. But then,
I was getting drowsy and made my way to my afternoon siesta.
Wishing all moms the very best always. YouTube
link- https://youtu.be/j424K5EUo2c
Will this chick become a well-trained mom when
it grows up? I wonder!!!!!!!
JAI HIND
© ® NOEL ELLIS
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