Miss Birdy...
We went for a peaceful getaway to the beautiful forests in the K.Gudi range of BRT sanctuary, 86 km from Mysore, 13-16th March. On the 15th morning, returning from a 12 km trek to Malki betta, just before we came across the fresh scat of a tiger and its claw marks, we got a call from our assistant. "One egg has hatched" she said." And it's the ugliest baby I ever saw!"
We returned around 10 a.m. on the 16th to find two naked, ugly and endearing chicks in the nest. One egg was unhatched, and never hatched. The chicks had their eyes closed - they did not open till the 20th - large heads and voracious, huge, gaping mouths that gaped with almost inaudible cheeps at the parent and even whenever we whistled! Finally we saw both parents, taking turns to feed the chicks almost through the day, hour upon hour. The male was indefinably different - bigger, perhaps. The first 3-4 days one bird would still incubate for 3-4 hrs a day, after which it gave up. By nightfall, though, one bird would sit in the nest on guard, till day break, every night. One morning we found both parents squashed into the nest on top of their babies!
The babies grew at an incredible rate. By the 3rd day, they had sprouted black, hairy pinfeathers - in the evening they'd be longer than what we saw in the morning. By the 21st they seemed all 'hair', with distinct beaks and eyebrows, hairy heads and all. The parents became distinctly more aggressive. I got 'bombed' twice while peering into the nest - the parent would swoosh past my ear, and once while Jai was entering the gate, one bird each zoomed past each ear! But usually they seemed to accept us and the maids. On the 22nd, when two young raddiwalas came in, and were sitting on the ground sorting paper, the parents attacked them, to their amazement. The aggression was warranted, as it turned out.
22nd morning, we saw the first bit of light brown fluff on the pin feathers. The cheeps were louder and the food, bigger and spikier morsels of insects.
23rd, the babies' bodies were almost covered with brown, fluffy feathers. The heads were still hairy - no sign of the crest, red whiskers, or long tails. 23rd night, while putting off the lights, one bird - we think it was the female, Miss Birdy - was perched rather uncomfortably in the limited space left by her growing offspring.
On 24th morning, we opened the door at about 0615 to a scene of disaster. The pot and tree were overturned, the nest torn from its moorings and on the ground - and feathers, some blood spotted, everywhere. The fledgelings had been attacked, clearly by a large animal, very probably a cat. These things happen..I had read that the young 'suffer from heavy predation from crows, lizards, etc.'. they would have been ready to fly in a couple of days. But then next thing we saw - some few feet away around the corner of the house - was heartbreaking. Miss Birdy was dead, too. All that was left of her was her brave crest, back feathers and long, perky tail with the orange vent below.
She could easily have flown away, but had clearly been killed while attacking the predator to protect her young. Even the unhatched egg was gone.
We saw the male twittering on a tree opposite, with something in his beak. He came over, flew around, and went away. Returned with a twig in his beak. Went away, came back and sat on the gate, calling.
Every time we hear him - he still hops about in the trees opposite - we feel a twinge. Especially when we remember what we read in Salim Ali and S. Dillon's handbook - a pair of red-whiskered bulbuls were ringed at a nest, in Gujarat. The pair was caught again 10 years later close to the same spot.
We returned around 10 a.m. on the 16th to find two naked, ugly and endearing chicks in the nest. One egg was unhatched, and never hatched. The chicks had their eyes closed - they did not open till the 20th - large heads and voracious, huge, gaping mouths that gaped with almost inaudible cheeps at the parent and even whenever we whistled! Finally we saw both parents, taking turns to feed the chicks almost through the day, hour upon hour. The male was indefinably different - bigger, perhaps. The first 3-4 days one bird would still incubate for 3-4 hrs a day, after which it gave up. By nightfall, though, one bird would sit in the nest on guard, till day break, every night. One morning we found both parents squashed into the nest on top of their babies!
The babies grew at an incredible rate. By the 3rd day, they had sprouted black, hairy pinfeathers - in the evening they'd be longer than what we saw in the morning. By the 21st they seemed all 'hair', with distinct beaks and eyebrows, hairy heads and all. The parents became distinctly more aggressive. I got 'bombed' twice while peering into the nest - the parent would swoosh past my ear, and once while Jai was entering the gate, one bird each zoomed past each ear! But usually they seemed to accept us and the maids. On the 22nd, when two young raddiwalas came in, and were sitting on the ground sorting paper, the parents attacked them, to their amazement. The aggression was warranted, as it turned out.
22nd morning, we saw the first bit of light brown fluff on the pin feathers. The cheeps were louder and the food, bigger and spikier morsels of insects.
23rd, the babies' bodies were almost covered with brown, fluffy feathers. The heads were still hairy - no sign of the crest, red whiskers, or long tails. 23rd night, while putting off the lights, one bird - we think it was the female, Miss Birdy - was perched rather uncomfortably in the limited space left by her growing offspring.
On 24th morning, we opened the door at about 0615 to a scene of disaster. The pot and tree were overturned, the nest torn from its moorings and on the ground - and feathers, some blood spotted, everywhere. The fledgelings had been attacked, clearly by a large animal, very probably a cat. These things happen..I had read that the young 'suffer from heavy predation from crows, lizards, etc.'. they would have been ready to fly in a couple of days. But then next thing we saw - some few feet away around the corner of the house - was heartbreaking. Miss Birdy was dead, too. All that was left of her was her brave crest, back feathers and long, perky tail with the orange vent below.
She could easily have flown away, but had clearly been killed while attacking the predator to protect her young. Even the unhatched egg was gone.
We saw the male twittering on a tree opposite, with something in his beak. He came over, flew around, and went away. Returned with a twig in his beak. Went away, came back and sat on the gate, calling.
Every time we hear him - he still hops about in the trees opposite - we feel a twinge. Especially when we remember what we read in Salim Ali and S. Dillon's handbook - a pair of red-whiskered bulbuls were ringed at a nest, in Gujarat. The pair was caught again 10 years later close to the same spot.
posted by AnJ at 4:20 PM
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