It is 3 o’clock in the afternoon. There
are no clouds in the sky. The sun is burning hot.
The sparrows, doves and sunbirds have
started working in pairs as they prepare to make their nests.
Some of the birds have already made
their nests. In some of the nests, the eggs have hatched. The parent birds are
busy feeding the chicks with different kinds of insects and other things.
In
our courtyard also, there is a baby dove. There is another egg in the nest but
it has not hatched yet.
On the way to Gopalbhai’s house, there are
many stones along the roadside. In the space between these stones, an Indian
Robin has laid its eggs.
Bachubhai showed it to me. I looked through the
binoculars. I saw that the nest was made of grass. On top there were soft
twigs, roots, wool, hair and cottonwool. This is how the robin makes its nest.
What a soft and cozy home for its
chicks! The robin is not like the crow. A crow’s nest is made of all kinds of
things – even pieces of wire and wood.
I saw a baby bird in the robin’s nest. t
was sitting with its beak wide open.The mouth was red from inside. In a little
while the robin flew to the nest and put something in the chick’s open beak –
may be a few small insects. By then it was evening. The robin settled down with
its chick.
You know that the Koel sings sweetly. Do
you know that this bird does not make its own nest? It lays its eggs in a
crow’s nest. The crow hatches them along with its own eggs.
There is a small tree nearby. It has a
nest hanging from its branch. Birds are so wonderfully different.
The crow builds its nest high up on a
tree.
The dove makes its nest among the thorns
of a cactus plant or a mehendi hedge.
The
sparrow can be found in and around our own house. It makes its nest anywhere –
on top of a cupboard, behind a mirror, on a ledge.
Pigeons also make their nest like this.
Often they make nests in old or deserted buildings.
The barbet or coppersmith bird can be heard
in the summer with its ‘tuk, tuk, tuk’ call. It makes its nest in a hole, in a
tree trunk. And the tailor bird uses its
sharp beak to stitch together two leaves on a bush. It lays its eggs in the
fold of the leaf that it has made. This is its nest. The sunbird makes a nest
that hangs from the branch of a small tree or a bush.
The same evening, we saw a sunbird’s
nest. Can you guess what its nest is made of ? The nest has hair, grass, thin
twigs, dry leaves, cotton wool, bits of tree bark, pieces of cloth rags and
even spider’s cobwebs.
When I looked through the binoculars, I
could see a chick in the nest. It was sitting near the small opening in the
nest. It was waiting for its mother to bring some food. What else can it do just eat and sleep!
Do you know about the weaver bird? The
male weaver bird make beautifully woven nests. The female
looks at all the nests and chooses
the one that she likes the best and
decides in which to lay her eggs.
All the birds are so busy these days.
Making a nest and laying the eggs is only the first step.
It is a difficult
task to raise the young ones in the nest which had been made with so much
effort.
Birds have many enemies- humans and
other animals too. Crows and squirrels, cats and rats- all of them wait for a
chance to steal the eggs. Many times they even break the nest.
To keep oneself safe from danger, to
find food, make a nest, hatch the eggs and raise the chicks safely-all these
are tests for every bird.
And see how
the birds still sing with joy and spread their wings and fly freely.
Nanditha completed her Masters in Zoology, English, and Education. She is multifaceted and has an abiding interest in children and education. She is a vibrant and enthusiastic teacher and has a unique ability to draw the attention of children to the subject at hand. Her primary goal is to carry out deep studies on the effect of a child centric and holistic education on students. Herself a skilled teacher in multiple subjects she wants her researches to sensitize the world to the infinite powers inherent in the child. She has done a marvelous work in ICT education. Received “International Academic and Research Excellence Award (IARE 2019) by GISR, ‘Research in Education Award’ by EIA-2019, ‘National Education Leadership Award’- 2019, ‘Best Young Researcher Award’ GERA 2019 and ‘South Indian women’s Achiever Award’.
www.sonuacademy.in
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