The Indian Grey Hornbill
Part II
The one aspect of my life that I deem comparable, if not superior, to any other living being on earth including humans, is the way I raise my family. There is a lot that is on offer in my life, for learning and assimilating from me and my female, the commitment, care and caution that I exercise while I raise my family.
Lessons in Raising Family
I most enjoy my forays to ground when I am in the process of building my home and raising my family. Few of you would know how assiduously I build my home where I safely keep my female so that she can lay eggs and raise our children. The nesting season is April to June, and I am usually blessed with a clutch of one to five very symmetrical, beautiful white eggs. I usually nest in tree hollows on tall trees. After carefully selecting an existing hollow, I suitably excavate it to fit my requirements. My partner enters the nest hollow and seals the nest hole, leaving only a small vertical slit through which I feed her. The nest entrance is sealed using the excreta and mud-pellets that I collect from the ground all around and deposit it in the nest. While inside the nest, my female moults her flight feathers and incubates the eggs. I provide the nest inmates, the mother and the fluffy, cuddly, soft, furry chicks, with a steady supply of bark pieces to ensure that the excreta is removed from the nest by absorption and adsorption and to help maintain the micro-climate within the next cavity. The regrowth of the female’s feathers coincides with the maturity of the chicks, at which point I and my female together get the nest broken open.
I sincerely believe that many birds and animals and possibly humans as well, will do well to take a leaf or two from our conjugal endeavours in raising our progenies.
Aerial Jousting
Humans take pride in sports and activities showing their physical prowess. One such sport is jousting. It is a serious sport, linked with honour and self-esteem. Losing or winning a jousting encounter may cost a life on one hand and may make you fall from grace on the other. But do you know that this manly game has been adopted by humans after watching us playing it since time immemorial. We call it aerial jousting, which is complemented by bill-grappling. It’s an exciting sport very seriously practiced and occasionally fatal. It helps us find our place in the hierarchy and establish a leadership so typical of our community.
And I make fun of Humans
Humans fancy themselves as a superior creation and claim to be at the summit of evolutionary pyramid. They boast of being more intelligent than every other living being. Possibly they are. They observe and study every other plant and animal and bird and insects and write books about them and publish interesting and often obtuse research papers. We, birds, also observe human beings, for their unreliable ways and ingrate behaviour dominated by their selfish and petty interests and whims.
And perhaps we observe them more closely that they do. And we have our moments of fun too. On summer afternoons, we often descend on a dusty road and pretend to be immobile and still. Noticed and their curiosity getting better of them, they come close to perhaps claim us or capture us. And as soon as they are in a touching range, we take a flight completely startling them to their annoyance and occasional amusement. These moments are greatly relished and savoured by us.
With over 54 species across the globe, and at least 9 of them to be found in every part of India, except the wettest and the driest regions, we offer that aspect of a diversity that is both charming and charismatic. But for us, some of the most precious trees in the world like Sandalwood and Cedar may have become extinct millennia ago. In our ugliness and ungainly body is nestling a warm and benevolent heart, and a fervent uninhibited gratitude for the bounties of nature.
Benevolence Thrives Within Me
Let me conclude with a poem that I composed in my mind long ago, sharing my dilemma, voicing my predicament, and offering an honest impersonal evaluation.
In verdant woods, where echoes dwell, A call resounds, both harsh and swell, With heavy wings, in lowly flight, A silhouette, perched out of sight. Who art thou, bird of sombre hue? Some may deem thy form askew, Yet hidden truths lie deep within, Unveiling purpose, we shall begin. Thou wreaketh havoc, so they claim, Scattering debris, a path of shame, Yet as thou percheth, biting, gnawing, What purpose hides within thy mawing? Though negative perceptions sow, Beauty thrives where few may know, For deep within thy rugged guise, A tender heart doth softly rise. Inquire of trees with seeds so tough, With kernels striving to break through, Or those with windows small and rare, Seeking rebirth, the world to share. Behind thy visage, unrefined, A soul compassionate, intertwined, Though brash my words may sometimes be, Benevolence thrives inside of me.
scribo ad LX 