I have been thinking about writing about these birds on my balcony for a week. And today is the day when I finally put my thoughts into action.
I live in second floor of my building. There is a small balcony attached on the bedroom. To the left side of my balcony, we've kept some old cardboard pieces. One day, we started to notice a Myna coming and depositing twigs and sticks and even chocolate wrappers on top of these cardboard pieces. The climate was really hot. So, Papa suggested, "why not make a nest for the bird?". So, we put another cardboard piece and adjusted it in such a way that it made roof and a door. We also put two bowls ; one, for water and another for food grains. So in short, it was a luxurious life for a bird!
After some days, when Amma went to give the bird water, she saw 3 eggs in the nest!
And from that day onwards, everyday I used to go and check whether the eggs had hatched. And one fine day, I heard chirping!Yes, the eggs had hatched! Believe me, it wasn't a very beautiful sight. They were really small, featherless and pink. Yuck!
After the eggs had hatched, it was not very easy to go out and stand in the balcony. The Mama Myna and Papa Myna will razz and fly over our heads. It was scary. Especially how they come out of nowhere. What to say... they are very protective.
After 2-3 weeks, the babies grew feathers. But something disastrous happened. One of them went missing. How that happened is still a mystery unsolved. I believe, that a crow ate it. Or else, it might have fallen off the balcony.
Some days ago, when I checked, one of the remaining two was trying to get out of their 'home'. It was as if it wanted to fly. And it looked as if it could fly. I told Amma, to take off their door, so that it can come out and fly. We took off the door. The two birds came out. One of it had injured it's leg. The other one looked perfectly fine. We left them like that and went back in.
The Myna parents came home and started razzing like crazy! I didn't know why! Was it because they wanted us to close the nest's door? I don't know. What do we do now? I don't know. We just left it like the way it is.
Next day, I was ill and couldn't go to school. Amma went with my sister, downstairs to drop her to the bus stop. Over there, she saw the injured baby myna. The mama myna and papa myna were close by. They were trying to save their baby from the hungry crow sitting nearby. Amma wanted to take the Baby myna with her to put her in the balcony again. But when she went close to it, the Mama Myna came and poked my Mom on her head and flew away! My Mom gave up soon and came back upstairs. The other Baby Myna was nowhere to be seen.
I don't know if they are alive now. I feel guilty over the whole situation. What if the birds were not ready to fly? I shouldn't have told Amma to open the door to the nest. I am calm now because I keep reminding myself that, this is how Nature works (Papa's words, by the way). Only humans question the nature. The animals and birds just accept everything the way it is.
The heart breaking part of the whole story is that, the Mama Myna still comes at times. It goes inside the nest, looks around and flies away to somewhere-I-don't-know. I wonder whether it is looking for it's kids.
I live in second floor of my building. There is a small balcony attached on the bedroom. To the left side of my balcony, we've kept some old cardboard pieces. One day, we started to notice a Myna coming and depositing twigs and sticks and even chocolate wrappers on top of these cardboard pieces. The climate was really hot. So, Papa suggested, "why not make a nest for the bird?". So, we put another cardboard piece and adjusted it in such a way that it made roof and a door. We also put two bowls ; one, for water and another for food grains. So in short, it was a luxurious life for a bird!
After some days, when Amma went to give the bird water, she saw 3 eggs in the nest!
And from that day onwards, everyday I used to go and check whether the eggs had hatched. And one fine day, I heard chirping!Yes, the eggs had hatched! Believe me, it wasn't a very beautiful sight. They were really small, featherless and pink. Yuck!
After the eggs had hatched, it was not very easy to go out and stand in the balcony. The Mama Myna and Papa Myna will razz and fly over our heads. It was scary. Especially how they come out of nowhere. What to say... they are very protective.
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| Mama Myna on duty |
After 2-3 weeks, the babies grew feathers. But something disastrous happened. One of them went missing. How that happened is still a mystery unsolved. I believe, that a crow ate it. Or else, it might have fallen off the balcony.
Some days ago, when I checked, one of the remaining two was trying to get out of their 'home'. It was as if it wanted to fly. And it looked as if it could fly. I told Amma, to take off their door, so that it can come out and fly. We took off the door. The two birds came out. One of it had injured it's leg. The other one looked perfectly fine. We left them like that and went back in.
The Myna parents came home and started razzing like crazy! I didn't know why! Was it because they wanted us to close the nest's door? I don't know. What do we do now? I don't know. We just left it like the way it is.
Next day, I was ill and couldn't go to school. Amma went with my sister, downstairs to drop her to the bus stop. Over there, she saw the injured baby myna. The mama myna and papa myna were close by. They were trying to save their baby from the hungry crow sitting nearby. Amma wanted to take the Baby myna with her to put her in the balcony again. But when she went close to it, the Mama Myna came and poked my Mom on her head and flew away! My Mom gave up soon and came back upstairs. The other Baby Myna was nowhere to be seen.
I don't know if they are alive now. I feel guilty over the whole situation. What if the birds were not ready to fly? I shouldn't have told Amma to open the door to the nest. I am calm now because I keep reminding myself that, this is how Nature works (Papa's words, by the way). Only humans question the nature. The animals and birds just accept everything the way it is.
The heart breaking part of the whole story is that, the Mama Myna still comes at times. It goes inside the nest, looks around and flies away to somewhere-I-don't-know. I wonder whether it is looking for it's kids.
