Monday, June 8, 2009

Parinda / Birds

My house, like all the other houses in this neighbourhood, has an opening in the roof into a room below to let the heat out. There is a metal grid over it so you can’t fall through from the roof, but the birds easily go in an out.

 

The birds were constantly flying in and out and leaving their droppings in the house. I didn’t like this part of their cuteness.  So I started blocking their entrances and exits. First I covered the hole in the roof with a carpet. That had two other advantages, 1) it kept the dust out, which is major in a desert, and 2) it kept the hot sunlight out, which is major in a desert.

Next I started keeping the front door closed, as they were sneaking in when they saw the slightest opening.  And finally I put a sheet over the doorway going up to the roof.  Still they managed to find ways around the sheet to get in.  But once in they were having trouble getting out so I would have to open the front door and chase them out. 

The last time two birds snuck in and began fluttering around the house, I was in my bedroom reading when I heard a thud noise and realised that one of them had probably been hit by the ceiling fan.  I ran out and there it was lying hurt on the ground.  It tired to fly but couldn’t. I opened the front door to let the other bird, still flying around, out and then helped the wounded bird out to the patio.  I went back in the house to get some water and then returned to see the hurt bird, but it was gone.  There’s no cats here, and I don’t suspect the cows got to it, so I hope it was only stunned and managed to fly away.  But there is more.

I discovered why it was they were so insistent to get in the house.  I heard some chirping, loud chirping and because of the bare walls here, I could not tell where it was coming from so I assumed it was some sound bounce from outside. To test my hypothesis I closed the door to block the sound.  But it persisted. In fact it was coming from right above my head in a wall air vent (they put them in all over the houses for air movement).  So I thought there were still some birds up in the vent. I got on a chair with my flashlight and looked in.  Baby birds.

So I removed the door sheet and keep the door open now to let the birds in to feed their babies.  I still keep the carpet up as that serves a better purpose.  I hope that soon the babies will fly away and I’ll be able to secure the house again before the stand storm season, before the rainy season and the dreaded mosquitoes.

 

Note: Parinda is Urdu for birds but it is sometimes used in Inida.

                              

 

1 comment:

  1. do you know what kind of birds these are? It is so amazing they can survive in that terrain and climate. And what are they feading their young?

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