In India, April is a month dedicated to festivities. A month of joy and merriment. Many states in India celebrate various festivals like Bihu, Baishaki, Vishu, Puthandu, and Poila Boishak during this month. For us Malayalis, usually April 14th is observed as Vishu . A grand feast, celebrations, visits to and from relatives and friends is the order of the day. But 2020 has been different. There was silence and suspense in the air. Who would have thought that a virus could bring human activities to such a sudden halt? After the announcement of an all India lockdown on 24th March, 2020 we were left with no choice but to wait patiently and watch how the situation on the ground changes. Stay at home and stay safe from the disease… that’s what we were told. Travel plans were put to rest. All that I could do was stand in my balcony and observe birds that seemed to be happy visiting our apartment complex. I also managed to look after some caterpillars, which were growing on our curry leaf plant.
Due to an ankle fracture, I had been nursing a bit of regret for missing out on a lot of aviary action in Delhi for a few months, especially the winter season. On April 14th, I saw an unusual group of birds flying in flocks and settling on a tree in our society premises. They were a very gregarious bunch. The tree was a bit of a distance away from my house and despite my best efforts, my camera couldn’t get a good picture of these unexpected visitors. But curiosity got the better of me! After being holed up at home for so many days, I finally decided to step out. This was not an opportunity to be missed. Armed with a mask and equipped with my trusted camera, I set out to get a better photograph of these birds. Despite the fact that the birds were perched quite high up on the tree, I got some pictures. When I came back home and looked at the images in detail, I realised to my joy that this is the first time I spotted Rosy Starlings in the area where I stay in Delhi. Being a nature enthusiast, this seemed like hitting a jackpot. I felt so grateful to see these winged visitors near my house. They were on their way back to their regular haunts in Central Asia.
Rosy Starlings are a migratory species, which come to India during the winters. Thanks to the lockdown and the consequent reduction in pollution and therefore temperatures, the weather in Delhi was much more pleasant in April and thus conducive to many species of birds. The starlings are famous for their murmurations. A murmuration is a spectacular aerial phenomenon in which flocks of starlings fly together forming wonderful patterns in the sky. There are many explanations for this occurrence - it could be to confuse predators, find safety in numbers or to get warmth by flying close to each other and for communication. If one gets lucky, one can witness flocks of hundreds or thousands put up a mesmerising performance in the sky. The flock that was in our vicinity was less in number to make such an event happen, but their presence was felt everywhere by their group calls.
After some time, this flock got divided into smaller groups and started foraging in nearby trees. They kept communicating with each other. I noticed that there was a pattern to this. A small gap of silence would be followed by one group of starlings starting to call out, and then the others would reply. The sound would reach a crescendo against which the cacophony of the combined calls of our resident mynas, bulbuls and parakeets failed to match. After all, these starlings had the strength of numbers. That’s one of the reasons why they survive the arduous journey to India and back to their regular haunts and breeding places later.
Insectivores by nature, they are sometimes called a farmer’s friend as they get rid of insects that are pests for agriculture. I read a story that somewhere in China some villagers encouraged the Starlings to stay for a longer time by building artificial nests. The longer they stayed, the more they were able to control the damage caused by pests. This also helped reduce the use of pesticides in those areas. This is just one example of the marvellous connection between birds, insects and agriculture. Nature abounds with many such examples. I wish we as humans could understand and accept this relation among species and try not to disturb it with chemicals and other interventions.
Coming back to our visitors, who were difficult to see but easy to hear, I couldn’t see their interaction with other birds. I was busy watching them, and also keeping an eye on the caterpillar which reached its final stage of metamorphosis. What if any one of them or the resident birds found my lonely caterpillar suitable for a quick snack? Sometimes a few starlings came out of the foliage and posed for my camera… or so I thought. The more they stayed, the more confident they became.
Finally, after five days of staying in our premises, they left. They have a quest to follow. Migration is an amazing process and the survival of many of the birds depends on it. Man’s way of acquiring more land, restructuring habitats for their convenience is taking a toll on this process. Climate change is also causing disruption to the routes that birds used for centuries. In an attempt to adapt to this unwelcome change, many migratory birds adjusted their routes according to climate variations. Maybe the arrival of these beautiful Starlings to my area could be a small diversion from their usual path. I am grateful that during these uncertain times of disease and isolation, Nature, on its part, gave me a pleasant surprise by sending these extra special visitors my way. I really hope they would come to visit me next year too…
© 2020 Nishand Venugopal. All rights reserved