An hour with a Parakeet !

 

I was in the road below our property to gather the fallen nutmeg fruits yesterday afternoon. 

I heard and saw the flight movement of a pair of Parakeets towards the outhouse adjacent to our cottage where there is a star fruit plant. I climbed over the wall and hurried to watch the parakeets eat one of their favourite fruits. I noticed both parakeets in different branches ambushed in thick foliage. The sign of their presence was only occasional movement of leaves and pieces of the fruit they drop regularly, which made a carpet with pieces of star fruit on the steps below. 

It was after about fifteen minutes, one of them became fully visible for me to take shots of their eating pattern. This parakeet bit and dropped the shell of the fruit and ate only the whitish  pulp. It took less than a minute to demolish one fruit and moved on to get another one. This one parakeet alone ate nine fruits and dropped a few while clipping the fruit between its beaks to fetch one.

This pair of the parakeets have been regular visitors for a while now as the tree was full of fruits. Now only a few are left now. 

Anna who planted the tree three years ago developed different ways of using the star fruit. The juice and jam made out of the fruit can be stored in the refrigerator wit adding any preservatives. 

Our domestic helpers have suggested that we frighten the parakeets away as they drop as many as they eat. They do not like to pick up the fallen fruits. So it is an effort to keep the pavement clean. 

But I felt a story line emerging within me as I watched this sight for about forty five minutes. Our environment is home for living beings of all sorts. It is we who can allow them to live and thrive!

I remembered the story of the way the college campus of CMC Vellore at Bhagayam looked about seventy-five years ago. It was barren and a treeless land with some buildings of college  and houses. Professor Jacob John, while taking us on a campus walk thirty years ago mentioned how there was an effort to plant  trees. As the trees grew, they attracted birds. The bird droppings made more shrubs and trees to grow. Now the campus is a natural jungle, a home for birds and reptiles. There are some other campuses of IIT Chennai, Madras Christian College, The Ecumenical Centre, Whitfield, Bangalore, which have a similar stories of purposeful afforestation over the years. 

Live and let Live is the slogan of naturalists and environmentalists!

Welcome Parakeets! Even if you do not let us have a share of the fruits, it is all right. You need them more than us! I wish you would learn to pick up the fruits you drop and eat them. Then  the fruits would last for you a longer period! Even our domestic helpers would begin to welcome you! They do not mind  clearing the mess you leave behind on the floor, but not like wasting raw fruits which you alone can eat!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)