The sunshine in the morning brought a new ambience for birds in our garden. It was after a week I noticed a community of birds around our bird feed- Barbet, Bulbul, Magpie robin, Sunbird, and Drongo. The cacophony filled the air bringing the ambience as before on a regular day.
When the above movements were taking place around the bird feed, three woodpeckers flew into the coconut tree, adjacent to the bird bath with their loud bird calls. They moved around the palm tree trunk and practiced their climbing, while finding insects to feed on. The chirps that they shared between them was what intrigued me. The chirps were to invite the attention of the other Woodpeckers towards insects on the trunk. Their social communication and fraternal behaviour highlighted their social instinct.
It is unusual to find three Woodpeckers together. That itself was a delight. To see them behave mindfully towards each other was another striking feature about their social habit!
The avian behaviour has different intents. The social behaviour is striking among them. There is a communicating link between birds across different species. The smaller birds communicate through different tones in their chirps about food, threat from predators, impending rain or storm, or announcing the sunrise and sunset. They live as a community although some birds like Barbets can deny Bulbuls from sharing a meal.
I find a collaborative and communicative habit among the birds which is most refreshing to watch.
A bulbul was feeding at the bird feed! A Barbet waited till the Bulbul flew away for its turn! That was a change from Barbet's usual behaviour of chasing away a Bulbul !
I found this sight instructional!
To be regardful of the need of another bird and wait to be gratified!
An unusual message during a season, when the rainy spells offer only a short a window of a dry period for birds to find food!
The experience in the garden in the morning yesterday was most refreshing to stay pondering on it, during the day! A lesson in social consciousness !
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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