Pigeons and Koels !

The Feral Pigeons, commonly found in the streets, have variant body designs. They occupy tall buildings and can sometimes be considered a nuisance as they multiply and make those spaces as their permanent night shapers. 

The Asian Koel are special birds as the union territory of Puducherry and the state of Jharkhand have adopted it as the state bird. The Koel tunefully sings from tall trees and is often not easy to be spotted as it remains in the foliage of tall trees. The Koel lays eggs in the nest of other birds, thereby abandoning the responsibility of breeding to other birds.  

It was after a while I happened to spot these two large species of birds while visiting a town recently. 

The pigeons live publicly and can be found in the streets during the day, perched on cables, posts or terraces. The Koel is less visible in the common places, but can be heard in the mornings with long bird calls! 

The Pigeons make their presence visibly and the Koels make their presence known through their bird calls. 

The visible presence and the audible presence- both are equally significant. 

During the recent landslide and devastation to life and property in Wayanad, there is a visible presence of humanitarian services to support people, who lost their homes and members of family. Most of them live in transit homes currently.  

The audible presence of environmentalists, raising questions about indiscriminate land development of tourism resorts in different hilly areas is a voice of reason and caution! I like the way these questions are raised to create rationality in land development activities. 

I wish the voice of reason would be raised globally against the human suffering on account of conflict in Israel and Ukraine! We need sustained voice against terrorism, unlawful migration, military rule, spying, human trafficking, internet based unlawful activities, gun culture, racial polarisation, unequal distribution of wealth, monopoly and crony capitalism and suppression of liberty and freedom. 

We live in a world of uneven distribution of resources and prospects. The environment is being exploited for the comfort of some. The moral voice of self regulation by showing mindfulness towards others is missing in the public space! 

The Feral pigeons occupy public spaces and the Koels occupy the nest of other birds to lay their eggs! 

The birds and human behave strangely!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)