The ritual of most Bulbuls at the feeding table is to engage in bird calls before starting to feed.
One pattern of the bird calls is short and repetitive as in the first photo. The sound is pleasant to hear and is well modulated with varying pitch.
A second pattern is long and loud bird calls. During this the tongue between its beaks, stays almost parallel to the floor of the mouth. The long bird calls are loud and monotonic intended to convey some message to the bird fraternity.
The feeding pictures above give yet another introduction to the physiology of the feeding process. The mouth is open as the bird approached the food. It bends the neck and back to stretch towards the feeding bowl. The food is picked up between the beaks and transferred to the floor of the mouth. The thrusting movement of the tongue allows the food to be swallowed. There is a pause between each feeding cycle.
As I watch the Bulbuls, I realise that they are friendly birds and are comfortable to pause for the camera.
The routines and patterns of birds tell us a lot about the orderly and mindful behaviour of birds!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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