Windows to Woods

The second and one of the most common birds that I'll be writing about is the Common Myna i.e. Salunki. Their eyes are their most attractive feature which gives them the Sanskrit name "Chitranetra", meaning "one with picturesque eyes". The bright yellow patch on their head looks so beautiful with a wonderful grey-black banded eye in the middle. Just like parakeets, mynas are also capable of making different kinds of sounds. Sometimes it becomes quite confusing to identify the two just by listening to the sound. Speaking of which, mynas are very noisy creatures and are always ready to fight. This behavior gives them the other Sanskrit name "Kalahapriya", meaning "one who likes to quarrel". These Chitranetras are fond of dancing here and there and chattering continuously. During the lockdown I always watched them dance around on the bamboos and chirping all day. They also used to visit us (not really visit) with Neem seeds in their beaks. They ...

The sound which started this journey was that of the beautiful Alexandrine parakeet. Over the years, the day to day hustle of school and college never really gave me time to look at these beauties, despite being aware of their presence. About 2-3 years ago, my mom and I saw a few parakeets chattering in the neighborhood. When we carefully observed their actions we came to know that they were actually trying to carve a hole in the wall of a house! Yes, a hole in a concrete wall! The residents of that flat had bought an AC whose fan was installed outside that room, with one or two pipes going towards it from the inside. This small hole that was made for those pipes was later carved into a nest by these parakeets! But wait, that's not how it started. One fine evening, while I was busy watching FRIENDS and cringing over the lockdown, I heard a distinct sound - somewhat annoying though. I went to my mom to confirm if it was of parakeets. It was one of the rare times when they hanged to ...

Hello there! Welcome to my blog. I have been thinking about blogging for quite a long time now but couldn't think of any topic. This year's pandemic gave me one. While all of us were locked inside our homes we tried many different things to stay away from boredom. I got driven towards something which led me to this blog. So what am I going to blog about? We all know that during the pandemic, there were restrictions imposed on all of us but some. These "some" were roaming around freely without any fear of getting punished. Who? Well, of course, the birds and animals. I know it's not new that they loiter around everywhere making all kinds of sounds, especially the birds. But, do we ever "listen" to them? Have you ever wondered what could be the meaning of every different type of "noise" they make? Or have you observed how these sounds change from sunrise to noon to sunset? Or even how our surroundings and their rapport with these innocent beings ...