The Gracious New Tenant | Daily News

The Gracious New Tenant

Every morning for the past two weeks, a loud tap-tap-tap sound comes from the top of our roof. It feels as though a carpenter is up there hammering a nail onto the wooden ceiling. When I poke my head out of the balcony and look up I see him dressed in a spectacular dark red coat tapping away. Sometimes he turns his head and looks at me as if to ask me haven’t I got better things to do than stare at him, then, returns to his work. I watch him till the sound of a passing vehicle on the road below makes him fly away. The hole he has created on the ceiling is quite big now and I’m waiting to see if he would bring his lady love to admire his work. No one at home is worried about the tiny hole in the roof. The way we see it, we are probably living on land that once belonged to Woody and his wife, so all we can do is welcome him back as the new tenant on our ceiling.

Thankfully our first lodgers, the bulbul family on the living room fan don’t mind the newcomers either. Mama Bulbul and Papa Bulbul are too busy to notice Woody, anyway. They are busy carrying mouth loads of worms and caterpillars to feed their hungry brood. The only time they get agitated is when our monitor in residence walks on the roof making loud thumping sounds. But as I explain to the Bulbul family whenever this happens we have to forgive him. He can’t help making such a huge noise, especially when his great great great grandfathers happen to be dinosaurs.

In addition to this extended family of ours we also get a few visitors who drop in at regular intervals. They help themselves to the shoe flowers in the garden and give us a wide grin when we offer gifts of bananas by keeping it on the parapet wall. It makes me feel good to know they are our relatives (of sorts) come to say ‘Hi’.

I consider myself lucky that my cat Podi observes the first precept of not taking the life of other living beings and leaves the birds alone. But I know of a friend who takes leave from work to safeguard the baby bulbuls on her lampshade from the cat next door.

And I also have a friend, Prof. Kamani Jayasekera, who has a crow watching her work from his perch on the window of her home-office. He even gives her presents when she comes out into the garden, probably because he knows bird droppings bring luck to the unwilling recipients.

Survival

Good luck or not, it is heartening to know that most of us no longer feel threatened or ‘invaded’ when wild animals decide to lodge with us or call on us as visitors, and would never dream of chasing them away or of killing them. Environmentalists say it is becoming increasingly common that in cities and suburbs around the world, wild creatures are showing up where we least expect them. Not all of them arrive by accident, and some are here to stay. Who can blame them, as we, the human population tops seven billion, robbing animals of their sacred spaces. We so selfishly destroy their natural habitats to put up highways, buildings, car parks, and houses. The result? A wildlife invasion of our urban neighborhoods. But, how can they survive in our ecosystem of concrete, steel, and glass?

With great difficulty. According to the Audubon Society – a program that protects birds and their places, up to a billion birds are killed every year by hitting windows, making it one of their largest threats. And as bird lover Steward Brand points out, “You don’t have to find a dead bird near a window. Even if you just find feathers you know the bird has flown on but it will die eventually.” He quotes Valdimr Nobokov’s “Pale Fire”: “I was the shadow of the waxwing slain / by the false azure in the windowpane.”

Be careful

So, if we want to welcome birds into our house let’s make it safe for them. If you are looking for an excuse to avoid your chores this might be useful. Don’t clean your windows. Put the blame on the birds. Dirty windows are less reflective and can reduce collisions. You could also insert exterior window screens. “With the advent of air conditioning, a lot of people don’t open their windows as much,” says Joanna Eckles, coordinator for Project Birdsafe, Audubon Minnesota. “That’s a shame because open windows with exterior screens create a visible barrier for birds approaching windows, reduce reflection, and make for a softer landing in case of collision. They’re also easy to install and aren’t eyesores.” Hanging strings, ribbons, or cords in front of your window is also an in expensive way to help birds avoid your windows. Keep in mind that the occasional collision might not seem like a big deal, but just one or two collisions per house per year can mean that hundreds of millions of our feathered visitors are dying annually.

Relationship advice!

As always there is also the other side of the coin too. Is it alright to make the birds dependent on us? Will they get angry with us if we don’t provide them the shelter they are looking for? When someone posted this question with regard to a crow he had got used to feeding from his office window, Jon Mooallem, a ‘Mr.Know-it-All’ had this to say.

“Crows are shrewd and resilient birds, in other words. And they have fetching personalities. (Remember that viral video of a Russian crow sledding gleefully down a frosty sloped roof on a jar lid? I’d hang out with that crow!) What I’m saying is, you and this crow are in a relationship. What you’re asking for, essentially, is relationship advice.

Will the crow be let down if you stop feeding it? Without a doubt. Breaking up is hard to do. Still, the idea that the crow is “dependent” on you seems a little self-important. “The crow is certainly working the person,” says wildlife biologist John Marzluff. “It will find another meal.”

See, the crow has seduced you into a much more psychologically complicated relationship than you thought. In fact, Marzluff, with a colleague, has even worked up a typology of human crow-feeders. “Crow observers” take a detached, transactional view; “crow friends” say things like “Isabella scolded me when I got too close to her kids. Her anger has no bounds.” (If it isn’t obvious, Isabella is a crow.)

So, summing up: The bird’s just not that into you. You’re free to stop feeding it because the crow doesn’t actually need you. But ask yourself, how much do you need the crow?”

Following this advice I have been asking myself too if Woody needs me at all? Probably not. But I need him every morning to brighten my day with his colorful (and noisy) presence.


Tips for creating a bird-friendly environment

* Minimize bird strikes by pulling curtains over windows, adding a screen to the exterior or decorating the outside surface to break up the reflection. Don’t use mirrors as exterior decor.

* Choose appropriate feeders and seeds for birds in your area. Position them 30 feet away so birds aren’t drawn to reflections or less than 3 feet away from windows so they slow down.

* Plant native trees and shrubs and wildflowers.

* Include a water source and keep it clean.

* Avoid pesticide use.

* When nesting season is under way most nests are inconspicuous, tucked into hedges or under shrubs. Be mindful when trimming the garden: Find out if you have a tenant by listening for chirping or watching for birds bringing in bits of nest materials.

* Cats kill millions of birds each year. Keep your cat indoors to protect the birds and keep your cat safe.


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