Breakfast and Indian Rollers

Breakfast and Indian Rollers

Maria Antony

Mr. CIAS, an Indian Roller (Coracias benghalensis) lived in a hole onan old dead palmyra palm tree without a crown about 15 feet from the ground, in a plantain field. The field was very close to the road. Mr. Cias was living there with his wife Ms. Cora and her two chicks Ben and Miss Halen.

 

One fine day during the hot summer month of May as the sun went down and hid itself allowing the brimming stars to shine in the growing darkness, with dark rain clouds making the night even darker. a feeble voice spoke from the house of Mr. Cias “Dad! Tell us a story”, Whispered Miss Halen and Mr. Ben. Dad was overwhelmed with joy and he began. Ok! Ben and Halen, today I will tell you about ourselves, we are called Indian Rollers and are very close relatives of Kingfishers we mostly live in and around the agricultural fields and help farmers in controlling insect pests. We often perch on electric wires, even on hot sunny days and wait for insects in flight like dragonflies, butterflies, wasps, etc. Humans used to catch us alive and release us during the last days of the Dussehra Festival, symbolizing deity Lord Shiva. Sometimes these humans also chop us and mix our feathers from the wings with grass and feed milking cows to enhance their milk yield. Meantime Ben and Halen were half asleep and Dad, seeing his kinds sleepy told “sleep my sweet dears, Good Night!” The little chicks went to sleep yawning “Ok, Mom Dad, Good Night”.

The two chicks spent the entire night under the warmth of the parents. The next early morning when the first rays of the sun fell on the chicks, Koels were singing, Ioras were busy whistling, and then the continuous whizzy tlick tlick chirping of Plain Prinia family living in the nest in an avaram (Senna auriculate) plant, made Halen to open the eyes, while Ben was still sleeping. The loud cry of a peafowl disturbed the sleep of Ben, immediately he started to cry, “Mooom, Daad…”. And now it was his sister Halen who responded to the cry “Ben Don’t cry, mom and dad have gone out in search of food for us.” Ben “Oh! That’s nice I feel so hungry, Halen''. Halen and Ben were waiting for their breakfast and parents.

Ten minutes later, “Hello, good morning Ben and Halen! Greeted Ms. Cora”. Hearing the sound, instantly the chicks widely opened their bills and said “Mom, I am very hungry, what did you get for me” asked Ben. Halen told her Mom that Ben started to cry out of hunger when you both were out. Ms. Cora told, “I know Halen, you both will be hungry, I have brought you a few grasshoppers and bugs”. A few minutes later, Mr. Cias also brought a long centipede and a few more insects, even after eating all the insects and the centipede, the young chicks’ hunger was not arrested, they wanted more.

Mr. and Ms. Cora knew well the insects were not sufficient for their growing chicks.

“Stay Safe! Ben and Halen”, said Mr. and Ms. Cora and flew out of the nest and out of the sight of the chicks.

Hours went fast, the sun started scorching, the hungry chicks popped their heads, eagerly waiting for their dad and mom.

After two and a half hours, chicks heard their mothers screech far away and finally Ms. Cora returned to the nest. She saw now the happy faces of her chicks. This time she brought them a fresh kill of an adult grey colored garden lizard (Calotes vesicolor) with a long tail. The lizard was with blood strains all around the body. Ms. Cora, offered the lizard to the hungry Ben and Halen and said ‘come on! Eat the breakfast my dears’. Happy chicks tore the scaly skin, pulled the muscles in a hurry, and swallowed. Ms. Cora silently witnessed the beauty of the chicks eating the lizard.

Within five minutes, nothing remained in the lizard. A sumptuous breakfast for the chicks. Halen slowly raised her head towards her mom and flashed a smile to thank for the breakfast. “Mom, the lizard tasted yummy, “said Halen. Ben was also happy; his tummy was full now. Now Halen and Ben realized their Dad was missing and asked “Mom, where is Dad? Its long-time father hasn’t arrived yet, where is he?”. The mother didn’t answer, there was silence, tears ran over Ms. Cora’s eyes. She couldn’t control her emotion, she broke her silence and cried loudly. Poor chicks didn’t understand why their mom was crying. The chicks asked out of anxiety “Mom, why are you crying, where is our dad, tell us, mom, why didn’t he come?”.

“Ben, Halen!” the voice of Ms. Cora trembled. “Mom! Please don’t cry'', begged the chicks. “Yes dears” Now the mom Ms. Cora started narrating the thing that happened later when they were out for food, “when me and your dad went in search of breakfast for you, your dad caught a basking garden lizard perched on a fence pole. Meanwhile, Mr. Milvus, the Black Kite (Milvus migran govinda), without our expectation, suddenly rushed towards Mr. Cias to steal the lizard, but wisely your dad somersaulted and escaped from him guarding your today’s breakfast. But Mr. Milvus was not ready to give up, again he chased your dad. Knowing the situation, Mr. Cias gave me the lizard in his acrobatic dive and then he bravely chased and attacked Mr. Milvus several times on his wings. This is not unusual, Mr. Milvus has the habit of stealing food from other birds like crows, swallows also, humans call this as Kleptoparasitism. Mr. Cias has successfully defended him most of the time. But this time Mr. Milvus escaped from your dad’s attack and flew towards me, then again Mr. Cias defended me and chased Mr. Milvus away and continued chasing him. I was helpless to protect your breakfast.

“Oh! My Cias!” Wept Cora. “Mom, mom don’t cry. Tell us what happened” yelled the kids.

When your dad continued chasing Mr. Milvus, unfortunately Mr. Cias crashed on one of the wings of the fast-rotating wind turbine and was thrown away. He fell in the middle of the nearby road. I rushed to the spot but I was hardly able to see his last eye blink before he was run over by a speed car. And we lost our beloved Mr. CIas forever! “On hearing this, the little chicks Halen and Ben started crying and the mother was unable to console herself and the kids. Ms. Cora added that “Myself and your dad have found many bats and birds including migratory ducks, raptors (Kites, Harriers), Peafowls, Mynas and Owls dead due to collision with giant wind turbines and high-tension wires. At the same time, we also have witnessed several poor reptiles crossing the roads that were crushed under the wheels. But we have never dreamt that one of us will be a victim of these human-made hazards.” 

With tears running from her eyes, Ms. Cora consoled the little chicks and again flew down from the nest disappearing into the plantain field in search of food for her chicks. Innocent Ben and Halen wept and Ben asked Halen, will those humans take any steps to stop these hazards and protect us?

Acknowledgement:

Our heartfelt thanks to Dr. T. Ganesh Senior Fellow, ATREE, Bangaluru for fine tuning the writeup and the encouraging comments.