Tell this to the birds!

 

Tell this to the birds!

Did you feed the cow, the crow and the dog this Makar Sankranti? Feeding birds and animals, which are not necessarily anyone’s pets but strays as well, has been a centuries-old tradition in our country. On most auspicious occasions, after the gods have been appeased with delicacies, food is offered to a crow, a dog or a cow before the worshippers themselves take the first bite. While the cows are revered as gaumata (cow-mother), crows are believed to be our link with our ancestors and dogs are said to help foil the ill-designs of some celestial bodies. How these creatures manage to accomplish this superhuman and supernatural task, is beyond my comprehension, so I would give that a miss.

To feed a dog or a cow you leave the food at a spot which you feel the animal is likely to visit, eat, be happy and in exchange for the morsels, put up an application to the gatekeepers of heaven to secure your entry.

My concern is about feeding the birds. Don’t get me wrong, I love birds, the winged kinds. The ones that land on my plate- I am very grateful for their supreme sacrifice, but right now I want to talk about those avians which lead very atma-nirbhar (self-reliant) lives. They jump, strut and fly free. Yet some of us try to tempt them with a handful of grains in the belief that we are building our own stairway to paradise.

In our house it is a daily ritual. The small 6x3 ft balcony is swept and cleaned early in the morning. Any time before noon like drunk uncles throw fistfuls of coins in the marriage procession of their nephews, somebody living on the upper floors scatters a handful of grains in the air.  

For several months, it was rice, now it is millet. Most of this it lands in our balcony. There is no prior notice/RSVP/time slot for the birds. Whenever they feel like, they descend there. They come in batches, look, maybe peck or just poop in disdain and fly away, leaving for me a pile of unwanted stuff to clear and clean. It does not seem that they appreciate the food offered to them. Probably in disgust and protest the have shaved my holy basil plant off its manjari (row of seeds). There is not even a large variety of birds here, just pigeons, and seven sisters living in the nearby areas.

My feeble voice cannot be carried over to these kind-hearted people living in our building complex who invite the birds for what they presume is a party on a daily basis. Alas, like most of the parties where all the guests may not find the food equally enticing/favourable/palatable, this feed too merely sits there and gets crushed under my feet whenever I go to the balcony, creating further mess.

Feeling helpless, I asked for solution from Google baba. And the trusted guru that it is, it told me that different birds eat different foods, much like human beings. And that putting out birdfeed might make them less inclined to find food and more to breed because of the sense of security. This proliferation could be detrimental to their safety and the lives of other birds and animals.

During our stay in Berlin, Mani stopped eating egg-yolks. I used to collect all the cooked yolks and keep them for a fox which came on weekend mornings in winter when the nearby offices were closed. Oh, it used to make my day when the pointy-nosed, furry and cute animal would look up and wait as I aimed the yolks from the fourth floor.

And then one day I told about this to a German friend. She was aghast, annoyed, even angry to some point. “Who is going to feed it when you are not there? You are making it dependent, killing the animal’s natural instinct to hunt and forage for food, and thus causing her death,” was her reaction.

A bird-lover told me if once you start putting out food and water for the bird, you should continue that practice, so that the birds are not put under stress of finding sustenance. 

Does that also mean that these grains would continue coming in my balcony? The housing society does not have much room for growing trees or plants to feed the birds on. Wouldn’t it be appropriate, as also convenient, for someone interested in the noble work of feeding unknown winged creatures to use bird-feeders? Or is it too much work to keep them clean and stocked?  

Studies have that found bird droppings and feathers can lead to diseases, such as histoplasmosis, candidiasis and cryptococcosis, which can be fatal in some cases. The birds are also carriers of ectoparasites, including bed bugs and yellow mealworms.

 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/71571741.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Histoplasmosis is an infection caused by breathing in spores of a fungus often found in bird and bat droppings. The infection is most commonly spread when these spores are inhaled...

 https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/histoplasmosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20373495#:~:text=Histoplasmosis%20is%20an%20infection%20caused,during%20demolition%20or%20cleanup%20projects.

Breathing dust or water droplets containing contaminated bird droppings can lead to several diseases, including a flu-like illness called psittacosis.

Salmonella - a bacterial infection that can cause diarrhoea - may also be present in some bird droppings.

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-46964702

Now you would see my point if I tell you that there are millions of ways to die, but dying of a disease caused by bird poop does not seem a very impressive death to me since bird-rearing is neither my business nor hobby.   

The mean streak in me wishes that the birds poop on the cars parked below so that people are compelled to find a solution for bird-feeders.

If the pigeons come, so would cats. Do I feed them and then offer food and friendship to the half a dozen stray dogs which climb up the roof behind our flat or the odd monkey that honours us with its occasional presence, to shoo the cat away?

Is there a way to stop these pious people from scattering the seeds? I need your suggestions.

I even put up a notice in the two buildings in support of the birds, but the heaven-seekers continue with their daily routine. And the maid who cleans the house, continues to look up from the swishing of the broom daily, with accusatory piercing glances flashing the message that I have been ineffective!