Birds

It was a fresh, radiant morning.As I gently placed my toothbrush on the parapet of my terrace and began splashing water on my face, I saw a crow hopping towards my brush.I stood still making sure not to disturb him.It quickly looked around in all directions and then swiftly landed its beak on the brush getting the taste of the toothpaste.As it flew off, I couldn't help smiling to myself.

I started brushing my teeth wondering how little I knew about birds.As I looked up in the sky I found some crows flying hither and tither.Looking further higher were some eagles gliding happily. And how could I forget these sparrows all around me, comfortably seated on wires, chirping endlessly, as if they had so much to say and nobody had time to listen.Back home in Delhi, I remembered a cuckoo used to sing so beautifully in the backyard of our quarters during summers but the best I enjoy is watching those huge bunch of gray and white pigeons on old Delhi streets, flying in unison in a pattern twisting and turning in the sky, as you walk past them.

Well birds are mysterious.They make me wonder how they find their way back home.I mean sparrows and crows still commute a smaller distance but what about migratory birds who travel across continents all together.We humans use maps, computers, radar, radio beacons, and navigation signals from GPS satellites to guide us.We get in touch with an ATC when we are lost in case of a bad weather but what about them.How do they find their way and what do they do if they are lost in that vast sky up above us.

Probably they remember all the landmarks below on earth to guide them.They may be remembering topographic features on their route the shape of mountain ridges, coastlines,the rivers and streams; and any prominent landmarks on their way.But how much can they memorize and remember.For short distances this sounds reasonable but for long distances they need a better mechanism.


Studies show migratory birds use North-South direction identified using Sun to navigate.Now we all know Sun changes its position in the sky throughout the day and the pattern of those daily changes again vary with seasons of the year.So for using Sun to identify North-South direction, birds have to be aware of what season it is and what time of the day it is, at the time of commencing their journey.Now that's is commendable provided they have no gadgets to help them.So next time you shoo them off...make sure you do it with some respect:-) 

Some species of birds fly during night-time.They are believed to watch the stars in the night sky wheel around Polaris - the north star.Being able to identify Polaris in the night sky helps birds find their way north.Birds also learn from parents on their first migrations.Finding directions using night sky, I will try it next time I am walking back home from work.I wonder what if these birds know better astronomy than us.It would be fun to take classes from them.

Some birds like pigeons have small amounts of magnetite in their brain tissue. Magnetite is a compound of iron and oxygen which apparently makes the birds aware of north south magnetic orientation of earth.Means compass in their heads.

So next time we watch "Kabootar ja ja" song lets make sure we appreciate the effort put by that small, gentle Kabootar to locate the actor:-)