Who’s queek-kaying on my Christmas tree!!??

Every morning as I wake up, I hear, lovely phrases “queek kay.. queek kay” or “wit-ti-waet ti…..”. Peeping through my windows I see, brown little bird with white belly, long tail with the vent region red, feathery crown and whiskers painted deep red. Yes I am talking about the ‘Red whiskered Bulbul’ (Pycnonotus jocosus), often perching on the cable wires or on the branches of the trees or on the bushy shrub twigs. What a lovely beautiful bird to see!

Cook pine tree (Araucaria columnaris)
SubashNagar, Mysore

This time I caught a small little family of the whiskered bird nesting hale and sound on the cook pine tree in front of my house. The cook pine tree (Araucaria columnaris) often tilted towards the equator are surprisingly home for common birds too. It is one of the most loved ornamental trees in the world, called as ‘Christmas tree in India’. Huge, stout, coniferous tree with needle like leaves, branches oriented upwards to form perfect ‘V’ are its added beauty.

It won’t be astonishing if I say that these trees attract the birds as well. We might have seen birds like black kite, shikra, crows and others perching on the tree top. Just like the other pines they also provide space for birds to nest on them. A bulbul nest on the cook pine was an eye witnessing event.

Red whiskered bulbul builds a perfect flat and cup shaped nest, it make uses of straws and twigs; in like manner its nearest cousin the ‘red vented bulbul’ is found to use metal wires too.They prefer lower height places notably bushes, small trees, fences or walls. Experts argue that these birds nests anywhere it feels confident to raise their chicks. The breeding season is usually in the winter. Two to three eggs are laid; eggs are small with brownish pink patterns on them. Parental care is well noticed, both the parents are involved in raising their chicks. Additionally the either one of the parents watch over the nests during night time as well. This says that the young whiskers have many enemies! The young ones are fed with insects, caterpillars and berries, all the chicks are equally fed without any fondness.Either one of the parent was always found nearby the nest safeguarding their heir. Sources say that, the parents may feign injury to distract potential predators away from the nest.

Bowl Shaped nest, Red whiskered bulbul

At the end of the month May, when the chicks were all grown the family left the nest like other birds do, a few days later the empty nest was fallen off from the tree. The bulbuls are still found every morning singing sweetly to make our day joyous. Although this may be true, the bulbuls are beautiful little birds with sweet voice, they show aggressive behaviour for their intruders. The human habitation may aid them to inhabit closer due to the lesser risk of predators.

What pleases me is the Christmas tree of my house is not just dressed with lights and bells on the Christmas eve, but also with the beautiful creatures and its architectures. Since the cook pine tree branches create a good fork, the bulbul might have found it safe for them to nest on them. Moreover, the predator attack is less in this tree since not many rodents or birds of prey visit them. The bulbuls on the other hand are good pollinators too since they feed on the fruits, their foraging behaviour help plants to disperse their seeds and pollen grains.

In a present day situation, pollution, harmful mobile radiations and other human activities are threatening the population of these lovely birds. According to IUCN conservation status this bird is noticed to be a least concerned which is leading to the decrease in their populations. The habitat destruction is one main reason for its declining status; pollution, predator attack, human activities might be the other reasons. The heart wrenching fact is in some cases these birds are found using plastic bags as their nests. It is time for us to awake, and give little time for the conservation of these beautiful creatures. Let me come back to listen to lovely “queek kay” on my house top.