[080706] more streamlined shape now:
it has 'whiskers' =P cute to watch e eyelids when it blinks. by now e bird could peck lumps of birdfeed pellets mixed with water from a tiny plastic teaspoon. tried training it to peck food off e ground, but it could only pick pellets off e floor & drop every single one while trying to manipulate them into a position easy for swallowing. with mealworms it caught on e idea of pecking at moving wormy creatures, but didn't manage to pick any up before they squirmed or crawled away. patience....
e cat's mum decided to start e bird's 'outdoor education' by putting it on e plants outside in e daytime. e plan was to let it spend e night indoors, as 3 community cats had been staking out e house every night since its arrival. but once we turned to walk back in after setting it down on a branch, e silly bird zoomed right back into e house through e front door....& if we kept e door closed, it would aim for a shoulder & wait for e person to walk indoors....
after a few more attempts e bird overcame its fear of e great outdoors & would settle in a flowerpot & wait patiently for someone to carry it back in. gradually grew used to e traffic zooming past e gate & other urban noise, & started singing in response to 'foreign languages', chirping merrily to e other non-bulbul birds that visited e plants. 'mynah song also try to copy', said e cat's mum....this fella is either facing a major identity crisis, or trying to be a lyrebird?!
[110706] preening:
e willow where it practised pecking fluff off e 'fruits':
still lousy at pecking up mealworms, but started to demonstrate its ability to 'track & snap' flying insects out of e air when outdoors. an adult pair of yellow vented bulbuls that have been regular visitors to e garden for >1.5 years also started trying to interact with it. e bird would also zoom in on e cat & e piano & sing loudly in response to higher pitched notes =P
[180706] because e cat's household believes that birds should be free & not caged up:
exposed surfaces = easily cleaned/wiped =) animal-friendliness of family is one of e factors considered before bringing this fella home.
yet another game of 'spot e bird' on returning home:
fast asleep on e curtain without a care showing off its tail & yellow butt to e world =P
these would turn out to be e last photos of it. it didn't appear before sunset after another day of 'outdoor education' on 190706.
hope it hasn't been trapped & confined within a cage in someone's home, or become a mouthful of feathers between a cat's jaws, but has adapted to e wild & learnt how to fear cats & other dangers, & is happily flying free with fellow yellow-vented bulbuls & being e butt of their jokes as a clumsy confused (identity-wise) tweet that happily 'replies' to mynahs, sunbirds & crows =)
[ 200806 update ] a lone yellow vented bulbul now visits e fig tree almost every afternoon to feast on e fruits. unlike e rest which always appear in pairs, this fella is always by itself, & has e habit of bending with its head turned sideways to tap its beak against e branch - something never observed in other birds.
[ filed under: nature1 + 9_lives_2006 ]
No comments:
Post a Comment