Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Birds And Their Significance

 When one continues intense sadhana for Devi, birds start coming closer. I have been doing Devi sadhana for decades and since a few years, we see many birds behaving very friendly and coming very close. When I stand in the portico, birds will walk on the ground very close to me, as if they don’t notice my presence. They take bath daily from the bird bath that I have kept in the balcony and won’t fly away even when I open the door and step out into the balcony. Innumerable bird nests have been made in and around our house and hatched their young.

Invitation to the swallows

Recently when I stepped out after the yoga practice, two swallows were flying round, close to the balcony. I stood there watching them, extended my hand and told them to come and sit on my arm. Of course they didn’t do that. I told, “At least come closer.”

A honey comb?

A couple of days later, we saw what looked like a honey comb on the roof in the same location. Honey bees can be dangerous at such close quarters and we considered getting that removed. On closer inspection, we saw the head of a bird jutting out from the top! 


So, that was a bird’s nest made up of mud. I didn’t know that such a thing existed and googled to find out more.

The nest made by a swallow bird is not a hanging nest and is along a vertical wall or any kind of support. These nests are made by mud and saliva of the swallow bird is also mixed in it. These nests are made by the bird step by step, the upper level after the lower has dried completely. You can see some more pictures here.

There are other species of birds that will primarily make their nests out of mud. These include martins, magpies, thrushes, choughs, and even American flamingos.

The marvel of nature

I was totally wonderstruck to see that nest. How much of labour and how many hours must have gone into its making!

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