Yesterday I heard unusual chirping or
screeching from outside and I moved to check what was happening on but I saw an
amazing scene I ever seen or known before.
There was a Koel Chick perched to the Gulmohar tree in front of our
house and a Crow sitting next to it; and apart wondering from where this Koel
chick came all of sudden with no sign of it emerging around, I puzzled by their
behavior.
First I felt very sorry for the Koel chick
thinking that it got trapped by a crow and was struggling to escape from its piercing
bite; but only observing carefully I found that the crow was treating the chick.
It was the scene continued even today with another male chick joining the feast,
but their behavior doesn’t look so kind for me even I watch closely that the crow drop its beak
into the chicks mouth holding something.
I couldn’t come out of amaze after coming across
this sight and as I know Koels or Cuckoos lay their eggs on crow’s nest but the
behavior of crow truly mesmerize me with its attitude toward the Koel chicks and
feeding them as their very own. For just the reason of eggs found on their
nest, how come the crow adopt the Koel chicks or is it the color that resembles
the crow took them easily under their shelter, crows simply seize me to amaze.
It is told that Koel chicks grow very
fast, so it took some time to confess me that they are not the adult Koels
which reside among our neighborhood. There are couples of paired Koel in our
area that they all rarely come around together, but I got to capture them at many
occasion and this is first time for me on their chicks. I couldn’t capture the
moment of crow feeding the koel and the photos above were on the male koel
chick – mouth widely open, which was the only indication, identified me the chicks.
