I had never thought birds wold be capable of emotions and behavior more than primitive ones, like grief at the loss of a young one, love for the young one, love for a mate etc. This story was an eye opener for me.
Asian Koel is a big bird. It has angry red eyes. The male is all black and the female is with brownish spots. One hot afternoon last summer I found two of them sitting on a branch of large tree opposite our house. One was a male and the other was a female. They were quiet and probably resting. There was a tiny bird sitting on a branch above them. This tiny bird was quite vocal about something. It was not singing. Actually it sounded as if it was complaining loudly. It must have been its territory and it must have disliked those two birds entering its territory. In the picture below, the black bird is on the right of the center, the spotted one is on the left of the center (white arrow), and the tiny bird is above the black bird (between yellow-outlined black arrows).
After the tiny bird had complained for a while, the big bird perched on a branch below it apparently got tired of the disturbance. It turned its head through 90 degrees and looked up. It gave the tiny bird a full glare of its angry red eye. The tiny bird shut up in a snap. The big bird turned back its head to neutral position, paying no more attention to the tiny bird.. The tiny bird did not utter a single sound until the big birds flew away after some time.
Bullying is not limited to school children. Even birds bully.
Asian Koel is a big bird. It has angry red eyes. The male is all black and the female is with brownish spots. One hot afternoon last summer I found two of them sitting on a branch of large tree opposite our house. One was a male and the other was a female. They were quiet and probably resting. There was a tiny bird sitting on a branch above them. This tiny bird was quite vocal about something. It was not singing. Actually it sounded as if it was complaining loudly. It must have been its territory and it must have disliked those two birds entering its territory. In the picture below, the black bird is on the right of the center, the spotted one is on the left of the center (white arrow), and the tiny bird is above the black bird (between yellow-outlined black arrows).
After the tiny bird had complained for a while, the big bird perched on a branch below it apparently got tired of the disturbance. It turned its head through 90 degrees and looked up. It gave the tiny bird a full glare of its angry red eye. The tiny bird shut up in a snap. The big bird turned back its head to neutral position, paying no more attention to the tiny bird.. The tiny bird did not utter a single sound until the big birds flew away after some time.
Bullying is not limited to school children. Even birds bully.
