Ever dreamt of flying like a bird? I always admired these light-weighted little beings which are complex, gullible, and arrogant at the same time. I saw them making nests in the balcony back when I was little, it should be a common sparrow (Passer domesticus) I suppose, we used to protect them from their big neighbors, the staring pigeons (Columba livia) who were always at their backs to steal their nests. After, these little ones bred their little ones they left like arrogant pigeons. Why "arrogant" you ask? Let me tell you why, once a stupid one flew right into our fan and hurt its wings. we took care of it for a couple of days using turmeric and made a home for it under our sink, once it could fly it left, like an a@#&*le. If my episodic memory didn't give up, yet, I think the little ones would come back for a couple of generations, but never after that.
These complex mentalities always intrigued me with their mating dance (birds of paradise), why did nature choose the male counterpart to be more attractive than the females, completely contrary to our pop culture. The peafowl (Pavo cristatus) which were hunted for their fancy feathers to almost near extinction, would dance to attract the females, the same goes for its other contemporaries, Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis Nigriceps). GIB, I suppose cannot be saved, unfortunately, as we cannot have two national birds and who needs a bird with a questionable name anyway? Talking about extinction, the Dodo (Raphus cucullatus) is extinct! I am sure? no, because there are birds that come back from the dead. The Aldabra rail (Dryolimnas Cuvieri) which was thought to be extinct for several years came back to life or I should say was rediscovered. Maybe my brother Darwin would say that they "learned how to not die, by hiding from their greatest threat,
US!". But as a matter of fact, you don't see the passenger pigeons (Ectopistes migratorius) taking our letters or Siberian cranes (Grus Leucogeranus) coming to our land for their winter migration. Are they dead? no, I think they are just smart and took the path of least resistance.
I am not here to illuminate the facts about the feathered kingdom, but rather to unravel my own journey in finding these lost birds. I formed a team, Me a limping ornithologist, and my diary. yeah, I know I needed more people, and I got them too as and when required. Our first expedition, the mysterious bird of "El Nino"