Tweet had been successfully released some time back and for the past week I haven't seen him or heard his call. Occassionally I still get a glimpse of the 2 adults who take care of him. They are still running around for food to feed Tweet, I can only guess. Whatever happens to him now is up to his karma.
That leaves me with newcomer 2, Dum, the baby black kauwow who thinks that he is a minor bird!
In the 3 weeks that he's been here, he's grown a little bigger and now sports an elegant tail.
I have never seen anything as demanding or with a worse temper tantrum than this bird. Believe it or not, he actually has a temper tantrum when he gets hungry! His call changes in sound when he knows that I'm in my hut, and he gets angry when I don't respond. I've played with this temper for a while to see just how far this chick would go. He's all over the cage when he sees me approaching, screaming his little head off.
With his eyes now a medium grey, and his black feathers and blood red mouth, he gives the impression of something that came from hell more than anything else.
There's something else that's wierd about this bird. Ever since he arrived, I've had nothing but bad luck.
This is something that I never experienced with the other birds. A few days ago I had the opportunity to speak with a visiting monk and asked whether this bird had anything to do with my past lives, as was the case with Cha and Peh. The monk replied that there most certainly was a connection.
The more I looked into the birds eyes as I fed him, the more I got the feeling that this thing had just been reborn from hell. He still wasn't happy and wanted revenge for something. That was what came accross from Dum.
By now he had successfully been weaned off wet food and was taking dry pellets from my hand. I occassionally peeked out my window to check whether he was drinking water on his own, and discovered that indeed, he was taking in water on his own now.
However, try hard as I may, Dum refused to eat on his own. Until now I can't figure out why. Did he not recognise the food tray for what it was or did he simply not see it? I'll never know the answer to that question. Analysing this situation, I realised that he now had a decent tail and should have no trouble flying.
If I continue to keep him, chances are that he would destroy his tail in the cage that was too small for a bird of his size. He has a beautiful wingspan which he shows off during feeding,
With this delema I approached Lung Poo Chai Mongkhol to seek an answer about what to do.
I was granted the permission to release Dum, and immediately fed him and set out to perform the task of his release to freedom. After feeding him, I checked for any cats in my vicinity and grabbed hold of him.
Of course this didn't sit well with him. He started screaming and trying to peck me!
When I saw that the coast was clear, I threw him in the air towards the broken stupa in front of my kuti.
Dum landed on the stupa and instantly took off again, only to land in the tamerind tree near the big chedi.
His beautiful flight amazed me! There was grace in his movement towards his freedom, It's comforting to know that now, the 2 birds that needed some help, received it and could successfullu attain their freedom.
Today I heard Dum's call...it's still a kauwow with a minor birds call, only louder. He may well have tried to be accepted by the minor birds. If that's the case, then he still has a good chance of making it.
The longer such birds are kept, the more they get stressed, even to damaging themselves, and the more difficult it will be to adjust to being free. Dum had left me stuck between a rock and a hard place, so to speak. But like Tweet, his survival is now in the hands of his karma. What could be done, has been done!
Two days after publishing this blog.......................
It would seem that the conclusion is not yet concluded?!
Today, 10th May brought a surprise with it! Dum has found his way back to my hut! He gave me the merry runaround this afternoon. The fact was that he was very hungry and had no alternative but to come back.
This evening though, things came to a head when his hunger got the better of him. During the afternoon I had placed a dish of water on the big cage for him to drink if he wanted to. He landed on the big cage and greedily took what I gave him, before he started gulping down water. He must have been extremely thirsty.
The pellets will do that. If this is to become our new arrangement, so be it.
I can live with feeding a free bird until he's ready to find his own food. This arrangement might be the best all the way around!
That leaves me with newcomer 2, Dum, the baby black kauwow who thinks that he is a minor bird!
In the 3 weeks that he's been here, he's grown a little bigger and now sports an elegant tail.
I have never seen anything as demanding or with a worse temper tantrum than this bird. Believe it or not, he actually has a temper tantrum when he gets hungry! His call changes in sound when he knows that I'm in my hut, and he gets angry when I don't respond. I've played with this temper for a while to see just how far this chick would go. He's all over the cage when he sees me approaching, screaming his little head off.
With his eyes now a medium grey, and his black feathers and blood red mouth, he gives the impression of something that came from hell more than anything else.
There's something else that's wierd about this bird. Ever since he arrived, I've had nothing but bad luck.
This is something that I never experienced with the other birds. A few days ago I had the opportunity to speak with a visiting monk and asked whether this bird had anything to do with my past lives, as was the case with Cha and Peh. The monk replied that there most certainly was a connection.
The more I looked into the birds eyes as I fed him, the more I got the feeling that this thing had just been reborn from hell. He still wasn't happy and wanted revenge for something. That was what came accross from Dum.
By now he had successfully been weaned off wet food and was taking dry pellets from my hand. I occassionally peeked out my window to check whether he was drinking water on his own, and discovered that indeed, he was taking in water on his own now.
However, try hard as I may, Dum refused to eat on his own. Until now I can't figure out why. Did he not recognise the food tray for what it was or did he simply not see it? I'll never know the answer to that question. Analysing this situation, I realised that he now had a decent tail and should have no trouble flying.
If I continue to keep him, chances are that he would destroy his tail in the cage that was too small for a bird of his size. He has a beautiful wingspan which he shows off during feeding,
With this delema I approached Lung Poo Chai Mongkhol to seek an answer about what to do.
I was granted the permission to release Dum, and immediately fed him and set out to perform the task of his release to freedom. After feeding him, I checked for any cats in my vicinity and grabbed hold of him.
Of course this didn't sit well with him. He started screaming and trying to peck me!
When I saw that the coast was clear, I threw him in the air towards the broken stupa in front of my kuti.
Dum landed on the stupa and instantly took off again, only to land in the tamerind tree near the big chedi.
His beautiful flight amazed me! There was grace in his movement towards his freedom, It's comforting to know that now, the 2 birds that needed some help, received it and could successfullu attain their freedom.
Today I heard Dum's call...it's still a kauwow with a minor birds call, only louder. He may well have tried to be accepted by the minor birds. If that's the case, then he still has a good chance of making it.
The longer such birds are kept, the more they get stressed, even to damaging themselves, and the more difficult it will be to adjust to being free. Dum had left me stuck between a rock and a hard place, so to speak. But like Tweet, his survival is now in the hands of his karma. What could be done, has been done!
Two days after publishing this blog.......................
It would seem that the conclusion is not yet concluded?!
Today, 10th May brought a surprise with it! Dum has found his way back to my hut! He gave me the merry runaround this afternoon. The fact was that he was very hungry and had no alternative but to come back.
This evening though, things came to a head when his hunger got the better of him. During the afternoon I had placed a dish of water on the big cage for him to drink if he wanted to. He landed on the big cage and greedily took what I gave him, before he started gulping down water. He must have been extremely thirsty.
The pellets will do that. If this is to become our new arrangement, so be it.
I can live with feeding a free bird until he's ready to find his own food. This arrangement might be the best all the way around!
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