A peahen lays eggs on our terrace or in the vicinity of our house each year. There's a lot of excitement when the eggs hatch and chicks jump down*. Thus begins the first adventure of their life: to jump across our boundary wall and into the fields. This time, we saw three chicks.
Two chicks were stuck in a plot behind us and could find no way to escape. The neighbours gingerly caught them in a bucket and we released them in the fields adjacent to our house. The third, perhaps the youngest and the weakest, stayed behind, hidden somewhere. After a while, Baba heard its persistent calls in our garden.
"Mama, where are you?"
The peahen came back for this chick. She was constantly flying up to the wall and was urging the baby to climb one of the plants and jump out.
"Mama's here... Yippeee"
She then guided the chick to the other side, where there are more plants. From here, her baby could jump out easily.
"I will be a good boy now, promise!"
After about 15 minutes or so, we stopped hearing the baby's chirps and the mother's beckoning "quack quack". The chick had jumped outside and started a new life with its two siblings.
Two chicks were stuck in a plot behind us and could find no way to escape. The neighbours gingerly caught them in a bucket and we released them in the fields adjacent to our house. The third, perhaps the youngest and the weakest, stayed behind, hidden somewhere. After a while, Baba heard its persistent calls in our garden.
"Mama, where are you?"The peahen came back for this chick. She was constantly flying up to the wall and was urging the baby to climb one of the plants and jump out.
"Mama's here... Yippeee"She then guided the chick to the other side, where there are more plants. From here, her baby could jump out easily.
"I will be a good boy now, promise!"After about 15 minutes or so, we stopped hearing the baby's chirps and the mother's beckoning "quack quack". The chick had jumped outside and started a new life with its two siblings.
* Unlike chicks of other birds that have to be fed and raised for a month or two before they are able to exist independently, peacock chicks are nidifugous and leave nest minutes after hatching.
16 comments:
So sweet ... you are so close to nature. I clicked a baby parakeet today , he allowed just one click and hopped away...:)
@sangeeta The area has undergone massive construction phase in recent times. and the plot adjacent to us (which you see in the peahen photo) was cleaned up yesterday for a housing scheme.. So, in few months, we will miss out these small pleasures too.. It was really pristine when we moved here though, and we had a superb childhood..
Please share the photo of the parrot baby!!
I like this one.. You had the photos clicked with a perfect timings too! I am guessing this Ahemdabad though.
How wonderful ! Must be so exciting to have the peahen get habituated to your place !.
BTW, i hadn't known that peachicks become independent so quickly ! Good info.
Great pictures.
Awesome... we have a family of peacock and several peahens in our colony infact they have a few chicks too !!!! they are awesome ! and lucky you to have managed to click them !!!! beautiful !!!
Wow...that must be something to witness :) I didnt know that peacocks/peahens start their life immediately after hatching. Thanks for the lovely pics.
Amazingly beautiful photographs...and touching anecdote. But where do you live to have all this so close by!
How exciting! What a wonderful thing you have shared with us - I had no idea that peachicks get moving so quickly.
A very happy Diwali to you, your family and all your readers!
I thought not many would be aware tht peachicks get active so soon after hatching.. in tht sense, the post is a success!
@YOSEE we are indeed fortunate to have so many guests visiting us! hope this lasts longer.. :)
@Mayuleee yes, i have not been this lucky with clicks before.. was very happy with these pics myself..
@hitchwriter so you know exactly what fun it is to see these families roam by with broods of chicks, grow and come back for feed as juveniles or adults.. :)
@homecooked it ws indeed fun to see, especially touching to see the mother come back for the third chick!
@Kamini Am glad you loved the photos Kamini..Thanks for the Diwali wishes, hope you and your family had a joyous festive time too..
@RAJI MUTHUKRISHNAN we live on the outskirts, and some plots adjacent to us are still unoccupied.. so the natural bounty!
Awww...cute! Lucky you for being able to watch this mom & chick relationship right in your back yard. Lucky peahen mom for having chicks that hop out of the nest so quickly!
So sweet and interesting. Great pics, lovely garden. Lucky you!
Thanks Mesjay.. :)
See the pics of that baby parrot at Homealone ...
Sangeeta, going right there.. :)
I can't argue with the wonderful content your blog has to supply and therefore I wish to say thanks
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