CHIRPY - CHRUK

This is a short story  about two of my favourite sparrows who visit my house everyday. This is a touching, true incident  depicting  the human qualities of love and friendship and a strong bond that may exist between two birds. 

Chirrpy chirrpy chirp

I swing and sing in sharp

Child of GOD and mother Nature,

Hither and thither I hop

Chirpy churpy chop.

Chirpy was a beautiful little sparrow. He lived at the outskirts of a village. Whole day he would sing perching on trees.

One day there came another little sparrow. She asked Chirpy

Chruk chruk chruk choo

Why so happy tell me true?

“I don’t know I always feel happy - very  happy. Right now I feel like fluttering my wings in the wind and move in quickly through the air --going up, falling down with light, trembling motion. What a fun! Would you like to come with me?”  Said Chirpy

“Why not? I am adventurous as well .”Chruk replied.

“Well, then let’s move!" Said Chirpy.  His feathers came out ruffled. He flapped his wings for a start and expressed  his exitement .

 Both of them began their journey with jump and jerk, chrip and charp, singing merrily and dancing gaily.

“By the by, are you a song sparrow, Chirpy? You sing so well !  Besides you have a very good look which makes you special from others. What’s the secret about you?”Chruk asked curiously-- chi cheep chi chi cheep!

“That’s a long story. My mother was a song sparrow but my father was a house sparrow. My father was  native but my mother and many other types were deliberately imported from England as a means of pest- control.

I look like my father but sing like my mother---a combination of both.”Answered Chirpy- -chrururup chru.


Both of them flipped, flopped and flew past over the hills and the valleys. It was such a pleasure trip!

“You look very attractive in your brown suit and black tie. I lack that stark coloration of yours” Chruk continued.

“You have black lines through your eyes but my eye lines have lighter shades. My flight feathers are rusty grey but yours are quite dark brown and rusty as well.” 

Suddenly she took a cautious glide in midst of her talk, smack-dab in the middle, going further away and coming back again on their usual track to join Chirpy.  She did it only to show how happy she felt.

She continued again,

“We are native chipping sparrows, you know? Very restless and very agile. We select long pine trees for our nests and  are slightly different from field sparrows and sea-side sparrows. We love to glide through hills and dales--, we love open sky above and  the green fields below—the quiet Nature.” She seemed to be very emotional and romantic in nature while talking to Chirpy. 

Chirpy on the other hand was a thorough listener. He paid his heed to Chruk very patiently but all the way he never stopped his singing for a single moment. That was his mainstay.  He was singing very gently and incessantly throughout their way.

Sometimes his calls were comprised of various cheeps and chirps, tones and tunes.  It also had a double call note-"phi-llip.” Chruk tried to imitate them from time to time but not with very much  success.
Many birds, in addition to their instinct,  do quite a bit of learning in their life time when it comes to singing but Chruk could not reproduce any music from her throat.  She was born and brought up in a different acoustic environment . Excellent vocal mimics of music was not her forte.

They went on and on and on.  Almost ten miles per hour. Chruk seemed not to be in a frame of mind to end his journey anywhere.

“Where are we heading for,  Chirpy?”  Chruk asked slightly nervously now.

“Till now I have come a long way from my own folks. Won’t you go back again?”

“I am heading for a town, dear! I am just like my father. House sparrows love to live close to human habitats. So do I.  I want to live in colonies, around people.” Chirpy chirped  sharply -chichiuk, chichiuk, snuke,cheep,cheep chrik,crrrrrrrrr....

“Oh!  Shucks. I am not fond of town”Chruk uttered to herself. 
Braking few moment's silence she told ,
" You are not joking, I believe!  But be careful,- in town there is a scarcity of food . Insects, seeds  are less abundant.  Modern buildings have fewer holes and crevices to stay in than in rural areas . Mobile towers have crept in whose vibrations are dangerous for us . Are you serious about your staying there? 


She repented her coming with Chirpy .

Far away multistoried buildings were pushing up through the smoky sky. It was a hilly place. Dead silence prevailed all around.  The doors and windows of the houses were being made of Pella vivid view screens to view the outdoors crisper and clearer.

Chirpy- Chruk reached there in short while --- tired, hungry and thirsty. They entered into a big  isolated colony.

Surprisingly everything inside that enclosed area made them enthralled. They chirruped loudly  in happiness.

 Beautiful gardens, green lawns, trail of plants growing along the ground or hanging over the walls, palm trees in rows, perennial trees enriched by green foliage and flowers, thickets, bushes, shrub here and there and one bushy grove- everything  was so interesting and captivating !  No dearth of greenery all over the place.
" Chruuuuururu chichipuk chipuk chipuk...chaming, chaik" were the clear signs of their happy feeling. 

Things have changed a lot in modern township. This  is inevitable as a part of evolution in human life  but  they have brought a great deal of damage to Nature as well.
Birds are no more accepted here as before because of their nuisances. High pitched chirping of thousands of sparrows in chorus in early morning behind the leafy branches in hide out is almost missing here . Their soothing  but tired whistles in the  mid after-noon, melodious to human ears have been erased . Those have been taken over by the hustles and bustles of the town.  

In those high raised buildings the flats were being built of modern-styled floor to ceiling glass windows and self closing sliding Patio door screens.  It gently closes and opens every time when someone enters or exits.

Birds don’t have any concept of these glass windows. They think they can fly to whatever is reflected on the glass and then hit the window. Clear windows unfortunately appear to them as open space. Chirpy- Chruk looked at the windows with both wonder and awe. With their scanty knowledge  they desired to go through those glasses, but every time they tried they got hurt. The new experience made them confused.

It was summer time.  Chirpy noticed movements of people inside a flat. There were many flower-pots in their balcony with attractive yellow flowers,- -Crocuses, primroses, aconites and sun-flowers. Sparrows specially are very much fond of these yellow flowers.

"Uhhm! Yummy ! How lucky are we!"Let’s  have some Sun-flower hearts. We are awfully hungry," Said Chirpy.

 Chruk was always very careful about not to bring any harm to anybody; so she protested seriously,

” Strange! Bit wacky you are."

With a feeling of mild shock she said again,"Do you want  to damage those plants, Chirpy? Can’t we have some kitchen scraps instead?

We will eat just anything. If you dissect the stomach of a sparrow you will find not less than 838 different types of foods there. So we don’t have any problem in having a-ny-thing there.” 


Chirpy agreed.

So they flew over to the balcony, then invaded the rooms very cautiously through a clear crystal cut  glass window which was all open. They felt very much delighted to see so many tits-bits of food here and there on the floor and ate them fully satisfied.
"We have had enough for to-day," Chirpy said .

 He felt so happy that he wanted to sing a special song to celebrate their journey.   It was a song with a slow series of five clear whistles that changes pitch once on either the second or third note. This time Chirpy's songs were longer, complex and so melodious!

Chruk took aback at his outstanding theatrical extravagance. She enjoyed it fully engrossed.

At times Chirpy’s calls had a metallic sound, which he made totally closing his bills. The sound was produced in his throat only. It was amazing!

Stunning! You are really a master of music”, Chruk admired in a very low voice. She didn’t want to disturb the other members of the family.

Nevertheless  the music captivated everybody in the house in the same degree as it captivated Chruk.

“Oh!  Dear bird! Fantastic! We love you.”

“Stay with us as long as you can.  Your presence will be so exciting!  Without  birds’ song life seems to be dull here. You have filled that empty spaces of our heart!” Everybody exploded with happiness and clapped their hands.

 

“I never expected such a welcome Chruk”  sentimentally Chirpy said.
"From now on everyday I will sing for them from morning till evening and certainly they will provide us food.  Isn’t it encouraging for us!"

From that day the Chirpy and Chruk started sharing that human abode which was really of their own fondness and decided to stay there year round. Their playful erotic intimacy with the family members made them further attractive. Whole day they would sound chichik-chichik , snour-snour and chrik-chirik. They would flip, flop and  sing running around the house.

During night they managed to stay in the hole of an open pipe on the patio. 


The days went by peacefully. Chirpy and Chruk were very happy.

However peace is never ever lasting. “ There will be bumps on the smoothest road.” Same thing happened in  Chirpy- Chruks'  life very soon.
One elderly lady of the house was annoyed with these birds . She would sprinkle salts every day on the doorway to forbid the bad luck or evil spirit to get into their newly bought house in disguise of these sparrows. She  didn't find them lucky. Her superstition was so very strong!

Another problem  came out into view very shortly. A head-to head rivalry started when other native species tried to flock in around. The situation worsened.


Both Chirpy and Chruk didn’t like them at all--" cha cha chawk cha cha chawk,"Chirpy shouted" Go away! Go away!"

“I can be very aggressive, you know Chruk!  When I establish my territory once, I remain there year round. I will defend my territory and prevent those later arriving species like crows,pigeons and others to come here.” Chirpy charped very agitatedly .

Chruk in the mean time made a quick round with irritation, spreading her wings and said furiously,

“We have made ourselves so comfortable here and have adapted so well with this family,  how dare they come to this place? I will kill them if needed.” Both of them geared up violently to destroy every possible obstacle to come on their way.  Such a fierce fighters were they.

Sometimes when Chruk felt upset, Chirpy intensified his attack on them. Even they were forced to take devious ways to make them run away . The other native species didn’t find  the situations on their favour, so they all disappeared one after another. 


Chirpy and Chruk ruffled their feathers in great victory!


 In the meantime,

one early summer morning, the sun appeared in a sparkling mood. Chruk noticed a very big and beautiful butterfly in the garden. She got fascinated by it and chased "The Joy" ; but the butterfly was pretty clever.  It flew away to  enter into an open water reservoir in a jiffy and sheltered herself in  a dark corner of it.

Chruk  didn’t want to lose her prey by any means.  She too entered into the tank speedily but by bad luck  fell into the water straight away with a bang.

Oh! shit!”Chruk uttered desperately. She found it slightly disgraceful on her part.
To console herself  she immediately gave an expression  as if to say“ But nobody knows how smart we sparrows are . We can swim too if necessary !”

Then she started a dramatic soliloquy to justify her own unwise fault.

“Few months back I had to swim even under the water to escape a predator when he tried to trap me, but I escaped miraculously. Actually a quick-witted creatures are we!”  She tried to keep her spirit up and looked for the butterfly without wasting any time.

The butterfly was no less cunning either. It started her sly play too.

It was a Monarch butterfly not very much found in this area. Perhaps it was out of her route here and was wondering how to join the other members of it’s own group. It flashed past Chruk again cutting her to the quick and retreated in the cover of a bamboo thicket.
Chruk lost her prey forever.

Losing a prey is obviously not a pleasant feeling for a bird!
Chruk hated her loss and in complete frustation nestled herself in the branch of a  tree to see if Chirpy was anywhere nearby.

The day was progressing gradually.

At day break a”V” shaped formation of Geese was passing over the head just like airplanes with their”honk,honk” sounds. A Hawk --the fastest flying bird flew past towards the mangroves. Pigeons were flying 60 miles per hour on top of evertbody’s head.  All were so busy !

Chruk watched everything in a detached silence of disappointment.

 Her tiny brain had no competence to think more about Chirpy but her gut feeling reciprocated that Chirpy must had gone to obtain some grass seeds which he was very fond of.  She continued her cheep and chirp notes repeatedly signaling Chirpy about her presence there.  

Very soon a small flock of chattering babbler appeared and clustered close together on another branch of that tree where Chruk was resting. Their incredible loud chattering irritated Chruk at that peaceful hour of the morning.  She  took  a  small flip-flop to run away but reinstated herself in the same place again with the second thought that Chirpy might reach there any time.

Unluckily Chirpy had just disappeared. It seemed as if it had taken off for a distant land somewhere, sometime without any intimation to Chruk. His soothing whistle and chik chuk were missing everywhere. Chruk felt very unhappy !

 An impatient feeling frenzied her.  

She hurried to her nest to investigate what was wrong.

“What a surprise! You are here only ?”Clattered Chruk “ I missed you so much this morning! I wished if you could be with me I wouldn’t have missed that Monarck butterfly in the garden !”  Chruk sat on the other end of the pipe to have a rest and gave a quick glance around. She felt at least some relief from her uneasiness that nothing was so seriously wrong  . She made sounds chichuk, chichuk very happily. 

 Chirpy did not answer. He looked rather slightly stiff and silent. He crouched down and couldn't ruffle his feathers.

"You are looking so pale and just growing craggy and thin.

 Are you sick? I never saw you in this pitiful condition before!”chip,chip,churup,chrip-----so many questions Chruk asked him in one breath quite nervously. 
This time she noticed that something was obviously wrong with Chirpy himself.

Still Chirpy did’nt give any cheeky reply .

 He was sitting there motionless and calm with gloomy face.  His body language and dull clouded eyes  expressed that some sort of distresses he was going through. 
 It was his time of moulting ---replacement of feathers . Small  birds take about five weeks to moult and regrew their flight feathers. The prosses is very slow, gradual and painful as well .

This replacement may lead to excessive preening and irritations. This may lead to itching and soreness, inflammation and infections. A very critical time for a bird . It cannot fly for sometime. They become more vulnerable to predation. 
Sadness was there in helpless Chirpy's face. It spoilt all the enjoyment of his life for time being .

Chruk could immediately sensed the gravity of the situation .  She  instinctively felt her responsibility  of feeding her partner. Chirpy needed plenty of food in  this period of moulting which he himself cannot gather . 
Chruk went to bring some insects for him, but this was not enough.  Survival instincts pressed her to bring more and more food for Chirpy.


So she cleverly thought of going straight inside the dinning hall of the house, they were staying in,to bring some loaf of bread or other tit-bits for Chirpy if found scattered. 
She quickly reached there without making any delay.

The children had just finished their first meal of the day.  Tit-bits were scattered here and there on the floor. Chruk collected them one after another at least at ten go- between . 


"Half a loaf  is better than no loaf for Chirpy" She considered and  watched him eating everything ravenously. 

Moulting behaviour  usually related  to the sunrise/sunset cycle ---the day length.  It helps birds to maintain their plumage in good condition .

Chruk helped Chirpy in preening as well . The removal of keratin from feathers on the head is difficult to reach by the bird itself. It is a feeling of discomfort also. Chruk helped him to take off that. Thus by helping each other birds always strengthens a pair of bond between them . Chruk did everything for Chirpy what was required from her and she was very careful not to cause any pain to him .

Keratin is a protein which forms the basis of feathers  in which the emerging feathers remain encased in a  shiny sheath of keratin . The whole process of growing feathers has a rich network of capillaries (very small blood vessels ). They work within the base of the quill (  main wing or tail feather of a bird) 

Sometimes Chirpy felt restless because his blood calcium level was dropping from time to time. Seasonal temperature variations also had  an  influence on his health and shedding. New feather growth had a nutritional demand for protein as well . All those urgent requirements made him completely sick . 

Five weeks to pass. Patience was the demand of the circumstances to encounter the glitches to workout . Chruk’s company was really a blessing to Chirpy in this difficult period of time. She at least tried to do everything what was expected from her .

 "You are really a friend in my need and a true friend indeed” Chirpy chipoo- puk greatfully .

The days in and days out Chirpy –Chruk tolerated every single moment to pass . An unchanging, uninteresting life ahead for few more days .

All adult birds would moult at least once a year . Who knows when Chruk would start moultlng  few of her feathers, perhaps after breeding ! After every moulting birds emerge as  a more mature and adult bird . Colouring to the adult plumages is also  always  different.

 In few days from now Chirpy would look quite strange with his different coloured feathers . The new feathers would be more strong and warm.

Chruk  had  no intelligence to anticipate many things, even Chirpy was dead silent all through  showing no encouragement or excitement ; still Chruk stood beside him, feeling and doing something for her sick partner as her instinct guided her. 


Birds have no emotions as such but they definitely have some sort of heart or soul, compassion for each other and understanding in between.

Every morning  Chirpy spent  his times using up all his energies in growing feathers, not going out for a single moment.  He could be more vulnerable to predation during this period.  He was having body heat loss, affecting his insulation . What a miserable phase in a bird’s life!  Human being can hardly realise this .

 In the evening, only when it got dark Chirpy felt some relief . One day’s pain is over.  Next morning would appear with another distinct stage in the process of  developments of his life.  He was looking forward eagerly when he would fly and sing again. Both Chruk and himself will be delighted as before.
  

Next morning Chruk came in  and went off  at least more than sixty times. Throughout the day she would make thousand trips to her nest. Her restless nature would not allow her sit in one place for a long time .

She sought  food  for herself by scratching away the ground with her feet  taking backward jumps and swallowed them . Sometimes she turned over the dust with a  quick and smooth movement to have a dust bath.
"I am very fond of this flipping action” the chumping Chruk chripped noisily .

In a moment she made a switch to other thing. Very faithfully all in the name of good health  of her dear Chirpy she made her mind to fly away again to gather some food for him. It was her unavoidable restless nature.




 Almost five weeks had come to its end gradually in a slow process of time .


One day Chruk  decided to take a bigger risk to enter into the kitchen of the house instead of the dinning hall.  It was definitly risky for many reasons but the  foods available there were in plenty. 
Chirpy's nutritional demand was accelerating as well day by day. He should take large quantities of protein food for his well being. In a second Chruk reached there.

In the kitchen one man , no other than cook was standing near the stove lifting one big pot off and putting a smaller one in its place. He put a large piece of butter in it and moved to and fro , then put some sliced vegetables in it . Grated cheese was there by his side with many other sliced fruits .

Chruk waited for few miniutes to grab the opportunity to steal something from the plates. As soon as the cook went off to bring  a three-legged stool to sit down and  pursue his pending work, she flew away with some food stuffs.

She appeared again in ten minutes time. The golden toasted sliced breads were being covered with soft cheese. One little child was sitting in the living –room   tucked up in a finest sofa in the world,  feeling so warm and cosy .
Chruk again disappeared in a flash with some food without anybody’s notice. Thus she made attempts few times to filch something for Chirpy.


After that she didn’t wish to defame herself  any more for those unpleasant deeds.  


"I must go away now, Chirpy has had enough to-day," she uttered and vanished for the day in a gleeful mood.

 “I shall find  a big tree to make my new nest . Chirpy will be fine very soon .” Chruk glided across the sky to find one . "We must stay  together there -chririruru  chririri ....!" 

Chirpy was  still sitting inside the pipe in the patio with cold stone face. The  hole of the pipe was blocked with  the sheding plumages of Chirpy, providing him a comfortable blanket cover to him. 


Chruk  came in a moment and removed some of them with her bill  to make some room for herself. 


 She flew off again in haste to eat some scraps, nuts, seeds , berries, buds—just anything .


 That very morning---

Some migratory birds were found nearby. From their  appearances Chruk could  recognise that these birds were not year round residents of this place. They only pass through this time of the year. They resembled sparrows but  their upper parts  of the bodies were much grayer with slightly taller tails.


 Their moving patterns were quite different . Their attack and counter attack among their own clan people showed that they were in a very playful mood. They were not cheeping frequently as if to show the aristocracy of their kind .
Chruk observed them quite inquisitively.  Their legs were black  coloured. Wings were with black and grey streaks.  Their biils were conical .
Virtually though they were some other sects of species Chruk found no enimity with them .  At night they stayed in the bushes nearby, ate insects and had no quarrels with other birds or among the members of their own clan. They were peace-loving in nature . They stopped briefly and then flew away forever where no body knows.

 Soon she came across some other birds too. One very common type called “Mayna".
They made very vibrant noises around  wrangling with each other.—Cick Chik W WWW Chaoak Choak Chawak.

Chruk enjoyed their presence too because none of them was of any threat to her either. 
In  few days they as well could not be found anywhere in the neighbor hood. 


In this way Chruk experienced many things day by day and to some extent learnt how to manage her own life in Chirpy's absence. 
She lived on, grew and evolved unnoticed.  Every phase of her life had its own demand, new arrangements, new adjustments and new responsibilities to her living. Chruk faced everything in good gesture.


 Five weeks would soon be over. Only few days were left. Chirpy would be able to fly now more efficiently. His wings would be stronger with new high degree feathers to regulate his body temperature. It would ensure his waterproofing and capability of reproduction. The moulting had helped him to maintain his plumage in good conditions . Every thing went on perfectly so long as it should be .

The only thing was that he would be looking quite strange to Chruk. The different colours of his feathers and even his mature style would turn him into a  new character. Chruk of course had no problems with all these changes in Chirpy rather she would like to welcome all his distinctive marks.
She was happy with the thought specialy and was confirmed about a new hope in Chirpy’s shiny  eyes.

During this period one night, unexpectedly a strange thing happened. A strong whirl wind burst forth vigorously and shook everything to a ruin. It was quite surprising and unusual in that season.  Heaps of old rotten feathers  with some dry grasses were blown away out of the open mouth of the pipe where Chirpy—Chruk were living . They shrieked in fear. The hole of the pipe didn’t seem to them very safe any longer.


Next morning there was a miserable devastation all over. The storm and  light showers were increasing more and more. Chruk could not gather sufficient food for themselves.
She felt quite helpless.
She had no other options but to go to the kitchen again to fetch some food  for themselves. 




Unfortunately nobody was there inside the home in that very inauspicious day and not a single pass through was found open to enter inside  the rooms. 

 "What a bad day for us !  Desperately we need some food  today.” Chruk murmured.

She was at a loss what to do .

Possibility of something to happen was still there in her mind . So she made some searches here and there.
Unexpectedly she noticed the hole of the exhaust fan in the kitchen. Without any delay she took a short-cut through it.
Many things she found there to eat. She took some scraps for Chirpy as well.


Thus she made quite a few trips every now and then to pick some quantity of food in a haste .

Late  in the afternoon the cook entered the kitchen and put on the exhaust fan immediately to prepare something might be. Chruk was still there. She got scared at the whizzed movement of the blades . She instantly flew away to find any possible route to escape but  dashed against every glass door and  window.  They were all closed.


”What a bad day for us! “She panicked .

 She lost the plot totally .  One moment she would stand on the book-case against the wall ,  next moment she  would fly on to the top of the big clock hanging on the wall . Constantly giving razor- sharp calls” chruuuuu chuk chruuuu chuk ,“help, help!”

The clock struck 3. It terrified Chruk even more by its sound.  She screamed sharply in an increasing degree and jumped desperately from here to there, kicked a window but found no way to go through. The dark and deserted rooms looked horrifying to her. 

 The cook in the meantime came forward to her rescue ; but with an open knife in his hand  by mistake which he was using for cutting something  perhaps. It didn't strike him that his image like  a slaughterer  could scare Chruk more. 

The opportunity the cook wanted to offer Chruk  to escape safely by openning doors and windows made a reverse impact on her. 
“ No way, I am not going to be entrapped by this person . I will find my own way out” Chruk  felt out of temper .  


Birds can hardly rely on human compassion shown to them ! 


 She  quickly made  her mind to escape through the exhaust fan only which remained on all through.

What she did in a hit of moment was  inconceivable.  She entered through it to escape hurriedly but crashed herself instantly against the blades of the fan.
 She fell down into the kitchen sink miserably in a faint with a wide open mouth . 


" I am going to die Chirpy and will no longer be with you!" She lamented her great mistake.


 Life is not a bed of roses which we always  expect to be. Chruk had miserable tastes of life . 

The cook rushed to pour some water into her open mouth. A little heart-beat was still there . He felt restless knowing nothing how to save  their dear bird .  Gradually Chruk  breathed heavily and after a  short while all the movements of her body stopped entirely. She was lying there motionless. The cook stared at her in disbelief that she was no more.
With a bereaved heart he left the room . 


In the meantime Chirpy felt restless for not seeing Chruk  for a long time . He had watched her go but not coming back again.
 “ It’s quite impossible to wait  for her any more.
 My wings are strong adequately now. I feel fresh enough. I am no more scared of predators too.These are the grounds enough why I can leave my nest now to look for Chruk." Chirpy seriously revised his plan twice for coming outside his nook .

After reconsideration he came out  in open atmosphere for the first time  in five weeks.


  
"For Donkey's years-- I missed everything outside. Open air is so refreshing!"  He soaked himself in it.  "But where is Chruk ? She is not found anywhere as yet?" Chirpy felt worried .


 In the name of his beloved Chruk he produced fabulous musical notes through his voice and called for her. Singing indicated that he was feeling good. He came to sit on the ledge of the house where he used to sit before to deliver his music for the family members of the house and began to sing sweetly.

Miracle happened .

 Chirpy’s

 heartfelt song revived Chruk again . She found her lost life regained. She opened her eyes and breathed carefully.  A fresh air from an open window refreshed her as before. With her new life she took a chance to escape from that kitchen window. It was kept open by the cook  for her rescue. Chruk came into Chirpy's company . It was such a happy union!. 
They were in seventh heaven after that living happily ever after and made a new nest in a big tree.