Sense & Nonsense - Family business

MADHAV GADGIL

Sing a song of bee-eaters father and son

Mom and little sisters all full of fun,

As the chicks grow up and take to the wing

The jolly clan will sally forth and merrily begin to tring!

Bee-eaters are sleek little grass-green birds with a coppery sheen. Their call is a pleasant trill; tree.. tree.. tree.. tring. tring.. tring. Whenever and whereever you meet them, they are full of good cheer. Indeed they seem so fond of each other's company, that they hunt insects during the day in small parties, and at night congregate in hundreds to sleep together. They breed in colonies, usually on a steep river bank.

As many as 40 per cent of the nests of the little green bee- eaters of India have an additional helper assisting the pair in their parental duties. Chicks in nests with such helpers grow faster and stand a better chance of survival. The helpers turn out to be elder brothers and sisters. They may not always be willing helpers, though.

In an African species, for instance, it has been shown that fathers deliberately disrupt the nesting attempts of their sons, urging them to get back home and help dad and mom raise some more siblings. Cheerfully, lots of the young chaps seem to agree.

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