Bird parents can be bossy! The parent Red-vented bulbul pushed the chick!

At some point in our lives, all of us have experienced either an overbearing parent or we had to become overbearing parent ourselves to persuade our child!

Can you imagine that the birds might have similar experience? 

Well, as my parents watched the family of Red-vented bulbuls near the bird bath, this is exactly what they saw. 

The chick was obviously unsure whether the bird bath was a safe place to take a dip. The parent bulbul was promptly there for the chick. He gave a demo of how to bath and a spoke in his language of chirps.  These chirps could have been the parent bulbul re-assuring the chick and encouraging it in the bird language. Despite the parent's effort,  the chick remained hesitant. 

What happened next was surprising: the parent bird flew in and almost pushed the chick into the bird bath! Well, we are not sure how the chick felt at this treatment - but the chick was not ready to be obedient yet!

On the second day, both the parents were eager to show their chick that the bird bath was a safe area.

On the third day, the chick seemed to have understood the need to take a dip - maybe it realized the parents won't give-up until what must be done is done! The chick finally overcame his hesitation and took a bath. 

On the fourth day, the family enjoyed the dip together! It was as though the parents were rejoicing in teaching their chick to take a dip. 

You can see this drama unfold in this video on YouTube! Thank you. 

Orange-headed Thrush learns from Red-whiskered Bulbul

An early morning in January, Orange-headed Thrush, a new visitor arrived at the water-hole. It seemed hesitant about getting into water.

The Red-Whiskered Bulbul that you can see in the video is a resident and a regular visitor. It arrived on the scene and sipped water. Thrush almost immediately followed suit and took a sip of water.

Once the Bulbul leaves, Thrush goes around exploring the water-hole and it seemed to contemplate whether the water is safe to take a dip. Bulbul drops in again and this time it takes a dip. Though Thrush seemed to have noticed this, it is still puzzled.

Bulbul drops in for the third time and takes an elaborate bath. This time thrush observes the Bulbul’s actions thoroughly. Watch the video to see how these events unfold and what happens next…

Note: Keep your speakers on to hear the sounds and choose HD in video settings for best experience.