Friggin’ Birds!

For the Birds - Avian observations from the beerfloat.calm world

Friggin’ Birds! – by Corliss Buenavida

By the smell of things it must be Fish Fry Friday here in the hood.

The Toronto homestead is on the edge of our local and extensive Little Italy but it could just as easily be called Little Portugal including my neighbours on both sides being of that heritage. With so much Catholicism still prevalent in the older generation living in this area fish on Friday is not uncommon.

In any case, the fishy scents exuding from the laneway remind me of an incident this past winter whilst I was atop a buoyant apparatus with my trusty Toña in hand. At the Villa, I don’t often smell fish. I usually smell smouldering plastic – you know – Nicaraguan fire starter.

On this occasion I was participating in one of my usual relaxation techniques which I call cloud gazing.

We get regular offshore winds forming a low puffy cloud layer by forcing air to rise rapidly over our nearby hills to the east. These then blow out to the ocean, therefore passing overhead while I am chilling in the pool at The Villa. They are just small clouds which morph constantly as moisture evaporates and condenses in the warm air above.

Cloud gazing is the observation of these changes through identification of common shapes found in our worldly purview, somewhat similar to the way my analyst; I mean a hypothetical psychologist might ask you to look at Rorschach inkblots. That is to say, at one moment a cloud may look like a sailboat and then transmute into a dragon. Then the dragon becomes a blob or disappears completely either by vanishing or passing out of view beyond some tree tops.

It’s tough work trying to study these images and has required many hours of attentive flotation over the years.

As often happens, I was also able to take in some bird watching with various avian specimens flitting about the garden or soaring overhead. In this situation, I witnessed something which more often happens over the ocean about four-hundred meters away, as the crow flies or in this case, as the Magnificent Frigatebird flies.

A what?

Frigatebirds are mostly black large slender colony sea birds found in tropical regions all around the globe. They have the largest wing-area-to-body-weight ratio of any bird, ideal for an aerial lifestyle and allowing them to soar for very long periods of time. Studies have found they are able to spend the night on the wing and can even remain aloft for several days if required but normally they will take roost on an island cliff or tree top.

The magnificent part of their name is likely derived from the males mating behaviour in which they inflate a red gular pouch to attract females. I see frigatebirds daily in San Juan Del Sur but rarely see the red throat except in its deflated state.

On this day, a group of frigatebirds which normally are just overhead catching updrafts were far more active with one leading the pack through a series of manoeuvres.

As I watched, I realized he was being chased by the other birds who were trying to extricate the contents of his mouth or possibly even his stomach.

In fact, although frigatebirds do hunt the majority of their own food supply by skimming sea life from the surface of the ocean with high speed swoops they are also well known for kleptoparasitic feeding behaviour. In other words, these so called magnificent creatures are common thieves. Not only do they steal little fish wriggling in other seabirds mouths but they will also use their speed and manoeuvrability to outrun and harass their victims until they regurgitate their tummy contents and then grab it for themselves mid-air. Now that’s pretty magnificent, if you can stomach the result!

So, there I was in restful repose while luxuriating with my lager watching these activities when I see a shimmering object descend from the melee. With a light thwack the article in question has landed in a palm frond a couple of arms’ lengths from the edge of the pool.

Apparently, a dropped herring or similar small fish has made it down to earth and now adorns my tree like a shiny Christmas ornament.

I guess I can add decorator to the magnificent traits of these friggin’ birds?

Squawk!!!

Corliss

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