Harini learns how the tailor birds decide to make their nests

Harini sat at her bedroom window, gazing out at the garden and the great big banyan tree in the distance. She loved watching the birds flit about, their feathers a riot of colors against the lush green foliage. Her eyes drifted to the shallow bird bath she had placed near her window, and she smiled as she saw a few birds sipping water from its edge.

As she sat there, keenly observing, she noticed the tailor birds flitting about the chafa tree that grew closer to her window. The inner canopy of the tree was a favorite haunt of the birds, darting in and out of its leafy depths. Harini loved watching them since the upper canopy of the Chafa tree was just outside her bedroom window on the first floor.

One of the tailor birds flew out of the Chafa tree and came to perch on the windowsill, looking in at Harini with bright, curious eyes. It was Darzee, the female Tailor Bird.

"Hello, Harini!" Darzee chirped. "Why did you not come to the banyan tree today? We were expecting you."

Harini smiled, feeling a little guilty. "I just got back from school, and I was waiting for lunch. I will come to the garden later this evening, I promise."

Darzee nodded, seeming to accept Harini's explanation. "We were a bit worried about you," she said. "But we are glad you're okay. By the way, what is a 'school' that you said you went to?"

"A school?" Harini asked. "Do you not know what is a school? That is where we are sent to learn everything. Nowadays I am learning alphabets and some poems. My father said that as I grow older, I can learn engineering and medicine. Then I can construct big buildings or learn how to treat people who are ill." 

"Don't you birds have a school?" Harini asked. 

"No. We do not attend a school and we have no teachers," Darzee replied. "All tailor birds know that as they grow older, they have to, with their partner, select a bush with large leaves that will not wither or fall away, look for a strong branch, avoid locations that can be seen easily, and stitch up the leaves to make our nests."

"But how do you learn to do this?" Harini asked. "How do you know which leaves to choose? How do you know how to stitch them together? I guess you have to protect them from the rain and the sun. I get so upset when it is very hot outside. But, I enjoy the rain."

"We cannot risk the rain or the sun," Darzee said. "The eggs have to be carefully protected. The body heat from our bodies is enough. Not more than that. The rains will make the entire nest wet and heavy and will cause it to fall down. So we have to choose carefully. Nobody teaches us. We learn by watching other tailor birds select their nest locations and also by observing the nest material that they pick up with great care. The stitching of the leaves, well, we do not go to any school and our parents certainly do not teach us."

"Nobody teaches you this?" Harini asked. "I thought that your mother taught you all this when you were in the nest. You are amazing, Darzee. I am so happy that I met you. I can learn so much by just watching you." 

Darzee laughed in a whistling tone and flew off to join her family at the Chafa branches as they kept searching for insects. Harini waved at the tailor birds and she was sure that one of them waved back at her.

Bharat Bhushan

8 April 2025