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The nocturnal visitor
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Night herons continue to survive in the grey jungle
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A FEATHERED FRIEND The night heron
If only we stopped and stared, we would realise that even in the heart of a busy city like Chennai, we are not alone. There are other beings that share our space, such as the black-crowned night herons.
The night herons (Nycticorax nycticorax) are stocky birds with a black crown and back, white or grey body, red eyes and yellow legs. The scientific name, derived from Greek, means "Night raven, night raven." As they are nocturnal and hunt at dawn and dusk, the first half of the name fits well, but the second half (corax) which is a reference to the family corvidae has no connection to the heron. The only co-relation, which we could make, is their raven-like noisy, croaking call — quark or quawk.
The survival of these birds in the city is because of their nocturnal and omnivorous food habits. They eat a variety of food: fish, amphibians, reptiles, crustaceans, insects and also steal chicks of other birds. Though they hunt solitarily, they nest in colonies. We can easily see hundreds of nests in ficus, neem and rain trees in houses and institutions in K. K. Nagar and Adyar. I wonder where they get their food to feed themselves and their chicks.
In wilderness, these birds get food from water bodies. But in Chennai, particularly in the areas where these birds nest, there are no water bodies, but for the Buckingham Canal and the Adyar River, which are polluted and devoid of a prey base. However, I have sighted these birds feeding at the Adyar estuary and I assume they would travel to some other water bodies such as Chemberambakam, Porur Lake or Pulicat and Ennore estuaries.
Only forbearance to these feathered friends can ensure their continued existence. I would say most of us are tolerant to the constant calls of chicks during nights and also to their droppings. However, some are not. For instance, sometime ago, a few heron chicks died and the forest department rescued some when a resident of K.K. Nagar cut down a huge ficus tree. Nonetheless, the birds continue to survival in urban hubs, indicating that inspite of our attempt to change wilderness into civilisation, people do not live in seclusion from our feathered friends.
T. MURUGAVEL
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