Support the Yellow-vented Bulbul to Survive in The Urban Area

 

Juvenile Yellow-vented Bulbul at Ichi's Garden - Photographed by RDZ

Look at the picture above, it is an adorable juvenile Yellow-vented Bulbul!🌞🥰 Who knows, gardening at home would attract birds and as a result, this act supports the next generation of the birds that live around us which creates a beautiful world for us, humans, and nature!👊🌞

First of all, let's celebrate a couple Yellow-vented Bulbul's success in bringing up their chick; the chick is growing and healthy!✌😊 Wait a minute, how am I able to have this precious moment? Starting from December 2021 or early January 2022 (I am unsure), after frequently I saw Yellow-vented Bulbul cames to my "garden" I put some a little banana under my lime tree that I have grown in a pot for about 6 or 7 years. Actually, May 2021, was the first time we captured the first video on how a Yellow-vented Bulbul hunted the caterpillar on my lime tree and devour a big green swallowtail butterfly caterpillar. Yes, my kaffir lime tree has been attacked by the caterpillar time by time and I could not spray any pesticide to repel the caterpillar as I am used to adding kaffir lime leaves on some of my recipes. The culprit is the Swallowtail butterfly. This butterfly loves to lay its egg on my kaffir lime leaves which makes my lime lose its leaves; no leaves left when the Swallowtail caterpillar shows up! To be honest, although I love butterflies yet this is an irritating event. That caterpillar is similar to an eating machine only in a short time, my lime leaves are gone... I presume the Yellow-vented Bulbul comes to my "garden" is because found its food. When there is no caterpillar have found on my lime tree, they just hang out for a couple minutes by perching on my plants, sometimes singing for a while. After encountering some or several times sawing this particular Bulbul at my "garden" I wanted to give them a reward as they have kept the caterpillar at bay by offering some a little banana (sometimes papaya) to them. This is what I call mutual symbiosis, both of us get the benefit; for me, my lime has big and green shiny leaves, meanwhile, for this bird, their belly is full! That is what I had heard in my biology class since I was in primary school. Do you remember what you had learned in Biology class? If not, quick fast googling what is mutual symbiosis!😉

We have never noticed before until last Saturday (19 March 2022) at 5 PM a couple Yellow-vented Bulbul came to my "garden" and brought their chick. On a regular day, we have already known that Yellow-vented Bulbul visits my lime tree and eats the banana that I place. However, I have never expected this small act would help them to survive. I presume this couple Bulbul fed their chick with the banana that I offered for their hard-working to kick the caterpillar. Some people think that feeding wild birds is wrong, however, in contrast, it supports the success of The Yellow-vented Bulbul next generation to thrive and survive in an urban area since we live in a bustling city where I have seen many trees have been cutting down by authority to expand the city landscape. Moreover, avoid them from extinction so that our next generation will be able to see Yellow-vented Bulbul. You may already hear that if habitants lose their habitat, their chance to survive is small, their young generation won't survive either. In this case, we, humans, must lend our hands to help them, just a little a bit, it would help; such as birds in this article, to live and thrive. For me, giving Yellow-vented Bulbul a little banana is not a big deal. It is only a small chunk for us, and I have always cleaned it in the evening (at 5 PM or 6 PM) daily which means it is fresh banana every morning. I won't let any leftover trash in the corridor. People might be concerned if someone feeding wild birds could affect the human environment one example the corridor looks dirty because of the banana leftover. However, when I make this action there is have always the responsibility that comes along; I must clean up in the evening even in the early morning before I do the activity, after watering my plants I wash the corridor floor where my "garden" is placed. If you see the corridor in front of our home, there are no objects like empty bottles, empty pots, pot soil, a bicycle, cardboard, a shopping cart, rack shoes, clothes ( some resident drying their wet clothes, rug, mat, in the corridor) et cetera. When you visit my "garden" where I put a little banana for Bulbul under my lime tree, your eyes only see foliage plants and flower plants. Therefore, in my view, giving Bulbul food is actually to assist them to survive as you may know Yellow-vented Bulbul has a requirement in its diet. Unlike Javan Myna and Pigeon, these birds are able to eat anything. 

Some other people also think that supporting wild birds (Yellow-vented Bulbul in this article), is just to bait them so that I am able to capture their picture. Here is the thing, I have been doing gardening since I was a child where my father grew and planted many flowers and fruit trees in our garden and yards. Because of the dense vegetation in my father's garden, it attracted lots of wildlife to come and became a shelter for some species which was called "home." Nowadays, although I am far away from the place I come from, gardening is still something that I want to preserve and pass down to my next generation as this is not only to give wildlife food and home but also the way to keep my father alive in my life. I mentioned in another article that gardening is not just planting plants, this activity is actually to keep the soil fertile so that little creatures such as worms can live happily. Besides, the plants and the flowers themselves are the food sources and shelter for other species like bees, small birds, butterflies, et cetera. Moreover, gardening is one of my way to share happiness; when my plants produce flowers, my neighbors feel happy to see them. In the past, my father let one of my father's neighbors pick his flowers and sold them in the market when the flowers bloomed; and my father had never asked for money. So, by gardening we are able to help others; it is true!✨😊 That is why I have always said that gardening is not a hobby because if you treat this activity as a hobby you will end up becoming a collector of pricey flowers and plants based on what I have seen in some people that I know. 

If you are following Ichi's Garden, you may notice that I have tried to create Sunbird's habitat since March 2021 by planting Hibiscus flowers. Same as Sunbird, I guess planting lime tree (any kind of lime family) would help Yellow-vented Bulbul to survive since butterflies love laying its egg on the lime's leaves. Curry plant berry, Lantana flower plant berry, is also loved by this particular Bulbul. There is another plant, unfortunately, I do not know the plant's name until these days. Those are the plants that I have learned during observing Yellow-vented Bulbul for the past 3 months. Besides the Yellow-vented Bulbul diet, we also discovered their behavior, for instance how the male Yellow-vented Bulbul greeted its mate, the greeting mom's Yellow-vented Bulbul to its chick, distinct call to their mate (they recognize their mate by the distinct call). We were also found out and witnessed how protected the male of this particular bird when it comes to its territory of the food source and protects his family (becoming a guard for the nest). We were also lucky that we captured the moment when the male Yellow-vented Bulbul sang. How I do know all these behavior? Because we both my husband and I observe them and analyze the videos or footage we have. For me, it is intriguing to know the deep about nature around us. So, we do not have to keep Yellow-vented Bulbul or any kind of birds in the cage, let them free, and support them to survive!👊🌞

Supporting the success of the Yellow-vented Bulbul to survive in the urban area is an interesting activity as we can learn their habit and behavior. Furthermore, in an urban area like where we are today, it is crucial to think about wildlife habitat because the lost habitat will lead to the extinction of those habitants. In this case, is Yellow-vented Bulbul. Therefore, we, humans, must lend our hands to support them so that the Yellow-vented Bulbul success to bring up the next generation and they survive. Humans and nature coexist side by side, it is a great and beautiful world we must create for our next generation.🤩👍

Note:

• Written by Acik Mardhiyanti
• Photographed by RDZ
• Do not copy this article without permission
• Do not use this photograph anywhere else without permission