Sunday, April 20, 2014

The Fury of Nature

I felt I have seen all shades of nature, serene moonlight, calm early dawn and sad dusk.
Nature has its own way of communication. Sit still,watch it,feel it and you can understand its great power.
But I have never experienced that hidden side of nature that I watched in this devastating flood,indeed an unprecedented one. Everything seemed fine till 11th morning and then all of a sudden next morning there was havoc fear and running for shelter.Lucky were the few,us included, who did not have to leave their residence otherwise there was total chaos helplessness and bewilderment. Water water everywhere nor any drop to drink. I don't know who framed it and under what circumstance but at that time water was everywhere with it's turbulent flow.

Nature seemed furious, hell bent on taking revenge, it did not discriminate between rich and poor, village or town. The devastation caused by flood is making news. Cut off from the world as there was no electricity,so no T V, no news paper. At this time I felt how Gulliver would have felt stranded. on an Island. We human beings have lots of tenacity. We struggle, we survive and then go along with flow of life but should the species having highest degree of intelligence simply forget and not learn any lesson? Flood is a menace which shows it's "tandav" in north Bihar every year, sure, this was unprecedented this year but what has been done to deal with it?                        
                                                                               ( Views expressed and written by Dr. Usha Dubey)
                                                                                  The writer teaches zoology at NJM college,
                                                                                                           Darbhanga
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Friday, March 21, 2014

Bird songs

                                                            Bird songs
                                                            -----------  



Birds sing.Birds song consists of notes. Songs are sung mainly by males.
Birds sing during flight. Birds sing at dawn. Birds sing during courtship.
What is a song? A song has stanza,para and melody. If  bird vocalization has this property, it is a song, otherwise its a call. Some birds sing duets. Some know their songs at birth. Some require tutoring. Birds sing to impress and attract mate.Birds sing to declare their territory. Birds sing to identify and communicate with family members. Birds sing to announce the presence of an enemy and to covey information about food.

Bird song is partly innate and partly learned. Notes are innate but the melody is learned.
In some species , the female also sings. A bird in Panama sings every three hours, day and night.

                    Bird song is an excellent example  of intimate interaction between nature and nurture.