If I asked you to name the noisiest bird in our colony; you would, without blinking, name the brown fat bird that comes in a group, hopping from garden to garden and creating a ruckus as if all hell is breaking loose. And it does this every day, without fail. The bird, as many of you know, is the Jungle Babbler. Locally and colloquially also referred to as Seven Sisters. Little prize for guessing why the name Seven Sisters was given. Yes, they stay in groups of 5 – 10. When I started with the hobby of birdwatching, I would characterize each bird through its expressions, and Jungle Babbler looked like a curiously angry matron to me. Every time I look at their round, white-rimmed eyes, I still find them very curious yet angry. But in reality, they aren’t angry birds. They are in fact very perceptive and alert birds. Despite their bulky body, they rarely rest and continue to hop from one thicket to another, picking insects, and seeds and occasionally hunting in a pack. I have seen the whole group take care of the young ones, like maasis and buas and tau and chachas in a large joint family. The whole flock keeps the juveniles safe and in fact, even feeds them.
Babblers are one of the first ones to raise an alarm when they sense danger. Other birds like Bulbuls, Robins, and Tailor birds follow Babblers, and then join their chorus. So, when you hear a bird commotion near your house, watch the direction of gaze of those cacophonous babblers and you are likely to spot a cat, monkey, or sometimes even a snake. Hunting birds like Rufous Treepies, Owls, or Shikras can also spook out the babblers, and they give incessant alarm for these predators. I once spotted a large Barn Owl in my backyard by following the alarm of babblers. Barn Owl was resting in a tree, but the babblers made its life hell, some daring ones even pecking at the sleepy owl, forcing it to finally shift its place and fly away. Cats also cannot tolerate these cacophonous babbles for a long time. Once my house cat got so miffed by their constant alarm and pecking that in one fell swoop, it jumped on the flock and grabbed a babbler in its mouth. The whole flock went quiet after that. That’s the way nature works.
In the warm winter sun, it’s not uncommon to see Jungle Babblers cozying up to each other and allopreening, a way of preening each other that appears as if they are nuzzling and kissing each other. That’s their bonding mechanism, and it’s fun to watch their antics.
