The Sad Love Story of a Lonely Hoopoe

 

The pining notes are insistent, persistent, adamant and brave. Aaw, I can feel your pain lonely Romeo! Apart from my mind's own inconsequential blabbering with its own self, I hear this hoopoe's mate song almost with the frequency of thoughts in my mind.

He is relentless. Going on and on for the last two weeks. Hope he hasn't forgotten to eat in his mad song of love to attract some female of the species. Hoopoes are almost gone from the area. Where are woods, so where will they do their master carpentry on tree trunks? There are hardly any flocks left. It's a lonely bird who wants to keep its species alive at any cost.

Hidden in the foliage of an acacia tree, he is busy with love song in all this heat: The song of love that may reach some stray female to allow the natural chemistry to take place and delay their tragic story of extinction from the area for some more time. Its lyrical, pining uuup, uuup, uuup is riding the dusty air of wheat harvesting season.

Hoopoes are hardly seen in this part these days. In fact, I had forgotten its sound. Then its lovely sad notes reached me in meditation and some long asleep memory drew a picture of hoopoe in the blank vastness, reminding me of those childhood days when we were lucky to see them going tonk tonk on big tree trunks.

So that's how the tragic stories of bird extinction are unfolding. These are not just the desperate love notes of a lonely bird. These are the sad stories told by the last of their generation here in this part. Let's hope some lonely lady hoopoe comes to hear these mate-finding notes.

Contrary to the weeks-long day-in and day-out songs of love by this lonely bird, humans are having gala time. We have bred with the tenacity of ant swarms. So there is hardly any fight. Mates are available easier than provisions in stores. People pick up mates with the drop of a hat. Relationships last for weeks because there are humans and humans around. We humans are spoilt for choice. Instragram, dating sites, Facebook, twitter, everything is saturated with more and more choices for a mate fling. People hardly come to feel the depth of love. It's a short version T20 cricket type love. Hit sixes and fours, grab your trophy and start new innings.

Isn't it ironical that only animals and birds appear to carry the message of love these days? This hoopoe for example appears the lone flag bearer of genuine love in the scandalous air around. Can somebody show this type of lyrical dedication for weeks in all this heat? Well, it makes me sad and happy at the same time. Sad because love seems to have vanished from the world of we humans. Happy that I am at least lucky to see and hear these love tales in nature.