Over a decade ago, once Amma was talking to the ashram residents from the US over the phone. We were calling out “Amma! Amma!” expressing how much we were missing her, and Amma said “Oh, if Amma were a bird she would come flying to you, children!”

Now while Amma is again on Her annual US Yatra, Amritapuri’s air is bursting with birdsong: Robins, tailor birds, sunbirds, mynas, koels, barbets, bulbuls, woodpeckers, kingfishers, and the inevitable crow -sometimes in turns, but mostly in unison- sing to the sea and the sun every dawn and dusk.

A person with knowledge about birds has identified about 18 species at Amritapuri.

Houseful by the kayal

It’s really “houseful by the kayal.” Each coconut shelters about 20 birds for the night – herons, egrets and cormorants mostly. Herons, being the busiest breeding birds now, have spread out to other tree tops – beyond the swimming pool in the north, and over the mess hall in the south; not enough, some have strayed to the ashram side too, making nests in any tree available.

Also, by the kayal, we get to see some fighting scenes between the egrets and the dumb cormorants: What to do, space problem! Don’t we on Tuesdays do similar things, vying with each other for space closer to Amma?!

Season of Barbets and Robins in Amritapuri

It is wonderful the way Amma has made spaces for birds among the huge buildings on this narrow strip of land.

Robins sing different tunes from different posts: they are fond of prominent places at the top, the trishul on Kali temple top for example. Any morning after Archana you cannot miss their songs. Behind the Sripuram building, at least three pairs take turns without giving any gap. Local people say ‘They are doing Bhajans,’ singing God’s glory.

Barbets have increased their number; on a morning you can see by the Sripuram building alone, at least 8 pairs of them flying from tamarind to coconut to banyan to peepal to konni, perching in a place for not more than a minute and moving again, only to sit and preen. Preening, preening and preening all the time.

These birds, when not singing are inevitably preening themselves!

Barbets start their song with a shrill ‘Krrrr!’ Then, they break into ‘putruk putruk putruk!’ You look up and the moment you spot it, it flies off noiselessly. The tiny green bird with brown head and short tail is fond of berries, not so much the insects. And thanks to their color and size, it’s hard to get them into an amateur’s camera.

Over and above them, are seen the bright blue big kingfishers, trilling away to drown the other sounds.

However, nothing can beat the crow’s cawing; even if they are far and away, their voice registers strongest on electronic gadgets, burying sweet little twitters and tweets. The babblers, fondly called seven sisters and known for babbling all the time, are pushed into silence. And the few beautiful bright yellow orioles prefer to keep mum and low profile, just keeping to the hideouts behind leafs. While a jet black koel stealthily –for no reason except fear or shyness – moves around the leaves in the banyan by Amma’s room.

– Sandhya