Stop Worrying About Me, Uncle DJ. I've Got This!

By Sue:

Tawny just flew into the house right before his dad showed up.  He is always teaching me. Today's lesson was "Don't leave Glass Water Bottles near the ledge of the countertop."  He demonstrated for me (he can tell I learn most by example and not through lectures) by landing on it. As a sub-adult well on his way to adult weight and strength, he has quite a lot of power in those legs of his when he kicks off.  He landed on my water bottle. Luckily it was not knocked over this time and I got a brief lecture from Da Big Kahuna (DJ) on not leaving things around for the birds to destroy.  But what this lead to was much more interesting. As I walked over to the bottle Tawny flew off - only to spy his dad who was coming to Don's hand to land on the mealworm cup. A quick 180 by Tawny and some "on the fly" decisions to evade his dad that led him to disappear above the banister  up into the upper living room where we could not see him.   Don always worries when the birds do that in case they get scared and maim themselves by bashing against the windows in a panic to get out. And the first time for them often is Panicville. Don's first  instinct is to go up and try and guide them out. This works but sometimes this by itself can sometimes cause dissonance in their little brains and lead to erratic evasive maneuvers so I prefer to see if they can figure it out for themselves first without us there as a distraction.

Tawny has been upstairs  several times. So I told Don who was about to rush upstairs, not to worry. Tawny has this. He will be fine. It is his idea. Let him work it out.

When it is a Shama's idea they usually calm down and figure their own way out of a situation. This no doubt is because they are evolved to flit about in tight spaces in the underbrush. It is breathtaking to see them when they are on a mission and flying really fast evading tree limbs as they go. We've even seen Birdlet (the mom) scramble under the worm compost bin after a bug. Very tight quarters.

To stop  DJ from worrying I crept up the stairs to observe the boy. He made some big circles then came back down to the kitchen. Saw his dad again  and made another big circle. Then he flew to the middle of the room and made a low dive and flew out the door (Bird was still on the cup in DJ's hand in the doorway) undetected by his dad. Or at least not chased by his dad- little escapes Bird's notice -  but apparently he was low enough and fast enough not to be perceived as a threat. Tawny would make a good AF stealth bomber pilot instructor.  Or maybe he fancies himself as the Luke Skywalker of Shamas? Don is learning to quell his fears that Tawny will kill himself off when he goes upstairs and is recognizing that Tawny was clearly showing him "Hey! DJ Look at Me! I Got This!  This was MY idea! Fly, Fly Upstairs ! Then ! Out I go! Bye!"

He is growing up.