‘Birdman of Chennai’ spends 40% income to feed 4,000 birds daily
During natural disasters, birds also lost their nests. It’s true that they can fly away from any natural disaster in search of better land, but that doesn’t mean humanity isn’t ought to care about them. During 2004 Tsunami, a pair of displaced parrots sitting on a back porch, looking for food, inspired a man in Chennai to care about birds. Now, he has become the Birdman of Chennai.
Sekar, a 62-year-old man in Chennai, wakes up at 4 am and cooks huge pots of rice. He has made special feeders out of wooden planks. He places all the rice in these feeders installed on the roof of his rented house. He does that twice a day, between 6.30 a.m. and 8.30 a.m. and between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Over 4,000 birds including hundreds of ring-necked parakeets visit his second-floor office-cum-residence on one of the busiest sections of Bharathi Salai, near Express Avenue mall Both are very punctual, and never miss a day. Sekar is doing it from past 10 years. He is a camera mechanic and spends 40 percent of his income on feeding birds.
It all happened after Sekar proceeded to feed the pair of parrot that he saw near his back porch. The pair started living on a tree near his house. He continued feeding the birds. Soon, the number of birds increased and it still continues to increase.
Sekar might have missed a meal in last 10 years, but he never missed feeding birds. “I wake up by 4.30am every morning. “It takes 30 minutes to prepare the rice to be served. Then I start arranging the planks, 14 in a row, and start placing the rice on them. I finish this arrangement around 5.45am. And by 6am sharp, all the parrots from far, fly in and assemble promptly. The same way, in the evening, they start by 4pm and have their food till 6.00 or 6.30pm”said Sekar.
“They take offered fruits, but prefer grains because the latter can be fed on faster. Against a backdrop of vehicular movement and noise, their instinct for self-preservation is highly active and they are keen to have their fill as quickly as possible and move on,” Sekar further added.When asked about his motivation, he proudly said, “It’s all love”.
Everyday, people stop to watch this mass bird-feeding. Sekar doesn’t allow strangers to disturb his guests. It seems like he has established an affectionate understanding with these birds.
Take a look at the pictures and video below that shows life of India’s birdman and his love for birds:
Images: The Hindu/ Maradhimanni/The news minute/