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What a Bird Taught me
- Christina Shivcharan
- Oct 4, 2025
- 2 min read
Updated: Nov 10, 2025
S World Migratory Bird Day 2025
Shared Spaces: Creating Bird-friendly Cities and Communities
Nature (Photography) vs. Christina
Photographing nature requires the fitness level of a combat soldier - seriously.
In summer and fall, I like to visit High Park in Toronto, especially Grenadier Pond. The park is huge and slopes down from north to south. I enter from the north, which means descending quite a bit to reach the pond. That part's fine. But getting back up to exit the pond area? That's the real story.
Picture this: me, definitely not built like a solider, backpack heavy with gear, sun blazing, and humidity making everything feel hotter and more uncomfortable than it needs to, tired after a long day of playing hide-and-seek with birds and chipmunks, trying to climb up a steep hill.
I did what most of us would intuitively do, take long strides, stop for rest, take another set of long strides, and repeat.
The Birds Know How
During one of my rest stops, I noticed some starlings scurrying up the hill - taking unusually tiny steps. I found this odd because: one, birds have wings and should be flying, and two, I often see them hopping around instead of 'walking'.
I watched these starlings for a while, trying to figure out why they were taking such quick, small strides, and only up the hill.
When my rest stop was over and I was ready to tackle the climb again, I couldn't shake the image of those starlings scurrying. For some odd reason (blame it on my experimental personality and open-mindedness), I began taking tiny, quick steps up the hill. And to my amazement, it was so much easier. Even my heavy backpack felt lighter - maybe there was less 'drag' compared to a longer haul.
A Tribute to Birds
Don't ask me to explain how the starlings knew I was struggling - I wish I could explain - it's a mystery to me too. But I can tell you, birds are way more intelligent than we realize. They offer their companionship and help without asking for anything in return. Even though they cannot speak our language they engage with their chirps and actions. I guess maybe that's why so many people have them as pets.
As for me, I refuse to cage an animal, especially one that spends 90 % of its life flying.
On this World Migratory Bird Day, remember the long journeys birds take between their homes - something no human is capable of. Some birds often fly for miles without stopping, and there are many people who care about this.
This blog post is for the birds and the people who recognize how special they truly are.
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