Nature Conscious: Two Papayas, Many Takers

From the kitchen window of our home in Kerala, we have a clear view of a papaya plant. As soon as we arrived this year, we noticed two almost-ripe, yellow-green fruits, one above the other. As pluckable as they looked, we agreed to give them a few more days.

But the birds didn’t wait!

Early the next morning, I saw a little green bird hop onto a papaya and start pecking at it from the top. Its companion was on the leaf stalk and soon joined in for the feast. I’ve always known white-cheeked barbets by their characteristically loud kutturrr-kutturrr call. But these two made no sound at all, perfectly camouflaged in the surrounding greenery—quietly claiming what we had decided to wait for.

After a while, a new guest joined in. A black-rumped flameback flew onto the trunk and began feasting on the ripe fruit at the bottom. It poked a neat oval hole and was soon joined in by its companion, with them poking holes from both sides of the papaya.

Once the sun was up a bit, we heard a familiar “pleased to meet you!” call from red-whiskered bulbuls. Two of them were dutifully pecking on the papaya that the barbets shared. A pair of rose-ringed parakeets, nesting on a palm tree nearby, occasionally dropped in for a nibble.

For three delightful days, we watched these birds from our kitchen window. On the fourth day, a rufous treepie tried to join in the feast. By now, the top fruit was half-eaten and lacked the structural integrity to handle the weight of this new visitor.

Fruit #1 was down.

Until now, the second, lower fruit was only being enjoyed by the flamebacks. But now everyone wanted it. The poor flamebacks had to find a new spot. We watched as one species chased away another, until mid-day, when the treepie tried its luck once again, and managed to drop fruit #2 as well.

The fallen fruits were not the end of the story. As I write this, I’m watching a bunch of jungle babblers noisily frolicking around. A house crow and a few mynas took a nibble too. And that corner of the garden has a line of ants leading to what’s left of the fruits.

Needless to say, we didn’t get to taste the papayas. But far sweeter than any fruit was the experience of seeing the variety of life this one plant sustains. 

Nature Conscious is a series built from reader contributions. It is a collection of fieldnotes, moments or brief encounters with the wild, expressed through words, art, music, photographs or poetry. The series is curated by author and guest editor Aasheesh Pittie.