Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher (Cyornis tickelliae) – Mother and Baby.
A mother bird does not simply feed her young and keep them safe. She prepares them for a world beyond the nest.
Perhaps this is the quiet wisdom of parenthood in nature. A mother does not hold her young forever under her wings. She teaches them what they need to know, gives them confidence to try, and gradually allows them to find their own way.Clean, well-kept feathers are essential for insulation, protection and, most importantly, flight.
The little bird may think it is only having a bath.
The mother knows she is teaching it how to care for itself, how to be ready for the world, and ultimately, how to fly away from her.
And perhaps that is the greatest lesson a parent can give—not merely a safe nest, but the skills and courage to leave it.
Shot in Coorg, October 2026
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True, I think there is more unstated and inherited wisdom passed on in the so-called animal world than in the human world!