طبعیت وحشی شهری
Urban Wildlife
I have here a letter from my American grandmother, dated 28 years ago. In it, she writes about the birds she saw when she visited Shiraz. Many of these birds still grace the skies, trees and rooftops of Shiraz today.
My Grandmother said,
Do not cage any bird. They are happy to roam, or fly, free. Rather, get a binoculars, which your grandmother gave you and watch the birds from your garden, on the first roof. From there I saw so many different birds. I saw nightjars that looked like a strung bow as they flew past. When I was last in Shiraz, I saw the English Robin, wag-tails and pippits, and when you lived back in the kouche I saw the great Tit and the nightingale in the garden there. You have bul-buls there but I did not see them. Of course I look for those things. I missed the millions of crows I first saw in 1967. I think they had gone out in the fields with the garbage...You have magpies there in Shiraz. We have them here, in the West and in the South.
Fast forward to today. Grandmother, we have a collection of about 10 parakeets in the atrium. Sorry! We feed them well, though, and they have lived may years. As to birds from the rooftops, 28 years later, I still see the magpies. The penguin isn't the only bird to dress in a tuxedo.
I think I've seen the nightjars, except I thought the birds that "look like a strung bow" were swallows. Here are comparative pictures. Swallow on the right, nightjar on the left.
The pipits, I see a lot of, and the wagtails I noticed on the trip to Turkey. I thought, "what a great black and white pattern that was!" (on the right):
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The "Great Tit" has a great name. 
The nightingale isn't much to look at, but it allegedly sings quite a song. Not sure what it sounds like. Maybe there are bird call mp3's. Also, I thought this was the same bird as the "bul bul". Was Grandmother confused, or am I?
Humming birds are native to the new world, but I saw one in the yard last night. I was feeding the cats chicken heads (we get them cheap at the corner chicken shop), when I saw it. It flew past me, over the lantana and the four-o'clocks, and hovered. No mistaking it. A humming bird. Are they recent immigrants? Where did it come from? National Geographic says:
A greater wonder is that the seemingly fragile hummingbird is one of the toughest beasts in the animal kingdom. Some 330 species thrive in diverse and often brutal environments: from Alaska to Argentina; from the Arizona desert to the coast of Nova Scotia; from the lowland forests of Brazil to the 15,000-foot-plus (4,600 meters) snow line of the Andes. (Mysteriously, the birds are found only in the New World.)
Other urban wildlife I have seen:
Some sort of brown weasel or ferret. I saw it scurrying across the street into the neighbor's house.
A peacock, which had flown up to the top of the apartment building across the street from us. It made the strangest sounds, then flew off. It probably came from the gardens nearby. who knew they could fly up 5 storeys high. In Arcadia, California, peacocks were introduced in the arboretum and racetrack, and now roam the streets. The city's Animal Control department advises people which plants to grow to attract the birds, and which to grow to repel them. Click here for the pdf brochure on peacocks in Arcadia. I'm not sure they could thrive here over the winter without shelter. Need more research. - A small white newt in the bathroom.
- I've seen a number of finches.
- Bats, of course. They come out at twilight, and you can hear their sonar. Sometimes you see them flying by. Their fat little bodies, and the wings too far forward, emphasizing a fat neck.
- Cockroaches. I thought these were tropical insects. What are they doing in a desert climate? Clearly, they come with people and our wonderful sewer systems.
- Rats. In the Jubs, downtown.
- A field of small Frogs. Millions of them. In the Spring. We have video. I will have to You-Tube it. Wait! The frogs weren't urban. They were out in a kavir somewhere. They hibernate. Who knew?
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