New Delhi: For nearly two months, birders and walkers gathered at Lodhi Garden to follow an oriental pied hornbill’s every move as she hovered around and raided grey hornbill nests, chased away parents, delivered food to chicks that were not her own, and fiercely guarded fledglings.What began as an unusual sighting soon turned into an avian soap opera, drawing curious onlookers. The story has now ended on a heartwarming note — by mid-July, the last of the season’s grey hornbill chicks had safely fledged, while the oriental pied hornbill can still be seen flying among Lodhi Garden’s old banyans alongside the grey hornbill families she had once bullied and helped raise.In May, a female oriental pied hornbill was spotted frequenting the nest of a pair of Indian grey hornbills on a semul tree. The larger hornbill repeatedly attempted to feed the nesting family and often drove away the male member while guarding the nest. Over the following weeks, the bird expanded its attention to multiple grey hornbill nests across the garden. She started feeding another grey hornbill nest 50 feet away and was also spotted inspecting two more.On May 24, TOI reported that observers thought the hornbill, nicknamed Mousi Ma, was acting out of a misdirected maternal instinct. Since the species is native to the moist forests of the Terai and Himalayan foothills, there are only one or two isolated females known to be in Delhi. There is also no male of her own kind present for mating.Day after day, Mousi Ma arrived with berries, figs and leaves. At times, her offerings grew increasingly bizarre —from pigeon eggs to whole jungle babblers and even food scavenged from garden pathways. Her presence also complicated the life of the biological family. When the male grey hornbill approached with food for chicks, the larger oriental pied hornbill frequently chased him away, patrolling the nesting tree as if it belonged to her.The story took an interesting turn on June 26, when a grey hornbill chick, known to observers as Tiger, left the safety of its nest. When a house crow swooped in to harass the young fledgling, Mousi Ma swooped in and chased it away. She was also seen feeding the youngster banyan figs straight from her beak. Meanwhile, the chick’s parents continued teaching it how to forage and move through the trees.“The Lodhi Garden episode was fascinating because it contrasted with an earlier observation from Punjab during the 2021 breeding season, published in Indian BIRDS in 2023,” birder Nikhil Devasar said. “In that case, a female oriental pied hornbill was first seen provisioning an Indian grey hornbill nest before preying on its egg and a nestling. That observation had already shown how complex and unpredictable the relationship between these two species could be.”Devasar said the oriental pied hornbill’s behaviour at Lodhi Garden was often contradictory. “She was intrusive and fiercely territorial, competing with the grey hornbill parents and even raiding other nests for food. Yet she repeatedly fed grey hornbill nestlings and later appeared to protect a fledged chick. Despite all the conflict and chaos, the story ended with the young grey hornbills successfully fledging and a remarkable relationship continuing in the canopy,” he said.Birder Sheila Chhabra said unlike in the earlier months, the birds are now peacefully coexisting at Lodhi Garden, often perched on the same tree.
