Peace takes flight

Nothing fills Indira Naidoo with peace and joy in quite the same way as birdsong. And this year she will share Christmas lunch with her human and feathered friends.

- INDIRA NAIDOO

Birdsong was nature's first alarm clock before the concept of time was even imagined. Their calls and cries set the rhythm for our day, signalling when to rise and when to rest. A lullaby of coos, or the rude shock of a rooster's crow. We learnt to decode their complex concertos so we too could know when a storm was approaching or when a pride of lions was on the prowl. Understanding their language became critical to our survival. Birds kept us safe.

They have always served as our scouts and guides, weathervanes and soothsayers. As we gathered berries in the forest or fished in the streams, their chirruping symphonies accompanied us. They became our friends. Well, 'friends with benefits' when we discovered how delicious they tasted roasted over coals. But let's not think too much about that...

For me, peace begins with these sounds of nature - primordial echoes that ignite my soul - the dawn chorus of a magpie, the lilt, the whoop, the whistle, the warble. Such lovely sounds created by such tiny creatures.

As soon as I hear a twitch or a twitter, I feel my shoulders drop and my pulse rate slow, so immediate is their soothing effect. No matter what I'm absorbed by, what images are scrolling on my screen, I'm instantly pulled away. My eyes scan, searching for the feathered soprano. Is it a cheeky rainbow lorikeet or a noisy miner? Perhaps a pied currawong or a sulphur-crested cockatoo? I'm even delighted when I hear the foghorn honk of the much-maligned ibis. Don’t be fooled by their clumsy goofiness as they pick through the city’s rubbish bins. Few birds look as elegant in flight.

I didn’t realise how much peace and joy birds spark in my life until a recent trip to New Zealand’s South Island.