Nadun was walking in his home garden when something caught his eye. Something bright yellow was moving among the mango leaves. “This is not the mango season. So it can’t be a ripe mango,” thought Nadun. It didn’t look like a dry mango leaf either. “What could it be?” Nadun went under the tree to inspect what it was.

It took Nadun a while to identify that it was a bird, as it was high up the tree. It was not sitting on a branch or flying, but swaying like a yo-yo. Nadun couldn’t understand what was going on. So he shouted and called his father and his neighbour Shanika, to show this.

Nadun’s father came and looked up. “Aiyo, what a sad thing! That bird is tangled in something,” exclaimed Nadun’s father. Shanika came out just then. “Shanika, can we borrow your father’s ladder?” asked Nadun’s father. “Thaththa is at home. I’ll ask him to bring it!” said Shanika, running back home.

Soon Shanika’s father came with the ladder. Nadun and his father felt happy to see him, as he worked in a veterinary hospital and knew a lot about animals and birds. Nadun’s father held the ladder securely as Shanika’s father climbed up the ladder and then on to a higher branch. With the help of a piece of dry branch, he managed to reach the string the bird was entangled in. He cut the string carefully and climbed down carefully holding the bird.

Everybody gathered around him curiously, to see the bird. It couldn’t fly as the string was still tangled all around it. The bird looked very distressed and frightened. “What kind of bird is this, Uncle?” asked Nadun. It was a beautiful bright yellow bird with a black head. “This is an Oriole,” replied Shanika’s father. “The string has cut into its wings. It must be wounded. It will be some time before this fellow can fly off again.”

“This is such a beautiful bird!” said Shanika and Nadun nodded in agreement. The bird looked at them with its ruby red eyes.

It had a beautiful red beak as well. “Uncle, can I please have him?” asked Nadun, “I’ll put him in a nice cage and look after him really well as my pet.”

“Putha, these are not pets. These are wild birds and they belong in the wild. It’s not fair to hold them like prisoners just because they look beautiful,” said Nadun’s father shaking his head in disagreement.

“That’s correct,” said Shanika’s father. “When birds like these are held in captivity, they don’t live long at all. It’s a very wrong thing to do!” Nadun agreed a bit reluctantly but deep in his heart he knew that it was a wrong thing to keep the bird locked in a cage. Shanika’s father carefully cut and removed the string with a pocket knife.

“But if it’s injured and can’t fly, how can we let it go?” asked Shanika. “No, we shouldn’t release him at once. A predator like a cat will catch it. We should cure it first. We need to put medicine on the wounds and it should be put on a proper diet,” said Shanika’s father. “The best thing to do when you find a wild animal or bird is to hand them over to the Wildlife Department. They have the correct knowledge and experience to treat, rehabilitate and release injured animals and birds.”

Nadun picked up the pieces of string that Shanika’s father cut and dropped. “Isn’t this kite string?” asked Nadun’s father. “Yes,” replied Nadun, feeling very guilty. “Last week when my kite got tangled in the mango tree, I got it removed. But I didn’t bother to remove the kite string, although I could have done it easily.” “This bird is very lucky because you saw it on time!” said Shanika’s father. “So many birds die or get injured because of kite string tangled on trees.”

“Really?” said Nadun feeling very surprised.

“Yes, once we saw an Egret bird near a paddy-field, hanging from a branch with a kite string tangled around its leg,” said Shanika. “Did you manage to save it?” asked Nadun. “I am afraid that it was too late by the time we saw it!” said Shanika’s father. “Oh,” said Nadun, feeling very sad. “I never thought that a simple thing like this could be such a big danger to the birds!”

“Everything we leave out, which is not part of nature, is harmful and a threat to the animals and the birds!” said Shanika’s father. “We don’t realize these things or care enough to bother about this type of thing most of the time. We should pay a lot of attention when we dispose things, because sometimes it can be fatal for small animals and birds. So whenever there is a possibility of removing the kite string tangled on the branches safely without injuring yourself, of course, we must always do that!”

He removed the final piece of string from around the bird’s wing. “There, it’s all done now,” said Shanika’s father carefully holding the bird as it tried to flap its wings. “Soon this one will be fit enough to fly away back to his home!” Nadun smiled happily because the bird was saved in time. He promised himself never to leave kite string all over the branches, if there was a possibility of removing and disposing of it properly.

Kids’ World