Do you know the power a female weaver bird has? Ha! Unlike her human counterparts. she has not been taught to be coy and subservient when it comes to expressing her views. She is not the, jo aap kahe (whatever you say) type. In matters that concern her, she has a voice and uses it.

The male weaver bird, in charge of making a nest, expertly weaves blades of grass and leaves from nearby trees (after first fastening it to the branch of a tree) to make one. Phew, he says once it is done. Now to interest someone, not just anyone mind you, it has to be a female weaver bird, to come and live with me.

With this in mind, he hangs upside down at the bottom near the entry to his nest, flutters his wings, sings his song. Not everyone’s idea of what sets a heart aflutter. But there you have it, this is how weaver birds play the love game. Along comes a female bird. Ha, someone’s done with nest-building. Let’s take a look and see if it is any good.

She peers in. If she doesn’t like that first look she flies away… or (here’s where I go all wide-eyed), in some cases, she destroys the whole nest. Yup, it becomes nothing but rubble.. er, I mean dried leaves and grass on the ground. She then goes away to wait on a branch of a tree nearby to wait and see if he can do better.

The male bird starts afresh, if the nest has been completely destroyed, if not, he removes parts from here and there and rebuilds, weaving more blades of grass and leaves making it securer, sturdier. Again he sings, calling out to the female. The solo inspection team promptly flies down, peers inside, walks in, shakes the nest a good deal (gotta check if it can be safe on a windy day, right?). Sheesh, this feller has a lot more to learn. She flies off.

This continues four to five times and as per some human eye-witnesses in one case, a good twenty-five times! Only, and ONLY when she is sure about her living quarters does the female bird move in. After all she has to think about the safety of the eggs she is to lay and the chicks that are to hatch.

Did you notice one thing? The female bird says ‘no’ multiple times and the male bird does not flip at all. Some strength of character, that. If a human male hears a ‘no’ most times he takes it as an affront to his masculinity.  A ‘no’ can even get a human female killed.

Daily Prompt: Rebuild