10 things Corporates and Entrepreneurs can learn from Birds -Part 1

When I moved to Goa, Lots of people asked me the question why Goa? Most of them assumed i moved there for the Beaches and Beer and of course the party capital of India.

My answer for them was Birds! Of course as a Business Prospect, i felt Goa was suited for my startup but the personal reason would be Birds !

Many people dont know this but Goa is one of the best places to visit for Birding .What do you mean by birding? It is basically an activity wherein birds are observed for the purpose of recreation or citizen science.Most birders will go a few steps further by documenting their observations, identifying the birds they see, and sharing their findings with fellow bird enthusiasts. There are communities of enthusiasts who share their pics and knowledge of Birds. Recent Technologies have developed Apps for recognising birds and your personal database where you record each and every species of birds with their location and pics .This hobby contributes a lot to the study of Birds as a species which is called Ornithology and contributes to conservation, climate change studies and environmental impacts.

Apart from this ,Birds are of so many varieties and colours, with so many different peculiar behaviors it gives one a joy of just being in the moment with nature.

I thought why not combine my two areas of interest and write a blog on birds and entrepreuneurship and make it an interesting and fun read

As promised in my title we will see a set of species of birds and the lessons we learn.

The Greater Racket Tailed Drongo -

This is the bird that demands attention.It is a medium sized bird , smaller than a crow but with a long tail with feathers that are greatly extended .It is glossy black in colour and always looks like it has a bag of tricks under its sleeve (i mean feather).

The Racket tailed drongo hangs out with other flocks of birds .This bird is a great mimic .It attracts other bird members by making loud calls, including mimicking the sound of the species it wishes to attract. In different parts of the world it is attracted to different species like woodpeckers in Malaysia or the Babblers in Sri Lanka.

The Drongos are also called Kotwal in Marathi.The reason is that they are protectors.Other flocks of birds love to have a Drongo amidst them because the Drongos are fearless.They will send warning calls of predators nearby and are not afraid to take on birds twice their size.They have a good protection racket going for the rest of the Flocks.

But ,also the protection comes with a price.The racket tailed drongo is a sneak sometimes.Using its mimical abilities , it sometimes gives fake alarm call of the birds such that a bird catching a juicy prey will let go of the food and fly away leaving our man to a juicy lunch with minimal effort.

Although it has a sneaky behavior but overall, The greater Racket Tailed Drongo is a huge benefit to foraging birds .

The lessons we can learn from this unique bird as entrepreneurs and starts-up

1. Look out for different kind of people in your group who will help you think differently like the Drongo does

2. Protect your flock and dont be afraid to take on competition twice your size.

3. Have a Drongo in your team but watch for that sneaky behavior

4. Wear different hats like the mimicable abilities of the drongos to get your work done

The KingFisher

No I am not talking about the beer ! I am talking about the actual bird which has inspired the brand of beer. The Kingfisher is one of the most beautiful species to exist on this Planet. Goa itself has 8 species of the Kingfisher. (We are still talking about the birds)

Kingfishers have beautiful blend of colours in their plumage .There is the Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher which looks like a bird that has just played a lot of Holi with a variety of colours in its mix. The Kingfisher have a unique ability to keep their neck sturdy while their body may move in sync with the breeze or a moving branch. This helps them have an intense concentration when catching fishes. The design of the Japanese bullet trains have been influenced by the beak of the kingfisher to an extent.

Kingfishers fly low and straight like a speeding bullet hurling towards the water, reaching up to 90 km/hour per hour, but it’s not their speed that excites scientists; it’s their beaks. Sharp, pointed, and so long that they make up a third of a kingfisher’s height, The beak of the Kingfisher is so slender that as it makes contact with water there is minimal noise which doesnt alert its prey till it is too late and the Kingfisher has bagged its prey in its beak.

The lessons we can learn from this unique bird as entrepreneurs and starts-up

1. When you have a target or goal in sight be inspired by the speed and the noiseless approach of the Kingfisher till it acquires its fish/goal
   

2. When Pursuing your goal have the intense concentration and sturdyness of the KING

3. Be Colurful in your outlooks towards life😂

A link to the Kingfisher and its sturdyness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AChaWqmED6A

The Great Grey Shrike and Shrikes in general

This is one of those instances of a bird which tried something new and it really worked so well that the new trick became a norm among its tribe.

Shrikes are famous for impaling its prey on sharp points- typically thorns of bushes or a sharp barbed wire. If we look at the evolution of this behavior it can broken down into certain logical steps. Shrikes as a species are not very big but they tackle much larger and heavier prey than itself .The victims are bitten hard on their necks and caught by its large sharp claws .The problem Shrikes would have faced is " now that i have killed this large prey which will take care of my lunch and dinner! how do i store it? "

The shrike may have tried dragging the corpse upto the perch of a tree. They may also have tried wedging it against a fork of a branch or a corner of the branches. While doing this they would have tried impaling it on a thorn of one of the bushes and then - lo and behold- a storage and display arena for its booty! This practice caught on and became a part of the behavior of shrikes.

The Shrikes found a storage space for its excess food (fridge for us) and life was good.Now this caching of prey became a sign of its prowress and territorial marking .Most birds use calls and display as marking their territory rather than violence .(Thats why birds are smart!).This caching behavior of the shrike has now been used to attract the opposite sex.

The larger the prey the better the provider. During mating the shrikes move their cache of prey near the nesting site for regular food. The female has to just take food from the cache as and when required.

Life is good for the shrikes .In fact its so good they are questioning the concept of monogamy as they have excess of food for some more female partners .It has been found that males offer gift from their storage to more number of female partners to have some more helping on the side .These special gifts makes them attractive as they often give the choiciest food to the mistresses.

In conclusion a single act of impaling its prey gave a host full of benefits for our friend the Shrike

The lessons we can learn from this unique bird as entrepreneurs and starts-up

A simple act of storing food became such a plus point for the shrike in so many ways from protecting its territory to getting more mates and having food at hand all the time. The learnings from this ?Plenty!

1. Develop your ability/Brand/Company to such an extent that it becomes a norm for the rest to follow

2. Your Accomplishments should be better displayed for higher gains.

3. Get multiple gains from the technology/ability or new path you have created to help you in all spheres of life !

This concludes part 1 of my blog on birds and entrepreneurs. This may go on as a series of blogs if this gets any kind of an interest amongst you wonderful readers. I had fun writing this blog and hope you enjoy reading it too.

Also We are into CNC machining of critical components .Check us out at www.wemachine.in