Freedom songs

Recently I encountered a gentleman with three cages. Each contained a tiny songbird.

Many local songbird enthusiasts invest a lot of money in their feathered "prides and joys," sometimes as much as $10,000 and more per bird.

The gentleman told me that he has numerous songbirds in cages hanging in different spots around the exterior of his house.

The three birds in his possession were in spotless cages, with clean receptacles filled with food and water. Their feathers were glossy, they were alert and their movements nimble, albeit within their confining environment.

The gentleman told me that he brings his birds out for walks or puts their cages to hang in trees so that they can sing in Nature. Sometimes he might take one caged bird for a drive to the forest, so that it can experience that environment.

To demonstrate how he is able to get his birds to perform, he placed the cages far apart from each other and said, "They will sing now."

Eventually, one by one, they started singing. Their music was beautiful yet, to me, sad.

I told him that I always find it fascinating yet strange how people capture birds and cage them in order to "enjoy" birdsong...and then take the captive birds for walks, hanging their cages on trees so that the birds can "enjoy" Nature.

Many years ago a friend and I were in Suriname on a work project. One weekend, walking near a central park, we came upon what was, to us, a strange sight: throngs of men surrounded by cages of songbirds. Upon inquiring, we discovered that this was a regular competition. Who can get their bird to sing the best? Champion songbirds can earn their human thousands of dollars.

“Don’t you think your birds would be happier singing freely in the trees?” I asked the gentleman.

Instead of answering "Yes" or "No," he told me that with good care, these small birds can live for up to 30 years in captivity. In the natural outdoors, with the danger of predators and the rapid urbanisation of the environment resulting in increasingly limited natural food resources, they might live for about five years.

“But don't you think they would rather sing in freedom for those five years?” I asked.

He laughed.

Recently, while waiting at an establishment, I looked through the window and saw a little girl playing alone outdoors. Wearing a red net tutu with white bodice, she was like a fairy, running back and forth, flapping outstretched arms. After a short while, she stopped abruptly and sat, chest heaving.

My heart went out to her as she took off the mask which I had heard her father a short while before remind her to “put on before you go outside!”

After all, under the new legislation, anyone eight years and over will be fined $1,000 if caught not wearing a mask in public with good reason.

Can a piggybank hold that much?

After some huge breaths, the girl put back on her "nasal cage" and returned to the solitary game, albeit with less vigour.

I coined the term "nasal cage" because, with her flapping her arms, she brought to mind one of those caged songbirds, denied its basic freedom to fly...only, in her case, freedom to breathe.

I thought of my childhood and the fresh air we enjoyed through unshielded nostrils, raucous laughter through unmuffled mouths. Would we and our neighbourhood friends have enjoyed perching like birds on our plum tree, gorging ourselves with governor plums, chatting and laughing...with masks on? Riding bikes...rollerskating ...hopscotch...elastics...Red Rover...rounders...guava fights...cricket...badminton...

“Most children these days don’t play outside anyway,” a friend reminded me.

Unlike human beings who now long to get home so they can remove their "nasal cages" (one prescription for protection against covid19) animals cannot willingly reclaim their basic freedoms once they have had them removed by humans.

Dogs, unable to untie short chains or open rusty latches of forgotten kennels can only dream of running free. Blue crabs struggling on strings in scorching sun long for cool, dark mangrove waters. Oh, that their pincers were scissors.

Deep within, we all share the desire for freedom. It is the sweetest song.