Islam and The Lesson of the Cuckoo Bird

A mama bird has built a bird nest in the gazebo in my back yard. Apparently she did it when the weather was rainy and I wasn't using the gazebo as a place to read and smoke cigars. However, we met each other when the weather turned warm. Mama bird flew in with a piece of straw in her mouth, saw me sitting at the table in the gazebo, said "Eeek!" and flew out again. I informed my wife of the nest and told her no one was to disturb it until the baby birds were grown and gone.

For the past few weeks we have learned to get along. The mama bird sits on the babies at night and the father bird helps feed the two baby birds that have hatched. I sit there and watch this wonderful nature lesson from only a few feet away. The mama bird is a beige colored bird with a pale blue breast; the father bird resembles her but has red plumage on his head and wings and is quite pretty. Lately I have been able to see the baby birds flapping their wings. They have feathers now and I suspect they will be leaving the nest soon.

My gazebo birds and recent readings on evolution have made me aware of the cuckoo bird (true story), which visits England in the spring. See my realistic illustration of one of these above right.

The cuckoo bird isn't really nice. The mama cuckoo knows which species of birds lay eggs similar in shape and color to her own, and lays her eggs in other bird's nests so other mama birds will raise her young for her. The cuckoo lays her egg, then kicks one of the other eggs out of the nest so the number remains the same. (I didn't even know birds could count, so this was a surprise to me.) Then, when the baby cuckoo hatches, he kicks all the other eggs out so he is the sole beneficiary of his adopted mama bird. Often the baby cuckoo grows bigger than his adopted mom before he leaves.

I think this is pretty lame - the cuckoo is a guest in someone else's nest, where he destroys the host's future progeny while advancing his own. He is a hostile guest with hidden malevolent intent.

I don't know about you, but this reminds me of certain immigrants into England and the West in general. These human versions of the cuckoo bird move in and demand special favors, e.g. that the British flag and piggy banks be hidden from view as these offend them. They really squawk if anyone publishes cartoons poking fun at cuckoo birds, and make threatening noises about decapitating people, all the while protected by their host mama bird in spite of their really bad attitude. They not only want to destroy Western eggs, but maybe plant a few bombs and blow up the nest and maybe the whole darned tree. That's gratitude for you.

Amazingly enough, these nasty birds are welcome in Britain, Europe and North America where they are protected from criticism no matter what they say or do. Not surpisingly, they just keep migrating in greater and greater numbers. Where else can a bird crap all over his hosts while they feed, shelter and protect him?

Which leads us to this all-important question: which of the players in this scenario is the real cuckoo bird anyway?