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Counting our feathered friends

Have you heard of the Great Backyard Bird Count? This global initiative aims to make birdwatching an activity for everyone.

A constant ‘tonk-tonk’, sounding like someone was hammering away at metal had us all rush out of the house. Are you wondering why? Because the noise was made by the coppersmith barbet, a small colourful bird found in India. After a careful search, and often led astray by the ‘tonk-tonk’ that seemed to come from all sides, we spotted the little green and yellow charmer sitting on a branch.

After this, I began to keep a lookout for other birds and spotted quite a few varieties: a sunbird hovering upside down around an aloe flower, the tiny bee eater whose call is quite out of proportion to its size, the Malabar grey hornbill and more. Now don’t get jealous. You can also spot birds in your own backyard.

From February 16 to 19 runs the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBCC). First launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society in the U.S., the initiative went global in 2013. Birders from India have participated for the last 11 years. According to the Bird Count India website, in 2023, over 4000 Indian birdwatchers participated and identified around 1072 species.

Are you wondering how you can be a part of it?

It’s simple: watch and listen carefully. You don’t have to go to a bird sanctuary or reserve to spot birds. There are plenty of birds you can spot in an urban area as well. Do you live near a lake or a wetland. Ask your parents to take you there and see which birds you can spot. Usually, wetlands are home to many migrant species. A park or patch of greenery around will also be home to many avian species. Spend at least 15 minutes and list all that you see. If you don’t know the species, make a note of the features and then look it up. Who knows? You might have something rare on hand.

Why are initiatives like the GBCC important? Yes, it’s a lot of fun and you’ll get that time in the outdoors, tramping around… all of which is great for mental and physical well-being. But there’s also a scientific side to it. When people take photos of their find and upload it in the eBird app or website, scientists are able to track which birds are found where, if there any changes from previous years and study why this may be so. In India, the GBCC is anchored by the Bird Count India, which is a collective of many different organisations working together for the cause of the birds. Don’t you want to be part of this as well?

Now that you have read about it, here is an activity for you. Here are some birds commonly found in India. Can you spot the right one?










Craft of the matter

Time to check your knowledge of various kinds of crafts with this crossword. How many can you identify with the clues given?

Have you ever seen a Kalamkari artist in action? The painstaking work involved in this craft leads to the creation of stunning textiles. This is true of most crafts. At a time when technology rules, most crafts still involve manual labour and hours of effort. Here is a crossword based on different kinds of crafts. Use the textual and pictorial clues to fill the name in the grid.

A fit balance

What do words like endurance, strength training or body composition mean? How are they related to your fitness?

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Matters of the heart

If I tell you that I’m one of the most fascinating organs of the human body, will you believe me?

If I tell you that I’m one of the most fascinating organs of the human body, you may not believe me. I’m sure you will roll your eyes and think that I am being boastful. No, I’m not proud or pompous. Neither am I gloating. I’m a humble organ, who takes no credit in keeping you alive. Yes, you read right. I keep you alive.

I’m your heart. I work right from the time a baby is in the mother’s womb. Usually, a person whose heart stops beating is considered to be dead. On an average, an adult human heart beats 72 times a minute, which works out to nearly 100,000 times a day, 36 million times a year and 2.5 billion times to three billion times in a lifetime. I told you that I am hardworking.

I continue to beat even when a person is sleeping. In some cases, a person’s heart beats for more than 80 times a minute. For others, it can be less than 60 beats a minute. Did you know that, in a newborn, the heartbeat rate can range from 70 to 190 beats a minute?

Hardworker

When healthy, I weigh between 156 and 422 gm. In general, my average weight is around 300gm. My work is to pump blood throughout the body every single minute, every single day. That’s a lot of work because, in an adult body, that amounts to circulating five litres of blood continuously. I am proud to say that I don’t take holidays. Don’t get alarmed. That was a P.J.

When a person runs or exercises, I have to pump faster than normal — at least three to four times more. This is because every part of the body needs to get the oxygen and fuel that they need to allow them to workout.

Do you want to know how I work? My muscles contract and relax in an automatic cycle, which is the heart beat. When I beat, blood is pumped through the blood vessels. All the blood vessels, which form the circulatory system, are like elastic tubes that carry blood to all parts of the body. These are of two kinds: the arteries and the veins. The arteries carry oxygenated blood from the heart to the rest of the body. Are you wondering what oxygenated blood is? It means blood that has received oxygen from the lungs. The veins carry blood back to the heart and lungs so that they can get more oxygen. This then goes back to the arteries to be circulated in the body. To put it simply, veins carry blood towards the heart and the arteries carry it away. Did you know that the entire process of circulating blood from the heart across the body and back takes just 45 seconds? Isn’t that awesome?

I have a very organised system through which the circulatory system transfers oxygen, nutrients and hormones to the cells in the body and removes waste products like carbon dioxide. There are between 30 and 40 trillion cells in the body and all of them receive blood pumped by me. Sometimes I am completely in awe of all that I do. Modesty can go for a walk!

Attention

Now, given that I work so hard to keep you all going without a rest or break, is it fair to make me the face of silly and embarrassing emoticons? Especially that heart one for photos on social media? And saying things like “I’m heartbroken” or “My heart is singing”. I hate that heartbreak emoticon. Let’s be practical. If I collapse — or break, to use your lingo — you are doomed. Poets use me to write deeply emotional verses and movies feature me in their titles. Oh well! I guess all this unwanted and unnecessary attention comes with the territory.

Only one living part of the human body receives no blood supply from me, as there are no blood vessels in that area. Can you guess which part I am talking about? Bet you can’t. It’s the cornea of the eye, which gets its nutrients through tears and the aqueous humor and oxygen directly from the air.

How to help me?

1. Maintain your weight. Set an exercise routine. Go for walks. If you can’t exercise, try activities like gardening, household chores, walking your dog, take the stairs, clean your garage, or walk to the shop.

2. Try yoga to maintain both physical and mental well-being. It helps to manage stress and anxiety.

3. Stick to a healthy diet. Include lots of fruits and vegetables. Meat eaters, stay with lean meats. Avoid junk food and sugar-loaded drinks.

4. You must get at least seven hours of sleep every night.

5. Finally, make sure you get your regular check-ups. Have you heard that prevention is better than cure?

Task for you. Can you fill this grid with words related to the heart?

From the pages of story books

Which storybook character are you like? Take this fun personality quiz and find out.

Who is your favourite fictional character?

Featured here are six characters: Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series, Gruffalo from the book of the same name, Alice from Alice in Wonderland, Petter Rabbit from the series by Beatrix Potter, Willie Wonka who makes his appearance in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and finally Pippi Longstocking from the book of the same name. Each character is memorable and, if you have read the books, you will know why. If you haven’t read them as yet, please do because you will not be disappointed.

Now take this for-fun-only personality quiz and find out which character you are most like.

Savour the flavour of love

This Valentine’s Day, we bring you heart-warming flavours to share with those you love.

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, are you still wondering what you can do to make it special? Fret not! Here are two absolutely yummy dishes that you can conjure up for your loved ones.

Photos: Getty Images/iStockPhotos

Bouncing into action

Many sports use balls, and each one is specific to the game. Now this activity features different kinds of balls. Check it out.

From the spherical precision of a basketball to the aerodynamic design of a soccer ball, each sporting ball brings its own unique flair to the game.

This activity brings you different kinds of balls used in sports. The game is just like a sudoku; instead of numbers, you have to fill the grid with the images. Remember that each ball can appear only once in every row, column and 3*3 grid.

Follow the trail: Part 1

Fun task for you! Identify the animals using just their footprint marks. Can you guess them all?

Does wildlife fascinate you? One of the basic parts of wildlife tracking is identifying animal footprints. Even the more sneaky and stealthy animals leave tracks behind, after all. You can tell you a lot about the type of animal and its behaviour by analysing these clues.

Here’s an interesting task for you. Can you match these footprints with the animals/birds that have left them behind?

Three R’s of the online world

With Safer Internet Day being celebrated on February 6, here are three aspects that you must be aware of as you travel along the worldwide web.

We’re all being told about online safety and to be careful while browsing the Internet. What should we do to keep ourselves and others safe? It involves Three Rs. Wonder what they are? Read on to find out…