IIt is eerily quiet in the black kite's cage. Only the rustling of their feathers can be heard as they restlessly climb over each other because a human approaches their enclosure. Dozens of dark brown eyes are focused on the visitors. The birds of prey crouch close together in a corner of the aviary, on the roof terrace of a multi-story townhouse in New Delhi. They cling to wooden poles and crowd onto the narrow ledge of a waist-high wall. They look shaggy and shy, like teenagers venturing out into the daylight after a night of partying.
Once he has entered the aviary, Mohammad Saud walks purposefully towards one of the birds and grabs it with one hand by the very ends of the wing. The animal flutters around wildly, opens its hooked beak, a narrow tongue protrudes, the pointed claws curl. Saud reaches out with his other hand and grabs the bird's body in a tight grip. The black kite holds still in the hands of its master. “You have to approach them from above,” says Mohammad Saud, “then they will surrender.”
#brothers #Delhi #treat #black #kites
