Ever been out-thought by a bird? I have. I think.
One of the most unusual events in my life took place in our courtyard one Spring afternoon, under one of my trees - a real feature for us because it's always been a haven for the local bird-life. On this day, I was visited by a family of currawongs. Not our usual guests.
I was alerted because of their singing and ventured out to take a look. Sure enough, there they were. One big one in particular sat ten feet away on a limb and continued to sing. Our eyes met and we shared the space for a few minutes. Four or five other curawongs milled about in the upper branches - all singing. Then, with a ruffle of feathers, and a beating of big black wings, they were gone.
I was a little spooked by the experience. They were, as I said, not regular guests, these currawongs. Big, black, crow-like birds, they're a bit creepy sometimes. I'm a lover of birds so I'd say that, although they aren't my favorites, I've never had any genuine reason to think there's anything about them that's malevolent in any way. They have a bad rep though. Most of you would understand this. At worst, I've looked upon them as big, dopey, loping clowns. This is no longer my opinion. A few minutes later, they were back in the tree.
They were no longer singing and they didn't stay long. To my amazement, they bombed my courtyard with berries. In a frenzy, one beak after another opened and numerous little black berries were released. I watched, stunned and completely bewildered as the berries fell into the mulch at my feet.
These birds were dropping from their mouths, the very food that sustained them. And, it was no accident. They had flown away, clearly, with hindsight, to some trees in the vicinity that were in fruit. Upon harvesting those berries, they'd made a bee line for my courtyard and dropped their payload. No act could have been more purposeful.
I knew these berries as being from the camphor laurels, environmental weeds, prolific fruiters, from across the way. My first thought was, 'Man! these pesky birds are planting weeds in my courtyard.' It's impossible to see it any differently. But I missed the logic.
To these amazing birds, it wasn't weeds they were planting. It was a future food source. I've thought long and hard about this and I swear what I witnessed was a propagation. These birdbrains were generating a food source for themselves, and for others, and it was ritualized and intentional.
Before I knew it, I was gathering berries. I wasn't going to allow my courtyard to become overgrown with huge trees that, by their very nature, would threaten all the native ecosystems and the diversity of our region.
That day, two different and profoundly exotic logics collided, head on, although I failed at first to notice. I am now forever humbled by the experience. These little black birds proved beyond doubt, to me, that they have an incredible intelligence. Who could argue that what they were doing was illogical, or that what I did in response was illogical? The argument is that they were two different logics. Both, perhaps, of great merit.
I take comfort because, logically, they would've repeated this behavior elsewhere and doubtless now have their lashings of berries for themselves and their offspring, to sustain them into the future. I hope so. I take comfort because they may actually be better at this than us. We still have many lessons to learn. Humbled is the right word. They saw me collect their berries and they've never come back for a second try. What was, to me, a vile weed was, to them, their best plan for a futures market, replete with more juicy fruit than anyone could ever once have possibly imagined.
The way forward for us, all creatures of blood and bone, is to remove the need for the weed, for the benefit and the glory of all life on earth. This logic - logic beyond any clear and present danger - is, let's call it 'future logic.'
We may be the only creatures who can think in these terms; there can be food and no weeds; there can be weeds and no harm; there can never be harm without hurt. The best human logic is what we need.