Chapter 2- first flight and a serious problem
Over time, the three new additions to Alvin and Erico's families, Aurora, Sirius and Belle, grew into young chicks and acquired their feathers. However, they were still too young for their other features to be distinguishable so only their eye and feather colours were visible. Aurora's feathers were maya blue like her mother Clarinda's and her eyes were amber, a shade of yellow similar to her father Erico's. She had a blue-white patch around each eye but they were hard to see for she was still a young chick. Two sets of stubby feathers were present on her head, the beginnings of the unusual pigtail-like crest clearly visible, something she had inherited from her mother Clarinda. However, they were only tufts due to her young age. Aurora's beak and tiny feet were grey. Both Sirius and Belle had pale grey heads, a thin yellow ring around each other their eyes and a tiny piece of skin behind their lower beaks. The beaks and feet of both of them were grey but the similarities between them ended there. Sirius had azure blue feathers like his father Alvin while Belle's plumage was blue like her mother Isabella's. Sirius' eyes were blue like his father's but a little brighter while Belle's eyes were more cyan coloured, sort of half way between her father's dark blue eyes and her mother's green eyes. Sirius also had a small tuft of feathers on his head, a small flat sheet but Belle's head feathers were not yet visible. Both the chicks looked identical in body shape but as they grew, their other physical traits will show, making them diverge from the basic body shape they currently had as chicks. Though they were young, Sirius, Belle, Aurora and also the adopted Lear's macaw Bruno were all ready to take their first flight, their wing flight feathers having developed enough to carry them through the air like their older family members. The four chicks' first flight was a milestone Erico, Clarinda, Alvin and Isabella especially looked forward though the former two, the Spix macaw couple, had already been through this experience with their older and first brood singleton soon Tomas so they already had some experience in this area. The first flight was also the milestone for bats and Alberto and Lily, their first pup, a daughter, having arrived a day after Aurora and the two glaucous macaw chicks' hatching and the parents looked forward to seeing their daughter take her first wing flaps when she was old enough. However, she was still too young to fly at the moment and will need more time until then.
At Erico and Clarinda's hollow, Tomas played with his sister Aurora, adopted Lear's macaw brother Bruno and two glaucous macaw 'cousins' Sirius and Belle while Clarinda and Isabella talked. The mothers' mates, Alvin and Erico, were out on a foraging trip as usual. Though Erico and Alvin's families were of different macaw species, they saw each other as family and referred to each others' chicks as their nephews and nieces and Tomas saw Sirius and Belle as his cousins. While the five chicks played a game with the toy pebbles, the mothers chatted heartily.
"I'm glad Alberto and Lily are doing great with their new daughter Ginger," said Clarinda gladly, "I look forward to seeing her take her first flight when she's old enough."
"Yes, but unlike our chicks, Amazon flying foxes cannot fly until they are much older," said Isabella, "thankfully, that won't be a hindrance when we eventually start our adventure out into the rainforest to search for more birds and bats of our species as she will be carried on her mother's breast."
Clarinda nodded with a smile in agreement. Nearby, her daughter Aurora spotted something dance about outside the Spix macaw family's entrance/exit hole. The object had colourful 'leaves' and it flitted in an erratic pattern before leaving. Compelled by curiosity, Aurora left the other four chicks' side and left to investigate the flitting object (which was a butterfly), approaching the rim of the hole. However, as she was about to lean over the rim, Clarinda's voice yelled, "COME BACK FROM THERE, AURORA!"
Aurora flinched and shot her mother a startled look. Clarinda, a cross look on her face, came over to her and scooped her up in her wings. Then she carried her away from the hole and returned her to her brother, adopted brother and glaucous cousins' side.
"Please can you NOT lean outside the hole, Aurora," said Clarinda firmly, "You still cannot fly yet and the last thing I want from you is falling out of our hollow to the forest floor."
"Yes, EVERY mother bird's worst nightmare," put in Isabella.
"But Mom," squeaked Aurora, "There was a butterfly..."
"No excuses, daughter," Clarinda scolded, cutting her off, "ONLY when you can fly you can explore our tree for butterflies and other insects and NOT before. Understood?"
Aurora nodded and resumed playing with her pebbles with the other four chicks. Isabella then came in as Clarinda backed away, satisfied that her daughter had got the message about the danger of leaning out of the hollow hole before her first flight.
"We had to carry our son and daughter here from our hollow for our visit," she told Clarinda, "But once they also learn to fly, we will not need to do that."
"Since we're the ONLY Spix and glaucous macaws and Bruno the ONLY Lear's macaw, living in this community and forest," said Clarinda, "It's VERY important that we keep an eye on our chicks. I just hope we can find more of our species so that our sons and daughters can make friends with chicks their own species once we do get out there."
Isabella replied with an agreeing sigh and gazed at her son Sirius and daughter Belle as they continued to play the pebble game with Aurora, Tomas and Bruno, worries for their future also simmering in her mind.
Just then, Erico and Alvin turned up with a selection of fruit in their talons, among them berries and a papaya.
"Lunchtime, everyone," the former announced as he and the glaucous macaw touched down into the Spix macaws' hollow. Immediately Tomas, Aurora, Sirius, Belle and Bruno scurried over to the fathers with delightful and excited chirps but Clarinda called them, "Hold on, kids, let your fathers sort the fruit out first."
"Yes, you cannot eat a papaya whole," said Alvin as he got prepared to butcher the fruit. Titters emitted from Erico, the mothers and some of the chicks as the fathers set to cutting up the fruit into smaller pieces. Within moments, the two families tucked into lunch Clarinda and Isabella distributing the small fruit pieces to the chicks.
"When it's time for Sirius, Belle, Aurora and Bruno to take their first flight," said Alvin, "Henrique and his family and some of our flying fox friends including Alberto and Lily will be coming to watch them."
"I would like to witness Ginger's first flight when her time comes," said Clarinda as she held a piece of pineapple.
"Bats don't learn to fly the same way we birds do, do they?" asked Tomas as he chewed on a berry.
"Not quite, son," said Erico before he gave the preteen son a stern look, "And don't talk with your mouth full, Tomas. It's not good manners."
"Yes, your mouth can only do talking or eating but not both," said Alvin. Tomas gave an apologetic look and did not say anything else until he had swallowed what he had in his mouth. Then the two families continued eating.
Some time later
Finally, the time came for the four young chicks to take their first flight. Aurora, Bruno, Sirius and Belle found themselves perched on a low branch diverging from the main trunk of the glaucous macaw family's tree. Nearby stood Erico, Clarinda, Tomas, Alvin and Isabella and further away stood a small group of green-winged macaws, among them Henrique, his older daughter Ellery, Henrique's mate and other chicks, and some Amazon flying foxes among them Alberto, Lily and their pup Ginger. The Amazon flying fox was a large bat with the adults being around the size of an adult Spix macaw, sometimes slightly smaller. Their membranous wings were almost always charcoal black and like all bats, the Amazon flying fox's wings were giant webbed hands with highly elongated fingers supporting a piece of membrane between them and a large piece between the fourth finger and the body. The thumb was free and there was a smaller piece of skin membrane stretched between the wrist and the shoulder. The face of the Amazon flying fox was fox or dog-like with a conical snout pointing forward, pointy erect ears and their eyes situated forward. They had sharp teeth, used for butchering fruit and other plant material though sometimes the flying fox dined on insects as well. The fur of the Amazon flying fox varied widely though it was often brightly coloured like the exotic birds such as macaws. But still, their fur had a diverse colour palate. Brown, chocolate brown, red, ginger and orange were common but golden yellow and amber yellow also occurred. Amazon flying foxes also possessed a large ruff of fur around their necks and sometimes they had a white belly patch on their fronts. Their feet were clawed and allowed the bat to roost upside down from an overhang, like all bats. Like macaws, Amazon flying foxes mated for life and the male would bring back food for the female and his offspring, if he had any though sometimes, the female, with the pup on her breast, would sometimes accompany him on foraging trips. Amazon flying fox pups matured earlier than macaw chicks, their maturation age being around two years, compared to some other flying fox species whose maturation age was one.
Alberto had brown fur with brown eyes while his mate Lily was fairly orange with bright blue eyes. Their daughter Ginger had inherited her mother's ginger fur and her eyes were cyan coloured. However, she was too young to fly so she had to remain clutched to Lily's breast until then. The small group of Amazon flying foxes, their species extremely rare like the Spix, glaucous and Lear's macaws, either rested on the branch or hung upside down from higher branches, anticipating the first flight of Aurora, Bruno, Sirius and Belle. As the four nervously gazed at the drop before them, the nervousness clearly dancing in her eyes, Erico came up to them to explain the seemingly magical ability of flight.
"The parts of our wings that enable us macaws and other flying birds to fly," the father Spix macaw explained and with that, he stretched open a wing and pointed to those certain parts of it with his other wing, "Are these things: flight feathers."
Aurora, Bruno, Sirius and Belle watched on as Erico continued, "These feathers are the most important parts of our wings that enable us to keep in the air. If any of these feathers are missing, you will not be able to fly properly," he then retracted his wing and continued, "As young chicks, we only had down feathers, hence why you could not fly when you were younger but over time, our wings grow these feathers to enable flight, hence why you are here now."
"Flight is one of the most important skills in flying birds and also in bats," added Alvin, Erico looking at him and nodding in agreement, "We are tree-living birds and mammals and our place of habitation is up here and NEVER on the ground."
"Yes," said Clarinda, "The ground floor is riddled with all kinds of dangers, particularly predators like snakes and wildcats. You remember your adopted brother Bruno when he was found on the forest floor. He was in mortal danger and would have easily been killed if it weren't for Alberto and his friends' intervention in rescuing him and bringing him to us when his biological mother left him there."
"Indeed," said Alberto from the small group of bats hanging upside down from their branch by their feet, "Chicks and also bat pups are extremely vulnerable on the ground which is why we have our babies up HERE and NEVER down there."
"It wouldn't matter if you're a flightless bird capable of defending yourself on the ground like a jungle rhea, for example," said Henrique, "But for us macaws and flying foxes, we are smaller and must nest in the trees."
"Another reason why learning to fly is SO important is being able to travel around the forest and find food," added Clarinda, "Especially if you have a family to care for. If you can't fly, you can't survive."
"How do bats fly?" asked Sirius.
"That's another subject," said Erico but then Lily interrupted.
"It's okay if your chicks know the simple basics of how we bats fly right now, Erico," the orange furred mother with her daughter clutched to her breast spoke, "Especially if they're utterly curious," she then nodded to Alberto who then dropped from his overhang, flew over to Erico and Alvin and landed on the branch near the fathers.
"Unlike you birds who have these flight things called feathers," said he, "We bats have skins and fingers for our wings," he then stretched open a wing and showed the four chicks his large webbed hand, "THIS is our flight instrument. However, how we fly is more complicated than you birds and that will have to wait until you're old enough to understand the differences but all you need to know is that we bats fly with fingers and skin and not feathers."
"Thanks, Alberto," said Erico to which the brown bat nodded, dropped from the branch and returned to the audience, his mate and daughter. Erico turned back to the four chicks.
"That's enough on the little lesson on bat's wings for now," he said, "Time to get down to the main subject," his daughter, adopted Lear's macaw son and glaucous macaw nephew and niece then paid their attention as Erico went on, "Now as I've told you, in us birds, our wings' air things are our flight feathers and now you have grown them, it is time for you to take your first flight."
"How are we gonna do that, Uncle Erico?" squeaked Belle as Sirius shuddered a little. A smile formed on Erico's beak and he nodded to Henrique to come over, which he did. One of Alberto's friends also came over to help. As the two perched near Erico, the Spix macaw father went on, "You will not be jumping straight off the branch to get airborne though few chicks have managed to take their first flight via that method, but since your flight muscles are still developing, we will be using another method and don't worry, Henrique and Julio here have your backs."
Nervousness flared up big time within the four chicks.
"You don't mean..." began Aurora while Bruno, Sirius and Belle shuddered slightly. However, the Lear's macaw chick's nervousness was boiling far more than the other three's but Erico and the others hadn't noticed it yet.
"Well, how else are we gonna get air in your new flight feathers?" asked Henrique, "When I learnt my first flight when I was your age, I had to do just that. However, my father was nearby in case I failed and had to try again."
"Indeed," said Erico, "And your mothers and fathers including me, and also Tomas there," he nodded to the young male macaw as he said this, "had to learn to fly via that same method and believe me, I was UTTERLY nervous but I knew it had to be done. Flying is a VERY important life skill for us tree-dwelling birds as we have explained before."
Aurora, Belle and Sirius breathed a sigh and got ready to take their first flight despite the nervousness but Bruno looked uncertain. The adults then came in; understanding looks on their faces as they prepared for the moment they had been waiting for.
"Right, who would like to go first?" asked Erico. Sirius and Belle looked to Aurora and Bruno.
"You first, Aurora," said the former.
"You hatched first of us three, Sirius, YOU go first," said Aurora. The adults exchanged looks and smiled.
"I think your daughter and adopted Lear's macaw son will go first, Erico," said Alvin.
"Then Aurora and Bruno it is," said Erico to the pair's wincing. Aurora then yielded and decided that she will go first after all. as she got prepared for the milestone, Erico came in and Henrique and the flying fox, Julio, took off or dropped into flight to prepare to catch Aurora in case she failed.
"Now, my daughter," said the father, "Listen very carefully. This is VERY important. Once you step off the branch into freefall, you MUST flap your wings. The rush of air over your wings as you fall is what will pull you out of the descent. If you fall too far, Henrique or Julio will catch you and return you to here to try again, okay?"
Auora, her nerves boiling wildly, nodded and got prepared for the fall. At her father's instruction, she spread her wings and she put a talon out. Then Aurora closed her eyes. The onlookers including Sirius and Belle looked on, the two glaucous macaw chicks cheering her on, shouting, "You can do it, Aurora!"
However, one of them wasn't as cheerful for Aurora. Bruno shuddered and looked away as Aurora gathered all the courage to take the leap. Then within moments, the little Spix macaw chick allowed gravity to take her off the branch.
"That's it, daughter, now FLAP YOUR WINGS!" called Erico as he watched his daughter fall. Aurora opened her eyes and found herself in freefall. Alarmed, she began to flap her wings like mad but she was doing them randomly. As she fell and with the onlookers looking on in angst, Henrique and Julio dived down with her.
"Flap your wings both together and spread wide, Aurora," called the flying fox, "It's what gets you birds airborne!"
Aurora tried to but the nervousness caused by the freefall kept making her flap her wings randomly like a disoriented finch. Then before she could fall too far, Henrique swooped in and caught her. Then he hauled her back to the starting point of the branch. As soon as she was back on the perch, Aurora was breathing from the shock of the fall. Erico put a comforting wing on her.
"It's okay, daughter, don't think you've failed," he said before he nodded to Isabella to come forward with a treat, a berry. The mother glaucous macaw handed one to Ercio and he fed it to Aurora as a reward for trying her best and as an encouragement to try again. Erico continued, "You can't always get it right on the first try. It took me four tries to take my first flight and your mother, two."
"And me, also four; Alvin here a MASSIVE number of times and Henrique, several," added Isabella. Aurora, after eating the berry, gave the adults a look and got prepared to try again once she had calmed down. Once things had simmered down, Aurora was ready for her second try and again, Henrique and Julio dropped to below the branches to prepare to catch her in case she fell too far. At Erico's instruction and the audience's encouragement (apart from Bruno, who was terrified), the Spix macaw chick spread her wings, closed her eyes and stepped off the branch into freefall. As before, she flapped and flailed from the shock of falling through space and Henrique and Julio got prepared to pluck her out of the fall. Then from the shouts of encouragement from them and the audience above including her brother Tomas who had decided to dive down and encourage her and as her body tipped into a nosedive, Aurora saw the ground rapidly approaching and without thinking spread her wings. Henrique was about to fly in and catch her but before he could do that, the maya blue Spix macaw chick did a vertical U-turn and began to ascend! Cheers of joy exploded from Aurora's beak as she flapped back up to the branch where everyone else was waiting and cheers filed her ears.
"Well done, daughter!" cried Erico, "You DID IT!"
Tomas, Henrique and Julio flew after Aurora as she then began to fly around the area all by herself, relishing the joy of achieving the milestone of her first flight. Sirius and Belle also cheered for their Spix macaw cousin but Bruno sadly looked on, fear gripping him which the others still hadn't noticed. Then as soon as things had calmed down and Aurora continued flying about, Erico allowed Alvin to take over to get one of his chicks, starting with Sirius, into flight for Bruno had decided to go last.
As usual, Henrique and Julio flew about to catch Sirius should he fall too far and like Aurora did before, the little glaucous macaw chick stepped off the branch, flailed in the air but unlike Aurora who succeeded on the second try, Sirius got it right on the first and like Aurora, he flew around to the cheers of his parents, extended Spix macaw family and the green-winged macaw and Amazon flying fox friends. Then Belle took her turn but she failed on the first three tries but at the encouragement of her family and friends, she succeeded on the fourth and like her brother and adopted Spix macaw cousin, she flew around as well. Tomas took the moment to celebrate with the three by flying around with them. The three had also learnt to perch onto branches from flight though they did it a little clumsily. Aurora and Belle managed but Sirius almost overshot his perching attempt. However, he managed to catch his balance and right himself before he could careen over the branch. After this, things simmered down as attention was then turned to Bruno to get him to fly. However, they had a problem, especially as Bruno darted into the Spix macaws' hollow and refused to come out.
"Come on, Bruno," said Erico patiently and gently, "You need to learn to fly. Your adopted sister and cousins have done it and it's time for you to get airborne as well."
However, the Lear's macaw chick cowered in his nest and refused to come out. Erico gazed at the others in worry.
"As he been traumatised or something?" asked he. Then an awful realisation washed over Alberto and he put a membranous wing to his face.
"Oh, no," the brown flying fox and Ginger's father whispered with dread.
"What is it, Alberto?" asked Lily as she held a nursing Ginger on her breast. Like all mammals including the egg-laying platypus and echidna, bats nursed their young with milk though the egg-layers did this a little differently. Alberto then gazed sadly at Bruno as he continued to quiver in his bed-nest. Erico, Clarinda, Alvin, Isabella and also Tomas, Aurora, Sirius and Belle looked on worriedly.
"I'm wondering if h-h-his biological mother didn't j-j-just leave her son on the forest floor to die," the brown fox-faced bat spoke in a shuddering voice, "but rather she..." he trailed off, not wanting to say it. However, the others deduced what Bruno's cruel biological mother may have done to the poor chick resulting in him ending up on the forest floor. It was clear that she didn't just put him on the ground and abandoned him. Then the moment the possible conclusion and the reason for Bruno's fear of flying was drawn, outrage burned through the group, especially Henrique.
"If THAT female Lear's macaw were HERE RIGHT NOW," the green-winged macaw snarled, "I'M GONNA STRANGLE HER REAL GOOD!"
Then Clarinda was seized by UTMOST horror and anguish for the adopted Lear's macaw son. Immediately, she rushed into the nest and hugged Bruno, hysterical sobbing erupting from her.
"OH, MY POOR BABY!" she wailed, "MY POOR, POOR BABY! I CAN'T BELEIVE YOUR OWN MOTHER WOULD DO SUCH A THING TO YOU!"
Erico then went in with Aurora and Tomas and joined the hug as Clarinda continued to sob over Bruno while Alvin dismissed the group.
"The gathering to witness our new chicks' first flying lesson finished for now," said he, "We'd like to thank you for coming to watch our chicks learn to fly but unfortunately, Bruno will have to wait."
"We're SO sorry you had to run into that obstacle," said Alberto sadly, "We-we honestly thought that she had just left him there but now..." the male flying fox gazed sorrowfully at the Spix macaw family as they continued to hug the terrified Bruno, the mother sobbing hysterically. With a disappointed and despairing sigh leaving his mouth and feeling like it was his fault, Alberto turned and dropped into flight, called to the other flying foxes including his mate Lily who had Ginger on her breast, and left with them. Henrique and the other green-winged macaws flew after them, some of them telling Alberto that it was NOT his fault that Bruno had been UTTERLY traumatised but still. The flying foxes and the green-winged macaws all waved goodbye to the blue macaws and left to their home. Only the blue macaws remained but soon, Alvin, Isabella, Sirius and Belle decided to return to their hollow to give the Spix macaws and their adopted Lear's macaw son some space to recover. It had been a disappointing end to such an enthralling milestone and now, poor Erico and Clarinda had a serious problem on their wings. Without the super-important skill of flight, how was Bruno going to survive once he was old enough to leave the nest? What was going to happen to him? These questions, among other things regarding Bruno and his IMMENSE fear of flight, boiled within the minds of Erico and Clarinda but they knew they couldn't just abandon the poor Lear's macaw chick as that would make them NO better than Bruno's cruel biological parents.